# Welcome to Paragon Docs Get answers for your Paragon App questions - all in one place! ## Paragon Apps and Add-Ons Jump right to Documentation for a specific app. We are updating our documentation as we publicly make more plans available. If documentation is missing for a feature you are having trouble with, email Paragon Support to request assistance ().
Paragon DesignDesign and analyze trusses using plates from multiple industry manufacturers.paragon_design.jpgDesignDesign
Paragon LayoutUse the Layout add-on to create, view, and modify 3D roof and floor systems.paragon_layout.jpgLayout
Paragon AssemblyUse the Assembly add-on as a view only mode for shop assembly lines.paragon_assembly.jpgAssembly
Paragon MaterialsCreate and manage plate and lumber lists for use in Paragon Design.paragon_materials.jpgMaterialsMaterials
Paragon PricingUse Pricing to manage the prices used for estimating, material reports, and more.paragon_pricing.jpgPricingPricing
Paragon APIParagon API is the way to programmatically interface with Paragon.paragon_api.jpgAPIAPI
*** ## Additional Resources
Paragon Training AcademyTraining Courses that give a "guided" training experience.TRAINING.pngTraining Academy Home
Paragon on YouTubeWatch Paragon tutorials, product overviews, and more.paragon_youtube.jpghttps://www.youtube.com/@paragontrusshttps://www.youtube.com/@paragontruss
Contact SupportGet in touch with the Paragon Support team directly.Contact Us.pnghttps://www.paragontruss.com/about#contactushttps://www.paragontruss.com/about#contactus
{% hint style="warning" %} The documentation and training modules provided by Paragon are for educational and informational purposes only, are general in nature, and are not intended to conform to all TPI and TPIC standards. In the event that any documentation or training modules do not conform with the TPI or TPIC standard, the standard takes precedence and supersedes any documentation or training modules published to [docs.paragontruss.com](http://docs.paragontruss.com/) or [training.paragontruss.com](http://training.paragontruss.com/). {% endhint %} # Guide to Paragon Docs ## AI-Powered Search Have you ever browsed the Training and Documentation (Help) sites for truss software? Did you find what you were looking for? Paragon's Training and Docs sites are equipped with AI-powered search capabilities making it easier to find what you need to be successful using Paragon software. {% embed url="" %} ## Documentation Site Structure Our documentation is split into 4 categories: Tutorials, How-To's, References, and Explanations. ### Tutorials **Tutorials** are learning-oriented videos that walk through a series of steps to complete a project of some kind. These pages are oriented towards the *how* rather than the *what*. ### **How-To's** **How-To's** are goal-oriented instructions that take you step-by-step through a task to solve a problem. How-To's generally assume some knowledge and understanding of the software and focus on the task at hand. ### Reference **Reference** documentation is information-oriented. Reference material will typically be simple and to the point, containing definitions and descriptions for items in the software. ### Explanation **Explanation** documentation is understanding-oriented. The objective of these pages is to take a wider view of the topics within and dive into the nuances of how and why things work as they do. {% hint style="warning" %} The documentation and training modules provided by Paragon are for educational and informational purposes only, are general in nature, and are not intended to conform to all TPI and TPIC standards. In the event that any documentation or training modules do not conform with the TPI or TPIC standard, the standard takes precedence and supersedes any documentation or training modules published to [docs.paragontruss.com](http://docs.paragontruss.com/) or [training.paragontruss.com](http://training.paragontruss.com/). {% endhint %} # Frequently Asked Questions ## General
Q: What types of trusses does Paragon support? A: Paragon truss software supports the layout, design, and analysis of metal plate-connected wood trusses. Paragon software does not support other materials used for truss components such as gusset plates, timber, and light gauge, cold formed steel. Article Updated: 12/15/2025
‎Q: Can truss layouts and truss designs generated by Paragon be easily shared with a client or collaboration partner for design confirmation and truss layout approval? A: Yes, the following options are available to help visualization and collaboration. These options do not require the recipient to have a Paragon software subscription. * [Download Layout DXF, IFC and PDF](https://docs.paragontruss.com/design/getting-started/interface-overview/actions-toolbar#download) (Note: IFC downloads only include trusses and do not include walls.) * [Shared Component Sets](https://docs.paragontruss.com/design/tutorials/sharing-projects-via-shared-sets) allow you to share a read-only version of Paragon Layouts and Designs viewable by anyone that has the link (and Internet). Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: How do I know which Paragon Plan is best for me? A: [The best plan for you](http://paragontruss.com/pricing) will depend on whether you want to analyze & size truss plates and also on how you plan to use Paragon within your organization. **Free Plan** * The Free plan does not include truss plates. To include truss plates in your designs, you need a Designer plan. * The Free plan only includes live and dead loading. To specify wind loading, snow loading, sprinkler loading, etc., you need a paid plan. * The Free Plan does not include layout, only individual truss design. ### Designer vs. Estimator Plans * Designer plans include "Manufacturer Truss Designs" which include connector plates in the designs. * Estimator plans include "Prototype Truss Designs" which do not include connector plates in the designs. You are still able to view the forces at each joint on Prototype Truss Designs. ### Individual vs. Team Plans * Individual plans are great for individuals or small teams that do not need direct access to other team members' projects. You can always leverage [Paragon's Shared Sets](https://docs.paragontruss.com/design/tutorials/sharing-projects-via-shared-sets#video-transcript) functionality to share projects with anyone! * Team plans are best for when you have a number of users who need to sign in concurrently and seamlessly collaborate on each other's projects. Team plans are also suggested once you get above a certain volume of truss designs. * Starting out with 1 or more Individual Estimator or Individual Designer plans is a great first step to determining if Paragon is right for you. Enterprise Plans * Enterprise plans are intended for large design teams and manufacturers. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: Are there browser settings to help optimize Paragon app performance? A: Yes, certain browser settings—especially those related to **hardware acceleration**—can significantly impact the performance of web applications. Optimizing these settings can improve responsiveness, reduce lag, and enhance overall user experience. In addition to verifying hardware acceleration is enabled, you should ensure that your computer is current on all updates. ### What is Hardware Acceleration? Hardware acceleration allows your browser to offload specific tasks (like graphics rendering or video decoding) from the CPU to the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). This can enhance performance for graphically intensive applications. Most modern browsers enable hardware acceleration by default, but it can be toggled on or off in settings. ### When Can Hardware Acceleration Improve Performance? Enabling hardware acceleration typically helps when: * Your app renders complex visuals or animations. * You're using high-resolution displays or multiple monitors. * The system has a capable GPU. * You’re experiencing choppy graphics or UI lag. However, in some cases, it may **reduce performance**—especially if: * Your GPU is under powered or outdated. * There's a driver compatibility issue. * You're running other graphics-heavy apps simultaneously. ### Other Variables That Affect Performance While hardware acceleration plays a role, other environmental factors can significantly influence web app performance: | Variable | Impact | | -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Internet Bandwidth & Latency** | Slow or unstable connections can delay data loading and affect real-time features. | | **CPU & GPU Resources** | Low-end or overburdened systems may struggle with multitasking or rendering-intensive tasks. | | **RAM Availability** | Insufficient memory can lead to slow performance, particularly with browser-based apps that open multiple tabs. | | **Browser Extensions** | Some extensions consume significant resources or conflict with app scripts. | | **Browser Version** | Older versions may lack optimizations or have unresolved bugs. Always use the latest stable version. | | **Screen Resolution and DPI Settings** | Higher resolutions can demand more processing power, especially when scaling visuals. | ### How to Adjust Hardware Acceleration in Major Browsers ### Chrome 1. Go to `Settings > System` 2. Toggle **"Use hardware acceleration when available"** 3. Restart the browser ### Firefox 1. Go to `Settings > General` 2. Scroll to **Performance** 3. Uncheck **"Use recommended performance settings"** 4. Check or uncheck **"Use hardware acceleration when available"** ### Edge 1. Go to `Settings > System and performance` 2. Toggle **"Use hardware acceleration when available"** 3. Restart the browser ### Best Practices for Optimizing Browser Performance * Enable hardware acceleration if your device has a capable GPU. * Monitor performance; disable it if you experience glitches or freezing. * Keep your browser and graphics drivers up to date. * Limit the number of open tabs and background applications. * Temporarily disable extensions if experiencing lag. Refer to the discussion on [Browser support for WebGL](https://www.khronos.org/webgl/wiki/BlacklistsAndWhitelists) for more detailed information.
Q: Do all of the Paragon documentation, video, and training assets conform to the TPI and TPIC standards? A: The documentation and training modules provided by Paragon are for educational and informational purposes only, are general in nature, and are not intended to conform to all TPI and TPIC standards. In the event that any documentation or training modules do not conform with the TPI or TPIC standard, the standard takes precedence and supersedes any documentation or training modules published to [docs.paragontruss.com](http://docs.paragontruss.com/) or [training.paragontruss.com](http://training.paragontruss.com/).
Q: What building codes and TPI standards are supported by Paragon Design? A: Building codes, such as the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC), frequently refer to and incorporate standards developed by organizations like the Truss Plate Institute (TPI) to ensure the safety and quality of specific building components. ANSI/TPI 1 is the standard for the design and construction of metal-plate-connected wood trusses. This standard is explicitly referenced and mandated by both the IRC and IBC. It outlines minimum requirements for truss design and construction, including material specifications, connection details, and quality assurance measures. Paragon Design supports the following building codes and TPI standards: * BCNYS 2020 TPI 2014 * BCNYS 2025 TPI 2022 * CBC 2019 TPI 2014 * CBC 2022 TPI 2014 * CBC 2025 TPI 2022 * CRC 2022 TPI 2014 * CRC 2025 TPI 2022 * FBC 2017 TPI 2014 * FBC 2020 TPI 2014 * FBC 2023 TPI 2014 * FRC 2017 TPI 2014 * FRC 2020 TPI 2014 * FRC 2023 TPI 2014 * IBC 2012 TPI 2007 * IBC 2015 TPI 2014 * IBC 2018 TPI 2014 * IBC 2021 TPI 2014 * IBC 2024 TPI 2022 * IRC 2012 TPI 2007 * IRC 2015 TPI 2014 * IRC 2018 TPI 2014 * IRC 2021 TPI 2014 * IRC 2024 TPI 2022 * NCBC 2018 TPI 2014 * RCNYS 2025 TPI2022 * SCBC 2018 TPI 2014 Article Updated: 2/13/2026
Q: What QC (Quality Control) methods are supported under ANSI/TPI 2022? A: Paragon supports the QC evaluation methods defined in ANSI/TPI 2022 for metal plate connected wood trusses. Depending on the joint type and design, the following QC methods may be available: * **Fabrication Tolerance Polygon** – The primary QC method, which verifies plate placement using the fabrication tolerance polygon shown on the Joint QC Detail. * **1/8-inch Midpoint Tolerance** – Used when a Joint QC Detail does not include a fabrication tolerance polygon. The plate is acceptable if its midpoint is within 1/8 in. of the specified location. * **Alternative Positioning Procedure (Tooth Count Method)** – For eligible joints designed using standard steel tension values, plate placement may be verified by confirming the plate midpoint is within the allowable positioning tolerance and that the minimum required number of teeth are embedded in each member. * **Top Chord Bearing QC** – Supports the additional QC requirements introduced in ANSI/TPI 2022 for top chord bearing joints, including analytical positioning limits, bearing plate increase factor requirements, and updated tolerance calculations where applicable. * **Extended Chord Bearing QC** – Supports the enhanced QC requirements for extended chord bearing joints, including updated positioning tolerances, calculated rotation tolerances, and QC polygons that reflect the applicable design limitations defined by ANSI/TPI 2022. The QC method displayed for a joint is determined by the truss design and the applicable provisions of ANSI/TPI 2022. As design conditions change, the QC detail automatically reflects the appropriate positioning and tolerance requirements.
Q: Does Paragon support wall panel and EWP design and analysis? A: Currently, Paragon does not support wall framing nor EWP design. It’s possible to represent non-truss framing members, such as EWP, using Truss Envelopes that do not have corresponding, linked Component Designs. Alternatively, it’s possible to use Work Lines or Bearing Envelopes to represent non-truss framing members. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: Can I splice a chord in the first panel? A: Technically, yes, but it is generally avoided and highly regulated. While no specific building code or TPI (Truss Plate Institute) standard strictly says "you shall not splice in the first panel," doing so creates significant engineering challenges that most designers and manufacturers prefer to avoid. #### Why It’s Discouraged The first panel (the section of the chord closest to the bearing point or the heel) is commonly the area of highest stress. Splicing in this zone introduces a potential point of failure where the truss is most vulnerable. * Maximum Shear and Moment: In the bottom chord, the first panel often experiences peak tension. In the top chord, it handles the highest combined axial compression and bending moments. * The "Heel" Connection: The heel is the most critical joint in a truss. Placing a splice near it can interfere with the plate requirements for the heel itself or create a "hinge" effect that complicates the structural stability of the truss end. * Deflection Issues: Splicing in the first panel can lead to unpredictable deflection patterns, especially in floor trusses where "bounciness" is a major quality concern. *** #### When Is It "Acceptable"? You can include a splice in the first panel only if the following conditions are met: 1. Engineering Approval: If the component design fails checks at the splice due to CSI (Combined Stress Index) overages, it is unacceptable. 2. Plate Capacity: Because the first panel has high stress, the metal connector plate at the splice must be significantly larger than a mid-span splice to handle the loads. Often, the required plate size is physically too large to fit the lumber. 3. Lumber Quality: If you must splice in the first panel, you often have to "up-spec" the lumber grade (e.g., moving from #2 to DSS or MSR lumber) to compensate for the reduction in stiffness at the joint. Article Updated: 2/13/2026
## Design App - General
Q: How do you create a new project in the Paragon Design App? A: For Individual Plan users (Estimator and Designer), it's possible to create new projects and access existing projects from the Choose/Create New project menu. [Watch video.](https://youtu.be/Z4U3JDSy6XQ)
{% hint style="info" %} Hint With smaller screens (and some screen resolutions) we consolidate the menus on either side of the Project Name display. In the consolidated menu mode, the `Choose/Create Project Menu` to the left of the project name is no longer displayed, and additional commands are added to the `Project Menu` , including `Open Other Project`. image {% endhint %} For Team Plan users, this can be accomplished via Paragon Projects. [Watch video.](https://youtu.be/6xJw9JpiqIE) Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: Where are Building Codes set or adjusted? A: Under Project Settings > Load Settings > General > Design Codes
Q: What truss designs are counted towards my Plan's monthly quota? A: Each unique truss design within a given project is considered part of the monthly quota. Identical truss designs used in different projects are considered separate designs, and therefore each truss design counts towards the monthly quota. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: How do you copy/duplicate a project? **A: For Individual Plan users, copying a project is a multi-step process.** From Paragon Design: 1. Share > Create Shared Set 2. Copy Link 3. Open a new browser tab and paste the link 4. Copy to my organization For Team Plan users (Coming Soon!), this is best accomplished via Paragon Projects app. From the projects list, select a project and then Copy Project. [Watch video.](https://youtu.be/Z4U3JDSy6XQ)
Q: How do you delete a project? **A: For Individual Plan users (Estimator and Designer),** currently it's not possible to delete a project from within the Design app. **For Team Plan users, this can be accomplished via Paragon Projects.**
Q: Why am I not getting snap points where I'm expecting them? A: In both Design and Layout modes, you have the ability to snap to define member or object placement. Unique to Layout mode, when placing objects using point selection, you are presented with a list of `Active Snaps` which serve as snap "filters." If you are not getting snap points where you expect them, be sure to check and adjust the Active Snaps selections as-needed. Note that the gridlines displayed in the Design App are not recognized snap points.
Q: Does Paragon have a "construction calculator" built into the app? A: While Paragon Design does not have an integrated "construction calculator" most of the Paragon Design distance fields support arithmetic. This allows you to type in a series of values with arithmetic operators ( + and - ) in between the distance values. After changing mouse focus from the distance field, the calculated value will populate the distance field. Below are some examples of performing addition and subtraction in the distance fields using the different dimension formats:\ \\ ### Feet-Inches-Sixteenths Distance Examples 9-1-2 + 1-6-12 = 10-7-14 ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FW68qQOXY8pPMaHe3Sbim%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=91f1f2c4-0c6b-4e54-94b7-f59d16a6476e) ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FqqcCC6uJk94SmZNVoAss%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=228d7642-d4b5-4ff1-bf7f-7a0aee4a7329) 090102 + 10612 = 10-7-14 ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FQt9hzTS4uLNPfGml4dCI%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=1fc02211-6558-4fa2-a1e8-fa5f4bf3b543) ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FqqcCC6uJk94SmZNVoAss%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=228d7642-d4b5-4ff1-bf7f-7a0aee4a7329) 9-1-2 - 8-1-2 = 1-0-0 ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FJIQ9tIgTRlNrenczjJwt%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=74825f3b-2623-4150-baa8-1510a4b12145) ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FfHmqjxDop67PHAwevMXI%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=432d6ba3-4120-40f5-86fc-64fbf5844c9f) ### Architectural Distance Examples ### 9' 1-1/8" + 1' 6-3/4" = 10' 7-7/8" ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FrMxMxzOhxJ2XKdqQYNwY%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=ba8c595c-9b8c-4199-ad49-fff6240ab8bb) ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FUR5URIUGt7wXioqsiNWm%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=aad72ae9-391b-4808-b1d3-834bb84f7618) **9' 1-1/8" - 8' 1-1/8" = 1'** ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FqEZE3rc0pgTv8c3hgZVA%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=1c02154c-5f8c-41d3-8883-454e56de0666) ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2F5zx1SfJLJpTZAlwN8H0L%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=7473068b-2756-413c-a588-2997d3d180b6) Additional Info: * While the examples show only one operator, it is possible to put a string of multiple values and operators. * Syntax is essential for proper calculator functionality. * The "+" operator does not require spaces around it, but "-" does. Spaces are required for "-" to distinguish "-" from the one in an architectural string and, in some cases, Feet-Inches-Sixteenths.
Q: How reliable are material take-offs and truss/framing schedules once the model has been iterated on? A: Outputs, such as detailed material reports, are generated by the user as-needed and represent a snapshot of the project materials at the time of creation. Previously generated reports are not automatically updated throughout the project lifecycle. It is possible to leverage Paragon’s API to benefit from real-time changes and adjustments to project data in any user-managed, integrated system, such as project management , ERP or POS applications. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: What are the Risk Factors for Snow Loads A: Category I This designates structures that pose a low hazard to human life in the event of a failure . Buildings in this category, such as agricultural facilities or mini-storage warehouses, are assigned the lowest snow importance factor (e.g., *Is* \=0.8) A: Category II This is the default category for any structure that does not fit into Categories I, III, or IV. It encompasses most standard buildings, including typical one- and two-family residential homes and apartment complexes, and uses a baseline importance factor of *I s* \=1.0 A: Category III This designates structures that represent a substantial hazard in the event of failure. High-occupancy buildings, such as schools, fall into this category and are assigned a higher importance factor (e.g., *I s* \=1.1) to ensure a greater margin of safety. A: Category IV This category is reserved for essential structures or facilities containing toxic materials. Because buildings like hospitals and fire stations must remain operational during extreme weather events, they are assigned the highest snow importance factor Article Updated: 6/19/2026
Q: Why are the maximum bearing forces reported on the TDD different than the highest magnitude bearing forces represented in the Detailed Analysis History? A: This anomaly only occurs when using a hybrid wind design method (CC & MWFRS). The following are true when using a hybrid wind design method: * CC load cases are only used for individual member design. * Only non-CC load cases are considered for maximum uplift and gravity forces. Article Updated: 9/2/2026
### Design App - Design Mode
Q: How are Load Duration Factors (LDF) defined in Paragon Design? A: Paragon Design values for LDF (commonly referred to as Duration of Load or DOL) can be adjusted in the [Load Settings](https://docs.paragontruss.com/design/getting-started/interface-overview/header#load-settings) for their respective categories. Additionally, Load Duration (DOL) Factors can be defined by accessing Presets > Load Settings > Load Duration (DOL) Factors. \ Refer to the following [SBCA article](https://www.sbcmag.info/content/9/load-duration-wood-design-tradition) on LDF for additional information. Article Updated: 3/10/2026
Q: When Analyzing Component Designs why does the system display "Successfully analyzed" for trusses denoted with a red label and a "Checks Exceeded" status? A: At the time this article was published (6/25/2025), Paragon Design uses "Successfully analyzed" to mean the analysis completed without "errors" or "warnings," which does not include exceeding check capacity.
Q: The Truss Design Drawing (TDD) section for Maximum CSI notates that all members' CSI values are under 1.0, however the notes state that deflection is OVER CAPACITY. Why is that? A: CSI and "Lumber capacity" are not synonymous. CSI is a summary of check results, but it is not exhaustive of every check that is run on the lumber. The checks that are exceeded are likely not part of the CSI.
Article Created: 8/7/2025
Q: What is the difference between Worst Case vs. Index in the Analysis & History panel A: **Worst Case**: **Worst Case** reorders load cases by how close each is to failing.\ Use when: * You want to see which load cases are closest to failing * Finding why a truss failed * Seeing which members or plates require attention * Optimizing a design * Performing a normal design review **Index**: **Index** simply lists the load cases to their original defined sequence number, with no relation to structural results.\ Use when: * You want to see load cases in the order they were originally defined. * Which load case is governing * Whether a failure is caused by snow, wind, dead load, etc. * Whether changing a specific load or material will improve the design
Q: What do the terms "Port" and "Starboard" mean relative to member cuts? A: Reference lines, along with members defined from them, have an inherent direction that is not visible to the user. "Port" means "to the left" relative to the direction the line is pointed in (behind the scenes). "Starboard" means "to the right" relative to the direction the line is pointed in (behind the scenes). When editing a member's Top Cuts and Bottom Cuts, "Port" or "Starboard" append the name of the member or reference line the selected member is cut against. Edit member cuts using from the Properties Panel or use the keyboard shortcut `Shift + Click`. In the example below, the left end of W2 is cut against T1's Starboard (right) edge and also cut against W1's Port (left) edge.
Refer to How-To Guides, [Optimize Tray Ceiling Truss Designs](/design/how-to/profile-truss/optimize-tray-ceiling-truss-designs) and [Create Roof Trusses with Sloped Bottom Chords](/design/how-to/profile-truss/create-roof-trusses-with-sloped-bottom-chords) for examples of using Port and Starboard. Article Created: 8/1/2025
Q: How is camber accounted for within the Paragon software? A: Paragon software reports Camber on the Truss Design Drawing (TDD). It is possible to specify a user-defined camber from Settings > Analysis > Other Settings > Use Manual Camber. \ The Paragon software does not make any adjustments to the member lengths in a truss design with camber, nor does camber impact any of the manufacturing-specific downloads used to build the truss (e.g. Shop Drawings PDF, machinery files, etc). \ Camber is only represented on the TDD and will display either the default, calculated camber or the user-defined manual camber value defined in the settings.
If you'd like the design geometry (and member lengths) to reflect the specific camber for the component, you would need to create a component with modified geometry (e.g. sloping the BC and TC) during component creation.
Q: What material values are used for members within a component design? A: Paragon software references the National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction. You are able to see the specific design values used in Paragon designs for any member by selecting the member and accessing the Advanced properties from the right sidebar. ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FIHcPFE4qFzO8UO8FcQFB%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=157b28aa-6502-4508-b6de-1695774e0484)\ \ Specifically for Southern Yellow Pine, Paragon uses the post-2013 values as defined by the American Wood Council (AWC) in the NDS.\ \ Article Updated: 5/28/26
### Design App - Layout Mode
Q: What types of files can be imported/uploaded into Paragon Layouts? A: In Layout Mode, you are able to upload both a [DXF file](https://app.gitbook.com/o/8hsXAGhux1078Q0kONjG/s/x4iMKVYkWjHD3vmbybWf/~/diff/~/changes/85/layout-overview-1/interface-overview/layout-options-toolbar/dxf-underlay) and [PDF files as underlays](https://docs.paragontruss.com/layout/layout-overview-1/interface-overview/layout-options-toolbar/pdf-underlay). You may also upload [DXF files as Work Lines](https://docs.paragontruss.com/layout/how-to/work-lines#import-dxf-work-lines) this process currently supports .dxf files containing Polylines. For optimal results, convert all .dxf entities to Polylines prior to uploading into Paragon.
Importing walls and planes from [IFC files](https://docs.paragontruss.com/frequently-asked-questions) is in Beta. Article Updated: 7/31/26
Q: How do you override a connection? A: To override a connection, select the carried truss envelope (the end jack in this example) and change the appropriate (Right) Carried Chord property from `Auto` to `None`.
Be sure to `Regenerate Component` and `Regenerate Connections` for the modified truss envelope. Next `Analyze all Changed Components` and the connector should no longer be present.
Additionally, you can verify that any connection manual overrides are accounted for on the carrying truss by reviewing it in Design mode. Select the truss girder and review the Carried Components in the Collections subpanel.
Q: In Layout, what criteria determines if a jack truss is open or closed? A: When creating jack trusses in Layout mode, the following criteria determine if a truss will be open (no end vertical) vs. closed (with an end vertical): * Open jacks are < 7' in length and < 6' in height. * Closed jacks are ≥ 7' in length and ≥ 6' in height Additional Info: * Open jacks, by default, use toe nails for both the top and bottom chord connections. * Closed jacks, by default, use a hanger for bottom chord connections. * You can change the connection type for any carried truss by modifying the `Carried Chords` property. For example, if you change the `Carried Chords` property for an open jack from `Auto` to `Bottom` then an end vertical will be added and a hanger connection can be selected. ![image](https://2764742176-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FVaM3UH5RuJT4yyZZh6iq%2Fuploads%2FRVBxwwZ5sIuFpx5JRVkB%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=8ea6c603-77a6-4e77-b02a-55ec0bffd35b)\ \ Article Created: 7/17/2025
Q: How are multiple overlapping roof planes managed when you have angled hips, skewed valleys, and partial intersections? A: Truss profiles are automatically defined by the “first” (lowest) plane intersection. Additionally, users have full control of modifying which planes are used for each “intersection" via [`Additional Cuts`](https://docs.paragontruss.com/layout/how-to/truss-envelopes#additional-cuts). Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: If a truss passes under a valley-defining plane, does Paragon automatically profile the top chord to the upper plane? A: This depends on how the planes are cut. If you “undercut” the main plain, top chord geometry follows the underlying plane (creating a common profile). If you cut the main plane around the valley, then the top chord shape will follow the perpendicular valley planes (creating a sloped to flat profile). Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: When roof planes are altered due to a plan revision, how do existing trusses update? A: Paragon utilizes Truss Envelopes and linked/unlinked Component Designs. Truss Envelopes are dynamic and adhere to the geometry dictated by planes or user-defined [Additional Cuts](https://docs.paragontruss.com/layout/how-to/truss-envelopes#additional-cuts). Component Designs represent the actual truss design. Component Design geometry is initially defined by the Truss Envelope geometry, however, once the Component Design is created, it is its own object. This is true whether or not the Component Design is linked to the Truss Envelope. If the plane geometry changes, the Truss Envelope will be reprofiled automatically, however, the linked Component Design will not automatically change. Users can force a Component Design to update by using [Regenerate Component](https://docs.paragontruss.com/layout/how-to/truss-envelopes#regenerate-component).\ \ If/when manual edits are made to Component Designs, they are retained. `Regenerate Component` and `Convert to Settings` will expunge any edits and revert to the current or original profile, respectively.
Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How are parapet conditions typically modelled? A: Parapets are applied in Component Design mode. There are tools available to assist with the initial member placement and users have full control of manipulating any truss member as-needed. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: Does Paragon support level-to-level load transfer? A: Paragon supports truss-to-truss connectivity and load transfer. Paragon does not currently support level-to-level nor truss-to-other load transfer. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How are girder trusses identified and generated in Layout? A: Paragon does not explicitly define “Girder trusses” but rather implicitly identifies a truss as a “girder” if it carries other components. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How does Paragon represent and handle ply counts, reactions, and tributary area loading? A: Ply Counts: Plies are a property of any truss. Ply count is represented in layout by the width of the object in the scene. Reactions: Reactions for the carried truss are easily accessible from its component properties. Reactions of the carried truss show up on the carrying truss (girder) as point loads in their respective load cases. Tributary Areas: This is controlled by the user-editable on-center spacing property of a given component. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How are openings such as skylights, hatches, and larger voids introduced into the roof space? A: Paragon does not currently have an “opening” object but rather users are able to input trusses at any location using a “reference line” for placement. The best way to accomplish this today, is to represent the skylight with Work Line segments and then “trace” the Work Lines with Truss Envelopes. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How are non-standard loads applied to localized regions of the floor system rather than globally, such as for heavier loading requirements at corridors? A: General loading is controlled at a variety of levels, including Project, Building, Level, and Component. It is not currently possible to add or alter loading in a specific area of a layout, but rather loading can be altered and refined for individual component designs. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How does Paragon handle web alignment across adjacent trusses where strongbacks are required but webs don’t naturally line up? A: Paragon currently does not have any purpose-built tools to aid in web alignment across components. This would be best accomplished by duplicating a template Component Design and linking it to a different Truss Envelope and then modifying the design in Design mode. Alignment can be validated using the 3D view in Layout. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How are recessed zones (e.g. shower pans) handled? A: Shower pan drops are best depicted in Layout using a `Step`. The Step object is added to a Feature Pattern Container and currently applies a vertical step in the bottom chord of a Feature Pattern Truss. Once the location of the vertical step is defined in the Layout, it is easy to manipulate the individual chord and web members in Design mode to finalize the design. It’s also possible to simply determine the location of the pan using user-dimensions and then apply the chord/web modifications in the component design. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How does Paragon represent and account for large mechanical ducts and other HVAC voids/obstructions? A: Feature Pattern Container `Chase` objects are supported and can be used to force a void in the Component Design webbing. Currently, there are no tools to force a “void” in the layout of trusses, though it's possible to use boundary-defining Work Line segments to create a void and frame around the void with Truss Envelopes. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: When MEP openings or services move late in the process, does the framing update cleanly, or is manual rework required? A: With current functionality, a designer would modify the void-defining object in Layout to properly represent the new location & specifications, and then do one of two things: 1. Regenerate the affected components and finalize the new designs. 2. Using the existing component, apply the necessary changes manually to accommodate the new void specifications. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How clean are the roof and floor truss placement diagrams straight out of the Layout? A: Currently, there are few “drafting” tools available natively within Paragon. Paragon currently supports generating a basic PDF framing layout. Currently, the most effective workflow is to generate a Layout .dxf file and finalize the framing layout in a CAD-specific application. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How does Paragon manage revisions, and how easy is it to identify what’s changed between iterations? A: Currently, Paragon does not have any purpose-built features to assist with revisions. Depending on the scope of a revision, a user may be required to modify the Layout, Component Designs, and the Truss Placement diagram (.dxf). Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: What is included in Paragon-generated IFC files? A: Currently, the Paragon IFC includes the location and 3D geometry of truss members and plates, however, the specific lumber and plate meta-data is not included. IFC file includes truss label/ID but does not include other metadata such as reactions. Article Updated: 2/6/2026
Q: How do I input non-orthogonal walls in Paragon Layout? A: For non-orthogonal wall creation, the most efficient way to accomplish this is to upload either a [PDF file as an underlay](https://github.com/ParagonTruss/ParagonDocs/blob/main/Docs/Layout/layout-overview-1/interface-overview/layout-options-toolbar/pdf-underlay.md) or a [DXF file as Work Lines](https://github.com/ParagonTruss/ParagonDocs/blob/main/Docs/Layout/how-to/work-lines.md#import-dxf-work-lines). In both of these cases, you can create walls by tracing the uploaded "objects" using the referenced snap points from the uploads. Another option is to use [Work Lines](https://github.com/ParagonTruss/ParagonDocs/blob/main/Docs/Layout/how-to/work-lines.md#point-and-angle). With Work Lines, you are able to define a start point and an angle for which to create a Work Line. While this is a possible solution, it is labor intensive. Article Created: 5/29/2026
## Engineering Network
Q: What is the Paragon Engineering Network? A: Paragon Engineering Network members provide component review and repair services for the Paragon software community. Engineering Network members are listed within the software when users request [component review and/or repairs](/design/how-to/general/share-trusses-and-request-seals-or-repairs). Note that all service agreements provided through the Engineering Network are between the Paragon software user and the Engineering Network member. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: What is required to join the Paragon Engineering Network? A: Becoming a member of the Paragon Engineering Network requires the following: * Going through training and onboarding * Signing up and maintaining at least one [Annual Designer Plan](https://www.paragontruss.com/pricing) * Agreeing to a fixed fee per sealed truss design or repair drawing
Q: Who are Paragon Engineering Network providers? A: The following engineering service providers are experienced reviewing and sealing Paragon truss designs and repairs. | Provider | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [Dansco Engineering](https://danscoengineering.com/) | | [Fieldstone Architecture & Engineering](https://fieldstoneae.com/) | | [Monta Consulting & Design](https://montaconsulting.com/) | | [PE Robbins Engineering](https://www.perobbins.com/) | Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: How much does it cost for component review seals and repairs? A: Because all service agreements provided through the Engineering Network are between the Paragon software user and the Engineering Network member, it is suggested to contact each provider to discuss your specific use case. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: What is the average turnaround time for component review seals and repairs? A: Because all service agreements provided through the Engineering Network are between the Paragon software user and the Engineering Network member, it is suggested to contact each provider to discuss your specific use case. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
## Training
Q: What training options are available? A: Training options are captured at [paragontruss.com/training](https://www.paragontruss.com/training) and include: * [Paragon Training Academy](https://training.paragontruss.com/) * [Live Office Hours](https://www.paragontruss.com/training#office-hours) * [Instructor-Led Training](https://form.jotform.com/260142846588162) (Intended for Enterprise, Team & Individual Paid Plans) Article Updated: 1/27/2025
Q: What is the Paragon Training Academy? A: The [Paragon Training Academy](https://training.paragontruss.com/) includes self-paced, guided training modules covering core skills and workflows. Courses include: * [Course 1: Intro to Paragon](https://training.paragontruss.com/c1-intro-to-paragon) (3 hours 19 minutes) * [Course 2: Truss Design Training](https://training.paragontruss.com/c2-truss-design-training) (1 hour 42 minutes) * [Course 3: Intermediate Layout & Design Workflow](https://training.paragontruss.com/c3-intermediate-layout-and-design) (4 hours 57 minutes) Article Updated: 1/27/2025
Q: How hard is it to learn the Paragon software? A: Relatively easy, but you can find out for yourself by signing up for a [free account](https://design.paragontruss.com/?loginPanel=signUp) and a [one month free trial](https://design.paragontruss.com/?upgradeAccount=true).
Q: Does Paragon have documentation or a Help site? [Paragon Documentation](https://docs.paragontruss.com/) includes tutorials, how-to guides, and other helpful resources. Utilize the Ai-Powered Search to help find specific topics within a given app or across the entire Docs site. [Paragon Documentation](https://docs.paragontruss.com/) is broken out into the following areas: * [Design](https://docs.paragontruss.com/design) * [Layout](https://docs.paragontruss.com/layout) * [Assembly](https://docs.paragontruss.com/assembly) * [Materials](https://docs.paragontruss.com/materials) * [Pricing](https://docs.paragontruss.com/materials) * [API](https://docs.paragontruss.com/api) * [Release Notes](https://docs.paragontruss.com/release-notes) Article Updated: 1/27/2025
## Truss Design & Custom Development Services
Q: Does Paragon offer truss design services? A: Yes. Paragon Design Services options are captured at [paragontruss.com/services](https://www.paragontruss.com/services) and include: * On-Demand Design: A pay-as-you-go service. Trained designers will review the request, provide an estimate, and complete the design work for accepted work. * Component Manufacturer Extension (CMX): A service where a Paragon-trained designer is placed with a CM and is dedicated to work for that CM. The CM pays a defined rate, based on a set number of hours per week. Article Updated: 1/27/2025
Q: What types of truss design services are available? A: The following services are available: * Conversion Designs: Match existing truss designs and convert to alternative connector plate. * Estimate Designs: Preliminary, cost-effective designs accurate enough for feasibility and general costing. * Pre-Production Designs: \~80% complete designs, requiring customer review and CM optimization prior to sealing/fabrication. * Repair Designs: Create design replicating field conditions to use in collaboration with the reviewing engineer. * Truss Placement Diagrams: Layouts and truss placement plans (.pdf and .dxf format) * Shared Set: Read-only Paragon layout and designs from which you can download available outputs, including material and fabrication information. Check out [paragontruss.com/services](https://www.paragontruss.com/services) for more information and to inquire about Paragon Design Services. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
Q: Does Paragon offer custom software development services? A: Yes. Paragon offers custom development solutions. Learn more at [paragontruss.com/custom-development](https://www.paragontruss.com/custom-development). Article Updated: 1/27/2025
## API & Integrations
Q: What integrations does Paragon offer? A: Our open API can be used to create custom integrations for your business, connecting Paragon to other software solutions. Please review our [API Page](https://www.paragontruss.com/api) for more information on integrations. While custom integrations will require some technical expertise, the integration with [Make.com](http://make.com/) simplifies connecting Paragon to other applications. Article Updated: 12/18/2025
# Welcome to the Paragon Training Academy The Paragon Training Academy aims to provide a "guided" training experience. Our Core Curriculum courses cover introductory and intermediate skills that can be applied by all users; however, some features included in the courses may only be available for certain plans. [Check your account type](https://services.paragontruss.com/account) if you're not sure which Paragon plan you currently have.
Our team is hard at work organizing content into course formats. You can see currently available and planned courses below. ## Core Curriculum

