RED V2.0 User s Guide

Transcription

1 RED V2.0 User s Guide

2 Disclaimer Copyright The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice. Three H Furniture Systems makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this manual nor shall it be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance or use of this manual. Copyright 2012, Three H Furniture Systems Limited. All rights reserved. This manual has been prepared by Three H Furniture Systems for use by its clients and staff only and contains information protected by copyright. It must not be photocopied or reproduced in any form without prior written consent of Three H Furniture Systems. Third Party Credits Google SketchUp, copyright 2010 Google. 2

3 Table of Contents Overview! 5 Requirements! 6 Installation! 6 Reporting problems! 6 Getting Started with RED! 7 Working with SketchUp! 7 Working with RED! 8 Manually Adding Products to your Drawing! 9 Editing a Product on the Drawing! 9 Using the Assistants! 10 Applying Laminates and Fabrics! 17 Generating a Bill of Materials! 19 Using Typical's from the 3D Warehouse! 20 Tips and Techniques! 21 Exploding Components! 21 Mirroring Components! 21 Manually Moving Products! 21 Rotating Products! 21 Duplicating workstations! 21 Appendix A - Supported Product Families! 22 Create Office Platform! 22 Multi-Stations OS! 22 Appendix B - Assistants! 23 3

4 Create Office Platform! 23 CPWx - Work Surface Assistant! 23 CPDS - Desk Shell Assistant! 24 CPLx - Leg Assistant! 25 CPAM - Modesty Panel Assistant! 25 CPAO - Organizer Assistant! 25 CPAP - Privacy Screen Assistant! 25 CPAT - Credenza Top Assistant! 25 CPSH - Hutch Assistant! 26 CPSP - Pedestal Assistant! 29 CPSS - Stacker Assistant! 29 Appendix C - Known Issues! 31 4

5 Overview RED, Rapid Easy Design is a plugin for Google SketchUp, designed to assist with the specification of Three H Furniture System products. One of Three H s unique attributes is that many of its products can be sized to the inch. Rather than limiting a designer to typical 6 increments, Three H products can be sized to make maximum use of available space. This can translate into increased storage or workspace in a small footprint, or to more workstations in an open plan configuration. Because of this capability, traditional library-based design systems do not work for Three H. Libraries would need to be so large that they would be cumbersome to work with and costly to create and maintain. There is no library with RED. Rather, RED uses a series of programs, each of which model an individual product family. By selecting the attributes of the product you wish to create, one program can generate hundreds of thousands of individual products. Product changes are simple, click on the product, change its parameters and the new item is created. In addition to this unique capability, RED also provides assistants which automatically align and position products in most common configurations. In many cases only the first item is positioned on the drawing. After that, the assistants take over to simplify the completion of the design. Once the design has been completed, a Bill of Materials is automatically generated for you. If your computer is connected to the internet, pricing is determined directly from the Three H database. Prices are always correct, there is no database to maintain or update on your computer. RED utilizes the Standard version of Google SketchUp which is free. There is also no charge for RED nor are there any licensing or maintenance fees. Finally, RED works on both PC/Windows and Mac/OSX based systems giving you the flexibility to work in whichever environment you choose. For more information please visit We hope you enjoy working with RED. 5

6 Requirements In order to use RED, you must have a copy of Google SketchUp, version or higher, installed on your computer. Both Mac and PC versions are supported by RED. RED uses the free version of Google SketchUp. It can be downloaded from The Pro version of Google SketchUp, which must be purchased, is not required but does provide some additional features including the import and export of AutoCAD drawings. Installation Download the red.rbz file from the Three H website and save it to your desktop. Start Sketch-Up and select the preferences menu item. PC/Windows - under the Window menu item. Mac OSX - under the SketchUp menu item. Select the Install Extension under the Extensions item. When prompted, select the red.rbz file downloaded from the Three H website. Installation will start. If RED was previously installed, restart SketchUp. If this is the first time installing RED, enable the RED toolbars found under! PC/Windows - Under the View Menu item.! Mac/OSX - Under View/Tool Palettes. Reporting problems If you encounter a problem with the operation of the software, please the following information to redsupport@three-h.com Indicate if you are using a Mac or PC installation. Provide a copy of the drawing if possible. Provide a brief description of what you were attempting to accomplish. Provide a brief description of the events which caused the problem. Please do not use problem reporting for issues relating to using RED or the Google SketchUp software. It is only intended for reporting software problems. 6

