Below is a list of thoughts about lateral point(nodal)/line loads. Incorporating any of the below ideas would be helpful.
1. Allow the user to apply lateral line loads as well as lateral point(nodal) loads.
2. Allow the user to apply lateral point(nodal) loads anywhere along a member (not just at member intersections).
3. Allow the user to view/apply lateral point(nodal)/line loads in plan view in addition to elevation.
4. Allow the user to apply lateral point(nodal)/line loads in Frame and directly assign them to particular Frame Load Cases so that Merged Load Cases are no longer necessary.
5. Allow the user to apply lateral point(nodal)/line loads in the Modeler, but be able to assign them directly to particular Frame Load cases so that Merged Load Cases are no long necessary.
6. Merged Load Cases in Frame get cleared for a number of reasons (some of which don't notify the user), so being able to eliminate Merged Load Cases entirely by being able to add loads directly to existing Load Cases would be good. Plus, you have to set up many nodal load cases that align with your Frame Load Cases. For example, say you want to apply nodal loads to account for wind on a popup roof (4 corners), you need to apply X, Y, and Z forces to account for this, but this isn't as simple as applying a few loads. Each corner of the popup roof will have different forces based on the wind direction, so you need different nodal loads for X(Up), X(Dn), Y(Up), Y(Dn), X+Y(Up 1), X+Y(Up 2), X+Y(Dn 1), X+Y(Dn2), X-Y(Up 1), X-Y(Up 2), X-Y(Dn 1), and X-Y(Dn2), and if you want to get real fancy you could set up nodal load cases for the twisting cases as well. Of course if you were able to apply these loads directly to Frame Load Cases, you'd have to repeat some load applications, but that would be a much more straightforward method. This process is much more roundabout than it needs to be.
7. Clarify in the nodal loads window what direction "Fz" is, since without a note I would assume "+" is upwards, but it's currently downwards.
8. It's already on the idea list, but I'll add it here as well. Allow the user to push/pull nodal loads via Data Access.
