MultiSTEEL New features currently in development

New features currently in development:

This preview allows existing users to see many of the wish list items that are currently in development.

Displaying 3D Steel in 2D improved
With some users wanting to use Xref's and produce drawings in 3D Paperspace, improvements have been made to displaying the steel in 3D. This new feature allows the hidden detail lines of the steel webs to be drawn on the 3D steel display. This means that the 3D steel object can be used on 2D drawings or on Paperspace Layouts.

PaperSpace - 3D Work areas
MultiSCALE Paperspace Manager has been improved to allow scale areas to be placed anywhere in 3D. The scale and view clip thickness can also be edited. The scale areas can then easily be placed into the Paperspace Layouts using the Paperspace Manager. Scale areas can now be named, which improves detail placement and overall drawing management.

Compound Steel Shapes (user definable)
Build up your own compound shapes by joining together steel shapes. Double Angles are now incorporated.

Concrete Modeling
Draw or Form 3D Concrete shapes with ease and then show these as either 2D or full 3D Solids. Objects are grouped together with the original Polylines and Circles being retained. These can then be edited using standard AutoCAD Editing commands. The Show 3D command or the F5 key will refresh these objects instantly. Concrete is now included in all MTO and Center of Gravity commands

Irregular plates to update in the 2D.
The Section Model and the Update Frames commands now update irregular plates.

3D to 2D drawing update
Edit your 3D model knowing that your 2D drawings will be updated to reflect such changes. Modifications can be shown with revision clouds or just highlighted in red. MultiSTEEL's 2D drawings are intelligently linked back to the 3D model. The 2D drawings are separate AutoCAD DWG's. They are not Xref's or Blocks. They are made of separate 2D steel objects that can be edited. The representation of each steel member can be changed. Labels can be moved and steel symbols can be moved as required to provide high quality 2D drawings. The update from the 3D model honours such editing and update the steel size but maintain the styles.

Section Model Styles
The section model command that produces separate linked 2D drawings can now create these drawings as a Style. For example Plan views can be set to be shown as Stick representation with unsymmetrical shapes such as channel and angles being shown with steel symbols.

Labels Styles
Steel labels are linked to the steel object which means that if the steel size is changed then the steel label is also updated. A shortened Label Style has also been added. For example a W200x36 can now be shown as W200. If the label is removed but then you decide to to show the label the previous position of the label is now remembered. Selecting the Reset labels command will restore the labels of the selected steel back to the default central position.

2D symbols Truly Flat
The 2D drawing can be generated with truly flat steel symbols if required. These symbols can be modified . Each symbol contains a wipe out to ensure once plotted the underlying stick line appears broken. Each symbol is grouped to the stick line. The symbol can be moved along the stick so that it does not clash with other drawing objects. This also improves clarity. If the 2D drawing is updated from the 3D model then the position of symbol is maintained.

Grid Layout now saved within the DWG
The grid layout information is now saved with the drawing. If a grid file is not located then the information saved within the drawing will be used . The grid information can be saved to an external grid file at any stage if required.

Model Manager Dialog Box
The new Model Dialog allows you to quickly see what sections have been created and which 2D drawings these frames appear on. Double clicking on the drawing name in the list the will open the drawing.

User defined data can be added to steel objects
Each MultiSTEEL object contains information such as size and rotation. We have allowed user defined data to be added to the MultiSTEEL objects in a similar way to attributes within blocks. For example, a user could add a useful data tag such as MYDATA = "STAGE2BY" MYREVDATE = "12/08/05" A simple tool is provided to allow you to attach such information and data format and schema can be read from a file. This information can also be exported to a file for reading into Excel

Fire Proofing
Partial fire proofing can be applied to any piece of steel. The style of fire proofing can be specified including top flanges to be. Fire Proofing can be also be shown in 3D.

Base Plates
A quick tool has been added that will automatically add simple base plate type connections to the selected columns. The size of these plates is automatically determined by a user defined configuration file. These plates can represented diagrammatically and notional plates added. Final sizes can then be determined by the fabricator at a later stage.

Rotate 2D frame
2D frames are automatically generated by the Section Model command. By default these are drawn with the same rotation as defined in the 3D model. In reality such frames may need to be rotated, by say 90 degrees or so, so that they fit on a certain size sheet. A simple tool is now provided to rotate the frame and also the datum symbol. If the 2D frame is later updated then the rotation will not cause any problem.

Stairs Improved
A Pick Points option has been added to the draw stair command and allows the start and end points of a start to be specified rather than just a height. More work points have been added and the top and bottom landing styles are configurable. The chamfered stringers can now be defined.

click here to preview some recent new features....

