Hi guys,
so I don’t know if this was already a topic here, but I’m just going to share a couple of questions/thoughts that are currently giving me headaches.
First of all, I am an architectural engineer from Croatia, but for the last 4 years I’ve been living and working for a project management company in Germany.
The BIM topics are currently a hot cake here and everyone is trying to get on this train because the Germans are way behind the rest of the world on this subject and it’s something they’re really not used to nor proud of. So all you could hear on the German AEC market in the last 3-4 years is “BIM, BIM, BIM”.
Until now, I’ve worked with Autodesk products (from Autocad, 3ds Max to Revit) and am pretty comfortable with them. The most important thing to say here is that I`ve used them as an architectural engineer.
Questions/Thoughts that I have are:
1_Project collaboration over IFC? Does it really work? How does/should it work? Personally, I´ve encountered some really unpleasant things only when I tried to import my own (in Revit generated) IFC file back into Revit. It was even worse when I imported an IFC file that was generated in Archicad.
2_How am I supposed to work with other engineering firms on the same model if everyone is using a completely different software and 1001 warnings are displayed when I import the IFC file into Revit?
3_BIM is all about information, so when working with other engineers that use different software, what should my angle be (considering that the IFC import is full of flaws and the whole intelligent model story falls apart)? Should I just link the IFC file and redesign/revise my model (element properties, information, etc.)? That would of course mean that I, as an architectural Revit user, should possess a really deep knowledge of Revit elements. Then a whole new chapter opens up and it’s about different BIM roles; from Revit/BIM drafters to BIM coordinators, managers and directors.
4_How to define the workflow? I am aware that the whole BIM concept is about to change the way we designed and developed projects and that the workflow should be defined even before the project start in the BEPs and EIRs, but…
The design process as I know it, starts with an architect. Most of the architects have the basic knowledge of structure planning and MEP (axis, shafts, etc.), but are not educated in complex structural/MEP calculations. So for an example I, as an architect, design my building with my load-bearing walls and floors, columns, etc. end share my model with a structural engineer. He opens my IFC file, sees the geometry, axes, load-bearing elements with their properties (thickness, concrete types from previous projects) etc., and does his calculations. His conclusion is that my 20cm concrete walls could be 2 cm thinner. Meanwhile I’ve been working on my model, defining spaces. So he sends me his IFC file and when I import it, the result is, once again, a lot of warnings and elements that are somehow different to the elements I’ve used. So once again, what should be my angle? To redraw all the elements that are somehow wrongly imported in Revit from his IFC, link his IFC and adapt my old Revit file, something else?
5_Somewhere along the design process we include additional stakeholders, such as MEP engineers, lighting designers, LEED consultants and they all have something to add to the model. In the end we have partial models that were done in different software that I would like to have as a clean Revit model. What are my options? Is something like that even possible?
6_Is it really necessary to have files that are 3-4 GBs big because every valve or reinforcement bar is defined/modelled with LOD500? And with the whole above mentioned IFC/Project collaboration story, it seems like a nightmare. I never understood people who, back in the Autocad days, would just take CAD blocks from different window suppliers and use them in their 1:50/1:20 scale plans? Is it really important to see every small aluminium reinforcement in the window frame? Do I really need the supplier`s construction plans/families (1:1 – 1:5 scale) in my models?
So, these are just some of the topics. I would really like to hear your thoughts on these matters.
Best regards
Filip
so I don’t know if this was already a topic here, but I’m just going to share a couple of questions/thoughts that are currently giving me headaches.
First of all, I am an architectural engineer from Croatia, but for the last 4 years I’ve been living and working for a project management company in Germany.
The BIM topics are currently a hot cake here and everyone is trying to get on this train because the Germans are way behind the rest of the world on this subject and it’s something they’re really not used to nor proud of. So all you could hear on the German AEC market in the last 3-4 years is “BIM, BIM, BIM”.
Until now, I’ve worked with Autodesk products (from Autocad, 3ds Max to Revit) and am pretty comfortable with them. The most important thing to say here is that I`ve used them as an architectural engineer.
Questions/Thoughts that I have are:
1_Project collaboration over IFC? Does it really work? How does/should it work? Personally, I´ve encountered some really unpleasant things only when I tried to import my own (in Revit generated) IFC file back into Revit. It was even worse when I imported an IFC file that was generated in Archicad.
2_How am I supposed to work with other engineering firms on the same model if everyone is using a completely different software and 1001 warnings are displayed when I import the IFC file into Revit?
3_BIM is all about information, so when working with other engineers that use different software, what should my angle be (considering that the IFC import is full of flaws and the whole intelligent model story falls apart)? Should I just link the IFC file and redesign/revise my model (element properties, information, etc.)? That would of course mean that I, as an architectural Revit user, should possess a really deep knowledge of Revit elements. Then a whole new chapter opens up and it’s about different BIM roles; from Revit/BIM drafters to BIM coordinators, managers and directors.
4_How to define the workflow? I am aware that the whole BIM concept is about to change the way we designed and developed projects and that the workflow should be defined even before the project start in the BEPs and EIRs, but…
The design process as I know it, starts with an architect. Most of the architects have the basic knowledge of structure planning and MEP (axis, shafts, etc.), but are not educated in complex structural/MEP calculations. So for an example I, as an architect, design my building with my load-bearing walls and floors, columns, etc. end share my model with a structural engineer. He opens my IFC file, sees the geometry, axes, load-bearing elements with their properties (thickness, concrete types from previous projects) etc., and does his calculations. His conclusion is that my 20cm concrete walls could be 2 cm thinner. Meanwhile I’ve been working on my model, defining spaces. So he sends me his IFC file and when I import it, the result is, once again, a lot of warnings and elements that are somehow different to the elements I’ve used. So once again, what should be my angle? To redraw all the elements that are somehow wrongly imported in Revit from his IFC, link his IFC and adapt my old Revit file, something else?
5_Somewhere along the design process we include additional stakeholders, such as MEP engineers, lighting designers, LEED consultants and they all have something to add to the model. In the end we have partial models that were done in different software that I would like to have as a clean Revit model. What are my options? Is something like that even possible?
6_Is it really necessary to have files that are 3-4 GBs big because every valve or reinforcement bar is defined/modelled with LOD500? And with the whole above mentioned IFC/Project collaboration story, it seems like a nightmare. I never understood people who, back in the Autocad days, would just take CAD blocks from different window suppliers and use them in their 1:50/1:20 scale plans? Is it really important to see every small aluminium reinforcement in the window frame? Do I really need the supplier`s construction plans/families (1:1 – 1:5 scale) in my models?
So, these are just some of the topics. I would really like to hear your thoughts on these matters.
Best regards
Filip
Comment