Encina has developed a powerful timber framing add-on for ArchiCAD in partnership with The Oak Frame Carpentry Company Ltd. Designing the software in cooperation with a framer has ensured the and are relevant, familiar, and easy to use. Some of the highlights are listed below.

True 3D representation provides superb visualisation for customers and carpenters alike, but the benefits run much deeper. A full project model helps to validate your design (particularly at complex joints) and ensures your documentation is coordinated.

FrameWright provides a full suite of timber objects to construct building models with. All objects can be edited in 2D and 3D, and - thanks to the integrated ArchiCAD building model - every change is reflected throughout your documentation. These features enable you to respond quickly and accurately to client requests for variations.

Layups or bents are often set out flat on the workshop floor prior to construction on site. Working in FrameWright Pro mirrors this approach - a frame can be constructed in a plan view by placing, cutting, and rotating timber objects, and finally tilting the completed assembly into the model.

FrameWright also supports repeated editing of frames through its 'Assembly' tools. Any selection of framing objects can be designated as an ‘Assembly’, enabling you to define and recall two working planes: one in plan for easy editing, and the other correctly positioned in the building. Frames can be automatically transformed to either plane on request.

All timber can be automatically numbered or scheduled on the fly.

The Timber Schedule is a detailed list of timber in either the current selection or the entire project. There is no grouping – every timber is listed on a separate line. A cost is calculated based on the timber type, volume (including additional length for joints), and labour.

The Cutting List is a report typically issued to a lumber yard. All timber with the same attributes (type and size) will be grouped on the same line, showing the quantity and total calculated volume. Timber sizes are adjusted to specified, standard increments.

A comprehensive collection of timber objects are built into FrameWright, including jowls, cambered, tapered, and curved. These are not simply 'dumb' shapes, but dynamic software components designed to simulate the behaviour, properties, and measurable quantities of their real-world counterparts. All objects may be freely cut, rotated, jointed, and linked to a lay-up.You can save copies of these objects with your preferred settings or use FrameWright's profiling tools to create new shapes.

FrameWright also provides a library of steel objects including beam, joist, column, castellated, channel, angle, asymmetric, and hollow (rectilinear and round). Numbering, scheduling, and jointing does not apply to steel framing.

An ArchiCAD project model is a unified source for all documentation, including workshop plans/sections, 3D illustrations, schedules, and presentation drawings. With FrameWright, all timber objects render themselves correctly in 2D and 3D, and can optionally display information such as a cut ID and the status of the joints.

Associative dimensions can be placed against the framing, and sections/elevations projected from the model. Alteration to the design are automatically echoed in all the documentation because they all originate from a single 3D model.

FrameWright enables you to define an unlimited number of joint types which describe the extra timber and time required for construction. Joints may be added or edited on the fly, and the data automatically echoed through the schedule and cutting list.

Jointing information is embedded in every framing member as the project is developed. The framing objects can display the status of the jointing information (defined or undefined) and the software will assist you in locating joints which have not been described.

This means less time to prepare cost estimates and working drawings, reduced scope for errors, and the added bonus of walk-throughs and perspectives. Design alterations are simple to produce, and changes are automatically echoed throughout the documentation. Encina makes design flexibility a high priority. Our primary aims are to:

1. Ensure the framing design is driven by you, not an automated procedure;
2. Enable complete editing control over framing after it has been placed in the model.

You can download FrameWright from our Software page. FrameWright can also be used with Archicad in demo mode. Contact us if you have any further questions.

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