Craig D.S. Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Is there no Truss object? I would like to show a TimberFrame Truss supporting a canopy, and it seems like one has to insert individual Framing Menbers or extrude profiles Take Care Craig using VW Designer 2011 SP5/Renderworks Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Intel Core i7 Quad-core i7-950 3.06GHz Processor EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Change to the Spotlight workspace: Tools>Workspaces>Spotlight Therein lives the customisable truss object. There are also pre-made vendor trusses in the VW libraries. Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Sorry, I guess I should have clarified it was Roof Truss that I was trying to make, and was looking for a customizable Roof Truss Object...I was aware of those light trusses...but did not notice any roof pitch adjustments in any that I checked out...if you know the name and the location of one that has roof pitch adjustments in the symbols, please let me know Thanks Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Tamsin Slatter Posted February 24, 2013 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted February 24, 2013 Try the Framing Member tool in the Detailing tool set. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 For a Timber Frame truss the best practice I have found is to draw the profile of the truss in a side view, then extrude (then go find the extrude and drag it to the wall line - all extrudes are created at 0,0,0 by default). Next, switch to Top/Plan View and draw a filled rectangle that exactly matches the plan footprint of the Extrude. Select both the Extrude and the Rectangle and run the command Modify>Create Symbol (make sure to to "Leave Instance in Place", accept the other default settings, name it what you like). Now you have a 2d/3d Hybrid Timber Frame Truss Symbol! It can be Duplicated, Rotated, etc. etc. If you want to add metal brace plates with bolts, just double click on any one of the symbols (or option click on the symbol in the Resource Browser) and choose Edit 3d. Add whatever you like. All instances of the symbol will now contain these added items. FWIW, there used to be a very simple 3rd party plug-in which created common roof trusses (Queen, W, etc.) but I'm not sure it exists any longer. And as I recall it wasn't really any good for timber frame type trusses. Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Thanks Tamsin I have beed playing with the framing member tools and can see a use for them. though I did not notice a King Post option or member yet that can have a slope cut on both sides So I did the extruded profiles method... However, now they want to see how a scissor timber truss will look in the front of the porch...and that wont have a KP Which brings me to my next question... Can the framing member tools be used to make a scissor truss? where the seat cuts would have to be stacking on on the other, and the peak of the lower one butt under the slope cut of the one above...It wont matter that the left and right ones would overlap in the lower ceiling point...food for thought... Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 For a Timber Frame truss the best practice I have found is to draw the profile of the truss in a side view, then extrude (then go find the extrude and drag it to the wall line - all extrudes are created at 0,0,0 by default). Next, switch to Top/Plan View and draw a filled rectangle that exactly matches the plan footprint of the Extrude. Select both the Extrude and the Rectangle and run the command Modify>Create Symbol (make sure to to "Leave Instance in Place", accept the other default settings, name it what you like). Now you have a 2d/3d Hybrid Timber Frame Truss Symbol! It can be Duplicated, Rotated, etc. etc. If you want to add metal brace plates with bolts, just double click on any one of the symbols (or option click on the symbol in the Resource Browser) and choose Edit 3d. Add whatever you like. All instances of the symbol will now contain these added items. FWIW, there used to be a very simple 3rd party plug-in which created common roof trusses (Queen, W, etc.) but I'm not sure it exists any longer. And as I recall it wasn't really any good for timber frame type trusses. Thanks Peter, that is what I infact did...please see also my reply to Tamsin for my next question Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Hi Craig, While the Framing Member is quite useful for certain things, in my experience roof trusses is not one of them... So the short answer is No, I don;t think so. However, if you've already got a Symbol you can just duplicate it (in the RB) and make any changes for the new (scissor) design. After that, simply select all the existing Symbols and click Replace, choosing the new scissor truss as the replacement... Quote Link to comment
Jonathan Pickup Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 There is a truss object you can add to your Vectorworks. It is a simple 2D/3D truss and you download it from vectordepot you have to add the plug-in to your user folder, then add the plug-in to your workspace. I have written a manual and made movies about it for my subscribers Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) Here is what I was able to produce using the Framing members for the scissor tinber truss, and Column for the KP. One other thing I would like to do is... put ridge caps on the gazebo roof hips to make it look more real...i don't imagine that there is a ridge capp roof accessory...nope just checked...whell I guess I'll have to extrude a little thickness on a roof face work plane... oh rats...don't know how to upload an inage attachment, though I did it once before Edited February 25, 2013 by Craig D.S. Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 There is a truss object you can add to your Vectorworks. It is a simple 2D/3D truss and you download it from vectordepot you have to add the plug-in to your user folder, then add the plug-in to your workspace. I have written a manual and made movies about it for my subscribers OK thanks Jonathan, I will check it out Quote Link to comment
Tom Klaber Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Framing Member tool has wooden truss with pitch and angle settings. Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Framing Member tool has wooden truss with pitch and angle settings. I saw that it had a Wood Floor Truss, but I was looking for a customizable Roof Truss that had two oposing rafters set by the same pitch and had separate ceiling, and colar tie heights like my old beloved ArchiCAD 2005 that was two computers ago... I ended up using all framing Member Components to make one though Thanks Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Here is what I was able to produce using the Framing members for the scissor timber truss, and Column for the KP. Quote Link to comment
Craig D.S. Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Here is what I was able to produce using the Framing members for the scissor timber truss, and Column for the KP. Is it just me, or does this seem a little cryptic method of attaching an image Quote Link to comment
Benson Shaw Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) Is it just me, or does this seem a little cryptic method of attaching an image It's not just you! Lotsa steps. -B Edited February 28, 2013 by Benson Shaw Quote Link to comment
jmartinarch Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I see this is an old topic, but are there new / better method of creating roof trusses? The pre-mfg. gang-nail type typically constructed of 2x4's and 2x6's? It would be awesome if the roof framer had this as an option even if the webs were not 100% accurate. Quote Link to comment
Bob Holtzmann Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 (edited) http://www.vectordepot.com/older_plug-ins.html The Truss Tool still works with the current version. Another great Command plug-in I can't do without is Merge Text. And stay away from Exhibit Hall - I think it crashed Vw the last time I tried it. Edited April 23, 2014 by Bob-H Quote Link to comment
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