This week on SketchUp Live, Aaron models a truss hanger for wood framing at three different levels of detail. These brackets provide strong connections for load-bearing trusses. Don’t miss his tips and tricks for a professional construction workflow!
Watch on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, & Twitter.
2023-07-07T18:00:00Z
Whoever is distributing the tasks, he is definitely biased towards @TheOnlyAaron 
I doubt Aaron can get it done on time.
Just kidding and I hope I can make it tomorrow
Woohoo LODs live now!
This was a good live modeling session. People are always asking me about modeling Simpson hardware for not only joist hangers but also the hundreds of other metal bits and pieces that go into building a house these days.
Simpson StrongTie has their own catalog in the 3D Warehouse:
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/by/SimpsonStrongtie?tab=products
And they do have quite a few models available of various hangers and other hardware, however my biggest problem with their models is that they appear to have been modeled in some other program and then imported into SketchUp. As such they are generally quite heavy with high polygon counts and lots of unnecessary details (ie. nail holes, tabs etc…) in my opinion.
For my own plugins (Medeek Extensions) I needed many of these hangers and holdowns as components and in an effort to make things more model friendly I have spent a good bit of time modeling low poly versions of much of this hardware and including it within my plugins. I have also taken every low poly model I’ve created for any Simpson hardware used in my plugins and made them available on the Warehouse (no plugin purchase necessary).
When modeling any hardware (Simpson) I am a stickler for getting them as dimensionally accurate as possible while at the same time making simplifications that make sense and being consistant with layers/tags and materials. Also you will notice that each piece of hardware I create is a proper solid group and there is no stray or random geometry.
For instance the IUS and ITS hanger series:
A number of other contributors have also modeled a significant amount of hardware and uploaded it to the Warehouse.
If you need to add hardware into your models I would strongly suggest checking the 3D Warehouse first, it could save you some time and trouble.
