Connecticut State Department of Transportation

CTDOT CONNECT DDE GUIDE VOLUME 12 - OPENBUILDINGS DESIGNER


Module 3 - Managing Floors with OpenBuildings


Description

This module contains exercises for setting up the Floor and Grid System used with the 3D modeling environment in OpenBuildings Designer.

 
Objectives:
  • Learn how to use the Floor Selector
  • Learn how to use the Floor Manager
  • Discover ways to set up the Building Grid System
  • Discover Grid Display Options

 

Quick Steps:
Verify the Configuration
Set Up the Floor System
Set up the Grid System
Explore Grid Display Options
Create Additional Base Models

 

Verify the Configuration

Before the Building Design begins, a team member should set up the WorkSet Building Template. This will include setting up a hierarchy of Sites, Buildings and Floors as well as Grid Systems through the Floor Management and the Grid Management Tools.

1. In Search Type in Configuration Variables, click to select and the Configuration Variables dialog box will open.

2. In the Configuration Variables dialog box Search Field Type in BB_FLOORMASTER_DGN

3. Users should make sure the BB_FLOORMASTER_DGN Configuration Variable is preset correctly to The Workset Folder\Facilities\Dgnlib\CT_FloorMaster.dgnlib

4. If this is not configured properly please submit a CAD Support Ticket.

 BB_FLOORMASTER_DGN Configuration Variable

 

Set Up the Floor System

OpenBuildings Designer uses Floors as a means of organizing, designing, and reporting building information. By this method, designated floors define the physical location for portions of the building relative to reference and site elevations.

The Floor Manager creates a series of Auxiliary Coordinate System (ACS) that are used to represent floors in a building, or reference planes at a site. The Floor Manager utility is available for use by building design professionals who generally think in terms of floors and not auxiliary coordinate systems. Reference planes for floor elevations, and sub-floors within a floor (ceilings, raised platforms, and top of structure for example), are created with the floor management system to manage elements and components located within floor elevations.

Note: The floor management system is available across all workset DGN files, meaning an ACS defined in one file can be shared by other files.

1. From the bottom of the interface select the Floor Manager icon. The Floor Manager dialog will open.

Floor Manager icon

Edit the Floor Manager

2. Expand the BuildingTemplate_US\Site\Building 1 to show the floors that have already been set up. Existing Sites, Buildings and Floors should be edited and renamed. Additional Sites, Buildings and Floors can also be created. Information should also be entered into the left side Data Fields. The configuration comes with a 3-story building, floors can be added or deleted. The Heights should also be adjusted as needed.

3. Click Apply and Close the Floor Manager.

4. From the bottom of the interface set the Active Floor to the different floors available. The ACS Triad changes its vertical location based on the Floor Selector. This indicates the ACS plane for modeling. In addition, the ACS Plane and ACS Snap Plane are toggled to the locked position, this will be the default whenever a floor is selected from the Floor Selector. Locking the ACS Plane and the ACS Snap Plane means the elements you model will be placed on the active ACS plane or Floor.

Select the to activate a floor

5. Set the Active Floor back to the Floor 1.

6. Its best practice to perform a Save Settings after selecting the Active Floor. This maintains the Floor Selector’s most recent setting.

Set up the Grid System

OpenBuildings Designer provides a comprehensive set of Grid Systems in which buildings can have multiple grids (orthogonal, radial and sketched) applied to specific floors or ranges of floors in specific buildings. The Grid Systems utility effectively integrates grids into the OpenBuildings Designer workflow, including integration with the 3D model and the Floor Manager system. The Grid Systems Manager dialog contains settings for adding, copying and removing grids, inserting grid lines, manipulating grid line spacing, rotating grids, and setting grid line symbology and other preferences.

Column grids are associate to the floors/levels set up in the Floor Manager using the Grid Systems manager. In this exercise, you will set up the column grid for the office building we are modeling. Once a Grid System is created for a project it can be displayed in 3D models and is used to automatically create properly labeled grid lines on your drawings for floor plans, elevations, sections and details.

There are two utilities in OpenBuildings Designer used for managing and setting floors and levels which define the Z elevations in our building: the Floor Manager and the Floor Selector. The Floor Manager is used to create and edit the floors and levels of the project. The Floor Selector is used to set the Z elevation in our models and aids us in modeling at the correct elevation. For our office building the Floor Manager is already setup for us.

 

1. Select the Grid Systems Manager icon on the Floor Selector.

Grid Systems Manager icon

2. In addition to creating grid systems, you can exchange grid systems via XML files or Structural Synchronizer (ISM) for grid systems originating in external applications such as RAM Structural System. In the next steps you will import a structural grid system created by the structural engineer and provided via an XML file. From the Import/Export pull-down select Import Grid(s) from XML.

Import Grid from XML

 

3. Navigate to the C:\ProgramData\Bentley\OpenBuildings CONNECT Edition\Configuration\WorkSpaces\Building_Examples\worksets\TrainingTemplate_US\Designs and select the file Office Grid.xml.

4. A Warning dialog will open, select the BuildingGrid for Import. An orthogonal grid is imported into the Grid Systems dialog.

5. The Grid System Settings is defined in the upper half of the dialog along with the Rotation, and association to a particular Building and range of floors defined by the Start Floor and End Floor.

6. Left-press on the name field and rename the grid as needed.

7. The Start Floor will be set FLOOR 1 and the End Floor to Floor 3, edit as needed.

8. The Grid Line Settings defines the spacing between the horizontal and vertical grid lines in the lower half of the dialog. Edit the Horizontal (U) and Vertical (U) tabs as needed.

9. Select OK. A Building Grid should now be displayed in the model at a floor plane.

Modify Grid

 

Explore Grid Display Options

The column grids appear in 3D views. Controls for the display of the grids are available in the Floor Selector utility: Set Active Grids and Grid Model Display Options.

1. In the Floor Selector window click the Set Active Grids option and un-check the (Select All) option. Datapoint (left-click) in a view to apply the change. The grid we created turns off in the views.

Set Active Grids icon

2. In the Floor Selector utility click the Set Active Grids option and check the (Select All) option back on. Datapoint (left-click) in a view to apply the change.

3. In the Floor Selector utility click the Grid Model Display option and select Full Grid (Follow Active Building).

Grid Model Display - Full Grid Follow Active Building

Grid Model Display - Full Grid Follow Active Building View

4. The views now display the grids for every floor. In our case the grid is the same for all the floors of the office building. Some designs will have different grids for different levels of the project. This is managed in the Grid Systems manager with the Start Floor and End Floor settings.

5. In the Floor Selector utility click the Grid Model Display option and select Follow Active Floor. The views now display the Active Floor of the building.

Grid Model Display - Full Active Floor View

6. In the Floor Selector utility select different floor. Notice the Grid display with the active floor.

7. After adjusting these settings as desired, Save Settings.

 

Create Additional Base Models

Now that the Floor and Grid System are in place other team members can move forward creating additional Base Models for their Working Models, Discipline Master Models, and Building Master Models.

To learn more, use the on-demand training found on the Bentley Learn Server. Go to Bentley Training, click on the Orange Find Training button and enter OpenBuildings Designer

 

It is suggested to start with the following courses:

  • OpenBuildings Designer: Welcome to the CONNECT Edition for New Users
  • QuickStart for OpenBuildings Designer: Architectural BIM Modeler Accreditation
  • QuickStart for OpenBuildings Designer: Electrical BIM Modeler Accreditation
  • QuickStart for OpenBuildings Designer: Mechanical BIM Modeler Accreditation
  • QuickStart for OpenBuildings Designer: Structural BIM Modeler Accreditation