Course 1:

Intro to Paragon

Intro Training Cover.pngC1: Intro to Paragon

Course 2:

Truss Design Training

Truss Design Training.pngC2: Truss Design Training

Course 3:

Intermediate Layout & Design

Layout Training.pngC3: Intermediate Layout & Design
{% hint style="warning" %} The documentation and training modules provided by Paragon are for educational and informational purposes only, are general in nature, and are not intended to conform to all TPI and TPIC standards. In the event that any documentation or training modules do not conform with the TPI or TPIC standard, the standard takes precedence and supersedes any documentation or training modules published to docs.paragontruss.com or training.paragontruss.com. {% endhint %} # Course 1: Intro to Paragon Estimated Completion Time: 3 Hours and 10 minutes
## Course Overview This introductory course provides a guided tour of the Paragon Design App and helps new users become comfortable with the interface, core features, and general workflows. You’ll learn how to manage projects, create basic layouts, and design truss components using essential tools and techniques. The course also introduces practical features that streamline your workflow, such as importing DXF files to simplify bearing creation and accessing Download options for outputting your work. Through a sample project, you’ll apply these tools in a simplified, real-world workflow that sets the stage for more advanced courses and capabilities. Whether you're brand new to Paragon or looking for a refresher on the basics, this course provides a solid foundation for success with the Paragon Design App. This course lays the groundwork for deeper exploration and advanced application of Paragon App tools and features. ## Course Objectives By the end of the course, you'll be equipped to: * Set up a user account and initiate new projects * Navigate the Paragon Design App with confidence * Create and manage projects, layouts, and designs * Design simple truss components and run basic structural analyses * Independently manage basic layouts and truss designs * Import DXF files to assist with bearing input * Access and understand available Download options * Follow a complete introductory workflow from start to finish ## Target Audience New or early users of Paragon software # 1.1 Sign Up & Log In Estimated Completion Time: 3 minutes
## Description This module provides instruction on how to create your Paragon account and log in. ## Objectives * Understand how to create an account. * Successfully log in to Paragon. * Know where to find documentation and video resources. ## Learning Activity Watch the video and follow along to create an account and get started. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome to Paragon. In this quick tutorial, we'll show you how to sign up and create your Paragon account so you can start designing trusses. Let's begin first to open your browser and go to ParagonTruss.com. Click sign up. Here. You'll fill out the registration form with your email. Your first name, your last name. Please read through the terms of service, and check the box, then click on sign up. Now head to your inbox and look for our verification email. If you don't see it, check your spam folder.   It'll look something like this. Click the verify email to activate your account. Once verified, go back to ParagonTruss.com, then Click log in. Enter your email and your password, that you, created, earlier for your credentials, and that's it. You're all set up. Thanks for watching and welcome to Paragon !
# 2.1 Design Interface Estimated Completion Time: 9 minutes
## Description This module provides an overview of the Design mode interface. ## Objectives * Navigate and interact with the Paragon Design App. * Identify interface elements in Design Mode. ## Additional Resources * [Design Mode Interface Docs](/design/getting-started/interface-overview) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome back, In this module, we’ll walk through the user interface of the Design Mode in the Paragon Design App, highlighting key tools and navigation areas that support component design workflows. On the left is the Scene Options Toolbar. These controls allow you to modify the current view, such as setting the camera, adding dimensions, displaying the analog model, showing reference lines and a variety of View Options. The Scene displays the active component. This is the primary workspace for creating, editing, and evaluating your design in real-time. In the lower right of the Scene, you’ll find live mouse coordinate tracking, which provides precise X/Y positioning relative to the scene. At the top of the interface is the Header Bar. Here, release notes for new features and updates will be displayed, allowing you to stay current with software. The Choose and Create Project menu, provides options to open existing projects or start new ones. The project title is displayed centrally for the active session. To the right, you’ll find project configuration settings and project-level commands such as sharing, estimating, and uploading. You’ll also find general settings for managing user preferences, accessing documentation, and submitting feedback. Additionally, there's a keyboard shortcut (hotkey) reference, designed to streamline high-frequency actions. Advanced users can take full advantage of these hotkeys to navigate the interface and execute commands more efficiently. The Left Sidebar functions as a Component Explorer. It lists all components within the current project, with search capabilities and total component quantities displayed. You can collapse or expand the sidebar depending on your screen real estate or workflow preferences. The Right Sidebar houses the Properties Panel. This panel dynamically updates based on the selected component or group, allowing you to modify attributes, adjust parameters, and manage applied settings. It serves as the control center for fine-tuning design details. The Actions Toolbar, located above the main working area, provides access to essential design tools used throughout the component design process. From this toolbar, you can generate and analyze components, export components, view your action history, and access notifications. It also includes tools to adjust settings, edit trusses and perform undo or redo operations—critical for iterative design. Each of these tools are optimized to support an efficient and streamlined component design workflow. In the lower-left corner, the Notifications Toolbar displays notifications relevant to your current workflow. Click the notification message to display it in the Left Sidebar. That wraps up our overview of the Paragon Design Mode interface. Understanding this layout is essential for effective component design. Thanks for watching
# 2.2 Layout Interface Estimated Completion Time: 5 minutes
## Description This module provides an overview of the Layout interface within the Paragon Design App. ## Objectives * Navigate and interact with Paragon Design App. * Identify interface elements in Layout Mode. ## Additional Resources * [Layout Mode Interface Docs](/layout/layout-overview-1/interface-overview) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome back. In this module we'll explore the layout mode interface in the paragon Design app. Highlighting essential tools and navigation areas that support component layout workflows. Along the left side, you'll find the left sidebar for options to filter between linked and unlinked components. Search for specific items, and get a visual overview of all components in the project. The component name represents the analysis status. Blue means a component hasn't been analyzed. Green indicates that a component has been analyzed and passes checks, while red represents a component that has been analyzed but fails, one or more checks. The right sidebar helps you navigate your selections and view the collection of objects in the layout. It also allows you to view and adjust the properties of individual components. The layout options toolbar provides tools to control how items are displayed within the scene. You can toggle between 2D and 3D views, reset the view or focus on selected items, additional tools, let you add and manage dimensions, show and hide roofs and roof planes, as well as adjust their visibility, and set the render mode to define object visibility, and appearance within the scene. The actions toolbar includes create and download options. You can create new components also accessible via the right click menu, or use the download feature to generate a variety of output files. That wraps up our overview of the Paragon layout mode interface. Understanding the interface is key to effectively creating and working with 3D layouts in layout mode. Thanks for watching.
# 2.3 Tools & Features Estimated Completion Time: 9 minutes
## Description This module provides an introduction to Paragon Design App tools and features. ## Objectives * Identify essential tools and features in Design and Layout Modes. ## Learning Activity Review documentation on Paragon Design App tools and features. * [Design Mode Tools and Features](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features) * [Layout Mode Tools and Features](/layout/layout-overview-1/tools-and-features) # 2.4 Self-Assessment Please allow the embedded assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 3.1 Creating & Navigating Projects via Paragon Design Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes
## Description This module covers creating and navigating projects from within the Paragon Design App. ## Objectives * Open an existing project. * Create a new project. * Open a sample project and "Copy to My Organization." ## Additional Resources * [Creating Projects Docs](/design/how-to/general/create-projects-and-components) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video, we’ll go over creating and navigating projects from within the Paragon Design App. To search existing projects, create a new project, or open sample projects, from the header bar, click Choose/Create Project. The Choose Project dialog displays a list of all projects within your organization. The Search bar allows you to quickly find a project by name, which is especially useful as your list of projects grows. To open a project, simply hover over the desired project and click to open the project. Next, we’ll explore how to create a new project. Returning to the Choose/Create Project icon, select the Create Project tab. The Create Project dialog automatically populates the Project Name. Rename the project and set the other required fields; like Region and Design Code. Required fields, are marked with an asterisk and must be populated to create a new project. There are several additional fields available, but since they aren’t required, we’ll leave them unchanged for this demonstration. For paid plans, you can review and modify this information via the Project Properties after project creation. Now, click Create, and just like that, your new project is set up! Next we’ll explore how to open a sample project and copy it to your organization. Returning to the Choose/Create Project icon, select the Open Sample tab. Your Paragon software comes preloaded with a few sample projects to help you get started and provide some inspiration! Select Sample Layout which will open a read-only view of the project. Before you are able to edit this project, you’ll need to click Copy to my Organization. I hope this video helped you better understand how to navigate projects in the Paragon Design App. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 3.2 Sharing Projects via Shared Sets Estimated Completion Time: 7 minutes
## Description This module introduces how to share and view projects in the Paragon Design App. ## Objectives * Share projects outside your organization. * Explain how to create a Shared Component Set. * Open a Shared Set. * Copy a Shared Set to your organization. * Describe how change notifications apply to Shared Sets. ## Additional Resources * [Share Projects and Designs Docs](/design/how-to/general/share-trusses-and-request-seals-or-repairs) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome back! In this video, we’ll go over how to share and view projects in the Paragon Design App. When collaborating with others, you may choose to share your project with someone outside your organization. Paragon’s Share feature allows you to create a view-only version of your project, ensuring that the recipient can see everything but cannot make any changes. To share a project, click Share to create a new Shared Set. A Shared Set can contain one or more components and can even include the Layout, if applicable. Components must be analyzed to be added to a Shared Set. Select the analyzed components you want to share. Next, name the Shared Component Set and then click Create Shared Component Set. Once the Shared Set is created, anyone outside your organization can access the shared set in view-only mode. Once shared, you have several options: you can Copy the Link, Download design drawings, Email the shared component set, or Request a seal or repair. If you update project components or the layout after sharing, the changes won’t appear in the shared set. Create a new set and share the updated link. If the shared set owner makes changes to the original project, anyone viewing the existing shared set will be notified that changes have been made and to contact the owner for any updates. Let’s go back, select Share once again, this time select Choose Existing Component Set, and now we see all our existing component sets. Click on an existing shared set and you’ll see the same share options as before. We’ll click Copy Link which copies the link to your (virtual) clipboard. Now, let’s try opening a Shared Component Set. Using the link that’s copied to our clipboard, Open  a new browser tab and paste the link. As you can see, everything is in view-only mode, meaning no modifications can be made. This ensures that changes cannot be made to the original project. If you want a copy of the shared project where you have the ability to edit and modify it, simply click Copy to my Organization. This will duplicate the project so you can modify it without affecting the original, shared version. And that’s how you can collaborate using Shared Component Sets! I hope you found this helpful. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 3.3 Understanding Paragon Settings Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes
## Description This module provides an overview for managing and working with Paragon Design App settings. ## Objectives * Describe the different Project Settings available in the Paragon Design App. * Explain how Project Settings differ from Truss Settings. * Apply updated setting to one or more components. ## Additional Resources * [Project and Component Settings Docs](https://docs.paragontruss.com/design/how-to/modify-project-and-component-settings) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video, we’ll provide an overview on managing and working with Paragon Design App settings. This tutorial uses the Sample Layout project, which is accessible from Choose/Create Project menu and then under Open Sample. Once you have the file opened, go to the menu along the top right and select Copy to My Organization. You are now able to edit the file and make changes as needed for this demonstration. Let’s review Project Settings which include load settings, analysis settings, material settings, and feature pattern settings.  It’s important to differentiate between Project Settings and Truss Settings. Project Settings apply across the entire project, while Truss Settings apply only to the active component. Click Project Settings. Let’s start with load settings. Here, you’ll see a list of components organized in a hierarchy. At the top, we have the project name. Unchecking this will deselect all components under it. Next, we have the “defaults” load settings. These settings apply to newly created components. Select to check the box for only the Defaults settings. As an example, let's set 30 for Top Chord Live Load, next set 30 for Top Chord Dead Load, and then set 10 for Bottom Chord Dead Load. Remember this for later. Next Click Save. Now, return to the Design scene and create a new component. For the purposes of this demonstration, use a predefined shape from the Component Insertion dialog. Select the first truss in the list for the shape, then click Next. Then Insert. Now, let’s verify the default loading was applied to the new component. Go to truss settings by clicking the Truss Settings icon. Next select Load Settings. This brings up the loading for the selected component. As we can see, the recently modified default settings were applied to the new component. However, if we go back and change the Project Settings for the default settings for the Top Chord Live Load and set it to 40. Press enter to set the value. Click Save, the existing components won’t be affected. Select the component from the list. Return back to Truss Settings to verify the Top Chord is still at 30. The load settings for this component are preserved and reflect the settings upon creation. To modify load settings for an existing component, select the component and note the name. Go to Project Settings, check the box for your component. Now change the load to 20 for Top Chord Live Load, and 10 for Top Chord Dead Load, and 10 for Bottom Chord Dead Load. Press enter and click to Save the settings. Next, let’s verify the loading changes were applied by reviewing the active Truss Settings. As you can see the settings have been modified for an existing component. Next, we’ll change load settings for multiple components simultaneously. Select the components you want to modify and then let's change the wind speed to 150. Now click to save these settings. Let's verify the changes were applied. Select one of the trusses we just adjusted. Go to Truss Settings to verify the applied load settings. We can see the wind speed change were applied to the components. Repeat for the other truss. Analysis Settings are applied similarly to Load Settings. Adjust any of the settings and define whether the settings should be applied to the (defaults) and/or to existing components. Next we’ll review Material Settings. Material Settings work a little differently compared to Load and Analysis Settings. To manage Material Settings, you first adjust the setting then you choose whether to apply them to new components or to all components. However, you can override these settings for individual components using the specific Truss Settings. Feature Pattern Settings are project-wide settings. Specifically for feature pattern trusses, more known as “floor trusses”. Details are covered in another video. The general logic is the same, however, changes to Feature Pattern Settings only apply to new components. Now that we’ve made changes, let's analyze the components. Access the Projects Menu and click Analyze All Changed Components. The analysis will run for all unanalyzed components in the project. Finally, access the User Settings from the Profile icon. Here you can access Paragon Docs, send feedback, customize user settings, and log out of your account. The User settings are covered in more detail on our Paragon Docs site. And that’s an overview of Paragon Design App settings. I hope this video helped you better understand Paragon Project Settings vs. Truss Settings and how they are applied. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 3.4 Self-Assessment Please allow the embedded assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 4.1 Creating & Webbing Components Estimated Completion Time: 22 minutes
## Description This module demonstrates how to create a new component and modify its webs. ## Objectives * Describe the different truss types supported within the Paragon Design App. * Demonstrate three ways to create new components from Design mode. * Delete, add, and reverse webs. ## Additional Resources * [Creating Components Documentation](/design/how-to/general/create-projects-and-components) * [Member Documentation](/design/how-to/general/members) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video we’ll be creating a simple component and demonstrating how to modify its webs. There are a variety of settings available during the creation process that can be found after a component has been created and inserted. These settings will be mentioned here but covered in detail in a separate video. Let’s get started! To start creating a component, let’s make sure you are in “Design mode” by clicking Design from the Header menu. If there are no components in the project, the Design mode will start the process of creating a new component. The following will demonstrate the process of creating components.   The three steps in creating a component are: 1. Define the Basic shape 2. Define the Shape details 3. Define the Structural details Let's take a look at the first step, Defining the basic shape of the component. There are two types of components - Profile and Feature Pattern. Profile components are defined by their profile or outline. These are most commonly known as roof trusses. Feature Pattern trusses are defined by their features or end conditions and interior patterns. These are most commonly known as floor trusses. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will focus on creating a profile for a roof truss. There are three methods for this process. Each containing three steps to finalize and insert the Component. Here we will discuss and show the three methods and then we will walk through the full process using the Profile Method. First let's take a look at Method 1. Before we do, click cancel and then OK to confirm, if you have started or are in the middle of a component to start from a fresh scene. Method 1: Draw a Freeform, profile from scratch For this method, you simply click create and select component then move your mouse in the scene and click to draw the lines that define the truss profile. You can use the Snapping Mode tool to adjust the snapping behavior for the lines being drawn. To draw the upper profile, simply move your mouse below the bearings and click in the empty space. Click one more time to close out the profile . Click Next, and then Insert, to complete the truss. To start the next Method. Right Click inside the scene and click Component to start. Method 2: Manually input lines with the Profile Line tools For those who prefer to input lines manually, the Profile Line tools contain Distance and Slope inputs for line definition. Enter 12 feet for the Distance and 6 12 for the slope. Click Add Line. Next we will add the other side of the truss with a -6 12 for the slope. Click, Add line. Lines can be added and deleted using the Add Line and Back Up buttons. Next Click, on Close Profile, and then, Next, and then, Insert, to place the truss. Now let's use the last Method. Right Click inside the scene and click on Component to start method 3. Method 3: Pick a common shape For our third example we’ll create another component and select from predefined shapes. There are a few common truss shapes to choose from as a starting point for a component. The choices are Common, Gable, Jack, Scissor, and a few others. For this demo we will select Common. Review the shape details as shown in the boxes for Length, Slope, Heel Heights and Overhangs. If needed you can edit the truss to meet the needs for your design. For demonstration purposes we will leave the settings as they are. Now select Next and then Insert. Once again the truss is placed. Now let's walk through creating a truss to demonstrate the steps. For this tutorial, we will use the Profile Line tool. So, let's start by creating a new component. Click Create from the menu or Right Click inside the scene. In the Right sidebar we will enter a few values. The default length for the profile is twenty-four feet. For this tutorial, we will accept that and move to the profile lines. For the first line, enter twelve feet and press tab. Next we will enter the Slope to be six twelve. To accept click “Add Line." For the next line, leave the distance at twelve feet, but change the slope to a negative six twelve to add the other top chord and click “Add Line.” At this point, the top chords are defined. We are looking for a flat bottom chord so we can simply click “Close Profile” to finish the profile and move on to the Shape Details. The second step is defining the shape details. The shape details panel allows you to modify the overall length, the heel settings for both left and right sides, the left and right overhangs, and more to dial in the specifics of your profile. For our example, let’s remove the overhangs by setting the Left Overhang Distance to 0 and Right Overhang Distance to 0. Press Enter to accept the values Great. Click the Next button to move on to Step 3. The third and final step is defining the structural details. Here you can modify the spacing, plies, top and bottom max panel lengths and more. Additionally, you can make modifications to the component in the scene. For additional resources on editing details visit Paragon Documentation. For this truss, we will move into editing in the scene window. Now let's right-click the bottom profile line and click “Add Panel” to create a simple Howe Truss. The truss configuration should have updated to look like this. If needed additional details can be edited in the dialog box panel. You can access and modify the Load Settings, Analysis Settings, and Material settings for this component. For now, we will leave these set to their defaults. Click the Insert button to finish component creation! Even after a component has been inserted, it can be further modified. It is easy to add, modify, and remove webs. Let’s say you want to modify the two angled members on either side of the central member of this truss to intersect at the top instead of the bottom. One method would be to delete the member and draw a new one. Simply right-click a member and select Delete. Now that the member has been deleted, a new one can be added by either clicking the Create button or right-clicking in the scene and selecting the Member option. We are going to add a new member by clicking the 2 desired end points. Move your cursor over the intersection of the top right side of the central member and the top chord and click. Do the same for the other end by moving your mouse over the intersection of the left side of the vertical member and the bottom chord and click. The member is inserted and cut automatically. Press escape. Your truss should now look like this. Another helpful tool for this scenario would be right-clicking the other member and selecting the “Reverse Web” option. This dynamically reverses the web and automatically updates the cuts. There are many additional tools and shortcuts for creating and editing components. These can be found on Paragon’s documentation site, but for now this truss can be called complete! And that does it for an introduction to component insertion and web modification. Thanks for watching and see you in the next one!
# 4.2 Feature Pattern End Conditions Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes
## Description This module covers how to select a feature pattern truss and modify its end conditions. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to select a feature pattern truss during component creation. * Locate the End Condition settings tools. * Customize and apply end conditions to a truss. ## Additional Resources [Feature Pattern Settings Docs](/design/how-to/feature-pattern-truss/feature-pattern-settings) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video, we will discuss feature pattern end conditions and the tools for modifying them. Let’s get started.  Open the Component Creation panel and navigate to the predefined truss shapes. Select the feature pattern truss to move on to the feature pattern shape details. Here you will see some of the same inputs as profile trusses, such as length, depth and slope, but you will also see some new tools specific to feature pattern trusses. This video focuses on the Left and Right End tools which are used to define the end conditions for feature pattern trusses.  Within Shape Details, we provide a selection of commonly used end conditions. You can apply these conditions to your truss simply by clicking them. As you select these options, you will see the truss update in the scene and additional settings will become available that are relevant to the selected end condition. If you click the customize button, additional options will become available for further customization of the end condition beyond the predefined set. After making edits to a selected end condition, you can click the NEW button to create a new preset end condition with your settings. A new preset image will appear with a number to denote the new, customized end condition.  This new preset can be updated or deleted if changes take place in the future. If at any point you need to revert your changes, simply click the reset button. Sometimes, when modifying both ends, the right panel can become a little crowded. If necessary, it is possible to click and drag the edge of the panel to expand it - allowing more room for end condition edits. That wraps up this quick explanation of the end condition tools available to you. See you in the next one!
# 4.3 Feature Pattern Interior Conditions Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes
## Description This module covers how to select a feature pattern truss and modify its interior conditions to accommodate a tray ceiling. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to select a feature pattern truss during component creation. * Locate the Interior Condition settings tools. * Customize and apply interior conditions to a truss. ## Additional Resources [Feature Pattern Settings Docs](/design/how-to/feature-pattern-truss/feature-pattern-settings) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video, we will discuss feature pattern interior conditions and the tools for modifying them. Let’s get started. Open the Component Creation panel and navigate to the predefined truss shapes. Select the feature pattern truss to move on to the feature pattern shape details. Here you will see some of the same inputs as profile trusses, such as length, depth and slope, but you will also see some new tools specific to feature pattern trusses. In this video we are going to focus on the Interior Conditions tools. This is where you can modify and define the interior conditions for your truss. Within Shape Details, we provide a selection of commonly used interior conditions. You can apply multiple conditions to your truss simply by editing the settings. As you select these options, additional settings will become available that are relevant to the interior condition. Let’s take a look at the tray option for this example. First we need to specify the distance the tray will be from the left side of the truss. Input 4 feet and hit tab to move on to the Step Up Distance. You should see the truss update in the scene. Now, we will leave the width at 8 feet but update the step up and down distance to 10 inches. Great, now we have a tray in our truss. At this point, you can select any other type of interior condition and it will save the changes you made for the tray and allow you to add an additional interior setting. If you need to edit or remove an applied interior condition, simply select the condition and make changes to the settings or click the delete button. That wraps up this quick explanation of the interior condition tools available to you. We hope this gives you a better understanding of the tools at your disposal when designing feature pattern trusses. See you in the next one!
# 4.4 Truss Settings & Analysis Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes
## Description This module introduces the different analysis options and how to use Analysis & History to identify and address over-capacity design checks. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to change load settings and chord materials. * Explain differences between Analyze and Detailed Analysis. * Describe Detailed Analysis and Analysis History. * Lock and Unlock members. ## Additional Resources * [Component Settings Docs](/design/how-to/general/modify-project-and-component-settings) * [Component Analysis Docs](/design/how-to/general/run-and-view-component-analysis) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video, we will go over truss analysis, how to run a detailed analysis, and modifying truss settings to change analysis results. Let’s get started! For this example, we are going to create a component using the pre-defined truss shape. Let’s click the Create button from the Actions toolbar or you can right click in the scene and select Component. We will select the Common Truss from the preset trusses. Let's accept the default settings, and click Next. Now, click the Insert button. Once inserted, the truss can be analyzed. To analyze the truss click the “ANALYZE” button in the actions toolbar. The status of the truss analysis can be seen in the explorer subpanel in the left sidebar. If all checks pass, the label will show green, if the label is red, it indicates some checks are over-capacity. And if blue, the label notes the truss needs to be analyzed. All checks should pass for this truss, and should be showing green. Let’s say your project calls for a bottom chord, live load of 30. To edit this setting we will click the Truss Settings button, and then select, Load Settings. We will change the Bottom Chord, Live Load to 30. To confirm these changes, Press Enter. Then, we will click the “Change Settings for This Component” button. Great. Before we analyze the truss, let’s take a look at the current lumber grade. Move your cursor, and Hover over the Bottom Chord. Information on the lumber will appear. Note, the current lumber grade is set to Southern Pine, and Number 1. Let’s now re-analyze the truss, by clicking Analyze, from the Actions toolbar. Now, if you hover over the bottom chords again, you will notice the grades have automatically upgraded to address the increase in load; however, we want to use Number 2 Grade for the bottom chords. While you are hovering over one of the bottom chords, Right click, and then select Edit Lumber. Here, we will change the grade. Select Number 2 from the Grade list. Press Escape, and then repeat the process for the other piece of lumber. Once again, hover over the other bottom chord and right click. Now, select Edit Lumber. And Select Number 2 from the Grade list. Whenever a Manual change is made to chords, members, or plate pairs, the modified item is Locked. When a truss is analyzed, locked items will not change, therefore they will not be automatically upgraded. You can see the status by hovering over each to display the tooltip, which will show Locked or Unlocked. Items can be locked or unlocked by hovering over and then right-clicking, then selecting Lock or Unlocked. You can also use the Lock Options tool in the actions toolbar to lock and unlock all items at once. And from the same Lock Options you can hover over “Lock Lumber” to show items with the “Lock” status. Now, with our bottom chords changed to Number 2, let’s click to Re-Analyze the truss. This time, we have over-capacity design checks. Let’s click the Analysis and History button from the Actions Toolbar. This will open the analysis panel to provide a list of what’s going on for the selected component. At the top of the panel, we can see the history of changes and analysis. Further down we can see the information on, Load Cases, Plates {if part of your plan}, Members, and Joints. If we expand the Members dropdown we see the bottom chords are at 167 percent. For more information we will run a detailed analysis. To do so, click the Gear icon on the Analyze button. Here, select Detailed, then click the Analyze button again. This will run a detailed analysis. Detailed analysis, is disabled by default due to the potential increase in analysis time, especially for larger projects. Now, we can dig back into the Analysis and History panel to see specifically which checks are over-capacity. You'll also notice, references, listed here to where those checks come from within the TPI codes. Moving along. We want to keep the grade at No. 2, so given this extra information let’s change the dimensions of the boards to 2x6. We can modify both bottom chords if we click to select one of the bottom chords then while pressing the Control button we can add the other bottom chord to the selection. Now we can right-click, select Edit Lumber, and from the Dimensions list select 2x6. Press escape or click off into the scene somewhere to clear the dialog box. We want to now reanalyze the truss. To see the truss has passed we can review the values in the left sidebar. Let’s close out the Analysis and History information by pressing the X. We can now see that all checks pass! And that does it for an introduction to truss settings and analysis! Thanks for watching and see you in the next one!
# 4.5 Self-Assessment Please allow the embedded assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 5.1 Creating Walls Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes
## Description This module demonstrates how to create and insert walls for a basic layout. ## Objectives * Explain what a wall is. * Describe the the different properties of a wall. * Demonstrate the different input methods for creating walls. ## Additional Resources * [Training Plan 1](https://design.paragontruss.com/VUVG8JHTWV/0/project/d3b528e6-775b-4715-9953-52dfe2a7a30e/0) accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * [Bearing Envelope Docs](/layout/how-to/bearing-envelopes) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:   Welcome! In this video, we'll be creating Walls for a basic layout in the Paragon Design App. For this demo will be referring to Training Plan 1, which is a 30 foot by 20 foot rectangular structure with a four twelve roof slope and gables on both ends. For reference, a copy of the completed Training Plan 1 project is accessible from the Choose Create Project menu, and then under Open Sample. Let's begin with creating a wall. Walls may represent elements in the layout that can carry loads, such as walls, beams, or columns. To add a wall, click Create from the Actions Toolbar and select Wall. This opens the Wall Creation dialog in the right sidebar where you can define wall properties. For additional information on creating Walls visit our Paragon Documentation site. Set the top of the wall to 8 feet. Next we will set the thickness to three and a half inches. The four walls will be structural, so make sure this is selected. We’ll keep the justification to the front edge, since we’ll be inputting the Walls in a counterclockwise fashion, though clockwise input is perfectly acceptable. While you have the option to insert roof planes during wall creation, we’ll leave this unchecked for now. Once everything is set, you're ready to insert the first Wall. There are two methods for creating Walls, one is Direction plus Length and the other is Point Selection. Let’s start with the Point Selection method. Here we will enter in our Left Point. Let's enter 0 for the X Corrdinate, and 0 for the Y Coordinate. Then Press Enter. If we move our mouse around we can see that we have the base point for our x and y coordinates at 0 0. Then we will define the end of the line by using the Direction plus Length method. For the Length we will enter 30 feet into the Length box. When adding the lengths, pay attention to how you enter the values. You can use 30, dash 0, dash 0, or 30 and a period, would represent 30 feet. For the direction we have the option to click on the arrows or we can press the arrow keys on the keyboard. We want this line to go right or counterclockwise. So we would press the right arrow key. Because we’ll be creating additional Walls, we will select Insert and Repeat. You’ll notice that dimensions are automatically placed along with the wall. Continue with the remaining Walls. On your keyboard Press the Up arrow, and then enter 20 feet. Next click on Insert & Repeat. Press the Left arrow with your mouse or keyboard, and enter 30 feet. This time, let's press the Enter key which executes Insert & Repeat. Which reduces mouse movement, and saves a click. With Point Selection, you can simply click a point on the layout to place the wall. To aid in point selection, the Active Snaps dialog appears which acts as a filter for available snaps. We’ll be Snapping to another Wall, so make sure our Wall options are checked. Select the snap point, then click on Insert and Close to complete the process. That looks great! Let's take a quick look at our walls in 3D. Select the 3D Camera icon. Here we can see the walls in 3D view. We can spin the view around by pressing down on the right mouse button and move the mouse around. If needed you can also pan around by pressing down on the left mouse button. That will do it for an introduction to creating walls. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 5.2 Creating Roof Planes Estimated Completion Time: 13 minutes
## Description This module demonstrates how to create and cut roof planes for a basic layout. ## Objectives * Describe the different roof plane properties. * Demonstrate how to create new planes and cut them to create a gable roof. * Explain how to use the "Flipped" plane option. ## Additional Resources * [Training Plan 1](https://design.paragontruss.com/VUVG8JHTWV/0/project/d3b528e6-775b-4715-9953-52dfe2a7a30e/0) accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * [Roof Plane Docs](/layout/how-to/roof-planes) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript:  Welcome! In this video, we'll be creating and cutting roof planes for a basic layout in the Paragon Design App. While this video does not include ceiling planes, the process is similar. For this demo we will be referring to Training Plan 1, which is a 30 foot by 20 foot rectangular structure with a four twelve roof slope and gables on both ends. A copy of the completed Training Plan 1 project is accessible from Choose Create Project menu and then under Open Sample To begin we will open an existing project that contains the Bearing Envelopes to add our roof planes to. To add a roof plane, click Create from the Actions Toolbar. Next, select Roof Plane. This opens the Roof Plane Creation dialog in the right sidebar where you can define plane properties. Set the Slope to four twelve. And the Overhang to two feet, and we’ll let the software calculate the heel height using the Butt Cut Heel method. Set a standard quarter inch for the butt cut and two by four top chord, so make sure the Top Chord Width is set to 0 feet, 3 inches, and 8 sixteenths. Once everything is set, you're ready to add the first roof plane. Next, hover your mouse over the front wall and you are presented with a preview for plane placement. Be sure the outer edge of the bearing is highlighted. Click to place the roof plane. The roof plane will appear on the outer edge after you have clicked. Because we are adding another plane, select Insert and Repeat. Next, define the plane on the rear wall. Here we will click to place the plane on the inside edge. The plane is located on the inside and the arrows are pointing outwards. Here we incorrectly selected the interior edge of the bearing. To resolve this, go over to the right sidebar and click to uncheck Flipped. This will correct the placement of the plane. Click Insert to exit the roof plane tool. Now we're ready to cut the roof planes. After inserting the rear plane, the plane is still selected. Expand the right sidebar, if necessary, the Roof Plane properties are displayed. This means the plane is selected. At the bottom of the Properties subpanel click on Cut Plane.  