Which building information is best conveyed in 3D, and which still requires 2D?
◦ Which stakeholders need 2D drawings, and why has that not gone away?
◦ Give an example of something in your building a 3D view fails to communicate.
Code officials, contractors, and fabricators need 2D plans to understand the measurements of a space and how its rooms are organized. Individual floors are also generally easier to see in 2D than in 3D, since a 3D model shows information from every floor level at once. 2D plans make specific measurements easier to find, and they are less distracting than a 3D model, which contains so much information that it can be overwhelming to interpret.
My 3D view fails to communicate the layout of the individual rooms I designed in this module. It shows the building as a whole, and the exterior hides the individual apartments.
The same location needs to be shown differently to different audiences.
For a client, the information would focus mainly on the aesthetics of the space and how it would feel to inhabit it, with the goal of making the project appealing. A contractor would get information-dense details about exactly how the design is assembled: what every component is and where it goes, so they can fully understand the project and keep it on schedule. Information for a code official would highlight what safety codes emphasize, such as the distance to stairs, egress routes, and the location of balconies and railings. Information for a fabricator would focus on individual components and their dimensions, such as length, width, and thickness.
Showing everyone the same view risks confusing people and making it harder for each person to focus on the takeaways that matter to them. For instance, a client would be less drawn to a building if the drawing were covered in code notes or so many measurements that it was hard to get a feel for the space. On the other hand, a diagram with bright colors and few measurements may be harder for a code official to interpret and accurately assess.
View templates enforce consistency across a set.
◦ What goes wrong on a real project when views are configured individually?
◦ Who should own the templates and standards, and why?
Your schedules pull information straight out of the model.
◦ How can schedules support procurement and model based estimating?
◦ What is the danger of a schedule that is accurate about the model but wrong about the building?
◦ What did your calculated field reveal that the plans did not?
You published two versions and compared them.
◦ Why does version history matter more on a shared model than a personal one?
◦ If a consultant says their work was based on last week's version, what do you need to be able to tell them?
◦ When should a model be formally issued rather than just saved?
Version history is essential in a shared model so that each person can understand what others are doing to the model. In a personal model, the owner is the only one making decisions, so they understand what changes are being made and why. When multiple people edit the same model, however, they may have conflicting ideas of what needs to be done, so it is important to preserve previous versions in case something needs to be undone.
You need to be able to tell them everything that has changed between last week’s version and this week’s. Version history lets you do that.
A model should be formally issued once the design is finalized and all parties agree that no more changes will be made. A model that is only saved can still be changed afterwards, so there is less guarantee that it will stay the same.