RampGenerator Blog

Beta now open to all

2009-11-20T12:18:19Z

Please send any feedback or bugs you find to “jensa” at this domain and we’ll fix it asap.

Application update

2009-09-01T12:12:50Z

I finally had time to work on the remaining features and the application is really shaping up. We’ve already gotten a couple beta testers, but please pass on the word about the project to anyone you know.

Here’s a list of things that were added in the this update:

Vert space has been added. Set the ramp curve to 90 degrees and you can add up to 7.5 feet of vert (anyone need more?).
You can now swap freely between inches, feet, centimeters and meters.
Materials list now reflect your choice of measure and lists plywood sheets required for surfacing (we’ll add the calc for the plywood supports later)
All inputs have now defaults as well as maximum/minimum values. Tell us if any of these don’t work for you.
The surface of the 3D model has been optimized for greater speed and several render errors have been solved.
A minor ‘bug’ in the setup of the floor supports was corrected.

If you’d like to follow minor updates as they are done, check out our Twitter account: twitter.com/rampgenerator

These are the things remaining at the moment:

Adding the coping
A visual reference to get a better idea for the size (person + skateboard)
Cut sheets for the plywood supports
Estimation for required plywood for supports and platforms
Adding some sort of recommendation system for how long to make the bottom of the ramp surface
Reset buttons for views and values
Custom graphics on the Ramp surface

We are still experimenting with the visual appearance of the application, so any feedback on this is appreciated as well.

A little backgrounder

2009-08-31T11:44:46Z

There’s lots of ramp plans available online and sites like Trasher Magazine has some good books as well. Why would you build a software to create skate ramps? We think there’s many good reasons.

Why a Generator?

Many of the plans you can find online are lacking in some respect. We want to create solid building plans containing cut lists, step by step instructions as well as the tips and tricks you’ll need.
Most plans offer fixed solutions in terms of size. We want to make it possible to create any ramp, in any size. Now you can utilize all of the garden space allotted by your mother/wife!
Most plans are in feet or inches. While convenient for Americans, our tool that works for people on the Metric system as well and you can toggle back and forth as you like.
A plan on paper is cool, but our tool will build the ramp virtually and then let you ‘fly’ around the 3D model before you start.
The app will be free to toy around with, but to download the custom building plans/cut list, we’ll need to charge a small fee.

The project will have a ‘Beta’ status until all aspects are finished and tested. Feel free to sign up to help us test it!

The People

The Ramp Generator project is a collaboration between Tom Gam and Jens Brynildsen. Tom’s been skating for a long time and knows all the tricks, whereas Jens current goal is to Ollie. If you look at the picture above, you can guess who is who

Tom is educated and works as an Architect, so he really has the construction skills. He’s built dozens of ramps before and the project got started based on a PDF he made for NORB many years ago. Tom is now working on the building instructions that will be output after you’ve created your ramp.

Jens is a programmer specializing in Adobe Flash and web applications. He’s fond of carpentry, but has never built a Skate Ramp before. He’ll be one of the first testers and will document his building progress in this blog. Jens can’t really skate a ramp (other than dropping in) but he’s pretty good at this Flash-stuff. His Flash-related blog is at flashgamer.com.

Setting up the site

2009-08-17T11:08:25Z

The Generator will be able to create anything from a small fun ramp for kids to a huge vert ramp using a point an click interface. Novice users will be guided though the process, whereas advanced users can tweak to their hearts content.
The application is already shaping up, but it’s not quite ready for the public. We’ll soon put a form that will let you sign up to beta test the app.
Sorry about the mess while we add the design and features for the site.