7 Getting Started with RED Working with SketchUp A basic knowledge of Google SketchUp is required to use RED. Google SketchUp is available from the Google SketchUp website. Extensive help for We recommend that you have a good understanding of the following SketchUp commands. Camera! PAN, ZOOM, ORBIT, STANDARD VIEWS Tools! MOVE, ROTATE, TAPE MEASURE Window! MODEL INFO, LAYERS Some excellent video training is also available on YouTube. Go to and type SketchUp into the search prompt. A number of books are available for learning SketchUp. We recommend either;! Sam s Teach Yourself Google SketchUP 8! Google SketchUp 8 for Dummies. These books are also available in electronic format for the ipad or Kindle. 7

8 Working with RED RED is a collection of programs which model Three H products. There is no library of products; each product is drawn in real time by the program, configured to suit your specific needs. The programs are organized by product function, on individual toolbars. Desks, Shells, Work Surfaces, Tops, Organizer, Reception Counter Toolbar Storage Toolbar Legs and Supports Toolbar Accessories Toolbar Panels, Posts and Power Toolbar Utility Toolbar The utility toolbar is provided for handy functions including wall creation, room creation, extracting a Bill of Materials, applying Three H laminate and fabric colors, as well as a rotate, mirror and copy function. The mirror function is of particular value. Unlike generic flip or mirror functions, the RED mirror function also mirrors the product code of the mirrored items, ensuring an accurate Bill of Materials. The built in flip and mirror function of SketchUp should never be used. 8

9 If the toolbars are not open when you start SketchUp, you can find them under the View menu. Manually Adding Products to your Drawing To manually add a product, ensure that nothing is currently selected on the drawing and then choose the icon of the product you wish to insert from one of the RED toolbars. You will be prompted to select an insertion point. A dialog box will then open, prompting you for the parameters which define the specifics of the product you wish to create. Select Create when complete and the product will be drawn. Editing a Product on the Drawing Credenza Dialog Box Once a product has been drawn, it can be modified by right clicking on it and selecting RED Edit Product from the Context Menu. 9

10 Context Menu A dialog box will open with the current configuration shown. Make your changes and select Create to apply the modification. If the size of the product is changed you may need to manually re-position it in the drawing. In many cases, it is faster and easier to delete the product and use an Assistant to insert a new item. Using the Assistants After the first product is drawn, you can begin to use the Assistants designed to work with most of the product models. To use an assistant, select one or more products on your drawing and then choose the icon of the product you which to add. Your selection depends on the product to be inserted and the desired outcome of the Assistant. A detailed description of each Assistant and its operation is discussed later in Appendix B of this document. The Assistant will look at what has been selected and will pre-determine the configuration of the next product. In many cases, you only need to click the Create Button to generate the item. The assistant will automatically position the product for you. 10

11 In this example, we wish to add a work surface to the credenza. The credenza is selected and then the Work Surface icon is clicked, which invokes the Work Surface Assistant. The Assistant has a choice to insert the work surface on either the left or right side, a decision it cannot make. You are prompted for input. In this example we have chosen to insert the work surface on the left side of the credenza. 11

12 The Assistant then opens the Work Surface Dialog Box which allows you to set the parameters of the work surface you wish to use. In this example we have chosen a 60 long canted work surface. 12

13 The Assistant automatically positions the work surface on the left side of the credenza. 13

14 We now wish to add a top to the credenza to cover the exposed area on the right side. In this example we have selected both the credenza and the Canted Work Surface and then clicked on the Credenza Top icon. The Assistant has determined that the remaining space is 36 and has selected the correct top size. 14