When cutting planes, you are able to cut against work lines, bearing envelope edges and other planes.  As a general rule, it is best to cut roof planes in a clockwise direction, though this is not required. Regardless of direction, it’s critical that you specify the plane boundaries in the proper sequence. Because we are defining a gable end, we’ll cut against the gable end wall. Let's select the edges to cut with. Press Shift and hover over the right side bearing edge which will display a preview. Click the outer bearing edge. Next, hover over the opposing roof plane until it turns green, then Click to select. Next, press Shift, and click to select the other gable wall, and finally, click Finish Cutting to apply the cut. Next, we will cut the front plane. Click to select the roof plane, then right click to select, Cut Plane from the options. Shift select the outer edge of the gable wall to the left. Click the opposing plane when it turns green. And for the last edge, press shift once again and click the other gable wall. Then click Finish Cutting and to place the plane. If you make a mistake during the cutting process, you are able to Undo the previous cut selection using Ctrl Z, the keyboard shortcut for undo. Or simply select the roof plane that you want to modify and select Re-Cut Plane from the right side toolbar or by right clicking. Let’s use the 3D camera to verify that we cut the planes correctly. Click the 3D CAMERA icon from the options toolbar. And by pressing, and holding down the right mouse button, move the mouse to spin the model around. This will show the bearing walls with the roof planes. It looks like the planes we've added have been cut correctly. However, if a plane was not cut correctly, return to the 2D view by clicking back on the 3D CAMERA icon, select the Roof plane you want to edit and follow the same process as listed above. And that does it for an introduction to adding and cutting Roof Planes. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 5.3 Creating Truss Envelopes Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes
## Description This module demonstrates how to create truss envelopes and generate designs for a basic layout. ## Objectives * Describe the different truss envelope properties. * Demonstrate how to create new truss envelopes. * Explain how create individual trusses and truss runs. * Generate designs, rename and analyze components. * Identify analysis status from the Component Explorer. ## Additional Resources * [Training Plan 1](https://design.paragontruss.com/VUVG8JHTWV/0/project/d3b528e6-775b-4715-9953-52dfe2a7a30e/0) accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * [Truss Envelope Docs](/layout/how-to/truss-envelopes) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome back! In this video, we'll be creating truss envelopes and generating truss designs for a basic layout in the Paragon Design App. For this demo we will be referring to Training Plan 1, which is a 30 foot by 20 foot rectangular structure with a four twelve roof slope and gables on both ends. For reference, a copy of the completed Training Plan 1 project is accessible from Choose Create Project and then under Open Sample  Now we're ready to add a truss envelope. A truss envelope defines the placement and geometry of a truss based on profile-defining planes. Truss Envelopes are used to generate component designs. To add a truss envelope, right-click and select Truss Envelope. From the Truss Envelope Creation dialog, we’ll go with the defaults for Component Type, Definition Type, Justification, Thickness and Plies. And our trusses will have overhangs on the right and the left. Prior to inserting a truss envelope, adjust the snapping behavior and distance for the first envelope. The closest base option will snap the envelope to the nearest baseline relative to your mouse cursor, while the best envelope will snap to the closest envelope based on your mouse position. We’ll start with the gable truss on the right. Using Closest Base, hover above the gable end wall on the right end to preview truss placement. Click to lock in the placement. Next we need to insert the gable truss. Because we are going to add the other gable truss next, select Insert and Repeat. For the left gable truss we will hover above the gable end wall and click to lock in the placement. Next we will begin our truss run from the left side, so select Insert and Start Run from the options along the bottom. Specify the envelope spacing via the Envelope Run Creation dialog and move your mouse toward the right gable end. The truss envelope placement preview will dynamically adjust to your mouse location. Once satisfied, click to insert the run of truss envelopes and they are added to the scene. Truss spacing dimensions are automatically generated and can be toggled on and off. To do so, click the Dimensions Truss Runs icon in the Options toolbar. Each truss envelope has a green triangle which indicates the truss’s left end. A common truss layout practice is to align the left ends where possible, so we’ll modify the gable truss on the right side of the building to align the left end with the other trusses. Select the gable truss on the right side, and within the properties panel scroll down, and click Flip Envelope. Now the left ends of all truss envelopes are consistent along the rear wall. From the Project Menu click Design All Truss Envelopes. This will create truss designs based on the truss envelope profile. Let’s take a quick look at the trusses we have added. Click the 3D Camera Icon and by pressing the right mouse button move your mouse around to spin the 3D Model. You can also zoom in and out by rolling your mouse wheel. To see the trusses in different view modes click the Truss Envelopes icon and roll your mouse wheel as you hover over the icon and you can cycle through the view options. Now let’s return back to the 2D view. Click back on the 3D Camera icon to do so. Truss Designs will automatically receive a component label placed near the left end. The final step in our workflow is to rename components. Select the gable trusses by holding Ctrl and click both gable trusses. In the Properties panel along the right sidebar. Change the name in the Component Design Name area to G01. Press the Escape key to deselect the gables. Next, hold Ctrl, when you do an option box appears on the screen for Multiselect, make sure that Truss Envelopes button is selected. If not, click to select it. While the Ctrl button is still pressed, click and drag the mouse to use a selection window to select all the common trusses. Next, change the name to T01 and press enter. The truss names should now all show as G01 and T zero 1 and displayed in the layout. Open the left sidebar, if not opened already, to access the Component Explorer which lists all components in the project. Before we move to the next step, review the trusses from the Component Explorer window. Notice the component name color and unanalyzed for each. These will be updated in the next step. Under the Project Menu, click Analyze all Changed Components. Click close after the trusses are analyzed. You’ll notice the Analysis status of each component changes from Unanalyzed to Checks Pass and the truss Name changes from blue to green. The truss name will be red if it fails the analysis. That wraps up our introduction to Truss placement, design and analysis. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 5.4 Creating Feature Pattern Containers & Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes
## Description This module demonstrates how to create feature pattern containers and trusses for a basic layout. ## Objectives * Describe what a Feature Pattern Container is. * Explain the differences between a Profile Truss and a Feature Pattern Truss. * Demonstrate how to create a new Feature Pattern Container. * Explain how create individual trusses and truss runs. * Generate designs, rename and analyze components. * Identify analysis status from the Component Explorer. ## Additional Resources * [Training Plan 1](https://design.paragontruss.com/L2W7QNH8MA/0/project/8402c01e-803e-4bf1-8650-9053a8b86aa6/0) (Floors) accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * [Feature Pattern Container Docs](/layout/how-to/feature-pattern-containers) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we'll be creating a floor truss layout using feature pattern containers and feature pattern trusses, commonly referred to as parallel chord floor trusses. Training Plan 1, Floors is a 30 foot by 20 foot rectangular structure with 1 foot six inch deep floor trusses. For reference, a copy of the completed Training Plan 1, Floors project is accessible from Choose/Create Project, then Open Sample After creating a new project and adding bearings, the next step for creating a floor truss layout, is to add a Feature Pattern Container. Feature pattern containers are 3D polygons that contain feature pattern trusses. The container defines floor truss depth, and its boundaries are formed either by bearing envelope edges or work lines To add a feature pattern container, click Create and select Feature Pattern Container. This opens the Feature Pattern Container dialog in the right sidebar where you can define its properties. Set the bottom elevation to 8 feet and the top elevation to 9 feet six inches. This will result in a 1 foot six inch deep floor truss. Define the feature pattern container Shape, by selecting the outer edges of the bearing envelopes. While selecting the edges in a clockwise direction is recommended, it’s not required, but be sure to select the boundary edges in the proper sequence. Once the polygon shape is closed, the Valid Shape checkbox is checked and the option to Insert is available. If you’ve made a mistake defining boundary edges, you are able to click Start Over and begin boundary selection again. Click Insert. To get a better look at the Container, toggle the 3D Camera. Here we see the container sitting on top of the bearing envelopes. Adjust the 3D view by holding the right mouse button and moving the mouse around. Return back to the 2D view by pressing the 3D camera icon. Now we're ready to add truss envelopes. A feature pattern truss envelope defines the placement and geometry of a truss based on properties of the container. Truss Envelopes are used to generate component designs. To add a truss envelope, right-click and select Truss Envelope. From the Truss Envelope Creation dialog, specify the Component Type as a Floor Truss, Definition Type as Feature Pattern, Justification as Front and thickness as three and a half inches. We’ll start with the gable truss on the right. Using Closest Base, hover above the gable end wall to see a preview of the truss placement. Click to lock in the placement. Because we are going to add the other gable truss next, select Insert and Repeat. For the left gable truss, hover above the gable end wall and click to lock in the placement. We’ll begin our truss run from the left side so select Insert and Start Run. Specify the envelope spacing via the Envelope Run Creation dialog and move your mouse toward the right gable end. Once satisfied, click to place the run of truss envelopes. Each truss envelope has a green triangle which indicates the truss’s left end. A common truss layout practice is to align the left ends where possible so we’ll modify the gable truss on the right side of the building. Select the gable truss and within the properties panel scroll down and click Flip Envelope. Now the left ends of all truss envelopes are consistent along the rear wall. From the Project Menu click Design All Truss Envelopes. This will create truss designs based on the truss envelope. Truss Designs will automatically receive a component label placed near the left end indicator. Let’s use the 3D camera to verify truss envelope geometry. The final step in our workflow is to rename components. Select the 2 gable trusses by holding Ctrl and click both gable trusses. Next, go to the right sidebar and change the name of the gable trusses to FG zero 1. Press the Escape key to deselect the gables. Next, hold Ctrl and use a selection window to select all the common trusses. Go back over to the sidebar and change the name to F01. The trusses now reflect the new truss names. Open the left sidebar to access the Component Explorer which lists all components in the project, including the truss name and analysis status. From the Projects Menu, Click to Analyze all Changed Components. Next click Close. In the left sidebar You’ll notice the Analysis status of each component changes from Unanalyzed to Checks Pass and the truss Name changes from blue to green. The truss name will be red if it fails analysis. That wraps up our introduction to Feature Pattern Trusses. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next video!
# 5.5 Importing .DXF and Creating Walls Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes
## Description This module demonstrates how to import Work Lines from a DXF file and create walls by tracing the imported Work Lines. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to import Work Lines from a DXF file. * Use Active Snaps to refine snap point selection. * Streamline Wall creation using Alt while selecting the end point. * Create Walls by tracing the imported Work Lines. * Use multi-select and selection filters to delete Work Lines. ## Additional Resources * [Training Plan 2](https://design.paragontruss.com/LP7SYXWQCU/0/project/c195cdb4-b85d-45db-9ff3-8698508bcd4f/0) accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * Training Plan 2 (Download) Layout.dxf accessible from link below {% file src="/files/Awn1D5wrkkPrO6zJNrwZ" %} ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome back! In this video, we'll be inserting bearing envelopes by tracing a DXF import. After creating a New Project, expand the right sidebar, and locate the Work Lines collection, click the 3 dots to select Import Lines From DXF. Access the DXF in the course materials. Paragon translates all lines from the dxf file into Work Lines. Prior to inserting bearings, we will use the Dimension Mode to verify bearing widths. Let's verify the house wall width. Select the Dimension Mode and click on the house walls to confirm size. Repeat for the garage walls. These look good, so we’ll go ahead and start tracing at the front left corner of the building. To do so, Right click and select Bearing Envelope. For this exercise, we’ll add our walls as 3 and a half inches and adjust the properties later. This is sometimes more efficient than adjusting width during input. Choose the Point Selection input method from the right sidebar. The left snap point is already established, because this is the first bearing of the project. If you are having difficulty snapping to points, adjust the snap settings to refine the snap options. It is best to toggle off the snap options not used to provide a smoother tracing process. So, turn off everything except for Endpoint, Bearing Envelopes, and Work Lines. For the first bearing, hold the Alt key when defining the right snap point. This inserts the bearing and sets the start point for the next bearing, so to quickly add bearings in sequence without you having to Insert each bearing individually. Use the mouse wheel to zoom and pan as needed. After putting in the left vertical bearing, press Escape to exit Bearing envelope creation mode. Put in the remaining walls at the rear of the garage. Right click and select Add Bearing Envelope. Select the start point, holding Alt, select the end point. After the final bearing, press Escape. Finally, we will select the walls that should be 2 by 6 by holding Ctrl and moving the mouse to select the walls, From the right sidebar menu change the thickness to 5 and a half inches. A helpful tip is to use the Layout Options toolbar and toggle visibility of Work Lines. At any point after importing the dxf lines, you may choose to delete some or all of the work lines. Do this by selecting work lines from the Scene or from the Work lines collection. Holding Ctrl and using the Work Lines filter is an effective way to filter selection of just work Lines. Now that we’ve added our bearings, let’s go ahead and delete the work lines. Press Control, and the MultiSelect box appears, change the filter only have Work Lines selected, now click and drag your mouse to select all the work lines using a selection window. Next, press Delete. Let’s take a look at our walls in 3D. Select the 3D Camera icon from the View Options toolbar. Press the right mouse button and move your mouse to rotate the 3D view. That's a wrap. I hope you’re able to save time inserting bearings on your next project. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 5.6 Exporting & Downloading Options Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes
## Description This module covers a variety of download options available from the Paragon Designer Plan. ## Objectives * Explain the variety of download options and why they are useful. * Demonstrate how to download relevant layout, design, and material outputs. ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we'll take a look at the Download options available from the Design App. Available download options vary by Plan type, so your download options may differ from what’s demonstrated in this video. We’ll provide an overview of the Download Options along with some examples using the Designer Plan. The Paragon Docs site includes more detail on the download options along with additional examples. Paragon’s Download Options allow you to generate a variety of output files for layouts and components. Access Download Options from the Design App’s Actions Toolbar in either Design or Layout Modes.  Download Options are available for a Whole Project or for a Specific Component In this video, we’ll highlight a few of the most popular download options. Download, a Layout, in: DXF. You can also download in IFC format or PDF , formats. The IFC, output only, includes trusses. Download options are available to generate Truss Design Drawings, and, also Repair Design Drawings. You may also, download, a Materials Details report showing the Component, Count, Board Feet, Linear Feet, and Costs. Along with additional items.   Component Report CSV can be downloaded. Generate output for component manufacturing including: Lumber Pick List, as well as, Plate Pick Lists. Generate Shop Drawings, Joint QC, Detail Reports, and Automated Machinery Files, including: TRS and TPS files Additionally, Paragon Design App is able to generate TRE files, which include material and geometry information that can be used to produce a variety of shop-specific outputs. For this demonstration we covered a handful of the available download options, so please refer to Paragon Documentation for additional information on the rest of the options available within the Design App. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 5.7 Self-Assessment Please allow the embedded assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 6.1 Creating Material Lists Estimated Completion Time: 18 minutes
## Description This module covers how to use the Paragon Materials App to manage lists for Lumber, Connector Plate, and Hangers. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to create a Lumber List by selecting Species, Grade, Widths, Heights and Stock Lengths. * Describe the impact Stock Lengths have on splicing when designing components. * Create Plate Lists using specific plate manufacturers. * Create and manage a Hanger List from supported products. * User Paragon Design App Material Settings to define what material lists to use for projects and specific designs. * Use AnyPlate for maximum design flexibility. ## Additional Resources * [Lumber Lists and Sets Docs](/materials/how-to/lumber-lists-and-lumber-sets) * [Plate Lists Docs](/materials/how-to/plate-lists) * [Hanger List Docs](/materials/how-to/hanger-lists) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we will go over creating different material lists using the Paragon Materials app and how to use those lists in Paragon Design. Let’s get started! Paragon Materials is a complimentary app to Paragon Design and Layout that allows you to create lumber list, Plate List, and Hanger List that can be used to design your projects. Certain material lists, like plates, may be unavailable to you depending on your plan; however, all the principles will apply. To Launch the Materials App, click on the User Menu and then click Materials icon from the bottom of the menu. Let’s start by creating a lumber list. Click the Add New button next to the Lumber List header to name your new list. For this example let’s name it Roof Shop. Lumber lists are comprised of any number of lumber sets. A lumber set is a group of lumber that matches a set of desired properties. We will create a lumber set by clicking the Add Lumber Set button to open the Lumber Set Editor. First, select the desired species for the set. Multiple species can be added to a list, but for this example we will choose Southern Pine. Scroll down until you see Southern Pine and then click to select it from the list. To accept the selection simply press the tab button or click outside of the box. Next we need to specify the grades. Let’s assume the Roof Shop only uses Number 1, 2, 3 and Select Structural. Scroll down until these show, and then we can select these grades. To accept the selection press the tab key. Next we need to select the Treatment type. We will leave our treatment type set to Untreated. Next, we will specify the dimensions available for this set. We’re going to say our Roof Shop only uses two by fours but in 8, 10 and 12 foot lengths. We will enter the actual dimensions in the fields. So, let's enter 1.5 for the widths, and we will use 3.5 for the heights. For the Stock lengths each separated by a comma. So, we will enter 8 feet, 10 feet, and 12 feet. The stock lengths will influence auto splicing when designing components. At this point, you should see the list get populated in the Lumber Preview. Confirm the data is correct and click the Save button. You can create more sets and organize them as needed for your workflows, but for now we will settle with this single set. Before we move on, you will notice a few options at the top of the list. You can set any list as the default list for your organization. Any new project or component will default to this list. Additionally, you can rename, duplicate, and archive lists. Next, we will create a plate list. To return back to the main menu, simply click the Paragon Materials icon in the upper left corner or click the word Home from the top menu string. Here we will Click the add new plate lists button and give your list a name. For our example let’s go with Simpson Roof and press enter. Let’s assume our roof shop only uses Simpson AS20 plates. Use the filters at the top of each column by entering Simpson under the Manufacturer column, and AS20 for the Type column to narrow down the options in the list. From here, we can pick specific sizes or we can select all visible options using the select all checkbox on the left side. We will select all and click save. Great, we just created a plate list! Select the Simpson Roof list again to open it back up. You will notice all plates are visible, even if they are not selected for this list. You can add more plates to the list or use the “Hide Unused Plates” to hide all plates not selected for the list. Similar to the lumber list, you can set a default, rename, duplicate or archive the plate list. Finally, we will create a hanger list. Return back home by clicking the Paragon Materials icon on the upper left corner or click Home from the string of text. Click the Add New button next to Hanger Lists, name the list and hit enter. We will go with Roof Hangers to finish out the lists for our example roof shop. To add hangers to the list, select them in the right panel and click save. For our roof shop we are going to select all and save the list. Great! We’ve made a lumber, plate, and hanger list for our roof shop. Now, lets hop over to Paragon Design and take a look at specifying these lists in the Material Settings. These lists are accessible via the Material Settings for both projects and components. Let’s click the Project Settings button and select Material Settings. At the top of the Material Settings panel you will see selects for Lumber, Plate, and Hanger lists. Use these selects to change the lists to the ones we just created. If you want to specify certain materials for certain elements of a component you can also do that here. Finally, let’s discuss the Paragon AnyPlate. You may have noticed “Any” as an option in the Plate Lists dropdown. This list represents a group of plates with aggregated design values such that the final product may be from a specified list of plate types. This list can be found on our website and in our documentation.  You can save these changes and apply them to all existing components or only apply them to newly created components. For this demonstration we will apply the settings to all existing components. Great! We have created custom material lists and applied them to a project! And that does it for Creating Materials List. Thanks for watching, and see you in the next one!
# 6.2 Adding Prices for Materials Estimated Completion Time: 9 minutes
## Description This module introduces adding Lumber, Plate, and Hanger prices in the Paragon Pricing App. ## Objectives * Navigate between Lumber, Plates, and Hangers from within the Paragon Pricing App. * Explain how updates to pricing apply across the board. * Demonstrate how to view the price for a specific component. * Describe what it means when Total Price displays "N/A." ## Additional Resources * [Lumber Pricing Docs](/pricing/how-to/add-lumber-prices) * [Plate Pricing Docs](/pricing/how-to/add-plate-prices) * [Hanger Pricing Docs](/pricing/how-to/add-hanger-prices) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we will introduce some basics for adding lumber, plate, and hanger prices using the Paragon Pricing app. Let’s get started! Paragon Pricing is another companion app for Paragon Design. Prices added and updated here will automatically be updated for projects and components using these materials in Design. To launch the Pricing App, click on the user icon and then select Pricing from the lower part of the menu. First, lets quickly go over the Pricing interface. At the top of the window you will see tabs for Lumber, Plates, and Hangers. Depending on your plan, some of these may not be accessible; however, the same principles apply. Clicking on a tab will display any existing prices in a grid. Prices can be filtered by any column. As you add new prices they will automatically populate in the grid. If a new price is created for an item that already has a price, the newer price will take precedence over the old. Let’s start by clicking the lumber tab. We can create a new price using the data fields just under the items tabs. We will start by adding 2x4 Southern Pine with the No. 2 grade, untreated and 10 feet long. Let’s set the price at an even $500 per 1000 board feet. There is an additional field for notes should you need it, but for this example we will leave it blank. Click insert lumber price and you should see the price show up in the grid below. Once a price has been added, it can be edited in the list. Only the price and notes can be changed. Let’s add a price for some Alpine plates. Click the Plates tab to access the plate price tools. Use the input fields to add Alpine 20H plates and set the price per pound to an even $2 for demo purposes. Just like lumber, there’s an optional notes field. Click the Insert Plate Price button. You should see the new price populate in the grid below. Remember, you can always filter the columns to narrow down the visible items. Finally, let’s add a price for some hangers. Click the hangers tab and use the tools to select a hanger, HUS26 for this example, input a price of 3 dollars per unit and click Insert Hanger Price. The price will appear in the grid below confirming the insertion. Great! We’ve added prices for all three material categories. Let’s quickly hop over to Paragon Design and see this information applied to a component. If you have a component using materials with specified pricing, you will see a price listed for that component in the Explorer Panel when the truss is highlighted. If the price field does not have a number but instead displays “N/A” this means the price is not available due to a material being used that does not have a specified price. You can scroll to the “Total Price” field in the component properties panel for more information. And that wraps up this introduction to Paragon Pricing! Thanks for watching and we will see you in the next one!
# 6.3 Self-Assessment Please allow the embedded assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # Course Complete We hope you found this course helpful and informative. For more help and tutorials visit our docs site. If you’re interested in more courses like this one, bookmark our training academy as we are continually adding more content. Is there a course you would like to see that we don’t have? Let us know!
TRAINING.pngBroken link
Documentation Social Cover.pngDocs Homepage
Contact Us.pngContact Us.png
# Course 2: Truss Design Training Estimated Completion Time: 1 Hour and 42 minutes
## Course Overview This course will explore the core functionalities of Design mode in the Paragon Design App, teaching the skills necessary to create truss components from scratch without needing to create a layout. This course builds on the [Intro to Paragon course](https://docs.paragontruss.com/training-c1-intro-to-paragon/). This will establish a foundational skill set for anyone tasked with creating truss designs in the Paragon Design App and prepares you for more advanced design work and further skill development. **The examples found within are intended to teach the tools available in Paragon, not necessarily specific truss design principles.** ## Course Objectives By the end of this course, you will be able to independently generate, refine, and finalize truss components including: ### Profile Trusses * Creating Profile Trusses that explore a multitude of tools and features * Manipulating chord and webbing placement in a variety of conditions * Design trusses with more unique shapes and bearing locations * Working with user loads and load cases ### Feature Pattern Trusses * Understanding the feature details that define Feature Pattern Trusses * Adjusting chord profiles and defining web member patterns * Working with sloped, parallel chord trusses ## Target Audience New or early users of Paragon software. ## Resources ### 1.0 Profile Trusses [Shared Set Containing all 1.0 Examples](https://design.paragontruss.com/QEFRBBFU5K) ### 2.0 Feature Pattern Trusses [Project Containing all 2.0 Examples](https://design.paragontruss.com/NRZZBPG5OC) # 1.1 Long Span Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 11 minutes ## Description This module focuses on the design and analysis of long-span metal plate-connected wood trusses (spans over 40 feet) in accordance with TPI-1 standards (ANSI/TPI 1 – National Design Standard for Metal Plate Connected Wood Truss Construction). Long-span trusses present unique challenges that require careful evaluation beyond standard residential applications. ## Objectives * Develop confidence in designing long span trusses with the component creation tools. * Properly address the unique challenges using Paragon's load and analysis settings. * Apply heel reinforcement options to address plate gripping challenges. ## Additional Resources [Long Span Truss Examples](https://design.paragontruss.com/8J4OY88EQY) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll walk through creating a long span truss and discuss a few design considerations specific to shipping and manufacturing these components. Let’s get started! Start by opening the component creation panel. Here we will set the length to 64 feet. Next we’ll add a 32 foot profile line. And we will set the slope to be six twelve. Now Click Add Line. To close this component out we can Click the close profile option 2 times and move on to the shape details. For this demo we want the bottom chord to run through the heel, so make sure those checkboxes are selected. And then click next. In the Structural Details sections navigate to the bottom of this panel and access the Load Settings. Typically, these long span trusses are not used in residential settings so we will make sure “One-or-two family dwelling” is deselected. Next, make sure “Sprinkler Installation Load” is selected and click the “Apply along Bottom Chord” checkbox. Now click ‘Change the Settings for this Component’ to wrap up our changes to the Load Settings. Open the Analysis Settings and navigate to the “Other Settings” section. For this scenario we are going to say the structure has multiple of the same truss so we will select “Use repetitive Member Increase” and click “Change Settings for this Component.” Now we can insert the truss. Let’s analyze the truss and see if any checks are over capacity. Select Analyze from the menu to run the check. For all  trusses we want to make sure each connection is where we want them to be. The analysis shows some checks are exceeded. We can see some of our plates on the bottom chords don’t have enough grip. Hover over one to show this data.  Let's select the bottom chords and upgrade them to be 2 x 6's. Next we will right click, then select edit lumber, here we will select 2 x 6 from the list. To see these changes take place we need to re-analyze the truss. After the truss has been re-analyzed, we can see that this solved our issues at the splices, but we still show that the heels are exceeding capacity. We could upgrade the top chords to be 2 x 6's and that would solve the load issue. But that would increase both cost and overall weight. A better solution is to add sliders to the corners of the bottom chord. Click edit truss from the actions toolbar. Then click adjust heels. Here we can set the Left heel reinforcement to top chord slider. And we can do the same for the right heel reinforcement. We will leave the other properties set as they are. Click close. We will now re-analyze the truss with the sliders added. Looks like this worked. Let's zoom in to one of the plates at the heel. We should see no issues with the plates, now that we added these additional sliders. Now we know this truss will work for the given situation, but certain details must be considered when designing a truss this size. Many manufacturers do not have the ability to fabricate this truss, let alone ship it. Shipping limitations vary, so be sure to check your regional requirements. Given this information we would likely design a piggyback truss to allow shipping and on site assembly. We will cover piggyback trusses in a separate video. Thanks for watching!
# 1.2 Sloped Bottom Chord Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 11 minutes ## Description This module provides training on the design and analysis of sloped bottom chord trusses, such as scissor trusses, which are commonly used in vaulted ceiling applications and require careful attention to geometry, loading, and support conditions. ## Objectives * Manage load distribution over sloped surfaces. * Handle multi-pitch truss scenarios. * Handle an elevated bearing scenario. ## Additional Resources [Sloped Bottom Chord Truss Examples](https://design.paragontruss.com/JI0CUHGUXL) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll walk through creating trusses with sloped bottom chords. These components are commonly used on projects with vaulted ceilings or trays. Let’s get started! Let's start by opening the component creation panel. Let’s select the scissor truss as a starting point. We will use 24 feet for the length. We’re going to change the top chord slope to 8 over 12. And we will set the bottom chord slope to 4 over 12. Press next and insert the component. Great, we will run a quick analysis, but it should pass. This is a simple example that you would commonly see in a vaulted room. Now, let’s walk through a more complex situation that has a vault and an elevated bearing on one side. Click Create and select component. Here we will make sure the length is set to 24 feet. Next enter 12 feet to create the line. And we will set the slope to be 8 over 12. Press Add line. Then followed by a 12 foot line. With a negative 6 over 12 slope. Click to add this line. For the bottom chord we want to insert an 11 foot, 8, and a half, inch line . Then set the slope to be 4 over 12. Click add line. Next we will click close profile. We are going to set the right overhang distance to 0 in the shape details panel. Then click next. And insert, to wrap this part up. Great. Now that we have this truss inserted we need to make some modifications to get our elevated bearing. We need to remove the items that are labeled W3, W4, W5, W6 and EV2. Note these labels, as member labels will change as others are deleted. Remove the noted items from the component. With those members now out of the way, we will add a horizontal member towards the right end of where T2, intersects the inside reference line, for the right side bearing. And then connect to B2. Now we will insert a vertical member, at this new intersection up to T2. If needed fix the cuts so the splice is below this member. Now we can add a member from W2. To where the inside edge of W4 intersects with T2. Next wrap up the webs, with a vertical at the center. After you start the member tool, double click on the reference line, to place it automatically. Now, we need to update our right bearing.  This is an important step. If the member is not specified to be a bottom chord, bearing placement will not be possible. To do so convert W3 to a bottom chord. Select W3 and in the member properties info field for member type, set it to bottom chord. Next we will clean up the truss. We will Trim the new bottom chord to the center of W4. By pressing shift while clicking. Now select B2.   Look at the properties panel to see If a T2 Starboard cut is listed under B2 Right Cuts, if it exists, select it and delete this Right Cut. We need to add a new, Right Cut, to the members properties window. Select the middle line from W4. Next let's delete the existing bearing. Here we will insert a new bearing at the right end of the updated bottom chord. If the bearing jumps to the end, select the bearing. And from within the Bearing properties panel click to check the bearing flipped box. If needed Adjust the bearing so to align with the right end of the bottom chord.  Next Click to analyze the truss. Great...that all worked as it should. All checks pass. That wraps up this video on working with sloped bottom chords. See you in the next one!
# 1.3 Designing with Additional Loads Estimated Completion Time: 12 minutes ## Description This module addresses the design challenges of non-standard or concentrated loads, such as large rooftop HVAC units, solar panels, suspended equipment, or clustered utility systems. These conditions are increasingly common in modern buildings and require special attention to ensure structural integrity and code compliance. ## Objectives * Gain a better understanding of the load settings tools * Learn how to properly add manual loads to meet the demands of a project ## Additional Resources [Dual Pitch Truss Example](https://design.paragontruss.com/KH868PS6GR) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll walk through adding manual load cases to our truss. For this project, we are going to simulate the added load of an HVAC unit on a roof. This video is not intended to be prescriptive for a specific situation, but rather it demonstrates how to use some of the loading tools available within Paragon Design. First, let’s duplicate the truss so we can keep our existing work separate. In the actions toolbar let’s click on the duplicate truss icon. Let’s rename the truss in the Component Properties panel to be Dual Pitch with HVAC ML. Before we begin let’s make the original truss active in the components panel along the left sidebar. Click on the Dual Pitch with HVAC to make it the active truss. As you see, we’ve designed this dual-pitch truss and we need to add a manual load to the flat area on the left side. • We know that our HVAC unit weighs 2000 pounds • The size is 8 feet by 5 feet • Will be on a stand with legs spaced 3 feet apart, so we need to add two point loads to account for this. Navigate to the Additional Loads in the Collection Subpanel and click the menu button. Click Create Manual Load to open the Manual Load Insertion subpanel. Click the Load Insertion Method and use the Select Member option. Make sure the load distribution is set to Concentrated. Use the member select to specify T1 as the target member. This will be a dead load with the direction set to down. We know the first leg is 1 and a half feet from the left along the x axis. We will set the load magnitude to 500 pounds and give the manual load a name Leg 1 for easy identification, and click ADD LOAD. The next leg is at 4 and a half feet. Update the Point X and name it Leg 2. Then click ADD LOAD. Now that we’ve added both point loads, click insert. Given the dimensions of this HVAC, we could divide the weight over multiple trusses, but for this example we are going the conservative route. Great, we’ve added two manual point loads for the HVAC unit. By default, “Show Manual Loads When No Other Loads Visible” should be checked. If you do not see your manual loads, open the View Options Menu to verify this is checked. Now let’s analyze this truss. Great! This truss will work in this scenario. Let’s consider another example. Here we don’t know exactly where the HVAC unit will be placed, so we need to place a moving load along the entire top chord. Next, select the truss we duplicated earlier with the name Dual Pitch with HVAC ML. Now navigate to the Additional Loads menu, then to Create Moving Loads. Here we will select Distributed for Load Distribution. Set the Load Magnitude to 175 psf. Make sure “Use Panel and Mid-Panel” points is checked. Set the Distributed Load Length to 3 feet. Make sure the Load Type is set to Dead. And for Along Member Type  make sure Top Chord is selected. We will name this moving load HVAC ML. Next click insert. Now analyze this truss. If we navigate to the load cases and then expand the list. We can see the truss has the moving load applied along the top chords. It looks like this truss will be adequate as long as the top chords are upgraded to 2x6, Number 1 Southern Pine. By hovering over the top chords the member’s information will display. We hope this provided a better understanding of some of the tools available for designing trusses with unique loads.
