Sunday, August 10, 2014

Modelling The Finnish Drum

One of the highlights of being BIMTROUBLEMAKER is that i occasionally get emails from readers asking me for help in figuring out how to generate forms.  A few weeks back, I got an email asking about how to make this in Revit:





Not a lot to work with, but enough.  I get it, a column that hugs the face of a drum and rises at an angle.  Simple.  I did it as a conceptual mass to make my life quick and easy.  If this was for a real project, I would have done it as a "Structural Column" family, which is more or less the same steps, except starting with a different template.

So first, lets make the section outline of the column by constraining 2 arcs to the left and right of a reference plane.  This will allow for better control of the angle as this column sweeps around:

I save that profile and nest it into a new family.  This new family has several reference points stacked up and evenly spaced.  The distances are controlled by the overall height of the column.  Each reference point acts as a host for the profile I've created.  Additionally, each reference point's rotation parameter is linked to the angle of the desired column lean.


The parameters involved:



Select all the linework and hit CREATE FORM:


After making a dummy version of the building form, I insert the column and copy/rotate it around:


Annnnnd.... I'm done in less time than it took the dude to right me the original email.





The finished file can be downloaded here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B101ixgLlSGXN29ITHBLV29MQ0E/edit?usp=sharing

Sometimes it feels like I am saving the world, one family at a time.

If you got a problem and need some help, contact our global ministry at bimtroublemaker@gmail.com