15 The Assistant automatically positions the Top in the drawing. 15

16 To complete this arrangement we need to insert a leg on the Canted Work Surface. The work surface is selected and the Leg icon is clicked from the toolbar. The Assistant chooses the correct size of leg based on the depth of the work surface. 16

17 The Assistant automatically positions the leg in the correct position. Applying Laminates and Fabrics Once your drawing is complete you can apply the standard Three H color and fabric to your design. Select the Paint bucket from the RED Utility Toolbar to make your selections. If your choices do not appear on the drawing, disable the Layers Color by Layer option. 17

18 In this example we have selected Riviera Maple as our primary color and Storm for our surfaces. 18

19 Colors are applied to the various components according to your selections. Generating a Bill of Materials To generate a Bill of Materials, select the BOM icon from the RED Utility toolbar. RED will extract and summarize the SKU s used in the drawing and access the Three H Database via the internet to get pricing. 19

20 An active internet connection must be available for this feature to work. In some cases a zero price will be displayed if the product you have drawn has never been created. Contact Three H customer service to have the item added. The BOM can be printed or exported to CSV, SIF or XML format for integration into most business systems. Using Typical's from the 3D Warehouse Three H posts interesting typical arrangements to the 3D Warehouse. After downloading one of these typical s into your drawing, you must explode the arrangement once to activate the individual components. Once the downloaded file is exploded you can edit the individual products, color the arrangement and generate a Bill of Materials. 20

21 Tips and Techniques Exploding Components Never explode a component drawn by RED. Doing so will cause many functions to fail including Assistants, Coloring and Bill of Materials. Mirroring Components A RED mirror function has been created. It can be found under the RED-UTILITY toolbar. This function mirrors the selected products but most importantly, also mirrors the product code, something the built in Sketchup mirror and flip functions will not do. The SketchUp Flip and mirror functions should never be used. potential errors in the Bill of Materials. Doing so will cause Manually Moving Products Proper alignment of products is critical in generating an accurate Bill of Materials. Assistants should always be used to position products. However, from time to time, an Assistant many not be able to understand what you are trying to accomplish and manual positioning is required. When manually moving or copying a product, always try to align to a fixed point of the geometry of another item already in the drawing. Do not arbitrarily pick a point in open space. Rotating Products When manually rotating products, always ensure that you rotate to an angle of 0, 90,180 or 270 degrees. The Assistants cannot work with products rotated to other angles. Use the RED rotate function found under the RED-Utility toolbar rather than the SketchUP rotate command. Duplicating workstations To simplify copying arrangements a copy function has been added to the RED-Utility toolbar. 21

22 Appendix A - Supported Product Families Create Office Platform! The full CP statement of line is available in RED. Multi-Stations OS MOS Panels, posts, reception counters, legs and electrical components are available in RED. MOS Storage components are not modeled and are replaced by their CP equivalent. CP products are designed to be fully compatible with the MOS product line. 22

23 Appendix B - Assistants Assistants are available for most products. By selecting one or more items on your drawing, the assistant will attempt to configure and position the product for you. Finding a common reference for positioning components to one and other is a difficult problem. Simple Left, Right or North, South becomes confusing when the drawing view has been rotated a few times. Orientation can be quickly lost. In most cases, RED uses the colored axis to reference direction. In SketchUp, the positive X axis is a solid red color and the negative X axis is dotted red. Likewise, the positive Y axis is solid green and the negative Y axis is dotted green. By simply asking whether an item should be inserted in the Solid Green, Dotted Green, Solid Red or Dotted Red direction, orientation is aways the same regardless of how the drawing view has been rotated. Create Office Platform CPWx - Work Surface Assistant Single Selection! CPSC - Credenza The assistant will position the work surface perpendicular to the credenza on either the left or right side.! OSP - Panel The assistant will select a work surface length which matches the panel length. You will be asked to indicate which side of the panel the surface is to be installed on. Double Selection! Work Surface & OSP - Panel By selecting a connected work surface and Panel the assistant will configure and position a surface to fill the remaining space on the panel to make an L-Shaped arrangement. 23

