BIM WB: Beginner's perspective

[hardeeprai]

I am going to write here my experience / views about BIM Workbench (Under-development for Version 0.18).

Under BIM workbench, Help -> Welcome screen has mention of "Simple Tutorial" [ https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/BIM_Start_Tutorial ] which does not exist. I will like to develop it along with this thread.

If you wish I can create issues on GitHub, or clone it, and send pull request after doing changes.

In same 'Welcome Screen", it writes:

... you can change these these options anytime later under menu Utils -> Setup, ...

However, there is not such option under Utils.

[hardeeprai]

From Menu item Manage -> Manage Project Setup

It has Longitude and Latitude, IMO, its order needed to be changed, which is the normal order when we speak and write, unless there is a strong reason to have in this order.

One can enter (values of Lat and Long) up to 4 decimal places. But FC retains only up to 1 decimal place.

Is this correct?

For this entry, up to how decimal places one should enter data?

FreeCAD should preserve value up to that decimal places entered.

This pair of latitude and longitude represent a point, which point one should consider: Geometric centre of site, or coordinates of main entrance (Gate).

Wish list: There might be a option to enter a URL like https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/30.86003/75.86229 , from where it

Then there is field named "True North Direction". What one need to fill here? Is it "Declination"?

The value entered, later is shown with the name "North Deviation". Is there be any issue if we replace "True North Direction" with "North Deviation" or vice versa. The objective is to use one name. If it mean "Declination", then a few example might be included in tutorial (I am ready to do that).

This value may be entered up to two decimal places, but FreeCAD retains up to first decimal place.

[yorik]

Thanks a lot for the precious feedback!

I will like to develop it along with this thread.

Excellent! My idea was to have that tutorial not as a text, but, as they do in games, be fully "in-game". That is, basically, a window panel that stays open in the FreeCAD interface, and that walks you through a simple exercise, with a series of step-by-step instructions, that automatically go to the next step when the previous one has been performed.

But it might be best and easier to have that as a text first, then we can turn it into te above form.

In same 'Welcome Screen", it writes:
.. you can change these these options anytime later under menu Utils -> Setup, ...
However, there is not such option under Utils.

It is under Manage, this is now fixed.

It has Longitude and Latitude, IMO, its order needed to be changed, which is the normal order when we speak and write, unless there is a strong reason to have in this order.

This is fixed too

One can enter (values of Lat and Long) up to 4 decimal places. But FC retains only up to 1 decimal place.

FC retains the full number, but will only display in the Properties View up to the number of decimals you specified in the preferences. In any case, this is not a very good format for coordinates... I'm looking at alternatives https://stackoverflow.com/questions/251 ... qt4-widget

This pair of latitude and longitude represent a point, which point one should consider: Geometric centre of site, or coordinates of main entrance (Gate).

Ideally, this should be determined by the user. We could introduce an offset vector property, which would represent the distance between the point indicated by the coordinates and the (0,0) point of the model

Wish list: There might be a option to enter a URL like https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/30.86003/75.86229 , from where it

What I would like is for the user to enter an address, ex. SunsetBoulevard 1024, Los Angeles, then click a button and you would be taken to a map. Then you could adjust a pointer in case it didn't makr the location correctly, then close that map and the coordinates would be filled for you. Still need to look at openstreetmap API but I think this is not too hard to achieve...

You're right about declination/deviation. Better use "Declination" everywhere... Fixing that now.

[hardeeprai]

My idea was to have that tutorial not as a text, but, as they do in games, be fully "in-game". That is, basically, a window panel that stays open in the FreeCAD interface, and that walks you through a simple exercise, with a series of step-by-step instructions, that automatically go to the next step when the previous one has been performed.

But it might be best and easier to have that as a text first, then we can turn it into te above form.

Correct. For "in-game" tutorial we need more resources. For the time being we can have something in text form, which will serve as storey board for game-in tutorial.

If you can give me structure (outline) of tutorial, then I will develop it in-line to your thinking, else I can develop it as per my thinking.

<snip>

One can enter (values of Lat and Long) up to 4 decimal places. But FC retains only up to 1 decimal place.

FC retains the full number, but will only display in the Properties View up to the number of decimals you specified in the preferences. In any case, this is not a very good format for coordinates... I'm looking at alternatives https://stackoverflow.com/questions/251 ... qt4-widget

I set my setting to 1 decimal place by taking length unit as millimetre. This can't be taken for latitude and longitude. So you need to have different setting for angle. That mean we need to separate accuracy required for length, angle, force and time.

This pair of latitude and longitude represent a point, which point one should consider: Geometric centre of site, or coordinates of main entrance (Gate).

