Saturday, November 27, 2010

Curtain Panel Truss Applied to Other Forms

These are images of some additional messing around i did with the Panel Truss Idea.  I think it it starts to bust through the "You Can't Do That in Revit" Glass Ceiling.  Only limit is our imaginations right?  But first, one more plug....


Come see me, THE BIM TROUBLEMAKER, at AU 2010.  Myself and 2 other VERY talented and experienced Revit users will be presenting the course:

FUZZY MATH ESSENTIALS FOR REVIT FAMILY BUILDERS
Course number AB327-4  Wedensday after lunch

If you aspire to be a family building bad-ass, don't miss this class....seriously!
When David B. from Do U Revit taught this course in 2008, he turned me into the troublemaker I am.  Hope to see YOU there!

And now...more truss panel monkey business....

Tower/Column Form
The horizontal divisions were created using DIVIDE by INTERSECTION

Wavy Surface



Mobius Truss




and now...onwards to Vegas....

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Parametric Trusses via Curtain Panels 02: Arch Trusses

Continuing on from my last entry, i wanted to push the idea further.  A simple straight truss is pretty easy, but what about arched, triangular trusses?  This is where the fun really started.

First i made some adjustments to the panel pattern i was using.  I connected the reference points of the grid using the "Connect Points with Curve" command.


Using the right command is important because otherwise it won't properly generate the form downstream.  i then linked the visibility of these lines to the visibility of the different forms of the truss frame.


Then i created a rig in the conceptual mass editor.  An arc controls the overall geometry while some triangles nested at the ends and center generate the desired form of the truss.


Generating the truss form, i then pick and divide the individual surfaces, applying my Truss Panel Pattern


Once all the surfaces have had the panel applied, I have to pick each panel and setup the sides which are on and off.  A bit tedious, but you can apply to several similar panels concurrently.


So with this done, we can cycle through a bunch of different sizes pretty quickly.


And this what i like best....I can export one of these trusses to DWG format.  when i open it up in ACAD, I get this:



Because i implanted the model lines within the Panel Pattern family, with a little bit of creative deleting, I can have this:


A nice wire frame i can give to the engineers so they can analyze my truss quicker, with less guess work!  Collaboration at its finest!

download the arch truss family here: Panelized Arch Truss.rfa
Lastly, a shameless plug.....

Come see me, THE BIM TROUBLEMAKER, at AU 2010.  Myself and 2 other VERY talented and experienced Revit users will be presenting the course:

FUZZY MATH ESSENTIALS FOR REVIT FAMILY BUILDERS
Course number AB327-4  Wedensday after lunch

If you aspire to be a family building bad-ass, don't miss this class....seriously!
When David B. from Do U Revit taught this course in 2008, he turned me into the troublemaker I am.  Hope to see YOU there!