I really have no idea how sketchup works. No ipad, and I only use my cell phone for calls and as a clock, I read the rare text and I take forever to send one so I don't bother. So, I am not much for a techie.
I do see a lot of people posting sketchup drawings on the Forestry Forum and wonder what their background in Timber Framing really is. How are they making the decisions on what joinery to use, tenon size, peg location, etc.. By no means do I want a computer to make those decisions for me, it would take the fun out of that half of the game. Someone else may not think that part attractive and wish to have it done by a computer, or they don't have the experience to make the correct choice. Does sketchup provide any assistance in this department?
The OP, did not inquire about joinery decisions but loads. There are calculators out there that can answer simple load problems Where is the bigger version that can take in a few more inputs and size the tie beam? I can chase out a reasonable picture in my head of where the loads are coming from, it is not that big of an issue to be handled by a computer. So I will reiterate, is it job security? Demand? Or is it as some have suggested it is too big a task? If some Dr. computer nerd can solve sodoko problems, no menial task, this surely should not be an issue, after all it is just numbers.
I believe it has been said before, we all use calculators to punch out not so simple equation to gain lengths or other such inputs in our framing so, yes I am suggesting computers can do some of this work. I myself and always looking for way around the calculator. The compass works very well for this at times. And don't tell me it is just another computer, there is a big difference.