# 1.4 Girders and Jacks Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes ## Description This module covers the design, analysis, and coordination of jacks and girders—a critical aspect of wood truss systems in both residential and commercial construction. These girders support other trusses or framing members and are subject to significant point loads and cumulative reactions that must be properly modeled and accounted for. By the end of this video you will have a clear understanding of how to create a jack, correctly connect it to a girder, and visualize the connections and reactions on the truss. ## Objectives * Design an open and closed jack, and specify they are carried by a girder truss. * Properly create and delete carried connections for a girder truss. * Explain how to use the Convert to Settings feature. ## Additional Resources [Girder Truss Example](https://design.paragontruss.com/6HC50OWM00) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video we will go over the tools available when working with Girders and Jacks. As you can see we’ve have a pretty standard girder truss, but we need to design a jack and correctly connect it to the girder. Let’s start by designing an open jack. Open the component creation subpanel and use the profile line tools to input our dimensions. The length of this jack is 6 feet with a 4 over 12 pitch. We can close the profile and move on to the shape details. The plans we are working from note that it has a 1 foot overhang, so we will update this and change the right overhang to 0. If you keep the overhang at 1 foot, the truss will extend beyond the needed dimension of 6 feet. So, make sure you set the right side overhang to 0. Navigate to the bottom of this panel and make sure Jack, and Open are selected and the carried side is set to Right. Click next to move on to the structural details. We need to update the right side bearings. Delete Bearing 2. And click Add Bearing. We can add a bearing on the top chord. Then add one to the bottom chord. Since this is an open jack, Paragon defaults these to Toe Nail. This is what we need so we will click insert. Great, now that we have this jack inserted we need to analyze it and connect it to the girder. Once the jack is analyzed and all checks pass, we can go back to the girder and navigate to Carried Components in the Collections Subpanel. Use the menu button to open the create carried components subpanel. Here we can select our jack and specify which bearing on the jack we want to use. Let’s start with the bottom right bearing. Since we picked the bottom bearing, we need to make sure Bottom Chord is selected for Carrying Member Type. Next, we will use the X location input to specify exactly where we want to place this connection on the bottom chord. We are going to place this jack connection at 6 feet. You can use the Number of Carried Components and Distance Between Repeated Carried Components inputs to insert multiple connections, but for this example we will focus on one for now. Click insert to finalize this connection. We need to add another connection for this jack at the top chord so open the Carried Components subpanel again and repeat the previous steps. This time, we will make sure to select the top right bearing and specify the Top Chord as the Carrying Member Type. And set the X location to 6 feet once again. Click insert to finalize the connections for the jack and analyze the girder. Once the analysis finished you can see the connection points on the truss in the scene. Next we will create a closed jack. We could create another truss from scratch, but for this video we’re going to convert the jack we just made. Select our jack and click Convert to Settings in the Edit Truss menu. A screen message will appear asking, Are you sure you want to go back to the original design settings? Click OK to accept. Navigate to the Jack Settings section. Here we will click and deselect Open. Click next to move on to the structural details. We are going to delete both of the two right bearings. So, click a bearing then delete it from within the bearings box. Repeat this process for the other bearing for the same end. Next we need to add a new bearing under the right end of B1. Click insert. And then we will change this bearing from a double plate to a hanger. Click on the bearing, then in the bearing type pull down, select Hanger from the selection. Now that we’ve converted this open jack to closed, we need to analyze it and connect it to the girder. This process is similar to the open jack but we will only need to specify one connection at the bottom chord for the hanger to be attached to the girder. Click on the girder truss to activate it. Next, click to create a carried component. We will set the carrying member type to bottom chord. Select the bottom end of the truss as the Bearing on Carried Component. Let’s connect this jack at 14 feet. and then insert the connection. Note that the top and bottom chord connections from the Open Jack are still present. To remove a manually defined connection, simply select the specific Carried Component connections from the Collections sub-panel and delete them. Next Analyze the girder, and you’re done! Thanks for watching this video on Jacks and Girders and we’ll see you in the next one.
# 1.5 Top Chord Bearing Roof Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 11 minutes ## Description This module focuses on top chord bearing roof trusses, a common scenario in multi-family, commercial, and light-framed construction where trusses must transfer loads directly through the top chord into the wall system. These conditions introduce unique structural and detailing challenges that demand precise modeling and coordination. ## Objectives * Accurately input bearing locations, heel heights, and bearing widths * Detail dropped and raised chord conditions * Verify load paths through top chord into wall and foundation ## Additional Resources [Top Chord Bearing Truss Examples](https://design.paragontruss.com/XHTCY81GQ5) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll walk through creating a top chord bearing roof truss. For this scenario we are going to design a component for a 30 foot wide pole barn. The structure will contain some taller farm equipment so it needs to be vaulted. Let’s get started! Open the component creation subpanel and set the truss length to 30 feet. Next we will set both, left and right heel heights to be 3 feet. Our top chords will both have a 6 over 12 pitch.  Remember to add a negative value for the right side. Both will be 15 feet long, so we will use the profile line tools to add both of these lines. Next we need to add the bottom chords. The bottom chords will have a 5 over 12 pitch. And the length will be 14 feet 8 and a half inches long for both. Add both bottom chords to close this profile. Accept the default settings and click insert. Let's look at two possible scenarios. For the left side, the bearing will be 1 foot below the bottom of the truss. Commonly referred to as a leg down truss. The other end will have the bearing 1 foot above the bottom of the truss. First we'll edit the left side. Let's trim the bottom chord to the right side of the end vertical. Next we will add a reference line 1 foot down from the bottom of the truss. Then we need to move the bearing to align with the reference line. To do this select the bearing, and in the properties panel under Bearing Reference Line click the Select Existing tool, then click on the new reference line. Press escape. Next, we simply need to update the end cut of the end vertical, so it extends to the new reference line. Select the end vertical, shift click on the reference line and that will extend the end cut to the top of the bearing. Move over to the right side and we will adjust this end. Let’s modify the end vertical member to now be a bearing block. Click the member and from the properties panel under member type select bearing block. Next we will add a new member. Place the new member to be on the left edge of the bearing block. Change this member to be an End Vertical from the member type option. Now we need to trim up a few items. Let’s start by selecting the bottom chord, then shift click the right side edge of the End Vertical. Next we will adjust the end of the W7 web to be cut to the left edge of the End Vertical. Select W7, then shift click on the left edge of the End Vertical. Now we need to extend the End Vertical to the bottom chord. Click the End Vertical and then shift click on the top edge of the bottom chord. We will adjust the bearing block end to be 1 foot up from the bottom of the truss. Insert a reference line 1 foot up from the bottom of the truss. Trim the bearing block back to the reference line. Click the bearing block and shift click the reference line. One last item, we need to relocate the bearing. Click the bearing, then in the properties panel under the bearing reference line tool click select existing, then click on the reference line. Now, we can analyze the truss to ensure all checks pass! That does it for this video on creating a top chord bearing roof truss with two different scenarios. We hope these two examples will help you when solving problems for your top chord bearing truss projects. We’ll see you in the next one!
# 1.6 Profile Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" %} # 2.1 Floor Trusses with Customized Interior and End Conditions Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes ## Description In this module, we walk through the process of creating a floor truss using the Feature Pattern Component tools. You'll learn how to customize two different end conditions and add an interior bearing to simulate an interior load-bearing wall scenario. ### Objectives * Learn how to modify truss end conditions using the Feature Pattern tools. * Apply an interior bearing condition to simulate a load-bearing wall. * Understand how to validate the design with a component analysis check. ### Additional Resources [Example Truss](https://design.paragontruss.com/0S3EQFGHBF) ### Learning Activity {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video we will utilize many of the feature pattern component creation tools to create a floor truss with two unique end conditions and an interior bearing. Let’s get started! Open the component creation panel and select the feature pattern truss from the predefined shapes. The shape details panel contains the End Condition and Interior Condition tools we need to modify for our truss.  We will enter 24 feet for the length and then move down to edit the end conditions. Starting with the Left End, we will select the top chord bearing condition. Next we will set the end vertical count to 2. And change the top chord slider length to one and a half feet. Now we will adjust the Right End. Here we will select the bottom ribbon end condition. Then set the end vertical count to 2. Great, now that we set up our two unique end conditions, let’s focus on the interior bearing to simulate an interior load bearing wall. Navigate to the interior conditions tools. Here we will select the interior bearing condition. Set the distance from the left to be 8 feet. Set the bearing width to 5 and a half inches. And the verticals count to 3. You will see the truss update in the scene to reflect these changes. Click next and insert to finish this truss. Click the analyze button to make sure all checks pass. Excellent! We have created a floor truss using multiple tools and methods. We hope this video has helped you better understand the tools at your disposal for designing feature pattern trusses with unique end and interior conditions. See you in the next one!
# 2.2 Floor Trusses with a Top Chord Vertical Step Estimated Completion Time: 21 minutes ## Description This module covers how to create a vertical step in the top chord of a feature pattern truss to accommodate a recessed shower pan. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to stack chord and web members. * Adjust splice locations to overcome analysis errors. * Explain the benefits of rewebbing by zone. ## Additional Resources [Example Truss](https://design.paragontruss.com/RS287WK4PA) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome. In this video we will discuss how to create a vertical step in the top chord of a feature pattern truss To accommodate a recessed shower pan. Open up the creation panel and navigate to the predefined truss shapes. Select the feature pattern truss. Here we will set the length to 21 feet. Then move down to the end conditions. Here we will set the left conditions as single ribbon. And we will do the same for the right end condition. Click next. We will keep the default webbing settings, as we'll adjust the webbing after defining the dropped top chord section. Click insert. For this example, the start of the shower pan drop will be seven feet from the left end of the truss. The drop dimension will be one and a Half inches. Let's begin by removing all of the webs, because we are going to add verticals at the start and end of the drop top chord section. Hold the control key, which opens the multi-select filter. Set the selection filter to members. Use your mouse to click and drag a selection box across all of the interior webs. You can also open the right panel. Here you can review and verify the selected members. Accept the selection we want to delete by pressing the delete key. Pan over to the left end of the truss. Here, we will add a vertical web member. It will be placed seven feet from the left end of the truss. So, let's right click. Then select member. Click on the left most reference, while holding down the shift key, drag the mouse to the right. This will change the increments of movement to feet. Once you're at seven feet, click. Now we will adjust the member's location. While the web is still selected we will adjust the geometry location within the member properties panel. Click to change it from centered on line, to now be left of line. Now let's add the next web. Right click, and select member. Click and then while holding shift drag your cursor to the right. Once you see 12 feet appear, click to place the member. With the W2 member selected. Change the location geometry from the properties panel from centered on line to be right of line. For this example, we're going to stack these vertical webs, which will create three separate zones for the truss. So select W1. Then right click. Here select the Stack Web option. Notice when we stack the web, the placement location was adjusted. Such that the center of the stacked set is at the predefined location. Which we set at seven feet. In this particular case, we want to change that back to seven feet. So select the dimension and change that from seven foot, one and a half to seven feet. Press escape. Next, we will stack W3. So, select W3. Then we can right click. And from the options select stack web once again. As we see the stacked set, will shift. So, click on the dimension to change the location back to 12 feet and press enter. Next, we'll stack a segment of the top chord, this will serve as the inch and a half vertical drop. Select T2. Then right click, and select stack chord from the options. Here we will stack just a segment of that. So, in the Member Stack Insertion panel we will modify the start location. Set this to be at six feet. And we will set the end location to be set to 13 feet. Click insert. Next we'll need to trim back the top chord members to accommodate the vertical drop. Select T3. Then, press the shift key and select the left side of W3. Repeat this for T1. Select T1, then shift click the right side of W2 to trim back to. There you have it. Next we'll verify the drop dimensions using dimension mode. Right click and select dimension mode. Move over and select the lower left end of the truss. Then click to select the top right corner of T 1. There we are at seven feet. Let's repeat those same steps for the right side. The dimension mode is still active, so select the lower left end of the truss. Then go over to the top, left, corner of T 3 and click. We can see that's at 12 feet. That gives us our five foot shower pan void, or drop. Now we're going to define the webbing for all three zones. Because, we added the stacked vertical webs, the feature pattern truss will automatically be recognized with three separate zones, so we'll start by auto webbing the left zone. Click to Edit truss. Then select Reweb truss. Here, we see Zone one is selected as the default Zone, because it is the left most zone. We will keep the default settings for the webbing and for the chase. Next click to generate the new webs. You'll notice that only zone one was webbed. Next, we'll, reweb zone two. So, we'll click edit Truss. Then from the menu select reweb. And from here select zone two from the pulldown. We'll leave the webbing settings as is. However, the chase settings will need to be adjusted to accommodate a shower drain, which will be on the left side of the shower, so we'll make set that to fixed. We will leave the width set to variable. We will adjust the fixed location so to be set at eight feet, putting it at the left side of the shower. We need to leave plenty of room for that plumbing drop. So, let's set the minimum width to one foot six. And Set the max width to be two feet. Let's click to Generate new webs. Next, we need to define the webbing for the right side, or zone three. Click to Edit truss, then select reweb truss from the options. Now we need to select Zone three from the zone pull down. We will leave webbing settings as default. We could change this to no chase, but because it's unclear where the duct work will be running. We'll go ahead and leave the location set to floating. Move down, and we will change the minimum width and Maximum Width to both be at 2 feet. Let's click to generate. There we have it. Now that we've defined our webbing, let's see how this truss performs. Click analyze, or control A. Members denoted in red are over capacity. By hovering above the top chord member we can see this is 106% of capacity. And then we can hover over the bottom chord members, and see we are at 122% capacity. The first thing we'll do is address the bottom cord members that are over capacity. Because the bottom chord is already spliced into two members, we don't want to stack the individual members. So here we will select B2, and then Press the delete key. Which will automatically extend the bottom chord all the way across. Next, select B1. Then right click, and click to stack chord. We're going to stack the entire bottom cord, so we can accept the settings and move down to click insert. Next, we'll analyze and see how the truss performs. We did receive a notification about a plating error. An error occurred while plating the joint at B2 and W8. We can see there is a splice right there at this joint. We need to move this splice to better distribute the loading. To do so, select the splice. Next click the gear icon to define the increments to move the splice each time you press an arrow. Make sure to change that to one foot. Then click Close. Here we will click on the right arrow. This will move the splice one foot to the right. Press escape to exit, and deselect the splice. Let's analyze this once again. You can also press control A as the keyboard shortcut for analyze, which is a great shortcut to use! Let's reset the view. Here we see that all checks pass. And we have no notifications. This Truss is ready for review. That wraps up this instructional demo for how to define a top cord vertical step, and leverage rewebbing by zone to accommodate specific plumbing requirements. We hope this gives you a better understanding of the many tools available when designing feature pattern trusses. See you in the next one.
# 2.3 Roof Trusses with Parapets Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes ## Description This module covers how to create a flat roof parapet truss using the feature pattern truss tools. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to create a feature pattern roof truss. * Use end condition tools to create parapets on both ends of the truss. * Change board orientation for a feature pattern truss from 4x2 to 2x4. ## Additional Resources [Example Truss](https://design.paragontruss.com/2ZM4581EGG) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we will demonstrate how to create a simple parapet truss using the feature pattern component creation tools. Let’s get started! Open the Component Creation panel and navigate to the predefined truss shapes. Select the feature pattern truss to move on to the feature pattern shape details. You’ll notice when selecting a feature pattern truss as the basic shape the default orientation is 4 x 2. We will change this to a 2 x 4 orientation during the Structural Details step prior to component insertion. Here, we will leave the length, depth, and slopes set to their defaults and focus on the left and right ends. Starting with the left end, click customize and set the parapet height to 4 feet. You should see the left end vertical adjust in the scene. We will repeat this step for the right end as well, setting the right end parapet height to 4 feet. Click next to move on to the structural details. Here, be sure to set the Component Type to roof. Navigate to the Zone Settings and make sure Webbing Pattern is set to K, horizontal length is set to 3 feet, and No Chase is selected. As mentioned earlier, by default, feature pattern trusses are in the 4 x 2 orientation. We want our truss to be 2 x 4 orientation for this roof application. To change the orientation from 4 x 2, open the Material Settings and change Component Thickness from 3 and a half inches to 1 and a half inches. Next, let’s change the dimensions of our end verticals to 2 x 6. With those changes complete, click Change Settings for this component and then Insert this truss. Great! We can now analyze this truss and confirm all checks pass. We hope this video has helped you better understand the tools at your disposal for designing a feature pattern truss with parapets defined in the end conditions. See you in the next one!
# 2.4 Roof Trusses with Sloped Parallel Chords Estimated Completion Time: 9 minutes ## Description This module covers how to create a sloped, parallel-chord truss using the feature pattern truss tools. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to create a sloped feature pattern truss. * Use material settings to change board orientation for a feature pattern truss. * Adjust bearing width. * Change end vertical and bearing block material. * Modify members to create a web-thru bearing condition. ## Additional Resources [Example Truss](https://design.paragontruss.com/E8F96W9PGP) ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we will demonstrate how to create a sloped parallel chord roof truss using the feature pattern component creation tools. While it’s possible to use a profile truss and get to the same end result, there may be times where the end condition bearing detail better suites using a sloped, feature pattern truss. Let’s get started! Open the Component Creation panel and navigate to the predefined truss shapes. Select the feature pattern truss to move on to the feature pattern shape details. You’ll notice when selecting a feature pattern truss as the basic shape the default orientation is 4 x 2. We will change this to a 2 x 4 orientation during the Structural Details step prior to component insertion. Here, we will set the length to 24 feet. And set the depth to 3 feet. Here we will set the slope for the top chord to 6 over 12. And set the Bottom Chord to be 6 over 12 as well. Leave the Left End condition to default. For the right end we will define the top chord with a bearing block end condition. Click to Uncheck Stack Top Chord. We will Change the Bearing Block Width so to be 5 and a half inches. Then we can change the Bearing Block elevation to be set at 12 inches. This will be measured from the top. Change Bearing Width to be 5 and a half inches. Click next to move to the structural details. Set the Component Type to roof, and From the Webbing Settings make sure that Warren is selected for the webbing pattern. Set the Horizontal length to be 3 feet. Make sure to Check No Chase from the Chase Settings. To change the orientation from 4 x 2 to 2 x 4, we will open the Material Settings and change Component Thickness from 3 and a half inches to 1 and a half inches. Locate Bearing Block and change the dimension to a 2 x 6. Next we will Click Change Settings for this component and then Insert this truss. Zoom in, and we will make a few changes on the left end. We’ll modify the bearing width and adjust the members. Select the bearing and from the properties panel or from the dimension box that appears on screen, change to 2 x 6. Next, select the end vertical, right click to edit lumber and change to 2 x 6. With the end vertical selected, extend it to the bearing, by pressing shift and clicking the bearing reference line. Next we will select the bottom chord. And  using shift click, Trim the bottom chord back to the end vertical. Next, pan over to review the bearing condition at the right end. This looks good. We can now analyze this truss and confirm all checks pass. We hope this video has demonstrated some feature pattern tools you can use the next time you have a sloped parallel chord truss with specific bearing conditions. See you in the next one!
# 2.5 Feature Pattern Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on. {% embed url="" %} # Course Complete We hope you found this course helpful and informative. For more help and tutorials visit our docs site. If you’re interested in more courses like this one, bookmark our training academy as we are continually adding more content. Is there a course you would like to see that we don’t have? Let us know!
TRAINING.pngBroken link
Documentation Social Cover.pngDocs Homepage
Contact Us.png
# Course 3: Intermediate Layout & Design Workflow Estimated Completion Time: 4 Hours and 57 minutes
## Course Overview This intermediate-level course builds on the foundational skills established in the [Intro to Paragon](https://docs.paragontruss.com/training-c1-intro-to-paragon/) and [Paragon Truss Design Training](https://docs.paragontruss.com/training-c2-truss-design-training/) courses. Designed for users ready to tackle more advanced workflows, the course walks through the creation of a layout that incorporates multiple design elements and new Paragon Design App features. You'll learn how to efficiently create and manage layouts, generate truss components, and apply time-saving techniques to streamline your workflow. The second half of the course focuses on truss modifications and optimization. You’ll explore how to identify and troubleshoot design issues and modify components to meet specific project requirements. By the end of the course, you'll be able to confidently move between Layout and Design modes to complete and fine-tune your designs. ## Course Objectives By the end of this course, you will be able to: * Apply a complete workflow to create a layout with multiple truss types and design considerations. * Use additional features and tools to enhance layout efficiency and design accuracy. * Generate component designs from a layout with user-defined truss names. * Review components in Design mode, perform general modifications, and address overcapacity design checks. * Transition between Layout and Design modes to finalize component designs. ## Target Audience All users of Paragon software that use Layout & Design modes. # 1.1 Creating a Project in Paragon Design Estimated Completion Time: 5 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates creating a new project from the Paragon Design App and verifying Load, Analysis, and Material settings before creating a layout or any components. ## Objectives * Create a new project. * Demonstrate how to manage and apply settings for the current project. * Explain best practices for establishing settings prior to creating a layout or designs. ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll demonstrate creating a new project from the Paragon Design App and verifying Load, Analysis and Material settings before creating a layout or any components. From the Choose/Create Menu, select Create Project. Be sure to rename the project, and to define all of the necessary project parameters. Like Region, Design Code, Customer and related items. Once these items have been entered, click Create to accept. Next we will modify the settings. From the Projects Settings Menu, select Load Settings. Here make sure to verify all settings are properly specified for your given project. Whether it be Roof Loads. Floor Loads. or Wind and Snow. Along with others. Select Analysis within the same menu from the top and verify all settings are applicable for your current project. Make sure to set your deflections and other settings as needed. Then click save. Return to the Projects Settings Menu and select Material Settings. Here, be sure to specify the desired Lumber List, Plate List and Hanger List for your current project. If changes were made click to change defaults and apply to all components in the project. It is a best practice to verify and define all of your settings prior to creating your layout or any truss designs. That’s a wrap. You are now able to create new projects from within the Paragon Design App.
# 1.2 Creating a Project in Paragon Projects Estimated Completion Time: 5 minutes. The Paragon Projects App is only available for Team and Enterprise Plans. ## Description This module demonstrates creating a new project from the Paragon Projects App and verifying Load, Analysis, and Material settings before creating a layout or any components. ## Objectives * Create a new project from Paragon Projects. * Demonstrate how to manage and apply settings for the current project. * Explain best practices for establishing settings prior to creating a layout or designs. ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Projects and Design Apps. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll demonstrate creating a new project from the Paragon Projects App. To launch the Projects App, click user icon from the Header menu. Then click the Projects App Icon. Once the app launches click the plus icon, which is the Add Project tool. From the Project Properties panel, rename the project and define all project settings for the current project, like organization, customer name and address, as well as the other relevant areas. After defining and verifying project properties, be sure to click, Save Now. Once the project is created, select the project so the row is highlighted and click Design Project from the upper right side of the window. Next we will modify the settings. From the Projects Settings Menu, select Load Settings. Here make sure to verify all settings are properly specified for this project. Whether it be Roof Loads. Floor Loads. or Wind and Snow. Along with others. Select Analysis within the same menu from the top and verify all settings are applicable for your current project. Make sure to set your deflections and other settings as needed. Then click save. Return to the Projects Settings Menu and select Material Settings. Here, be sure to specify the desired Lumber List, Plate List and Hanger List for your current project. If changes were made click to change defaults and apply to all components in the project. It is a best practice to verify and define all of your settings prior to creating your layout or any truss designs. With that, you are now able to create new projects from within the Paragon Projects App.
# 1.3 Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 2.1 Importing DXF Work Lines Estimated Completion Time: 4 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to import Work Lines from a DXF file. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to import Work Lines from a DXF file. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * Training Plan 3 (Download) Layout.dxf accessible from link below {% file src="/files/q6WtzHjp4vB09Dwl507v" %} ## Learning Activity Download the .dxf file, watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to import work lines into your project. These lines will serve as a reference that you can trace over while creating your walls. After you have started a new project, the first task in creating the 3D layout is adding your walls. To make the wall input process more efficient, click the menu icon next to Work Lines.  Then we'll use the Import Lines from DXF feature. This allows you to import a DXF file containing the layout lines you’ll use as a reference. Navigate to the sample dxf file you downloaded from the Training site. Select the “Training Plan 3, (Download) Layout.dxf file. Click open.  Once the file is imported, the full layout will appear in the scene. If you are not seeing the full layout, you can click the reset view. Or simply zoom in or out and pan to center and fit the layout in your workspace. Let's review the imported structure. This layout includes elements like a front porch, rear porch, interior non-structural walls, and areas with varying wall heights. Importing work lines can significantly streamline the process of placing your walls. By using this method, you’ll save time working in your layout. See you in the next one.
# 2.2 Structural & Non-Structural Walls Estimated Completion Time: 14 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to expedite Bearing Envelope creation by tracing imported Work Lines to represent structural and non-structural walls. ## Objectives * Use Active Snaps to refine snap point selection. * Streamline Bearing creation using Alt while selecting the end point. * Create Bearings by tracing imported Work Lines. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * Training Plan 3 (Download) Layout.dxf accessible from link below {% file src="/files/q6WtzHjp4vB09Dwl507v" %} ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! This video will cover how to input bearings by tracing over work lines.\ Be sure to review the video "Importing DXF work lines" available on YouTube and the Paragon training site. To simplify bearing input, we are going to, add all walls at three and a half, inches. And put them all in at top of plate of nine feet, one and an eighth. In this demo there is going to be a lot of zooming and panning. So we'll use the mouse wheel to zoom and pan, as needed. So without further ado, let's create our first bearing. Click on create and from here we will adjust our top of plate. Let's set this at nine feet one and an eighth. And we are going to set our thickness to 3 and one half inches. Select structural, and we will use the point selection method for adding bearing envelopes. To aid in the input, edit the active snaps. These snaps assist us when we snap to a given point. We will uncheck everything except Endpoint, Orthogonal, and Work Lines. This will allow the snaps to ignore the other snap functions during the input process. As we begin, we can see that my first wall point is automatically set. So, I do not need to click to place the starting point. Press and hold the alt key as you draw, to allow for continuous bearing input. To complete our first bearing, I'm going to click to define the endpoint. As you add the bearings think of items that may connect, so to add segments to the bearings. I did put in this front wall with three different segments but that is not required. The reason behind this is to give me some snap points later on for the front porch. thinking ahead here. Again keeping the Alt key pressed as you click to add points. As we move up along this bearing we see right here, we've got a fireplace bump out. So we will add the bearings for this area. Just past the fireplace we have another interior wall we will add a location for. So, click, and then we will carry that on to the back. Again, I'm going do the same thing here with this porch by adding a few locations. Just to give myself some snap points as we come back to add additional items later. Zoom in and pan to make sure you are selecting the correct snaps for the bearings. Next we will come all the way across. And then click to start wrapping up the last of our bearings. We have another interior wall here that I'm going to add points for. Select that, and then keep on going down. Click the snap point for the rear garage wall. Then move to the end and click to add the final wall. Press escape, which is going to exit bearing creation mode. Let's take a look at our 3D view. Press the 3D camera icon, and we can see that the exterior walls are all created. Next, we are going to input the remaining structural and non-structural bearing envelopes. Return to 2D view. And let's go back to creating our bearings. This one here at the back of the garage is a load bearing wall. So, set the start point on the left side. Then using point selection mode, Alt click the last point, and press escape to close. Next we are going to access our bearing tool again and place this interior wall. We will do so using the point selection method. This wall is going be non-structural. So, make sure the property is set. While pressing the alt key, Click to start it along the left wall and then continue over to the right side, then we will continue this to the back side. Press escape to end this bearing. Alright, we have one more interior wall to create and that one looks to be non-structural. We will use point selection, and take that all the way over to the right side and click. Press escape or insert & close to complete the bearing. Now let's access the 3D view to see our progress. The walls are looking good. We are going to return to 2D mode which will do it for this lesson. We hope this video provided a better understanding of how adding bearings by tracing imported work lines can save you time. Thanks for watching.
# 2.3 Porch Beams & Columns Estimated Completion Time: 15 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to expedite Bearing Envelope creation by tracing imported Work Lines to represent beams and columns. ## Objectives * Use Active Snaps to refine snap point selection. * Adjust top and bottom elevations for beam and column placement. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * Training Plan 3 (Download) Layout.dxf accessible from link below {% file src="/files/q6WtzHjp4vB09Dwl507v" %} ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video we will cover placing beams and columns using imported work lines as a reference. Be sure to review the video "Importing DXF work lines" available on YouTube and the Paragon training site. Here we will add the beam across the fireplace opening. And then we will put in our front porch beams and columns as well as the rear porch. Let's get started. First we are going to start by putting in our Fireplace beam. Let's right click and select bearing envelope. This is going to be a structural beam, so make sure to select structural from the settings. This beam will have a depth of one foot. So, let's add the settings for the top to be at nine foot, one and an eighth. Tab over to the bottom and set this to be at eight foot, one and an eighth. Select point selection and let's begin. Let's add the beam to the fireplace. Click to insert the beam by selecting the back most point. Press and hold the alt key, we will move along to the front edge of the fireplace and click. Finish this out by pressing escape. Now let's pan and zoom over to the front porch. Here we actually have a different plate height for this one. Right click and select Bearing. Here we will set our beam at 10 foot, one and an eighth for the top. And the bottom will be at 9 foot, one and an eighth. Select point selection, Let's go ahead and start with the left top side and click to Snap your bearing point here. Next, while pressing and holding down the alt key click to place the bottom left side. Finish placing the remaining beams by adding the point to the right, then move up and click. Press escape. Next we will add the two columns on the outside. These aren't necessarily required for the program to function, but will make the model look better. Right click to select bearing. Set the properties for the columns to have a top at 9 foot, one and an eighth. Then tab over and set the bottom bearing to be set at 0 inches. Move down in the properties panel and select Point selection method. Next we will go over to the front porch and Click to place the left side of the column. And while pressing the alt key, we will click to add the right side. Press escape. Right click to select bearing once again. Make sure to select the point selection mode, then we will click to place the left side, alt click to place the right side. Press escape to end this column. That will do it for the front porch. Let's take a look at the 3D view to see what we've just created on the front of the house. And there we have it. We've got our beams for the fireplace and porch and our columns under the porch. All looking good. Let's go back to the 2D view. Next we will finish off these bearings at the back of the house. Pan over to the rear porch and then right click to create a bearing envelope. Here we will set the properties for these beams to be at 9 feet, one, and an eighth as well. We'll set the bottom so it is at 8 feet, one, and an eighth. Giving us a 1 foot height. Again, using point selection. So far we have been Inputting the bearings in a counterclockwise fashion. I'll demonstrate putting them in a clockwise fashion. Because of that, we're going to need to change our justification. As shown here, click to define the start point, and you can see the bearing is on the wrong side. So here we will need to change that justification setting to be back. Click the end of the back side, to input bearings in sequence, press the alt key to place the upper right end. Followed by the lower right side. And there we have it. Press escape to end this bearing session. That should do it for these porch beams. The next thing we're going to do here is put in our columns for the rear porch. Right click and select bearing. We will set the top of the column to be at 8 foot, one and an  eighth. And the bottom to be set to zero. We will use point selection mode to add these columns. We're going to click that point on the left side and then move over to the other side and Alt click. Next click escape. To add the last column we're gonna repeat these steps. Right click to Create bearing. Click to start the left side, move over to Select the point selection method, press alt and click on the right side to end this column. Press escape. Now we will take a look at this in 3D to see our newly added beams and columns. From here we can see we're looking pretty good for all of our bearings for the fireplace, the front porch and the back porch. All right, that's gonna do it for this instructional demo. We hope this video will help streamline beam and column input on your next project. Thanks for watching.
# 2.4 Deleting Imported Work Lines Estimated Completion Time: 4 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to use selection filters to delete all Work Lines within a Layout. ## Objectives * Use multi-select and selection filters to delete Work Lines. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE * Training Plan 3 (Download) Layout.dxf accessible from link below {% file src="/files/q6WtzHjp4vB09Dwl507v" %} ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video we will demonstrate two methods for removing all work lines from your project. In this example, we used imported work lines to trace our bearings. Now that the bearings are present let's go ahead and remove the work lines from the layout. There are two different methods for deleting work lines The first method in removing the work lines is to hold down the control key while you're in the layout scene. Then from the multi-select filter options, select work lines. And then, while holding down the control button, click and drag your mouse, creating selection window around the items you want to select and remove. We can see in the scene all of the work lines have been selected. To remove the items from the project, press the delete button. There you go, they're all deleted. To demonstrate the second method, press undo or control z to bring the work lines back. The second method for deleting all work lines, is to access the work lines collection, Click the Work Lines menu and select the delete all work lines option. And there you have it, two different methods to quickly delete all work lines. We hope this video helped you understand how to remove the work lines from your project. See you in the next one.
