Visibility parameter

katrein

In Revit families I use a Visibility parameter often.
This makes parts of a component invisible and it will also not be in the bill of materials.

Do we have something similar in BricsCAD when making BIM windows etc. ?

Michael Mayer

Or cavities in Walls ?

Louis_Verdonck

Components, such as windows and doors, are dwg files. Entities on layers that are switched off or frozen are not visible; typically the subtractor solids in window/door components sit on a frozen layer.
@ Michael Mayer
I suppose you refer to air layers in a cavity wall: to make the air 'invisible' in a sections:

• set the hatch property to 'None'
• set the Union Section property to 'Yes'

Tom Foster

And the air layers' 'invisibilty' to the Bill of Materials?

Michael Mayer

Thanks Louis,
didn't think of hatch property.

As I mainly model for Export and Visualization,
in VW I can assign Components/Plies to their own Layers, so I can
switch these completely off.
In Bricscad I can assign Layers to the complete Composition only,
not by each Material or Ply. Such thing would not work at all in
Bricscad as the whole Composition is a Solid (?)
So in my final Visualization Model, the cavity would be part of the
Wall Solid in any case and even if I could select/delete it, it may destroy
the other Plies Geometry.

For Doors and Windows it can be done by Layers.
But I think there wasn't always a continuous standard for Layer assignments
in the Insertion Objects delivered (?)
(like all Frames always on WINDOWS_FRAME or all Glass Panes on GLASS)

Louis_Verdonck

@Michael Mayer said:

In Bricscad I can assign Layers to the complete Composition only,
not by each Material or Ply. Such thing would not work at all in

If the Intersection/Boundary and Intersection/Fill properties of a BIM Section is EntityLayer, EntityLayer will be replaced by the material name in the generated section drawings.

Michael Mayer

Thanks, found it.
But that effects the 2d representation in Sections only, not the "physical" 3D geometry (which I export)
Or will such setting "3d section block creation settings" really divide the
Walls Solid into each Plies Solids ?

katrein

May be I used the wrong word 'visibility'. I did it because Revit uses the term 'visibility' for what I need.
I would like to switch off parts of a component.
For instance: I would like to create a window with a window sill, with the possibilty to switch the window sill off.
There should be a parameter that gives me the oppertunity to insert this window with or without the window sill.
And I would like to see this in dataextratction.

Louis_Verdonck

No, the layer settings mentioned apply to 2D documentation drawings only. 3D solids sit on a single layer.

Michael Mayer

OK, Louis, I think I got it.

@katrein said:
May be I used the wrong word 'visibility'. I did it because Revit uses the term 'visibility' for what I need.
I would like to switch off parts of a component.
For instance: I would like to create a window with a window sill, with the possibilty to switch the window sill off.
There should be a parameter that gives me the oppertunity to insert this window with or without the window sill.
And I would like to see this in dataextratction.

That could be done by assigning a Sill of your Window Prototype to a
separate Layer, which you can switch on or off.
(For all Instances of that Window)
But it is not like the usual parametrical Plugin or Family Objects you know
from other BIM solutions.
You would need to create separate Window Prototypes, 1 with Sill, 1 without
Sill. And there is no option to swap an inserted Window by an other Prototype.
It has to be inserted again.
Both workflows have their own strengths and weaknesses.

katrein

The layer solution will swich off all window sills. I would like to switch some on, som off.
For now, the only solution is Michaels solution: create two components, one with, one without window sill.
May be in BIM V19 ?

Louis_Verdonck

@Michael Mayer said:
And there is no option to swap an inserted Window by an other Prototype.
It has to be inserted again.

To replace an insert (window, door, ...) do the following:
1. Select the insert.
2. Select the Parameters/File field in the Properties panel.
3. Click the Browse button and select the replacement insert in the 'Choose a file' dialog.

Louis_Verdonck

Notice that parameter values of the existing insert are copied to the replacement automatically.

Michael Mayer

Sorry
I think I even did this already a while ago but forgot that option ...