BIM cavity wall questions

Dirk Van Thienen

Hello,

I'm looking into BIM and have some questions related to cavity walls.

1. is it always necessary do draw a polysolid first and then use BIMATTACHCOMPOSITION to create a wall composition, it isn't possible to f.e. set a wall composition current and next when using the polysolid command the wall is created according the selected composition ?
2. how can i distinguish in the model what is considered the inside and outside of the wall ? I noticed the composition is only drawn in the sections. Is there a method to make the composition somehow visible in the model ?

thank you

Tom Foster

Isn't anyone going to answer this? AFAIK v17 is imminent!

Pieter Clarysse

Hello,

There are currently no plans to set a composition current and automatically assign it to solids created with polysolid.
In V16 there is no way to make the compositions visible in the model. This will be possible in V17.

Regards
Pieter

Tom Foster

Pieter, 2nd para is great. Does thast mean that each ply of the Composition will be a separate polysolid, but capable of being grouped as a Composition?
1st para is a pity - I wonder why. Or perhaps it means 'but to set a composition current and automatically assign it to solids created ... some other way will be possible'?

Dirk Van Thienen

I think separate solids is not possible because when inserting elements this only cuts true the solid with selected face. Unless they make it some kind of connected polysolids.

If it is only one solid and a composition, what happens when you add a material to the wall ? Is the inside the same as the outside ? If i'm drawing a architectural 3D model i want to use it for rendering also... inside and outside.

And what happens when extracting a list of materials ? Are the separate layers listed ? Isn't that the whole idea of BIM ?

I would prefer separate solids but then every slice of the wall has to subtracted when a window/door is inserted.
It would be also easier to arrange the model also and handle it for attaching materials.

Tom Foster

Those are just the questions that it would be great to have answers (other BIMs do all of that) - or else we just wait till v17 - not long.

When I said "each ply of the Composition will be a separate polysolid, but capable of being grouped as a Composition" I meant a Composition could be grouped/ungrouped with one click multiple times (without having to reassemble the group after every Ungroup), so that manipulations with standard tools could be done either to the whole, or to individual plies (however wierd), at will.