	Displaying 3D Steel in 2D improved With some users wanting to use Xref's and produce drawings in 3D Paperspace, improvements have been made to displaying the steel in 3D. This new feature allows the hidden detail lines of the steel webs to be drawn on the 3D steel display. This means that the 3D steel object can be used on 2D drawings or on Paperspace Layouts.
	PaperSpace - 3D Work areas MultiSCALE Paperspace Manager has been improved to allow scale areas to be placed anywhere in 3D. The scale and view clip thickness can also be edited. The scale areas can then easily be placed into the Paperspace Layouts using the Paperspace Manager. Scale areas can now be named, which improves detail placement and overall drawing management.
	Compound Steel Shapes (user definable) Build up your own compound shapes by joining together steel shapes. Double Angles are now incorporated.
	Concrete Modeling Draw or Form 3D Concrete shapes with ease and then show these as either 2D or full 3D Solids. Objects are grouped together with the original Polylines and Circles being retained. These can then be edited using standard AutoCAD Editing commands. The Show 3D command or the F5 key will refresh these objects instantly. Concrete is now included in all MTO and Center of Gravity commands
	Irregular plates to update in the 2D. The Section Model and the Update Frames commands now update irregular plates.
	3D to 2D drawing update Edit your 3D model knowing that your 2D drawings will be updated to reflect such changes. Modifications can be shown with revision clouds or just highlighted in red. MultiSTEEL's 2D drawings are intelligently linked back to the 3D model. The 2D drawings are separate AutoCAD DWG's. They are not Xref's or Blocks. They are made of separate 2D steel objects that can be edited. The representation of each steel member can be changed. Labels can be moved and steel symbols can be moved as required to provide high quality 2D drawings. The update from the 3D model honours such editing and update the steel size but maintain the styles.
	Section Model Styles The section model command that produces separate linked 2D drawings can now create these drawings as a Style. For example Plan views can be set to be shown as Stick representation with unsymmetrical shapes such as channel and angles being shown with steel symbols.
	Labels Styles Steel labels are linked to the steel object which means that if the steel size is changed then the steel label is also updated. A shortened Label Style has also been added. For example a W200x36 can now be shown as W200. If the label is removed but then you decide to to show the label the previous position of the label is now remembered. Selecting the Reset labels command will restore the labels of the selected steel back to the default central position.
	2D symbols Truly Flat The 2D drawing can be generated with truly flat steel symbols if required. These symbols can be modified . Each symbol contains a wipe out to ensure once plotted the underlying stick line appears broken. Each symbol is grouped to the stick line. The symbol can be moved along the stick so that it does not clash with other drawing objects. This also improves clarity. If the 2D drawing is updated from the 3D model then the position of symbol is maintained.
	Grid Layout now saved within the DWG The grid layout information is now saved with the drawing. If a grid file is not located then the information saved within the drawing will be used . The grid information can be saved to an external grid file at any stage if required.
	Model Manager Dialog Box The new Model Dialog allows you to quickly see what sections have been created and which 2D drawings these frames appear on. Double clicking on the drawing name in the list the will open the drawing.
	User defined data can be added to steel objects Each MultiSTEEL object contains information such as size and rotation. We have allowed user defined data to be added to the MultiSTEEL objects in a similar way to attributes within blocks. For example, a user could add a useful data tag such as MYDATA = "STAGE2BY" MYREVDATE = "12/08/05" A simple tool is provided to allow you to attach such information and data format and schema can be read from a file. This information can also be exported to a file for reading into Excel
	Fire Proofing Partial fire proofing can be applied to any piece of steel. The style of fire proofing can be specified including top flanges to be. Fire Proofing can be also be shown in 3D.
	Base Plates A quick tool has been added that will automatically add simple base plate type connections to the selected columns. The size of these plates is automatically determined by a user defined configuration file. These plates can represented diagrammatically and notional plates added. Final sizes can then be determined by the fabricator at a later stage.
	Rotate 2D frame 2D frames are automatically generated by the Section Model command. By default these are drawn with the same rotation as defined in the 3D model. In reality such frames may need to be rotated, by say 90 degrees or so, so that they fit on a certain size sheet. A simple tool is now provided to rotate the frame and also the datum symbol. If the 2D frame is later updated then the rotation will not cause any problem.
	Stairs Improved A Pick Points option has been added to the draw stair command and allows the start and end points of a start to be specified rather than just a height. More work points have been added and the top and bottom landing styles are configurable. The chamfered stringers can now be defined.