Auto Label
Beam Length option added to Auto Label command.
Draw Beam Dialog
Beam that already exist on the drawing are listed at the top of the dialog for quicker selection.
Beam Pockets
Beam Pockets are NOT added if the Beam sits on top of a Wall.
Drywall Wrapped Beam
If drywall is added to a Beam via the Add Drywall option on the Edit dialog the elevation position if the Beam does not change, the drywall is added below the Beam.
Edit Length
The length of a Beam can be changed via the Edit dialog. This is particularly useful when designing pergola's.
Note: If one end is anchored against something the other end of the Beam is changed.
Taking off on Wouter van Tiel’s great suggestion and expanding it… The IBC/IRC is the defacto standard and it would be nice if that was settable and kept up to date as a selection. The older setting could be left as sometimes hte newer standards are lessened. This would be an edge for SP and could be extended by offering other standards, even fee based like IBHS Fortified for the Southeast and California Building Code for California that has 10% for the country’s population. If you made the system components built around this extensible, your user base could even enhance it… anyway the idea of using IRC is great!! I wholeheartedly support it. I would be open to paying more for that and something like other Code+ resilient housing codes. The idea about automatically setting the nominal sizes is also great. IMHO
Agreed. There are quite a few items in Softplan that could be streamlined for the user as construction standards are fairly well set across the USA even if local variations exist. It would be nice for a new user (it’s only been 6 weeks for me) not to have to spend tons of time customizing the program. Though customizing the program only makes one more familiar with the program. One thing that really made the transition from a line drawing program to the object oriented Softplan tricky is that there was no instruction on the concepts used in Softplan. As an object oriented program the way it “acts and thinks” is something so different that I really struggled with Softplan at first (pretty frustrated actually – which can lead to quitting) and it would have been great to have a learning module that addresses the concepts of the inner workings of the program. Once I started getting that the lights went on and now there is no turning back, Softplan is awesome!
The one thing I have found, and just now thought to comment on, is the beam sizes over all.
The 2-2×12 beam for instance, should be 3″x11-1/4″ as the standard “nominal” lumber measurements I feel. I know it can be adjust4ed, but why should a user have to.
Other lam type beams could be the respective 11-7/8″ tall per the typical “paralam/engineered” lumber standards maybe as well.
Great comment. I hate having to go through softplan updating all my lintels and joists and beams to be nominal lumber sizes when that should be obvious and standard with the program.