# 2.5 Bearing Envelopes Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 3.1 Creating Vaulted Ceilings Estimated Completion Time: 8 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to create and cut Ceiling Planes which define bottom chord geometry. ## Objectives * Create Ceiling Planes using different slopes. * Demonstrate how to cut Ceiling Planes against opposing planes and Bearing Envelopes. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Now that we've completed placing our bearings, we will add the ceiling planes. To simplify the workspace and reduce visual noise, let’s start by hiding the work lines. We’ll begin with the front porch area, where we’re going to place a ceiling vault with a 4 twelve pitch for the front entry. Start by right clicking and selecting the Ceiling Plane tool. Make sure the slope is set to 4 twelve in the properties panel. Click to place the ceiling plane along the right side of the inside wall of the porch. We will select the Insert and Repeat button, and move over to add the ceiling to the opposing side using the same slope. Click insert and escape. You are all set for the front entry. Now let’s move to the back of the structure and add the ceiling to the larger room. Right click and select the Ceiling Plane tool again. Set the slope to 3 twelve. Click along the back wall to place the plane. Use Insert and Repeat to place the opposing side using the same slope. Click Insert to place the plane against the interior wall. After you insert the plane is stays as the active selection, if it is not currently selected, click on it to make it active. Here we will cut the plane. While pressing the shift key, select the inside wall. Working our way clockwise, click on the opposing ceiling plane and then click to select the inside of the other wall. Select Finish Cutting. Repeat for the opposing plane: Select it. Click Cut Plane, hold Shift, and select the inside the wall to cut against. Select the opposite plane and then shift click on the adjacent wall to Finish Cutting. Let’s preview this in 3D. You can see the planes we've added in the different locations—everything is looking good. Now let's switch back to 2D to continue. Next we will cut the roof plane for the front entry we added earlier with the 4 twelve pitch. Select one of the ceiling planes. Click Cut Plane, hold Shift, and cut across the front wall. Then select the opposing plane, shift click the adjacent wall. Click Finish Cutting. Repeat for the opposing plane. Shift click the wall. Select opposing plane. Shift click the wall. Select finish cutting. Let's take a look in 3D to confirm everything looks correct. That wraps up our video on placing ceiling planes.  We hope this has given you a clear insight into how you can effectively incorporate these features into your project. Thanks for watching!
# 3.2 Creating a Tray Ceiling Estimated Completion Time: 7 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to create and place Tray Ceilings which define bottom chord geometry. ## Objectives * Create a Tray Ceiling. * Describe the different properties for Tray Ceilings. * Explain the different methods for placing Tray Ceilings. * Demonstrate how to place Tray Ceilings. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Now that we have completed placing our bearings, we’ll demonstrate adding a tray ceiling.  If the work lines are currently visible you can turn those off from within the options bar. Let's begin putting in the tray ceiling. Right click and from the menu select ceiling tray. This particular tray ceiling is going to be 12 feet by 13 feet, and we're going to place that at 2 foot 6 off of the walls. Set the horizontal anchor to be Left and our Vertical anchor to be the Upper. The tray height is going to be one foot. So, enter 9 foot 1 and an eighth for the bottom. So starting with this as the bearing height. Then going up 10 foot 1 and an eighth. For the side angles, we will set this at 90 degrees so, to be a vertical pitch. For this particular case, we're working with a 90-degree angle. Our first step is to place the tray correctly. Let's click to place the tray in the upper left corner of the room. Once positioned we will make our necessary adjustments of the X and Y coordinates. We need to adjust the existing X coordinate of 0, 3, 8. And do the same for the Y coordinate, which will be 59, 3, 0. What we can actually do here is use the coordinate field like a calculator function. So for the X coordinate we are going to add into the box, a plus sign, then add a space, followed by 2 dash 6 dash 0, Representing 2 feet 6 inches. Press enter to accept this X value. There, you see that it moved to the right. And for the Y coordinate, we actually need to move it down. So enter a minus sign, then a space, followed by 2 dash 6 dash 0, again representing 2 feet-6 inches. Press enter or tab to accept. We can see the new location of the tray. Now let's check our work in 3D. All right, so everything looks good. We have the front porch. with a 4 12 pitch, the back room 3 12, and then we've got our tray ceiling we just added. That concludes our video on tray ceilings! We hope this has given you a clear insight into how you can effectively incorporate these features into your project. Thanks for watching.
# 3.3 Ceiling Planes Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 4.1 Creating Roof Planes Estimated Completion Time: 9 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to create Roof Planes which define top chord geometry. The module covers the butt cut vs. heel height options and using Alt + Click to insert multiple planes in sequence. ## Objectives * Create Roof Planes using different slopes. * Explain the differences between Heel Height method versus Butt Cut method. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we are going to be covering roof plane input. This structure has both 6 12 and 8 12 roof slopes. The roof slope on the garage and front porch will be 8 12. And the remainder of the planes will be 6 12. The 6 12 planes will have a standard heel height. And for the 8 12 planes, we will adjust the heel height to match the fascia height. So let's add some roof planes! Right click and select roof plane. For these planes, we will set the slope to be 6 12.  Here, we can see the Heel Method is set to butt cut with a value of four sixteenths or a quarter of an inch.  Let's change the heel method over to heel height. Here we can see the value is set to  four and three sixteenths. This is a standard heel height calculated using the 6 12 slope, the quarter of an inch butt cut, 3 and a half inch Top Chord width. We will set the overhang to be 1 foot. Pan to the back of the house and we will start with the rear porch. While pressing the alt key, click on the left bearing of the porch to add the first plane. Keeping the alt key pressed streamlines input, allowing you to add additional roof planes in a continuous fashion. Continue with the plane across the back. And select the last one on the right side of the rear porch. Continue adding a roof plane for the rear wall of the house that is adjacent to the rear porch using Alt Click. Pan over to the right side of the house where we've got another 6 12 plane to add for the fireplace. Alt Click on the outside edge for the fireplace wall. Next, move down to add a plane to the front wall, Alt click to place this plane. And finally, pan back along the left, rear of the house to add a plane for the back edge of the house. Next, we're gonna add the remaining 8 12 roof planes. You should still be in plane input mode so simply change the pitch to be 8 12 and verify overhang is 1 foot. The heel height value is not important for the 8 12 planes because we will adjust these later using the Adjust fascia Height command. Holding down the alt key  we will add the Planes in a continuous fashion. Let's start with the right side of the front porch. Then alt click to add the left side. Move over to the garage and here we will alt click to add the right side plane first, then move to the front edge. and alt click. And to wrap up this area we will click to add the left side. There you have it. We can either click cancel here or press the escape key. Let's take a quick look at the roof planes in 3D. As you can see spinning the model, everything looks good here. That wraps up this video on adding roof planes. We hope this video has provided you with a better understanding of roof settings and the process of adding roof planes. Thanks for watching.
# 4.2 Cutting Roof Planes Estimated Completion Time: 21 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to cut Roof Planes against bearings and other planes. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to cut Roof Planes against opposing planes and Bearing Envelopes. * Explain how to apply overhangs to specific cutting edges. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we are going to be covering how to cut roof planes. We will start cutting in the garage. Then move over to the front porch, next we will cut in the rear porch, and then move over to the fireplace. And finally we'll cut in the main roof planes for the front and rear of the structure. OK, let's dig in. Pan over and zoom into the GARAGE area, as we will start here. Click to select the front plane of the garage, right click and select Cut Plane. Then click the adjacent plane on the left, and then wrap up this area by clicking the adjacent plane on the right side of the garage. Select finish cutting to exit plane cutting mode. Next, select the plane for the left garage wall, then right click and select cut plane. Here we will click the main front plane of the main house. And then, click the opposing garage wall to the right of the front garage plane, we will end this selection by selecting the front garage plane, and click finish cutting. To wrap up the garage, click to select the right side garage roof plane, right click, select Cut Plane, next we will click the front garage roof plane, then select the left most garage roof plane. And finally select the main front plane of the house. Click finish cutting. Next we'll move over to the FRONT PORCH. Select the left side plane of the front porch, then right click while you hover over the roof plane, and select cut plane. Next we will select the main, front plane of the house to define the valley, move over to select the right porch plane to define the ridge, and to wrap it up, shift click the front gable edge. Select finish cutting. Repeat by cutting the right side plane of the front porch. Select the plane, right click, then select cut plane, then shift click to grab the front gable. Next click the opposing porch plane for the ridge, and finally click the main, front plane for the valley. Then we will click finish cutting. Next pan over to the FIREPLACE. Click to select the roof plane. Right click, then select cut plane. Shift click to select the (front) gable edge, then shift click the wall on the right side of the house. To wrap this one up we will shift click on the other gable of the fireplace. Click finish cutting. Let's pan over to the REAR PORCH. Click to select the back edge roof plane. Right click, select cut plane. We'll continue to cut in a clockwise sequence. Now Select the right side adjacent plane, then the left side adjacent plane. Click finish cutting. Move over to the Right side and select roof plane. Right click, select cut plane. Click to select the rear plane on the house to create the valley. Select the opposing roof plane to create the ridge, and then the rear porch plane. Click finish cutting. Finish cutting the rear porch by selecting the last plane on the left side. Right click, select cut plane. Click to select the rear porch plane. Select the opposing roof plane to create the ridge, and then the rear plane on the house, creating the valley. Click finish cutting. It is good practice to check your work as you progress. Let's check out our roof planes in 3D. We've got everything but our six twelves cut in. Let's go ahead and do that next. Let's zoom to start on the MAIN FRONT PLANE of the house. Keep in mind that the front porch bearings are one foot higher than the main house. Because of this, the porch planes will cut over the underlying 6 12 planes. This will become more clear as we go. We will continue to cut in a clockwise fashion. Click to select the roof plane, right click and select cut plane. First, press the shift key to cut against the right side porch bearing. Next, cut against the right side porch plane to create the valley, then back down the other valley, by selecting the left side porch plane. Then shift click the left porch bearing. Next, shift click the front wall of the house. Then we will click the right side garage plane to create a valley, followed by the left side garage plane. Next, shift click to define the left gable edge of the house. Click the left rear plane to create a ridge. Then we will shift, click the wall in the middle section of the house, creating the gable edge, click to select the furthest rear plane to create a ridge and then shift click to define the right end gable. To wrap this one up click finish cutting. As best practice, review your work in 3D after cutting to make sure you got all the selections. We can see that we didn't get an overhang on the front wall , and that's okay. We will add that in now. Click to select the roof plane along the front edge of the house. In the properties panel on the right side scroll down until you see Cut Against in this order. Here we see the sequence defining how the roof plane was cut. You can hover over each cut entry like the vertical edge,  which will then be highlighted with a green dot or a plane, which  will be fully highlighted in green, that defines the cut. For this particular plane the 5th cut is what we need to adjust. In the box to the right click to add the overhang. We've got two remaining planes to cut at the REAR OF THE HOUSE. Let's pan to the back of the house, here we will focus on the left rear plane. Click to select the plane, then we will Right click, and select Cut Plane. Next we will shift click the gable wall just to the right, then click the main front plane to define the ridge, and to wrap up this area we will shift click the gable edge on the left side to come back down. Click finish cutting. Now for the final plane on the back wall that is adjacent to the rear porch. Click to select the plane, right click to select Cut Plane, then we will shift click the gable on the right side. Next click the main front plane to create the ridge, and we will shift click the wall in the middle of the house creating the gable edge. Here we will shift click the rear wall, and then click the left porch plane to define the valley. Then wrap this up by clicking the right side porch plane for the other valley, and click finish cutting. Let's take a look at the 3D model. Rotate, around to see how things are looking. Looks Like we are missing our overhang here along the back, similar to the scenario in the front. So we'll add that overhang on by selecting the plane, accessing properties, and identifying the proper cut to apply an overhang. That should do it for cutting in our planes. We hope this video has given you a better understanding of the proper sequence to cutting in roof planes and how to adjust overhangs. Thanks for watching.
# 4.3 Adjusting Fascia Height Estimated Completion Time: 5 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to use `Adjust Fascia Height` to ensure a consistent fascia height across 8/12 and 6/12 planes in Training Plan 3. ## Objectives * Explain how adjusting heel height for the higher sloped planes impacts fascia alignment. * Demonstrate how to use Adjust Fascia Height. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we are going to show how to adjust the fascia on our overhangs, so they match up. Let's take a look In the 3D view. Here we can see the front overhang of the 8 12 plane is not matching up with the overhang of the 6 12 plane along the front edge of the house. So, because of this we will need to adjust the heel height of the 8 12 planes so, the fascia height will align across the 6 12 planes. Let's edit this. To do so, we will Ctrl click to select the three garage roof planes. And from the Properties panel, we will select the Adjust fascia Height option. Using the Heel Height , Butt Cut method, select the 6 12 main front plane. Then click the Adjust option. Now let's select one of the garage planes so we can verify the heel height is set at 6 and 3 sixteenths. For consistency, we will define a  6 and 3 sixteenths heel height for all of the 8 12 planes which include the front porch. So, let's select the front porch roof planes and set the heel heights to be 0 6 3. After making these heel height adjustments, Let's take one final look at them in 3D. Here we can see the overhangs align so we are good with our roof planes And that's gonna do it for matching fascia. Keep in mind that you always want to adjust the heel height of the steeper slope to that of the lower slope. We hope this video has given you a better understanding of how to adjust heel heights. Thanks for watching.
# 4.4 Roof Planes Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 5.1 Creating Gable Truss Envelopes Estimated Completion Time: 9 minutes ## Description This module walks through inputting gable end trusses in Layout. ## Objectives * Create gable truss envelopes for a variety of conditions. * Demonstrate how to modify the left or right end of a truss envelope. * Explain why it is a best practice to input one-off and boundary-defining trusses and Work Lines prior to inputting truss runs. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we’ll demonstrate how to input roof trusses, with a focus on gable trusses. A best practice, is to start by defining your one-off trusses, like girders and gables, before moving on to place the rest of your trusses. We’ll use existing bearing envelopes as our boundary guides for more accurate truss placement. We’ll begin by right clicking, and then selecting Truss Envelope from the options. From the Snap Against menu, we will use the Closest Base option to assist in the input of the truss. This option will automatically snap us to the ends of the walls. Let's jump into placing the gable ends. We will start by panning over and zooming in on the right side of the structure, so we can get a better view of where we’re working. Let’s place the first gable. We are going to select the far right outside wall to place the gable truss. And then click Insert and Repeat to continue placing the other gable ends while we’re working on this side. Move over to the fireplace. To place gable trusses in a continuous fashion, press and hold the alt key while clicking to place the gable truss. Here we will alt click to place the upper gable, then alt click to place the gable on the other side. Moving to the front porch area, we will follow the same steps—alt click to select the front edge of the porch to place this gable. Next we need to pan and zoom over to the middle area of the house. Here we will alt click and place the gable to the left side of the wall for this area. We have one additional gable to drop in here at the left end of the house. This is a good example of a case where the gable will not automatically recognize where the truss should stop, since there is no end or divider. As you can see moving the mouse around to locate the gable, you’ll notice the gable extends past the wall towards the garage. This is because the system hasn’t detected the wall boundary. We will go ahead and place the gable along the left side wall. Click to place the gable, and then click insert to finish out. Next we will adjust the right end of the gable to be at the proper location. To do so, we will right click on the truss, then select trim extend from the options. We will select the outside edge of the wall that separates the house and the garage. Click and the truss will now be trimmed to the correct wall. And with that adjustment made, we’ve got all of our gables in place and looking good. That wraps up the gable truss section. We hope this video helped you better understand how to input gable trusses and align them accurately with other structural elements in your design. Thanks for watching!
# 5.2 Creating Hip Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 12 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to add trusses to create a step down hip system. The video covers creating a 2-ply hip girder with a 6' setback, adding corner sets, and creating truss runs to place end jacks. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how to insert a 2-ply truss with a 6' setback. * Explain how to use Snapping Distance to define specific truss placement. * Demonstrate how to Create Corner Sets to automatically place corner jack and corner girder trusses. * Create a run of end jack trusses carried by a hip girder. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we’ll focus on creating hip roof systems. We’ll start with the hip on the rear porch, followed by the garage on the front of the house. Let’s begin by placing the hip girders. Zoom and pan to the rear of the house, so we can start along the back porch. Right click and select Truss Envelope. For this example, we’ll use a standard setback of 6 feet. You can set this in the snapping distance field. Since we want this setback to be a two-ply girder, be sure to set that option as well. Make sure your girder is set on the correct side of the wall. Here we want to use the outside edge. Then, click to place it. Now we will click Insert and Repeat to continue. Moving down to the front of the house. We will add the hip set to the front of the garage area. As you move the cursor around, make sure you select the outside edge of the wall. Once you have the correct location, click to place it. Then select insert. This takes care of the hip girder placement. Here we will define our two corner sets for the garage area. Start by selecting the Hip Girder. Then we will right click, and select Create Corner Set. We are prompted to select our first roof plane. For our first roof plane we will click, to select the left plane of the garage. Then, we will click to select our second roof plane. Which is the front plane on the garage. And there we have it. We added the first of our corner sets. We are going to repeat that once again.  Click to select the girder, Right click and select  Create Corner Set. We are prompted for our first roof plane. It does not matter the sequence in which we select our planes. Click the right side garage plane, then click the front plane of the garage. As you can see we defined the two hip corner sets for the garage area. Next we'll finish out the garage area by creating the end jacks. Click the right corner jack, Right click, select start run. Slide over to the left but, don't go past the ridge. Click to place the run. Repeat on the other side. Select the left corner jack, then right click, and select Start, run. Drag over to the right, and click to place this run, making sure to not have any overlapping trusses. Now let's turn our attention to the rear hip. Pan and zoom towards the back of the house and focus in on the rear porch. Here we will repeat the same process to define the two corner sets for the porch, just as we did on the garage. Let's start off by selecting the Hip Girder. Then we will right click, and select Create Corner Set. Here we are prompted once again to select our first roof plane. For our first roof plane we will click to select the left plane of the porch. Then we will move over to select our second roof plane, which is the back plane of the porch. This will do it for this side. We are going to repeat that process. Click to select the girder, then right click and select Create Corner Set. Once again, we are prompted for our first roof plane. Here we will select the right side of the porch plane first, then click to select the rear plane on the porch next. You can see we have defined the two corner sets for the garage area. We will finish this area out. So let's click on the right side corner jack. Then right click, and select start run. Drag over to the left where the ridge is. Click to place this run. Repeat this process on the other side. Select the left corner jack, right click, select Start run. Drag over to the right, making sure to not have any overlapping trusses here, and click to place this run. That looks good! You’ve now completed the hip set input for both the garage and rear porch. We hope this video gave you a clear understanding of how to input and configure hip systems for your roof designs. Thanks for watching!
# 5.3 Creating Bounding Work Lines & Truss Runs Estimated Completion Time: 20 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to use Bounding Work Lines to streamline Truss Envelope creation using truss runs to insert multiple trusses with varying spans, profiles and orientations. ## Objectives * Explain how defining a Work Line segment as "Bounding" streamlines truss placement. * Explain how using the Envelope Spacing field can assist with truss placement for step-down hip systems to keep trusses on-layout. * Describe the workflow for creating a truss run from an existing truss. * Use `Duplicate and Move` to create a new truss based on an existing truss. * Modify overhang length for a selected truss envelope to fine-tune after insertion. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we’ll demonstrate how to streamline truss input using boundary-defining work lines. You’ll learn how to precisely create work lines to guide truss layout, as well as how other structural elements—such as girders and existing trusses—can be used as reference boundaries during truss envelope creation. If you prefer to not have the dimensions on in your layout, turn those off from the options menu using the dimension truss runs and the dimension bearing envelope buttons. Let's get started. Right click and select work line. For the options on all of our Work Lines, we will select and use the point to point method, as well as making each work line a segment and making them all bounding. One final note, make sure to click insert, so to place the work line after you have placed it in your layout. We're going to put our first work line in across the front porch so, let's pan over and zoom in so to focus on this area. To assist with the placement of work lines we can un-check everything except for Truss and Bearing Envelopes, in the Snap Against options. Here we will click to place the right end where the outside edge of the porch intersects the wall on the house, then move over to the other side, and click to place the left end where the outside edge intersects with the wall of the house as well. Click Insert. Make sure Work Lines are visible. You can also verify the lines being added from the collections panel along the right side, under Work Lines. Next we are going to add another Work Line across the garage. Pan over to focus on this area. Right click and select Work Line, we will again use the point to point method, make it bounding and add as a segment. Click to snap to the right side where the outside edge of the garage wall intersects the house, and move across to place the left end where the outside edge meets the house and click. Then click Insert. Next, pan over to the back of the house. We will add a work line across the back of the house where the exterior wall intersects with the porch. Right click, select Work Line, then select point to point method, add the bounding, and segment options, as well. Zoom in and click to place the right side and then move over and click to place the left side. Click Insert. That should do it for adding our Work Lines. Let's create some trusses! The first run of trusses we're going to put in is at the fireplace. Pan over to this area and we will start with the simplest one first. Click to Select the gable, then right click and select Start Run. Slide your cursor down to add the trusses and click to place them. You can see that this left end indicator is on the wrong side, but we'll take care of that later. Pan to the rear of the house where we will focus on adding the trusses for the rear porch. We will start our truss run from the right side corner Jack. You can also hover over the truss or in this case the corner jack, and then right click to select Start Run, without having to select it first. So, right click over the corner jack, then select start run. We will change the spacing here to four feet just to get that first one in and click. Hover over the new truss we just added, right click and select Start, run again. Drag down and click to add the truss. The next run of trusses, we'll put in is for the main part of the roof. Let's hover over the truss along the right side of the house, right click and select start, run. Notice how the trusses do not extend into the porch areas because of the bounding work lines along the front and rear porch. However, if we look at the left side of the front porch, we see one of the trusses is extending into the front porch area. We need to adjust the overhang to match the adjacent trusses. Press escape to make sure no other truss is selected. Then click the truss we want to modify. And from the properties panel, find the left overhang setting, and change the distance to be 1 foot. This will now match the rest of the trusses that have a 1 foot overhang. Next we will hover over the front porch, Right click, select start run, and then drag up and click to add the trusses. Because of the vaulted porch ceiling, we want to add one more truss. We'll add the new truss by duplicating and moving the last truss in the run. First let's press escape to make sure we have no other trusses selected. Next select the truss. Then will right click, and select Duplicate Truss Envelope. If you need to add a snap option do so in the options for snaps to place the truss, I added the Truss Envelopes to my snap against options. We will define the origin as the upper right end of the truss. Then we will pick the destination to be where the porch beam intersects the front wall. This option speeds up the process when adding a single truss to your layout. There you have it. The new truss is placed. Now let's pan over to the left side of the house. Here we noticed the right end of the gable has a 1 foot overhang, we want to remove this before adding this truss run. Click in the properties and set the overhang to 0. Then we will right click on the gable truss, then select Start Run. Next drag your mouse over to the right and click to place the trusses, so to not have any overlapping. Next we will pan down to the garage area and we will add our last set of trusses. For the first one we will put in just as we did along the rear porch. We will use the left side corner jack to start our process, so to have the left side of the trusses all start from the same side. Right click on the corner jack, then select Start Run, here we will set our spacing to 4 feet and click to add this first truss. Next, we will right click on the new truss we just added. Then select Start Run. Then slide your mouse up and click to place these trusses. Let’s take a final look at our trusses in 3D. As you can see here, the trusses for the front porch, garage, fireplace, and other areas have all been successfully added. We hope this video has helped you better understand how to use bounding Work Lines and other tools to input and modify trusses in your layouts. Thanks for watching!
# 5.4 Validating & Refining Truss Solids in 3D Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to use the 3D Camera to identify Truss Envelope solids that need refinement. The video also covers how to define additional Top Cuts to achieve desired top chord profiles in valley conditions. Note: It is critical to refine truss solids prior to inputting valley trusses. ## Objectives * Navigate the 3D Camera view, including making selections in 3D. * Explain how to use Ctrl + Select to filter selection to specific object types. * Demonstrate how to apply additional Top Cuts to modify Truss Envelope solids. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we’ll demonstrate how to adjust the top cuts of trusses to accommodate valley conditions. Properly defining top chord profiles ensure a clean and accurate fit between different roof elements—especially in complex roof designs. We’ll cover the tools and settings needed to modify truss profiles in three valley conditions. Let’s get started. First off, let's make sure your truss envelope view is set to solids. From the options menu click on the truss icon and click to cycle through to solids. Let's go into our 3D view and quickly review our trusses. Everything looks good, except for the trusses at the valley areas. These all need to be adjusted before we can input our valley trusses. We can use the 3D view to select the trusses that need adjustment. This makes it easier to view and select specific trusses. Let's start at the rear porch. We need to select all of the trusses that fall under the valley area. So, press the control button, then from the Multi-Select menu select the Truss Envelopes option. This will allow us to only select trusses. While holding down control, select all the trusses under the rear porch valley area. Spinning the model around may aid in the selection process, so to get a better visual of the ones we need to select. Next, click to add an additional top cut from the bottom of the properties panel. For the new top cut, select the roof plane that defines the rear of the roof which will redefine the top chord profile. Press escape to remove the selection. Let's move to the front porch. Here we will select the trusses that fall under the valley area. Press the control button and select the trusses. If needed spin the 3D view around using the right click or Ctrl Left click. Then from the properties panel we will select to add an additional cut for the selected trusses. Let's click to select the main 6 12 roof plane at the front of the house to cut the trusses back to. There, that cleaned up these trusses. Press escape to clear out any selection. Next let's move over to the garage area. Here we can select the trusses using the control button that are under this valley area and adjust the top chord profile. Again, spin the 3D model around to get a better view to select the trusses if needed. We want to reprofile the trusses back to the main roof on the front of the house. Once selected, access the properties panel and add an additional top cut. So, select the 6 12 plane and the trusses will be reprofiled. Let's spin the model around and take a look at the roof planes and 3D truss profiles. This all looks good. We hope this video has equipped you with the tools and techniques needed to adjust trusses effectively when working with intersecting roof planes or valley conditions. Mastering this step is key to creating clean, accurate roof truss layouts. Thanks for watching!
# 5.5 Creating Valley Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 12 minutes ## Description This module introduces two workflows for creating valley trusses. ## Objectives * Describe why it's important to define additional Bottom Cuts for valley trusses. * Explain how the Decking Thickness property for Planes impacts valley truss span. * Demonstrate the steps required to create valley trusses. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll walk you through how to add valley trusses to your layout using two different methods. We’ll start by placing trusses over the garage and rear porch, then finish up with the front porch. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of how to place valley trusses accurately and efficiently across your design. Pan over and zoom into the garage area and we will get started. With the garage we will use the first method to add the valley trusses. So here we are going to select the truss that is closest to the house wall. Let's right click on it and, then select start run. We will use 2 feet as our spacing distance. Then we will drag up to put in a single truss. And as you can see here, the truss is bound by the perpendicular trusses. Our next step is to add a cut for the roof plane. So, from the properties panel scroll down until you see Additional Cuts. Here, we will click, Add cut, from the Bottom Cuts option. This cut will be defined by clicking to select the front plane of the house. And then from here we will need to recalculate. So, right click on the truss and select recalculate. As we can see the Valley truss extends out to the valley lines. A side note, If your designs call for sheathing thickness there is a roof plane setting that can be adjusted. Then that Valley truss will be cut back. Next let's create the remainder of the valley trusses. We will right click on the truss we just adjusted. Then, click on Start Run, drag your cursor up to add these trusses.  We will skip that last one because it's going to end up being too short. Then click to place these trusses. Let's see what that looks like in 3D view. If we spin the model around, you will see we've added the valley trusses here above the garage. Go back over to our layout. For the porches we will use a different method to add our valley trusses. So, pan over and zoom into the rear of the house. Here we are going to essentially follow the same process, but a little less back and forth. Right click on the truss that sits next to the outside wall of the house. Then select Start run. We will again use 2 feet as our spacing. Drag down to place the trusses, we will not add the last one here as well, as it will be too small. Click to place these valley trusses. While the trusses are still selected, let’s go over to the properties panel, here we are going to add a new bottom cut from the additional cuts area. For this cut, we will select the roof plane on the rear of the house to cut the trusses back to. We then need to right click and recalculate the cuts for these trusses. Let's see how this rear porch looks. Click the 3D camera icon and then we can spin this model around to see that our trusses have been added to the rear porch. This all looks good as well. Next, let's pan over to the front porch of the house and add the valley trusses here. We will follow the same steps as we did in adding the rear porch. Right click on the truss sitting on the edge of the bearing. Then select Start Run, drag your cursor up, here, we will also eliminate that last truss, as it is too small. Then we will click to place these valley trusses. Once again, from the properties panel we need to add a new bottom cut. We will use the front plane of the house to Define our bottom cut, so click to select this plane. And finally, we will need to right click on the truss, and select recalculate. There we are, the trusses extend out to the valley on each side. Let's go over to our model and check out our final work in the 3D view. These all look great, here we see the front porch, the garage, and the rear of the house. Whichever workflow fits best into your project; we hope this video gave you the tools and confidence to add valley trusses smoothly to your layout. Thanks for watching!
# 5.6 Flipping Truss Orientation Estimated Completion Time: 5 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to use `Flip Envelope` to align the left end indicators for similar truss envelopes. The video covers adjusting the orientation for a single truss envelope and for multi-selected truss envelopes. {% hint style="warning" %} Warning Be sure to use `Flip Envelope` to finalize truss orientation prior to designing trusses. {% endhint %} ## Objectives * Explain why it's considered a best practice to align the left end indicators when possible. * Demonstrate how to use `Flip Envelope` for one or more selected truss envelopes. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we’ll show you how to flip a truss envelope to ensure each truss envelope has the correct left end defined. The left end is marked by a green triangle, known as the left end indicator. Let’s get started. We’ll pan over and zoom into the fireplace area. Here, you can see the bottom-most truss has the left end indicator on the opposite side compared to the other three trusses. To fix this, click to select the truss, then go to the Properties panel and choose Flip Envelope. Now, all the left end indicators are aligned. As a good practice—and to match the completed training file—we’ll also adjust the valley trusses over the garage, so that their left end indicators are on the opposite side. This is more of a personal preference, but it helps maintain consistency. Let’s Ctrl click and move the mouse. Doing so, the multiselect menu appears. Here we will select Truss Envelopes from the menu. Then, while holding down Ctrl, click and drag across the garage valley trusses to select them. Once they’re selected, go to the Properties panel and click Flip Envelope. Now, all of the valley trusses are aligned with the orientation of the reference file for easy comparison. Let’s take one final look in the 3D view. Everything looks great. Aligning the left end indicators consistently across similar trusses improves accuracy and makes your layout easier to follow. We hope this quick video gave you the confidence to make these adjustments and keep your trusses aligned correctly. Thanks for watching!
# 5.7 Truss Envelopes Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 6.1 Generating Designs for Truss Envelopes Estimated Completion Time: 4 minutes ## Description This module covers generating designs for Truss Envelopes which applies chord and web members to the envelopes. ## Objectives * Explain the relationship between Truss Envelopes and Truss Designs. * Demonstrate how to Design Truss Envelopes. * Navigate the layout using the 3D Camera and explore view options for viewing Truss Envelopes and Designs. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: Welcome! In this video, we’ll walk through the process of designing components for all the truss envelopes you've placed into your layout. Once your truss envelopes are defined, this design step is what brings them to life. Let’s jump in and take a look at how it works. From the Project menu, select Design All Truss Envelopes. This will run the default design logic on each truss envelope and place chord and web members based on the truss envelope geometry. Now that all truss envelopes have initially been designed, let's take a look at what has been generated in your layout. Switching over to our 3D camera, as we see here we are currently in a solids view. To see the chord and web members, we’ll need to adjust the view. From the View Options, click on the truss envelopes icon to cycle through the different view modes until landing on the Designs view mode. As you see now, each of the trusses displays the chord and web members. Quick note: Truss plates are not applied during initial truss envelope design. That will happen during the truss analysis process, which we’ll cover in a separate video. And there you have it—your truss envelopes are initially designed and ready for further optimization and analysis. Thanks for watching!