24 In this example, a panel and work surface are selected. The Work Surface icon is clicked and the Assistant calculates and positions the correct sized work surface to fit along the remaining open space on the selected panel. CPDS - Desk Shell Assistant Single Selection! CPDS - Desk Shell The assistant will position the new desk shell according to the leg style of the selected desk and the new desk. For example. If the selected desk has full left and right legs, and the new desk is a left return, the assistant will position the new desk on. The left side of the selected desk, in an L-Shaped configuration. 24

25 CPLx - Leg Assistant Single Selection! CPWx - Work surface The Assistant will determine the correct depth leg and correctly position the leg under the work surface. When there is a choice to insert the leg on the left or right side, the Assistant will request your input. CPAM - Modesty Panel Assistant Single Selection! CPWx - Work surface The Assistant will center the Modesty Panel on the work surface. In many cases, modesty panel positioning is a mater of personal preference. Final positioning may require manual movement of the panel along the length of the desk. CPAO - Organizer Assistant Single Selection! CPAT - Accessory Top The Assistant will position the Organizer to the left or right of the selected top.! CPSP - Pedestal The Assistant will position the Organizer on top of the Pedestal. CPAP - Privacy Screen Assistant Single Selection! CPWx - Work surface The Assistant will center the Privacy Screen on the work surface. In many cases, positioning is a mater of personal preference. Final positioning may require manual movement of the screen along the length of the desk. CPAS - Support Leg Assistant Double Selection! CPWx - Work surface + CPAT - Accessory Top! CPSH - Storage Hutch + CPAT - Accessory Top! CPSH - Storage Hutch + CPWx - Work surface CPAT - Credenza Top Assistant Single Selection! CPSC - Storage Credenza The Assistant will determine the correct length and depth top to fit the selected Credenza and position it on the drawing. Double Selection! CPSC- Storage Credenza + CPWx - Work surface The Assistant will determine the size of top required to fit the remaining space on the selected Credenza and position it on the drawing. 25

26 CPSH - Hutch Assistant The Hutch Assistant selects and positions multiple products depending on the options selected. The Hutch, Support Legs, Back and Tackboard are all automatically inserted into the drawing. The hutch is a complicated product and needs information regarding how it is connected to the rest of the arrangement. Care must be taken to select the correct support option to ensure that the Bill of Materials is correctly generated. Single Selection! CPAT - Accessory Top 26

27 In this example, the Assistant has determined the length of hutch required to span the entire length of the top. We have selected Support Posts left and right, and a tackboard. The Assistant positions the components in the drawing. Double Selection! CPAT - Credenza Top + CPWx - Work Surface 27

28 In this example, the Assistant has determined the length of hutch required to span both the Credenza Top and the Work surface. We have selected the Cabinet Left, Post Right support option, no back or tackboard. 28

29 The Assistant positions the components in the drawing. CPSP - Pedestal Assistant Single Selection! CPWx - Work surface The Assistant will position the pedestal under the work surface for you. If a choice exists to insert the pedestal on either the left or right side, the Assistant will prompt for your input. CPSS - Stacker Assistant Single Selection 29

30 ! CPAT - Accessory Top The Assistant will prompt you for the position of the cabinet on either the left or right side of the top. The cabinet will be positioned on the back left or right corner of the top depending on your choice. Stacker cabinets are not fastened to the top and can be positioned anywhere along its length. Since this is a personal preference, manual repositioning is required. 30

31 Appendix C - Known Issues 1.Installation of RED under Windows Vista does not work. This is an issue with the Vista operating system. Contact Three H for assistance with installing RED under Windows VISTA. Windows XP, Windows 7 and Mac OSX are all supported. 2.Not all Three H products have been modeled in RED. Additional product models will be added in future releases. 3.RED tries to understand what you are attempting to create and will provide both a default configuration and position where possible. In some cases the results may not be as expected and the product may have to be manually re-located. 4.When generating a BOM, some products may have a $0 list price. This is generally due to products that have never been created in the Three H database. The problem can be resolved by contacting Three H customer service and requesting that the product code be added to our system. 5.Pull selection is currently unavailable. 31

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