Ideally, this should be determined by the user. We could introduce an offset vector property, which would represent the distance between the point indicated by the coordinates and the (0,0) point of the model

Wish list: There might be a option to enter a URL like https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/30.86003/75.86229 , from where it

Ok.

So user can decide it as gate point (for navigation purpose, centroid for area, important point, focus point.)

What I would like is for the user to enter an address, ex. SunsetBoulevard 1024, Los Angeles, then click a button and you would be taken to a map. Then you could adjust a pointer in case it didn't makr the location correctly, then close that map and the coordinates would be filled for you. Still need to look at openstreetmap API but I think this is not too hard to achieve...

Nice.

Do you wish to have all this from within FreeCAD, or doing it externally and pasting link in FreeCAD.

You're right about declination/deviation. Better use "Declination" everywhere... Fixing that now.

I wish, if we do all this in GeoData Workbench. All site related information should be the job of GeoData Workbench.

Are we using all this information anywhere in FreeCAD or elsewhere?

With Lat/Long/Altitude there, we should be able to see co-ordinate of every node / point either in local X, Y, X or in UTM co-ordinates (in millimetres), like 30.86324°N, 75.86050°E may be seen as (Zone: 43 N) 582267 3414763 (in mm)

Values related to building's dimensions should be updated form the model (we should not be able to fill it, it may be read only), if we double the width of model, gross width should be doubled. I think, at present, these values are not linked to any real thing.

[hardeeprai]

Level Manager sates:

Double-clicking a level, here or in the tree view, will set the working plane (and view if configured so) to that level

Double clicking in Level Manager does not do anything, and in tree view it try to change its name/label.

In Level Manager it has:

Set view on double-click |<space>| [Use Current]

How to use it? I can check or un-check "Set view on double-click" but where to define view.

[Use current] looks like a button, if I click on that it changes its colour. But clicking again it does not toggle it. Should not there be dropdown list, for top, bottom, front, current, custom view?

or we need to define views somewhere?

[yorik]

If you can give me structure (outline) of tutorial, then I will develop it in-line to your thinking, else I can develop it as per my thinking.

Yes, please do it as you see fit, there is too much in the Arch/BIM thing that comes from my brain only, having other people's vision on it can only make things better.

You're right about the coordinate ssystem, we need something better. Maybe a new property type, I'm investigating.

Values related to building's dimensions should be updated form the model (we should not be able to fill it, it may be read only), if we double the width of model, gross width should be doubled. I think, at present, these values are not linked to any real thing.

Hm good idea... Not too hard to achieve, it would just require a small script to get values from a bounding box, but I'm not sure how to keep that flexible so the user can adapt to each particular project. Let me think more on this.

About the level manager it indeed doesn't do anything at the moment. I got basically stopped with the implementation of the new BuildingPart object that still has problems...

[bitacovir]

Correct. For "in-game" tutorial we need more resources. For the time being we can have something in text form, which will serve as storey board for game-in tutorial.

If you can give me structure (outline) of tutorial, then I will develop it in-line to your thinking, else I can develop it as per my thinking.

You can find a basic BIM tutorial in the wiki page, made by Yorik.
https://freecadweb.org/wiki/Manual:BIM_modeling

[joancabeza]

About coordinates. I'm thinking to possibilities about day to day workflow:

1- You will import and use geodata. You fill the information and automatically it will be filled in BIM data (Project Setup)

2- You won't import/use geodata because you don't have it or simply because it's not needded. But you want coordinate's information in your model. You simply fill the BIM setup. Notice that you might change coordinates while you are working in the model


You will have the file coordinates that will be Project coordinates and then you'll have "world coordinates" in UTM or whatever you need.


I have a question: How this woud be exported in the IFC file?

From : http://www.buildingsmart-tech.org/ifc/I ... roject.htm

"The representation context, in the case of a geometric representation context, which is referenced from the IfcProject, includes:

the default units used
the world coordinate system
the coordinate space dimension
the precision used within the geometric representations, and
optionally the indication of the true north relative to the world coordinate system"

[yorik]

The IFC format doesn't have much regarding "stuff" that is not the building itself (for ex, geometry that represent the surrounding buildings). But we can always export that as generic objects. For me itś more important to correctly group and name the objects...

The way I see the integration with geodata:

1) You create a BIM project, and fill the site details, address, coords, etc... like you do now.
2) You have a "Download site data" button/command, that will maybe ask you a few options, then use geodata to download the stuff

this way, you don't download anything if you don't want to, and, if your project changes, you can simply delete the old stuff, change the site details and press the button again.

[hardeeprai]

You can find a basic BIM tutorial in the wiki page, made by Yorik.
https://freecadweb.org/wiki/Manual:BIM_modeling

Yorik has not given this URL, rather he used https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/BIM_Start_Tutorial

That imply he has something bigger in his mind.