# 6.2 Relabeling Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 26 minutes ## Description This module demonstrate how to replace system-generated truss labels with user-defined labels. Truss labeling varies greatly and is largely based on regional, company, and designer preferences. In this video, a generic labeling scheme is used to systematically apply truss labels using two different methods. ## Objectives * Apply user-defined truss labels for an entire layout. * Demonstrate the two different methods for renaming trusses. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: For this lesson,  we will apply labels to the trusses in a series starting with Series A and moving our way through to Series F. It's important that we stay together throughout this training, and apply all labels as specified since we will be referencing the components by name in additional videos. One note, it is good practice to label your trusses with upper case letters, so let's press our caps locks to be on. Let's get started. As we can see, system-generated labels are automatically applied after generating designs for our Truss Envelopes. We are going to update the system-generated labels with our preferred truss labels. Pan over so we can get started at the left side of the structure, which will be our series "A" trusses. Select the gable and from the properties panel locate the component design name. Here we will adjust the name to be A01-GBL. Select this next truss in line, and we will label it to be A01. Moving over to our tray ceiling trusses. Click on the truss and we are going to name these A01A. These next trusses differ, because they have overhangs on both ends. We will change the name to A01B. Nice, this wraps up labels for Series A. Okay, next we're going to jump over to the front right of the house, which will be our Series B trusses. We will start with the outside gable truss. Click to select it and call this B01-GBL. Next in line, click this truss and we will rename it to be B01. Moving to the left, we can see here that this truss was looked over during our editing process. So, we need to adjust this truss envelope. To do so, let's select the truss, and then from the properties panel, we will set the right overhang to 0. Once we adjust the truss envelope properties, we need to then, right click on it, and select Regenerate Component. With the overhang corrected, we will now rename this to B01A, which also applies to the next several trusses as you can see these populate. Continuing to the left, let's click to select this next truss and we will name this B01B. Next, we are going to select the transition gable and name it B01-GBL and we will also add a dash, T to differentiate it from our other B, series gable. Great! We've got our A, and B series truss labels. Next, let's pan down to the front porch area where we'll take care of our C series truss labels. We will start with the gable. Select this truss and change the name to C01-GBL. And for this next one we will click to select it and label this C01. Next let's select the first of the valley trusses and name it C02-V. Moving over to the next truss select it and we will use C03-V. All right, and that does it for these C series truss labels. Next, let's pan over to the garage area and we will work on the D series trusses. Starting with our hip girder, we will click to select this and call that D01-G for girder. Next, we will move over and select this truss and rename it using D02. Moving further up the garage area we will click and select the truss and use D03. Then we will click on the next truss in line and use D04. Here let's select this truss and then we will enter D05 for it's label. And here, select the truss and call this truss D06. Let's get out of the current selection. To do so, click inside the layout somewhere not on a truss and then press escape. Let's 'jump up to the valley area and relabel these. Here we will cover an additional method of renaming trusses. This method allows us to select a group of trusses by pressing the control button, and dragging the mouse around the trusses we want to relabel. Once you have the trusses selected, right click on one of the selected trusses, and click, rename component. Here we see the group appear in the panel to the right. Our next step, is to click on one of the selected trusses and type in the new name. We know the truss is active, as the truss turns green in our layout. We do not need to go over to the panel on the right, as the selected truss is highlighted in the text box. We simply type in the new label name. Then we click on the next truss, and type in the new name we want. Ok, now we know the process, let's get started relabeling the valley trusses. Press and hold the Control button and move your mouse, if Truss Envelopes is not selected from the Multi Select options, make sure to select that option. Now drag across the 7 valley trusses to select them. As we can see these are now selected. Let's right click, then select rename component. The list of trusses is now active in the panel to the right. Let's start relabeling from the bottom and work our way up. Click on the bottom most truss, when we do the active selection turns green. All we need to do is type in D07-V. Remember, we do not need to click over in the active panel of selected trusses. Then we will select the next truss and relabel this D08-V. Repeat this for the next one. So, click and then Simply D09-V. Let's continue by clicking to select the next truss and type in D10-V. We have a couple more to go for our Valley Trusses. Select the next one here, and use D11-V. Then, we will click, to select this one, and we will use  D12-V. Let's select this last one, and call it D13-V. Let's pan down to the hip trusses here on the garage. Starting with the corner Girder, click to select it and we'll use D-CG6. Representing a 6 foot hip girder set-back. Notice, that it applied the label over on the other side as well. Next we will select our 2 foot corner Jack, and enter D-CJ2. And then, we've got our 4 foot Corner Jack. Select it, and we will enter D-CJ4. And finally, let's wrap up our D series trusses. Select our 6 foot end jack and we will relabel it with D-EJ6. Next we will pan over to the rear porch on the house, here we will re-label our E series trusses. We will start with the hip girder. Click on it and enter E01-G. Click to select this next truss, and here we will use E02. As we move on down, let's click and we will enter E03 for this truss. Next in line here, click to select the truss, and we will use E04-V. Here, let's select this truss, and we will relabel it with E05-V for this one. Click the next truss inline, and we will relabel it using, E06-V. And finally, wrap up this valley set by selecting this truss, and we will enter E07-V for it's label. Next, let's take care of our E series hip trusses. Pan back up and we will start, with our corner girders. Click on the girder. For this label, we will use E-CG6. Next, will be our corner jacks. Select the corner jack along the left side, and we'll name this E-CJ2. Moving on through. Select the next corner jack and we will name this one E-CJ4. Here we will wrap up this set for our E series. Select our end jack along the back edge, and here we will use E-EJ6. Now, we should be all set for the rear porch section. Now let's pan over to the fireplace. Here we will rename our F series trusses. Select the gable along the top edge and we will relabel it. We will use, F01-GBL. Click to select the short mono truss, here we will use F01. This will wrap up the fireplace labels. And there we have it. All trusses are labeled and we're looking good. While applying user-labels is a repetitive process, it's a very important one. Being intentional about labeling allows you to systematically review and optimize each design. Thanks for watching!
# 6.3 Analyzing Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 4 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to analyze all trusses within a project. Analyzing trusses applies loads and forces to chord and web members and also applies plating. The Explorer panel displays the analysis status to aid in the systematic review of all truss components. {% hint style="success" %} Tip If you would like to perform a detailed analysis for all components, a best practice is to open a single component in Design Mode, enable Detailed Analysis, return to Layout Mode, and Analyze All Changed Components. {% endhint %} ## Objectives * Describe how to ensure a Detailed Analysis is performed on all trusses. * Explain how to identify analysis status from the Explorer panel. * Demonstrate how to analyze all components from Layout. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we are going to analyze all of our trusses. After analyzing the trusses we will be able to then fine tune each truss where adjustments may be needed. Let's analyze our trusses. From the project menu, select analyze all changed components. That'll bring up the analyzing components dialogue box. We can see here the software is systematically going through each design, one at a time. We can follow the process down as it works. Notice that the majority of these have green check marks and a few others have some red exclamations. That means we are finding a few issues with some of the designs. We will review each of these in a future video. To view the item in question, you can click on the carrot to expand and see the error. We are prompted with the close option after each truss design has been analyzed. After we click to close the tool we can then view each truss design that is in question. As we see most are in Green that their checks passed. A few are in red as well. We will review these trusses and solve any issues that didn't pass in another video. That will do it for this quick instruction on analyzing our trusses. Thanks for watching!
# 6.4 Generating Component Designs Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 7.1 Adjusting Corner Girder Plate Placement (D-CG6) Estimated Completion Time: 3 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to adjust Plate Pair placement to overcome overcapacity grip checks. ## Objectives * Explain how to identify specific overcapacity plates or members. * Demonstrate how to adjust Plate Pairs. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we are going to take a look at one of the corner girders to see what needs to be adjusted to pass the checks. We'll take a look at D-CG6 . We will look to see why it is exceeding capacity. Let's click on our plate pair and see what is taking place. Looks to be that our plate pair is at 103%. It looks to be failing by grip on the end vertical. Let's try and adjust it. Click on the plate and click on the arrow to move the plate to the right. As we move it, the values are looking better. Seems as a little movement to the right fixed this without needing to increase the size of the plate. We hope this video has shown you how a simple adjustment can take care of an exceeded plate value by moving it around to better fit the component. Re-analyze this and looks like we are good. Thanks for watching!
# 7.2 Optimizing Hip Trusses Estimated Completion Time: 32 minutes ## Description This module explores several Design Mode tools relating to hip trusses. ## Objectives * Describe different methods available to open and review layout-generated trusses in Design Mode. * Demonstrate how to multi-select bottom chord members and change materials. * Drop the flat top chord to accommodate framing such as a lay-in gable. * Add vertical webs at top chord pitch breaks and optimize webbing. * Review the Carried Components associated with the point loads applied to chord members. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we are going to review the hip truss designs for Training Plan 3. Let's start off by zooming in on the garage area, and begin with reviewing our Girder truss labeled D01-G. We can simply double click on the truss, which opens it up in design mode. For this particular truss, we want to change our bottom chord to a 2x6, since it's carrying the jack trusses, along with a few other changes. Let's control click to select both of the bottom chords. Then right click and select edit lumber, here we will change the dimensions to a 2x6. Next, we're going to select the top chord, then Right click, and select drop flat top chord. Make sure the thickness is set to an inch and a half at the 8 12 slope. This truss will support the end of lay-in purlins. So, make sure to check the box. Click Drop to apply the changes. Now let's add verticals at the shoulder joints, and adjust the webbing in the middle. So, let's press the control button and drag across the 4 web members and press delete. Next, we will add in our new members. So, let's right click and select member. We're going to insert a member to the right side. To do so, double click to select the vertical reference line at the right end of T2. Then we need to change the alignment. Right click and click on Geometry. Then we need to select Right of Line, so it aligned to the right side. While W1 is still selected let's go over to the properties panel and review the top cuts. Here we will delete the cut against T2. Next let's add another member to the left end of T2. Right click and select member, then double click on the vertical reference line at the left end of T2. Then we need to change the alignment. Right click and click on Geometry. Then we need to select Left of Line, so it is aligned on the left side. While the new vertical web is still selected review the top cuts in the Properties panel. This time we will delete the cut against T2. Notice that the cut is removed from the properties. We will now add webs between the verticals. Let's add a reference line which will be used for our diagonal webs. Right click and select reference line, we want this reference line to be centered between the vertical, so select the left most side of the W2 and then the right most side of W1. This will divide the panel in two. Here we will add a member from the bottom right inside corner of W2 to where the reference line intersects the bottom edge of T2. With the new web still selected, press shift and cut against the reference line. Next, we will repeat this for the other side. Right click and select member. Then place the member from the bottom left inside corner of W1 to where the reference line and the bottom edge of T2 meet. Let's re-analyze this truss. Select detailed analysis from the Gear icon and then select analyze. Here we can see the loads being applied from the carried components. Let's review the carried components from the Collections Panel. Notice all of the connections are applied to the bottom chord. This is because the carried jack trusses are closed. Next, scroll down to access the Hangers menu, and click Select Hangers. This will auto-select hanger solutions and display them on the bottom chord. To change a hanger, select it from the collections panel and change the Hardware to the desired hanger. For this example, we'll change the LUS24 to LUS26. Click on LUS24 and then select LUS26 from the list. Notice, the scene is updated to reflect the change. Next let's re-analyze the hip girder. Looks like our hip girder is now good and we are ready to move on. Let's return to the layout and take care of these additional hip trusses. So, double click on D02. Select the top chord, Then, right click. And select Drop Flat Top Chord. Then we need to click Drop to accept this at the bottom. Next, we will shift the vertical webs to cut against the sloping top chords. Select W2, right click, and click Geometry, and then we will select Left of Line. With the vertical still selected, hold Shift and select the bottom edge of T1 to add a cut, and then click the bottom edge of T2 to remove the cut. Repeat this for W5. Select W5, right click, select Geometry, and then select Right of Line. With the vertical selected, hold Shift, and select the bottom edge of T3 to add a cut, and then click the bottom edge of T2 to remove the cut. Click analyze to finalize this design. We are good here. Let's go back to our layout. We are going to Double click the D03 truss to open it up. Here, we will select the top chord. Then, right click, and select drop flat top chord. Click Drop at the bottom to apply the change. Next, we'll shift the vertical webs to cut against the sloping top chords. Select W3, right click, in the geometry option, and then select Left of Line. With the vertical still selected, hold Shift and select the bottom edge of T1 to add a cut, and then click the bottom edge of T2 to remove the cut. Repeat this for W5. Select W5, right click, click on Geometry, and select Right of Line from the options. With the vertical still selected, hold Shift, and select the bottom edge of T3 to add a cut, and the bottom edge of T2 to remove the cut. Analyze this truss. And everything looks good with D03. Return to the Layout and double click on our D04 truss to open this last one in our D series trusses. Once again, we will drop the top chord. So, select the top chord, and then right click, and select drop flat top chord. Then select drop to accept. Similar to the previous flat top common trusses, let's add vertical members at the pitch breaks. Rather than adding vertical webs, we'll modify the existing diagonal webs by making them vertical. We'll start by deleting W3. Then right click toward the bottom of W2, and then select Move Lower End to Make Vertical. That rotates an existing member to be vertical. Next, right click toward the bottom of W3, and select Move Lower End to Make Vertical. This saves a few steps in editing and adding in a new member. Now we need to add a couple diagonal webs. Right click, select member, we will add a member back in for the left side of W2. Let's create a web between the bottom of W1 and the top of W2. We will clean up the connections here. We will cut this back by holding shift, and then cut against the reference line, and then B1. Let's create another member between W3 and W4. Right click, select member, and create a web between the top of W3 and the bottom of W4. Let's clean this up. While holding shift, we will cut this against B2 and the reference line. That looks better. Let's analyze this one and see what we have. Alright, that does it for those D hip set members. Let's take a look in 3D for our D series trusses. Here we can see our modified webbing and dropped flat top chords we added. Next, we are going to use many of the same tools to optimize the E series trusses. Pan over to the rear porch area, and zoom in on the porch to focus our efforts here. Let's begin editing. Double click the E01-G truss. Select the bottom chord, then right click, and select edit lumber. Here we will change this to a two by six. Next, Select the top chord, then right click and, select Drop flat top chord. Notice the Crossing Slope is set to 6 12. Click to add the option for supports ends of lay-in purlins which effects the vertical drop distance. Then click drop to accept these changes. We're also going to adjust the diagonal webs to be vertical members at each pitch break. Let's start on the left side. Right click near the bottom of W1, and select, Move Lower End to Make this one Vertical. With the member selected, change the Location to Left Of Line by right clicking and then select Geometry, then click on Left of Line. Press shift and click the edge of T1 and then on T2 to clean up the cuts. We will repeat this on the right. Right click near the bottom of W2, and select, Move Lower End to Make Vertical. With the member selected, right click and select Geometry, the from the options change the Location to be Right Of Line.  Press shift, and click the edge of T3 and then on T2 to finalize the joint. We need a diagonal web between the verticals. To add this, let's Right click, select member, and then add the member between W1 and W2. Let's review the Carried Components over in the properties panel. Slide down to the Carried Components and you will notice there are 10 entries, which include both Top and Bottom Chord connections. This is because, the carried components are open jacks, which will be toe nailed at the top and bottom chords. Next, we will add the hangers. To do this, click the Hangers menu at the right, and Select Hangers. TJC 37 were auto-selected to carry the corner girders. Finally, let's analyze the truss. Everything looks good here. Move back over to the layout, and we will double click the E02 truss and make a few adjustments. Here, we are going to select the top chord, then we will right click and select drop flat top chord to drop it. And then select drop at the bottom to accept the changes. We need to make a few other modifications to this truss. Starting with W1, right click, and select geometry, here we will choose Left of Line. Next press Shift, and add a cut against T1, and then we will click T2 to remove the cut. Repeat this for W3.  Right click, select geometry, and choose Right of Line. Then we will press the shift key, and add a cut against T3, and then we will click T2 to remove this cut. There we go. Let's re-analyze this one. And all looks good. We hope this video provided you with some practical examples of how to drop top chords, add, and modify webs, and adjust member cuts. Thanks for watching.
# 7.3 Hip Systems Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # 8.1 Optimizing Tray Ceiling Truss Designs (A01A) Estimated Completion Time: 14 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates using a variety of tools to address real-world conditions for a tray ceiling truss design. ## Objectives * Address over-capacity Plate Pairs. * Use trim/extend to improve joint configuration and geometry. * Demonstrate how to change material for overstressed chord members. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this next video, we are going to review the tray ceiling truss from Training Plan 3 to address design checks that have been exceeded. We will start by selecting A01A to review the component in Design mode. We see quite a bit of red in the scene which we'll systematically address. In the bottom left, we see a plating error message. Clicking on the error will open the notification center which will display all errors for the active component. Here it shows plate pair 15 B overlaps, plate pair 15 A. Additionally, three members are displayed in red, indicating the members are over capacity. Hover over each red member to see additional information, which will help us better understand the problem so we can devise a solution. Focusing on T1, the 2x4 is over-stressed. Let's change this to a 2x6 to see if that helps. Right click on T1, select Edit Lumber and change from 2x4 to 2x6. Next, let's select T1, and we will trim that back to the top edge of B1. And, then we will trim T1 back to the left edge of the bearing. Then we will select B1. Then go over to the member properties panel and we will review the Left Cuts. Here, we will delete the T1 starboard cut from the list. Next we will re-analyze this truss to see if that helped. Looks like we have another error to look over. It appears T1 overlaps B2. So, let's clean that up. Select B2 and then we will trim that back by shift clicking on T1. For this example, we'll strengthen this joint by having B2 connect directly with T1. To do this, let's trim back EV1. Select EV1 and then press Shift and select the bottom edge of B2. Next, trim B2. Select B2, and from the properties panel, review the Left Cuts. We will select PB2 Parallel, so to edit this cut, and then we will select the left edge of EV1. That'll do it. Let's re-analyze this once more. We want to see what our adjustments have done for us here so far. Our chords are still overstressed. Hovering over B2, we see that it is over capacity, so let's change this to a 2x6. Right click, Edit Lumber and change dimension to 2x6. Let's run a detailed analysis. Click the gear icon to access Analysis Options and select Detailed. Then let's re-Analyze the truss to see how we're doing. This now looks like our lumber all passes checks, but we can see that there are still failing checks. From the top, we will click to open the Analysis and History option. Then along the left side towards the bottom of the panel, we see that Plates are over capacity. Expand plates and see that Plate Pair 3 needs some attention to improve grip on B2. So, let's adjust the plating. We can move the plates around by clicking and dragging the arrow in the desired direction. Alternatively, individual clicks on a specific arrow, will move it in small increments. Use both methods to fine tune the plate placement. We can also rotate the plate. As we adjust the plate, the red coloration indicates the single plate pair will not work for this joint. Let's choose a new plate size. Right click, select edit properties, and then change the dimensions of the plate to a 3x8. We chose 3x8 here, because that's the same size plate as the one directly below this joint. Left click and drag on the arrows to move the plate and rotate as needed to place the plate above the existing 3x8 plate on the EV1 member. The plate will display red which is OK for now because we'll be adding an additional plate pair. So, to add a plate, let's right click and select plate pair. Here, we will add another 3x8 plate from our selection. Click to place it in the area where T1 and B2 come together. Once it is placed, we can adjust as needed using the arrows and the rotate options. Fine tune the newly added plate pairs until both plates are under 100%. Remember, when you manually add or modify plate pairs, those pairs will be locked. Let's click to re-analyze this truss after we've added our plate. It's important to acknowledge that our new plate pair is at 96% capacity. In reality, you may want to upsize plate pairs to be more conservative. This all looks good. We hope this video has provided you with practical examples and tools for overcoming design checks that have been exceeded. Thanks for watching!
# 8.2 Refining Scissor Truss Designs (B01, B01A, B01B) Estimated Completion Time: 8 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how upgrading bottom chord material from 2x4 to 2x6 can address plating issues for truss designs with a partial ceiling vault. ## Objectives * Demonstrate how changing bottom chord material can improve joint geometry and plating performance. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this next video we will take a look at refining our scissor trusses. From our component list, let's click on B01 to see where we need to make changes. First let's click analyze, and we'll take a look at any areas that are over capacity. After running the analyze tool, we can view the analysis history. From the options menu let's select the Analysis and History icon. We see here we have a plate pair that's exceeding capacity, and looks like we have another plate pair that's exceeding capacity as well. So, let's look at plate pair 11. It's exceeding capacity at over 128%. If we expand this, the analysis provides us details on the truss and capacity issues. The plate size should be good, but I'd feel better if we increased the bottom chord to 2x6 to increase contact area. Select the bottom chords by control clicking, then right click and select edit lumber, then we will change the dimensions to a 2x6. Next, we need to re-analyze the truss. So, click on analyze, and let's see how changing the bottom chord to a 2x6 goes. All right. We are looking a lot better. We do see that plate pair 11B, here at the bearing is at a hundred percent. So, if you are okay with that, we leave it, otherwise you could upsize the plate. But, for the sake of this demonstration, we are going to leave it as is. And that's going to do it for B01 truss edits. Let's go back over to our list of trusses, and we are going to take a look at B01A. Click to open B01A. We can apply the same changes here that we applied to the B01 truss. So, let's select the bottom chord, right click and select edit lumber, then from the dimensions option, we will select 2x6. Let's re-analyze this to see if the updated size of the bottom chord satisfies this truss. Everything looks good here with the bottom chord changes. We have another truss here to look at that is similar to the last two we just modified. So, let's select B01B. Here we will make the same adjustments to the bottom chord material. Select both bottom chords by Holding down control. Then, right click and select edit lumber once more, and we will select 2x6 from the options. We need to re-analyze this truss to make sure these edits pass the checks. That looks like it solved the capacity issues we had here as well. And there we have it, that's going to do it for the B01 trusses. Thanks for watching!
# 8.3 Adding Horizontal Blocking for a Scissor Gable Truss (B01-GBL) Estimated Completion Time: 17 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to define and place horizontal blocking in a gable truss to provide ample support for perpendicular mono trusses. Additionally, this example requires member adjustment to improve plating at a ceiling peak. ## Objectives * Use trim/extend to improve joint configuration and plating. * Determine x and y coordinates representing the locations of other trusses and subsequently add horizontal blocking using Add Member. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we are going to add horizontal blocking to our scissor gable to better support the fireplace mono trusses from Training Plan 3. From Layout, let’s click our scissor gable truss, labeled B01GBL. Using the 3D camera, we'll explore the layout to see what we're dealing with in this scenario. Because these fireplace mono trusses are tying into the gable, we will add horizontal blocking to serve as nailers. However, before we can add blocking, we need to identify a few important dimensions. Click on the Dimensions Bearing Envelopes icon to display bearing dimensions. With the bearing dimensions visible, we can see that the fireplace ties in at 16 feet from the left end of the scissor gable. The fireplace dimension is 5 feet, so we'll want to place horizontal blocking from 16 feet to 21 feet. We also need to determine the height to place the blocking. Let’s take a look at one of the fireplace trusses to determine the overall height. Double click it from the 3D view, and we can see that the height is a little over one foot four. Let’s take a dimension to the bottom of the top chord by right clicking and selecting it from the menu or by clicking the icon for Dimension Mode. That's at a little over one foot. We will place a 2x6 block at one foot and see if that does the trick. Alright, let's get to work on our scissor gable. Expand the left sidebar and click to open our scissor gable truss named B01GBL. First thing we will do is click to analyze this truss. We need to identify any overcapacity plate pairs or members. Looks like this gable stud at the ceiling peak needs adjusted. Let's click on the plate and delete it. We'll make adjustments to the bottom of W23. Click on W23, and go over to the properties panel to see what is being used as our Bottom Cuts. Scroll down, and we will see the cuts used to trim the bottom. If we hover over the B4 Port cut in the list, we see this is one of the cuts used to cut the bottom. Let’s delete this cut which should extend the gable block down to B3. Let’s re-analyze this. By adjusting the end cut we have better grip for this joint. That all looks good. Next, let's add the horizontal blocking for our fireplace trusses. So, zoom out and pan over to the left, so we can focus on the area between W11 and W14. We know that our blocking will begin around 16 feet from the left end of the truss. We can also see that a splice is here at 18 feet. So, we are going to create a member starting to the right side of W11, which should do the trick. Let's add some blocking. Right click in the scene, and select member from the list. We will reference the bottom edge of the truss, and then go up one foot, and click to place the member here. We want this blocking to be above the line, so let's right click, select geometry, and then select above line. We need to change the blocking to a 2x6. To do so, right click, and select edit lumber, then select 2x6. So, before we get too carried away with all of these, let's take a look at our 3D layout to make sure the blocking was placed in the correct spot. And sure enough, it looks good. This will provide ample blocking once we get the remainder of the members added. Let's go back over to Design mode and we will add the remaining blocking. Right click, and select member, then select the right side of W12, and then the left side of W13. Right click again select member, click on the right side of W13, and over to the left side of W14. And for the last block, right click select member, click the right of W14, and select the left side of W15. That should be all of the blocking here. Next, let’s change the blocking to be 2x6's. Press Control, and click to select the 3 members, then right click, and select edit lumber, from the dimensions option we will select 2x6. Before we wrap up this truss design, let's verify that the fireplace mono trusses do not show up as Carried Components which would apply additional load on the gable. From the right sidebar, access Carried Components. Here you may see multiple connections for the F01 fireplace mono trusses. If so, right click on the Carried Components menu, and select Delete all Connections. We can now click to re-analyze this truss to see that everything looks good, and the truss passes checks. To wrap up this exercise, let's explore the analog by toggling on the Analog Model. The blocking members are defined as Webs, and are therefore included in the Analog model. For this example, it would be acceptable to change the member types for these blocking members from Webs to Nonstructural Blocks, which removes them from the Analog model. To demonstrate this, select one of the blocks, and from the Properties panel, change Member Type to Nonstructural Block. Now, let's re-analyze this and note the change to the analog model in which the Nonstructural Block is no longer included in the analog. And that's going to do it for this instructional video on adding horizontal blocking. Thanks for watching!
# 8.4 Adjusting Member Cuts to Improve Plating (C01-GBL) Estimated Completion Time: 6 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to use trim to improve joint configuration and address over-capaciy plating at a ceiling peak. ## Objectives * Use trim/extend to improve joint configuration and plating. * Explain how to use Top Cut and Bottom Cut properties to fine tune member geometry and joint configuration. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video we will review the front porch gable truss from Training Plan 3 to address over capacity plating at the ceiling vault peak. Click to open the C01GBL truss from the components list. The first thing we want to do is perform a detailed analysis for this truss. Make sure detailed is checked from the options under the gear icon. Then click analyze. The detailed analysis provides more information regarding what is exceeding capacity which is helpful for troubleshooting and devising a solution. Now that the truss has been analyzed, we can click on Analysis and History, then navigate to the lower left and expand the Plates section. We see that plate pair number 12 is operating at 999% capacity. Let’s delete the plate and take a look at the ceiling peak joint. It looks like we need to adjust the bottom cuts here where W2, B2 and B1 meet up. To do so, let's select W2, and review the Bottom Cuts from the Properties Panel. Here we can see there are two cuts being applied. We want to delete the B1 Port bottom cut number 2. Then we want to click to select the B2 Port Bottom Cut number 1, and here we will select the horizontal reference line under W2 for this cut. Next, we need to adjust the end of B1. Select B1, and shift click to select the same reference line we used for W2. We will repeat this for B2. Select B2 and then shift click on the reference line. Let’s re-analyze and see if adjusting the member cuts improved the analysis results of the ceiling peak joint. Alright - Checks Pass and everything looks good! Thanks for watching and see you in the next one.
# 8.5 Modifying Transition Gables (B01-GBL-T) Estimated Completion Time: 18 minutes ## Description This module demonstrates how to address the unique requirements of transition gables. In addition to gable studs, transition gables often require blocking placed at a slope to provide backing. ## Objectives * Navigate between Layout and Design Modes to determine the location to insert sloped blocking members. * Explain how adjusting Member Type can impact the analog model and overall analysis. * Demonstrate how to manually add repetitive gable stud members. ## Additional Resources * Training Plan 3 accessible from Choose/Create Project > OPEN SAMPLE ## Learning Activity Watch video and follow along within the Paragon Design App. {% embed url="" %}
Video Transcript: In this video, we are going to be creating a transition gable where the truss span changes at the rear of the structure. Because only 4 feet of the truss is continuously bearing, it will be a structural gable requiring standard webbing and gable studs at 2 feet on-center. Specific to transition gables, we'll be adding blocking that follows the slope of the adjacent roof plane. Prior to modifying the truss design, we need to identify some important dimensions and reference information. With the transition gable selected, we see that the right end of the gable extends beyond the adjacent trusses by 4 feet, which is where our sloped blocking will begin. So, let's get to it. From the list of components click on B01-GBL-T to open it in Design Mode. We'll begin by using reference lines to define the starting point for our sloped blocking. Right click and select Reference line. We will place this at four feet from the right, so click the right edge of the bearing and then holding down the shift key, move to the left and click to place it at 4 feet. Once the reference line is placed, we can review and modify the distance as needed from the right sidebar. So, make sure it is defined as negative 4 feet. Our trusses have a 4 and 3 sixteenths heel height and we want our sloped blocking to be a bit above that, let's say at 6 inches. Next, let's create another reference line to represent the upper extents of our sloped blocking. Right click and select Reference line. We will add this reference line 6 inches from the bottom edge of the truss. Click and move your mouse up and press the control button to place the line. Then confirm the 6-inch offset from the properties panel. And for our last reference line we will right click, and select reference line. We will place this starting point from where those 2 reference lines cross, and we want this at a six 12 slope. Again, you can confirm the direction in the properties to be at a negative 6. There we have it. To place our sloping members, right click, select member, and start the first member at the right side. Double click the 6 12 reference line. This will be below the line. So, right click on the member, select Geometry, and select below line. Once we place our first member, let's take a look at it in our 3D view to make sure we have what we want. Let's return to our truss design and add more members. Right click, select member, double click the center line that appears. Continue adding the next one, right click, select member, and use the same center line. Repeat by right clicking and selecting member, then double click the center line. And for the last one, right click, select member, double click the center line. Let’s take a quick look at this in 3D, these all look good. You can see the sloped blocking lines up with the adjacent trusses. Next, let’s input our gable studs. While we could input individual members at 2 feet starting from the peak, this would be quite repetitive. Instead, we'll define our right-most gable stud and then insert the remaining verticals all at once. Let's add our gable stud at 16 feet to the right of the peak. So, we will right click, select member, and click the centerline of the vertical web at the pitch break. Hold shift to move in increments of feet, and place the new vertical at 16 feet. Now for the remaining gable studs. Right click, select member, click the centerline of the vertical web again. We need to change the Quantity to 7, and then hover above the center of the newly added vertical web. You'll notice the new member placement is previewed at 2 feet on-center. Where you click to place the members is critical. With the centerline of the right-most vertical web referenced, move your mouse vertically until it approximately aligns with the ridge. Then click to place the new verticals. One last step here, we need to adjust these new member types to be Gable Studs. To do this, we will start with the top member. Select W14, then go over to the properties panel and in the member type, click and select Gable Stud. Next, click on W15, and change the member type here to Gable Stud. We will repeat this process for W16. Then we will continue to work our way down. Select W17. And then followed by, W18. We will do the same for the final three members, select W19. W20. And, W13. Changing the member type, for each of these, from Web, to a Gable Stud. That will do it for our newly, added gable studs. Let's again, switch over and take a look at how this all looks in our 3D layout. There we have it. We've can see our sloped blocking, and the gable studs for our structural, transition gable. Moving back over to design mode. We need to analyze this truss one last time to confirm all Checks Pass. This truss is good with the changes we’ve made. As a best practice, it's a good idea to verify the Analog Model. So, let’s click the analog icon here to view this. Notice that the sloping blocks are defined as webs and therefore are included in the analog. You can change these member types to non-structural blocks if you'd like to remove them from the analog. Then you would analyze one last time and you'd be all set. We hope this video has demonstrated some tools to help you on your next structural, transition gable. Thanks for watching!
# 8.6 Finalizing Component Designs Self-Assessment Please allow the self-assessment to load before moving on.
{% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # Welcome to Paragon Projects The Projects App is included in Team and Enterprise Plans. Paragon Projects is a simple-yet-powerful project hub that helps your team stay organized and connected. The Projects App provides access to all projects within your organization, allowing you to manage project workflow from estimating through production. In addition you can view and edit certain project properties. A project is a collection of components and may also include an associated layout. The Projects App offers collaboration tools that enhance day-to-day workflows and project management. Some highlights include: * Create, Copy, and Delete Projects * Export & Import projects optimizing collaboration opportunities
# Getting Started This section provides the necessary information to help you become acclimated to the tools and features available in Paragon Projects. You'll learn the basics of the user interface and how to use some tools and features to optimize your experience. ## [Interface Overview](https://app.gitbook.com/o/8hsXAGhux1078Q0kONjG/s/CZjb5jsrQlL1BPF82bCn/getting-started/interface-overview) ## [Project Tools](https://app.gitbook.com/o/8hsXAGhux1078Q0kONjG/s/CZjb5jsrQlL1BPF82bCn/getting-started/project-tools) ## [Component Tools](https://app.gitbook.com/o/8hsXAGhux1078Q0kONjG/s/CZjb5jsrQlL1BPF82bCn/getting-started/component-tools) # Interface Overview

User Interface Overview

## [Project Tools](/projects/getting-started/project-tools) Project Tools allow you to quickly access commonly used features within Paragon Projects. Project Tools include: * Create Project * Copy Project * Delete Project * Collapse All * Project Files ## Project List The Project List displays all projects accessible from within your Paragon organization. A `>` expander to the left of the project indicates that there are components within the project. The Project List Includes: * Created Date (filterable) * Project Name * Actions * Filter by Date * Filter by Keyword ## Component List The Component List displays all components within the specific Paragon project. To access the Component List, click the `>` next to a project which expands the view and displays all components within the project. The Component List Includes: * Quantity: Displays the number of each component in the project * Sealed: Indicates whether or not the component has been sealed ## [Component Tools](https://app.gitbook.com/o/8hsXAGhux1078Q0kONjG/s/CZjb5jsrQlL1BPF82bCn/getting-started/component-tools) Component Tools provide a robust set of features applicable to components within a project. Component Tools Include: * Copy Components * Move Components * Download * Request Seals * Request Repair * Production Tools ## Project Counter & Page Navigation Located at the bottom of the Projects List is the Project Counter which displays the number of projects within your organization. Each Project List page displays 100 projects at a time, and the Page Navigator allows you to navigate forward and backward between pages. ## Properties Within Paragon Projects, Properties are broken out between `Project Properties` and `Selected Item Properties`. Project Properties can be edited anytime and must be saved by clicking `Save Now`. Notable Project Properties include `Design Code` and `Region`. Selected Item Properties displays the quantity of any selected components. ## Design Project Clicking `Design Project` will open the selected project in the Paragon Design app.
# Project Tools

Project Tools

## Add Project Click `Add Project` to create a new project. When adding a new project, several of the fields are auto-populated. As a best practice, it is recommended to review and adjust the project properties during project creation. Specifically, the following fields should be updated for each project, prior to beginning a layout or truss designs: * Name * Design Code * Region {% hint style="info" %} Tip Be sure to click `Save Now` after making modifications to the Project Properties. {% endhint %} ## Copy Project Use `Copy Project` to copy the selected project, creating a new project within your organization. All project information will be copied over to the newly created project, including all of its Components, Properties, and Settings. {% hint style="info" %} Tip Be sure to change the project name and click `Save Now` after copying the project. {% endhint %} ## Delete Project Click `Delete Project` to delete the selected project and project data. Deleted projects are removed from your organization's project list. The following confirmation dialog appears when deleting a project:
## Collapse All Use `Collapse All` to "tidy up" your project list view and only display the Project's created date and name. Click `>` to the left of the project name to expand and view all project components. Then use `Collapse All` to collapse the components list and only view the project list.
## Create Estimate You can use `Create Estimate` to quickly create a CSV or PDF using existing or custom pricing for materials. Lumber, plate, and hanger pricing is defined in the Pricing app. However you are able to provide pricing for lumber and hangers that are not defined and come through with a price of $0.00. You are also able to manually add `Other Billable Materials` and `Additional Estimate Info` to account for additional billable goods and services. \ \ Create Estimate is also available from Paragon Design. See [Broken mention](broken://pages/Y0clzr4b3Zb4NhvkNwU7) for more information.
## Project Files `Project Files` serve as a repository for project estimate .pdf and .csv files. You are able to select and download one or more files from the Project Files list.
# Component Tools ## Component Tools Overview * Click to access Component Tools which provide a robust set of features applicable to components within a project. * To view project components, click the `>` next to a project which expands the view and displays all components..

Project > Component Tools

## Copy Components Copy the selected components to the selected Project. The components' Settings will be updated to match those of the destination Project. The selected components will remain in their original Project.
## Move Components Move the selected components to the selected Project. The components' Settings will not be modified, and the components will no longer be included in their original Project.
## Download A multitude of download options are available which include:
### **Engineering Report** A .csv file of design criteria and analysis data for the selected components. #### **Engineering Report Example** {% file src="/files/EUnwCo5smN6AHVuupbXM" %} ### **Material Report** A summary of all of the materials in all of the selected components and the costs of the materials and labor required to produce them. Output is available in .pdf or .csv.
#### Materials Report: Simple PDF Example {% file src="/files/HnJoIA3jpYTNYaM7GUqt" %} #### Materials Report: Detailed CSV Example {% file src="/files/fhoky9cMNrDlmWAvtpLl" %} ### **Lumber Pick List** A simple list of the types and quantities of lumber included in the selected components.
#### Lumber Pick List Example {% file src="/files/cn7PoGJnAEopgUZI3byg" %} ### **Plate Pick List** A simple list of the types and quantities of plates included in the selected components.
### **Shop Drawings** Drawings with the material and dimension information required to produce a component. Optionally includes a component schematic, separate cut sheets for each component, or cut sheets where pieces that are similar among the selected components are combined
#### Shop Drawing Options
#### **Shop Drawing Example** {% file src="/files/kN3Nq3W37hIOc3TNtsGK" %} ### **Truss Design Drawings** Preview the truss design drawings. For example, these are the drawings that will be submitted when you Request Seals.
#### Truss Design Drawing Options
#### Truss Design Drawing Example {% file src="/files/Rqa7hRSlQBXz6vfcIwIu" %} ### **Automated Machinery Files** * **TPS Files** - Describes the profile of a truss. Can be read by some laser projectors * **TRE Files** - Truss files that can be read by some applications and automated saws * **TRS Machinery Files** - Truss files that can be read by some automated saws * **CYB Files** - Truss files that can be read by some automated saws * **BVN Files** - Truss files that can be read by some automated saws ## Request Seals Create a Seal Job in Paragon Review that includes Truss Design Drawings for the selected components.
## Request Repair Create a Repair Job in Review that includes Truss Design Drawings for the selected components.
## Production Group Tools Production Group tools are used in conjunction with the Paragon Production and Scheduling apps. Production Groups are collections of one or more components that can be assigned to a Production Line. Production Lines consist of one or more stations.
### Create Production Group To create a production group, select one or more components from the Components List and populate the fields as needed. When creating a Production Group, it is possible to use the component quantities from the project or overwrite with user-defined values.
### Add to Production Group Add components to an existing Production Group by selecting one or more ungrouped components from the Components List.
A component can only belong to a single production group. Attempting to add a grouped component to a Production Group will result in an error.
### Manage Production Groups Use Manage Production Groups to review and modify the following: * Project ID * Project Short Name * Building Type * Building Instance * Level It is also possible to duplicate an existing Production Group from this dialog.
### Replace Production Components Use Replace Production Components to replace all instances of the matched component name. The original quantity of the component being replaced will be preserved.
# How-To Guides ## Create a Project {% embed url="" %}
Video Script:  Welcome! In this video, we’ll demonstrate creating a new project from the Paragon Projects App. To launch the Projects App, click user icon from the Header menu. Then click the Projects App Icon. Once the app launches click the plus icon, which is the Add Project tool. From the Project Properties panel, rename the project and define all project settings for the current project, like organization, customer name and address, as well as the other relevant areas. After defining and verifying project properties, be sure to click, Save Now. Once the project is created, select the project so the row is highlighted and click Design Project from the upper right side of the window. Next we will modify the settings. From the Projects Settings Menu, select Load Settings. Here make sure to verify all settings are properly specified for this project. Whether it be Roof Loads. Floor Loads. or Wind and Snow. Along with others. Select Analysis within the same menu from the top and verify all settings are applicable for your current project. Make sure to set your deflections and other settings as needed. Then click save. Return to the Projects Settings Menu and select Material Settings. Here, be sure to specify the desired Lumber List, Plate List and Hanger List for your current project. If changes were made click to change defaults and apply to all components in the project. It is a best practice to verify and define all of your settings prior to creating your layout or any truss designs. With that, you are now able to create new projects from within the Paragon Projects App.
* Open [Projects](https://projects.paragontruss.com) * Click `Add Project` . * Fill out the required fields and click `Save` . * Select your project by clicking on it and then click `Design Project` to open it in Paragon Design. * Click the gear icon to access `Project Settings` . Each truss you create using the Insert Component feature will inherit the project's settings by default. You can override the inherited settings for each component 1. To save your changes, click one of the Change Settings buttons at the bottom of the panel * Load Settings: Check the box next to each type of loading your project will have and make sure the settings in each active section are correct * Analysis Settings: Expand each section to see the values, and modify them as needed * Material Settings: Choose the material lists the project will be designed with as well as defaults for each member type * Feature Pattern Settings: If your project will contain feature pattern trusses, you can modify the default end conditions and create new ones # Reference ## Project A Project is comprised of layouts, components, and associated project files that will help you manage workflow through design, sealing, and production. ## Project Properties Project Properties include a combination of required and optional fields. Some of the fields are auto-populated. All of the fields are editable, except `Created At` and `Organization` . ### Required and Auto-populated Project Properties * **Name** - The name used to refer to the Project—on sealed drawings, for example * **Created At** - This field is automatically populated when a project is created * **Organization** - The organization which the project is associated (typically your company) * **Design Code** - The Project's building code and TPI version (required when requesting component review or repairs) * **Contact Info.** - Contains the contact information of the user who created the Project by default. The fields will appear in the properties of the Job created in Review when you Request Seals or Repair. * Contact Name * Contact Phone * Contact Email
### Optional Project Properties Fields that appear on the cover page for your Seal or Repair Job. They will be applied to Jobs you create from the Project in [Paragon Review](https://review.paragontruss.com/). * **Region** - The region in which the Project is being built/sealed (State or District) * **Customer Info.** * Customer Name * Lot Number * Address * City * Subdivision * Model * **Building Designer Info.** * Building Designer Name * Building Designer Address * Building Designer City * Building Designer State * Building Designer License Number * **Project Salesman**
# Welcome to Paragon Design Paragon Design is a cloud-based truss design and analysis platform. It allows users to efficiently design and analyze wood trusses using plates from multiple manufacturers, providing flexibility and independence in truss design. As a web-based application, it requires no installations or site setups, enabling access from any modern web browser. {% embed url="" %} Unsure where to begin? Start with some of the most common topics below or choose from the Table of Contents.
Getting StartedThis is the best place to start if you're completely new to Paragon Design.Getting Started
Insert a ComponentLearn how to perform the most common action in Paragon Design.Single Component Design and Analysis
Create a LayoutLearn how to use the 3D Layout add-on.Layout
# Getting Started This section provides information to help you become acclimated to the tools and features available in Paragon Design. You'll learn the basics of the user interface and how to use some tools and features to customize your experience.
Signing Up and Logging In1.1_SignUp.pnghttps://youtu.be/z1Z9vQRoAqw
Tools and Featuresmultiselect_window.gifTools and Features
Design Mode Interface Overview2.1_DesignInterface.pnghttps://youtu.be/NNWRabSphpg
Layout Mode Interface Overview2.2_LayoutInterface.pnghttps://youtu.be/pmv9YS_5EAs
# Interface Overview Welcome to Paragon Design! Let's dive into the different sections of the interface. {% embed url="" %} ## [Scene](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/scene)
## [Header](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/header)
## [Left Sidebar](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/left-sidebar)
## [Right Sidebar](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/right-sidebar)
## [Actions Toolbar](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/actions-toolbar)
## [Notifications Toolbar](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/notifications-toolbar)
# Scene
## Active Component Design The active component (or layout) will always be front and center in the scene. ### Reset View This tool will reset your view back to `100%.`
### Focus Selection This tool will focus the camera on the currently selected item.
### [Dimension Mode](/design/how-to/general/dimensioning) This tool allows you to pull custom dimensions. {% hint style="success" %} Tip If you save these dimensions, they will appear on Shop Drawings and Truss Design Drawings. {% endhint %}
### Show Analog Model This tool toggles the `Analog Model` visibility. ### Show Reference Lines Use this tool to toggle `Reference Line`visibility.
### [View Options](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features/view-options) This opens the `View Options` Menu. ### Mouse Coordinates This tool can help determine coordinates on a component or layout based on your mouse position. # Header
## Release Notes Notification The Release Notes notification will appear when a version update has relevant release notes. New notes will appear automatically but can be dismissed. Until the notes are marked as read, the notification will remain and can be clicked to reveal the release notes.
## Choose/Create Project This tool allows you to select or search for a project as well as create a new one. See [instructions on how to create projects](/design/how-to/general/create-projects-and-components). Additionally, you can view and save sample projects for ideas and experimentation.
## Current Project The name of your project will appear here. ## Project Settings This menu contains Project Level Load, Analysis, Materials, and Feature Pattern Settings. You can learn how to [modify these settings](/design/how-to/general/modify-project-and-component-settings).
### Load Settings `Load Settings` allow you to define the specific load criteria for components.
### Analysis Settings `Analysis Settings` allow you to define the specific analysis criteria for components.
#### Plating Settings * Fabrication Tolerance\\ A Fabrication Tolerance can be specified separately for `Front-Back Plates` and for `Top-Bottom Plates` . This value determines the Quality Control Factor (Cq).
* Add Plates Along Stacks\\ This option adds plates where necessary along stacked members to achieve the specified maximum spacing.
* Add Plates Along Stacks\\ Use `Add Plates Along Stacks` for additional control of stacked member plating.
* Plate Ribbon Blocks Use `Plate Ribbon Blocks` to require two plates per ribbon block. Unchecking this option only applies a single plate for a standard ribbon block and will not apply any plates to a double ribbon condition. This options assumes ribbon blocks will be nailed to the adjacent web during fabrication.
* Minimum Plate Size by Joint Type\\ By default, Splice joints start at 3x6. Additionally, Paragon provides settings to control the starting plate sizes for Heel and Peak plating. For both Heel and Peak joints, settings enable you to separately define the minimum `Width` and the minimum `Length` for these joint types to accommodate your specific design and manufacturing preferences and standards.\ \ For example, if the `Heel Plate Min Width` is set to 4" then Paragon will not even consider any plates less than 4" even if a smaller plate could work at the specific joint.
{% hint style="info" %} Note Peak Plate minimum settings apply to joints when a positive slope is adjacent to a negative slope. {% endhint %} ### Material Settings `Material Settings` allow you to define the specific Lumber List, Plate List, and Hanger List to use for you project or specific components. Materials are set up and managed in the [Materials App](https://materials.paragontruss.com).
### Feature Pattern Settings `Feature Pattern Settings` allow you to specify several default properties to use when creating Feature Pattern Trusses from scratch from within Design mode. Currently, components created from Layout mode do not use the `Feature Pattern Settings`, but , rather use Layout system defaults. Feature Pattern Settings include: * Length * Depth * Slope * Left and Right End Conditions * Interior Conditions * General Settings * Zone Settings * Chase Settings
### Default Profile Settings `Default Profile Settings` allow you to define default properties used when creating new components from scratch within Design mode. Currently, components created from Layout mode do not use the `Default Profile Settings`, but , rather use Layout system defaults.
## Project Menu This menu contains shortcuts to Create Component Design, Edit Properties, Project Settings, Locking Options, Create an Estimate, and Open Other Project. Additionally, you can Analyze All Components in the project or Design All Truss Envelopes. ## Analyze All Components If a project-wide change has been made, like updating a code, this button can automate the analysis of all trusses within the project. ### Design all Truss Envelopes This tool automatically generates component designs for all empty Truss Envelopes in a layout. ## [Share](/design/how-to/general/share-trusses-and-request-seals-or-repairs) This opens the `Create Shared Component Set`dialog. ## [Create Estimate](/design/how-to/general/create-an-estimate) You can use the Create Estimate tool to quickly create a CSV or PDF using existing or custom pricing for materials. ## Upload This tool allows you to upload supported file formats. ## User Menu This opens a dropdown menu with links to Docs (you are here!), feedback forms, usage statistics, user settings, and more. # Left Sidebar
## View Toggle Use this to toggle between Layout and Design modes. ### Left Sidebar Toggle Use this button to show/hide the sidebar. {% hint style="success" %} Tip You can click and drag the edges of the sidebars to resize them. {% endhint %}
### Component Designs Counter This tool helps you track how many components and designs you have in your project. ### Component Search Use this search field to find components by name. ### Explorer Subpanel This subpanel lists your component designs with a thumbnail preview for easy navigation. ### Component Information By default the component name, check status, and thumbnail preview are visible. If you select a component, quantity, plies, price, and span will also appear. {% hint style="info" %} Note The component name will be colored based on check status. Red - `Has errors`, Green - `Checks Pass`, Blue - `Unanalyzed` {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} Tip Right-click a component in the `Explorer Subpanel` to access a shortcut menu. {% endhint %}
# Right Sidebar
## Navigation Subpanel This subpanel is persistent and will contain either the `Component Subpanel` or `Layout Subpanel`. ### Navigation Subpanel Toolbar This toolbar allows you to `Focus Selected Row`, `Collapse All`, and `Delete Selected Item(s)`. ### Right Sidebar Toggle Use this button to show/hide the sidebar. {% hint style="success" %} Tip You can click and drag the edge of the sidebars to resize them. {% endhint %} ### Collection Subpanel This subpanel contains all the subcomponents of a truss. {% hint style="info" %} Note This becomes the `Layout Subpanel` when in Layout mode. {% endhint %} ### Properties Subpanel This subpanel will display the properties of the currently selected item. # Actions Toolbar
## [Create](/design/how-to/general/create-projects-and-components) Use this tool to create a component and its relevant parts. ### [Analyze](/design/how-to/general/run-and-view-component-analysis) Use this tool to analyze the selected component. #### Analysis Options This menu allows you to specify whether or not to run a `Detailed Analysis`. {% hint style="info" %} Note `Detailed Analysis` is disabled by default. Once enabled, the setting applies to all components that are analyzed within the session. `Detailed Analysis` is required for deeper evaluation of analysis check results, including `Display Forces`. {% endhint %} ### Download Use the Download options to generate a variety of output files. Output files can be produced for a `WHOLE PROJECT` , `CUSTOM` , or for a `SINGLE COMPONENT`. {% hint style="info" %} Note Available download options vary by account type. Additionally, not all download options are available from Shared Sets. {% endhint %} #### Whole Project Whole Project download options apply to all components within the project and will use the corresponding quantities for each component.

Download Options - Whole Project

#### Custom Custom download options allow you to specify quantities for each component that you would like to generate download files. Custom download quantities override the quantity specified on the component properties. The Custom tab will be active and the list will be filtered just the current component by default. Click `SHOW ALL` for a list of other components within the project.

Download Options - Custom - Current Component

Download Options - Custom - All Components

#### Single Component Single Component download options apply to the current component.

Download Options - Single Component

### Analysis and History This button opens the `Analysis and History Subpanel` in the `Left Sidebar`. Learn how to [run and view analysis](/design/how-to/general/run-and-view-component-analysis). #### Analysis and History Subpanel This subpanel can be used to view analyzed versions of a truss, revert changes, and view load cases and analysis results.
### Notifications This button opens the [`Notifications Subpanel`](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/notifications-toolbar#notification-subpanel) in the `Left Sidebar`. ### Truss Settings This menu gives access to Load Settings, Materials Settings, and Analysis Settings. Learn more about [changing these settings](/design/how-to/general/modify-project-and-component-settings). ### Lock Options This tool allows you to toggle `Lock Loading`, `Lock Plating`, and `Lock Lumber`. * The icon allows you to unlock all options for the component design in a single click. * The icon indicates all items are unlocked for the given lock option type. * The ![image](https://2598702589-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FzIkcl8vW0QKiqUIx7Xdc%2Fuploads%2FnRPSsElEgOg89qmCPpa5%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=f45df971-34b7-4010-b571-cfe08f88473c) icon indicates that some but not all items are locked for the given lock option type. * The ![image](https://2598702589-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FzIkcl8vW0QKiqUIx7Xdc%2Fuploads%2Fy55ha9QlvpfzM1eIy72E%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=69c37810-b2cf-46c5-b2b0-19d105d07d20) icon indicates all items are locked for the given lock option type.
{% hint style="info" %} Note These Lock Options apply generally across the component design. It is also possible to Lock/Unlock individual plate pairs and members from the Scene. {% endhint %} ### Duplicate Truss This tool will create an unanalyzed duplicate of the selected truss. ### Edit Truss This menu allows you to modify many elements of the selected component. The options vary for Feature Pattern vs. Profile Trusses.
Edit ToolDescriptionFeature Pattern TrussesProfile Trusses
Stub TrussStub a truss from the left or right side a specific distance.X
Reweb TrussRedefine webbing for Feature Pattern and Profile trusses.XX
Adjust SpanModify truss span using Bearing Span, Bottom Chord Length, and Overall Length.XX
Adjust DepthChange the depth of the design.X
Adjust OverhangChange the length for the right and/or left overhang.X
Adjust HeelsDefine Heel Height and Heel Reinforcement type for the right and/or left overhang.X
Drop Flat Top ChordsDrop any flat top chord section by defining a crossing slope and the Lay-in/Purlin Thickness.XX
Replace LumberReplace lumber using a multitude of parameters to fine tune lumber usage.XX
Convert to SettingsRevert the current design to its original geometry defined by the Truss Envelope (from Layout) or from the Shape Details (from Component Insertion).XX
Make GableApplies vertical gable studs with a Structural Gable option for Feature Pattern and Profile trusses.XX
### Undo & Redo These buttons allow you to undo and redo changes. {% hint style="success" %} Tip You can also use the `Ctrl` + `Z` - Undo and `Ctrl` + `Y` - Redo shortcuts. {% endhint %} # Notifications Toolbar
## Notification Status If there are any notifications that have not been dismissed and require attention, you will be alerted here. {% hint style="success" %} Tip Clicking on this section is a shortcut to the `Notification Subpanel` {% endhint %} ### Notification Subpanel When you have relevant notifications, you can view them all in the `Notification Subpanel`. This subpanel can always be accessed via the `Notifications` button in the [`Actions Toolbar`](/design/getting-started/interface-overview/actions-toolbar).
### Working Status This status will alert you to any issues preventing your work from being saved. # Tools and Features ## Keyboard Shortcuts You can view the Hotkey Reference in the App by pressing `Ctrl` + `/` . * `Esc` - Cancel, Reset View (Deselects all items and focuses on the component) * `Ctrl` + `Z` - Undo * `Ctrl` + `Y` - Redo * `Ctrl` + `.` - Focus on the selected item * `Ctrl` + `9` - Toggle reference lines * `Spacebar` - Select the next truss in the list * `Ctrl` + `A` - Upgrade and analyze * `Ctrl` + `Q` - Quick insert * `C` : Component * `M`: Member * `B`: Bearing * `P`: Plate Pair * `S`: Splice * `R`: Reference Line * `D`: Dimension * `A`: Scab/Brace * `G`: Gusset * `Delete` - Delete selected item ## Multi-Select Some elements in Paragon Design support multi-select. Use `Ctrl`+ `Click and Drag`to begin selection. Holding down `Ctrl` will display the `Selection Window` which allows you to modify what is selectable in the scene.
### Delete Multiple Component Designs You can multi-select by using `Ctrl + Select` in the `Explorer Subpanel` to select multiple designs and delete them.
## Live Plating When you click and drag a plate to reposition it, it will be analyzed for grip on each member it touches in real-time as you move it.
# View Options View Options allow you to customize how components are displayed in the scene. {% hint style="info" %} **Note** Changes made to [View Options](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features/view-options) do not persist between sessions while changes made to [User Settings](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features/user-settings) do. User Settings are associated with a specific user and persist across projects and session. {% endhint %} ## Access View Options from the Scene Options Toolbar

View Options from the Scene Options Toolbar

View Options

### View Options is broken down into the following sections: ### [Display Options](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features/view-options/display-options) ### [Color By](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features/view-options/color-by) ### [Dimension Options](/design/getting-started/tools-and-features/view-options/dimension-options) # Display Options

View Options > Display Options

## Show Reference Lines You can toggle Reference lines on/off by toggling the setting in the Scene `View Options` menu, clicking the `Show Reference Lines` button in the scene toolbar or by using the keyboard shortcut `Ctrl+9`
### Web/Chord Labels You can change the information that is displayed on webs and non-web members (i.e. chords and end verticals) in the scene by toggling the `Web label` and `Non-web label` settings, respectively. By default we display the member name.
### Show Field-Installed Members If you have some members that are marked as `Is Field Installed` you can choose whether you would like to show those in the scene.
### Show Plates, Plate Names, Plate Details The following settings let you control the amount of detail that is shown for plates. The default setting is to show plates and their names. You can also choose to show/hide details for the most common plate types and plate sizes on your truss. {% hint style="info" %} Note Plates will not display on un-analyzed trusses unless they were first manually added. Plates are automatically added during analysis. {% endhint %}
### Show Gravity Loads as Unprojected This setting is on by default and changes how loads are displayed on a truss when viewing load settings.
### Show Manual Loads When No Other Loads Visible By default, we will show Manual Loads in the scene when no other loads are being shown. You can toggle this off if you prefer.
# Color By

View Options > Color By

Depending on your use case you may find it helpful to apply certain coloring information to your trusses. The `Color By` feature is designed to give you flexibility in this area. The default setting is to color the truss by Lumber Properties. This setting takes into account the properties of the lumber such as the species and grade. ## Lumber Properties (Default) This feature makes it easier to tell if members are using different grades and species of lumber. As you can see below there are 3 different grades of lumber being used on this truss.
## Worst Capacity (All Load Cases) This feature is designed to show a helpful heatmap like representation of the impact that load cases have on this truss. We take the worst capacity across all load cases and color the truss accordingly. {% hint style="info" %} Note This setting is automatically updated after analyzing a truss. If any checks are over capacity, the truss will be colored by Worst Capacity (All Load Cases) so you can see what parts of the truss are affected. If the truss passes all checks, it will revert to Color By Lumber Properties. {% endhint %}
{% hint style="success" %} Tip You can see more detailed information about checks that are over capacity by opening the [Analysis and History](/design/how-to/general/run-and-view-component-analysis) subpanel. {% endhint %} ## Lumber Geometry When this feature is on, we will color the component's members based on their sizes and cuts.
## No Coloring When this feature is on we display the truss with no special color information. All members will be colored the same.
# Dimension Options

View Options > Dimension Options

## Dimension Snaps This feature allows you to toggle midline, centroid, intersection, and vertex snaps for Dimension Mode.

Dimension Snaps

## Show Standard Dimensions
## Dimension Details This feature has 3 settings: Minimal, General and Detailed. * Minimal includes dimensions for the overall length, chases, and end conditions * General includes includes dimensions for the overall length, chases, end conditions, and splices * Detailed includes a dimension for every member and feature of the component

Dimension Details: Minimal

Dimension Details: General

Dimension Details: Detailed

## Dimension Labels Choose whether to see cumulative dimension values, independent dimension values or both at once

Dimension Labels: Separated

Dimension Labels: Cumulative

Dimension Labels: Combined

## Show Pitch This feature is toggled on by default and will show the pitch of each top chord next to it.
## Show selected member's cut angles This feature is on by default and will display the cut angles of a member when it is selected in the scene. {% hint style="info" %} Note Cut angles are only shown when a single member is selected at a time. {% endhint %}
## Show selected member's length This feature is on by default and will display the length of a member when it is selected. {% hint style="info" %} Note Length is only displayed for a single member at a time. If multiple members are selected, no length information will be shown. {% endhint %}
--- [Next Page](/llms-full.txt/1)