Handheld Showers

[cberg]

Has anybody come across handheld showers for use in accessible shower compartments?  I wasn't able to locate anything in the standard VW libraries. 

 

 

[Tom W.]

Have you got an illustration of the kind of thing you mean?

[cberg]

I cobbled together something out of the Sottini catalog.  But I was thinking along these lines...  The handheld shower runs along rails or is fixed.  Controllers shift between handheld and overhead showers. 

 

At least in the US, we are not allotted much code-mandated real estate to locate the handheld device and controller (above the grab bar)... 

 

[shorter]

Do you need these for 2d, 3d, or coordination?

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

If this helps, it is a 3D model built in VW's and has some history to modify.  File enclosed.

SHOWER HEAD.vwx

 

[cberg]

Thank you, @VIRTUALENVIRONS. I am always amazed by your modeling skills. While the world of plumbing fixtures doesn't change all that rapidly, we should probably get an update every few years through service select. 

 

Looking back through the content releases, the last time we saw new plumbing fixtures added was September 2019. Sinks and toilets are present in almost every architectural job.  

 

Vectorworks cannot be the best in BIM without better access to current architectural (not interiors) content.   It can't be hard to hire an intern whose only task is to hound companies for content. 

[Jeff Prince]

You are specifying a plumbing fixture for a job, does the manufacture provide you a Revit object you could import into Vectorworks?

Institutional stuff like ADA compliant bathroom fixtures should be pretty easy to come by.

 

4 minutes ago, cberg said:

Looking back through the content releases, the last time we saw new plumbing fixtures added was September 2019. Sinks and toilets are present in almost every architectural job.  

 

Vectorworks cannot be the best in BIM without better access to current architectural (not interiors) content.   It can't be hard to hire an intern whose only task is to hound companies for content. 

 

That seems like a big ask of VWX, I'de rather they focus their resources on fixing the software wouldn't you?  It would be a never ending quest trying to keep up with all the manufacture's offerings each year and then making them optimized for Vectorworks.  Revit & DWG seem to be the standard for manufacture provided BIM objects for a reason.

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

@cberg

Thank you for your kind words.  Just out of curiosity, how critical is a current plumbing fixture to a home design.

Paul

 

 

[bcd]

I hate to say it but this would be useful ask of AI: Generate a low poly, or nurbs 3d model from a scale reference and few photographs of a fixture

[cberg]

@VIRTUALENVIRONS Getting the right look/feel (including fixtures) is important for higher-end projects. I don't always care about this in many of my commercial projects, but it's important for residential and restroom-focused commercial work. 

 

@Jeff Prince , importing Revit entities is a real pain in the neck and can slow down one's workflow.   Revit objects don't come in as solids, even if you select that option.  You have to explode the entity, regroup the Revit entities into meshes, then solids... Then try to make decent 2d graphics out of the tessellated meshes.  Sketchup objects are easier to work with. 

 

. 

 

Somebody at VW thought to include Munro Pump Stations, Kleenex boxes, hair gel containers, aluminum awnings, food court bistro signs, and curtains.  Including decent plumbing fixtures is not that huge an ask... 

[Tom W.]

It wouldn't take long to model the items in your screenshots from scratch... Probably the quickest + most satisfying option in the end.

[Jeff Prince]

19 minutes ago, cberg said:

Including decent plumbing fixtures is not that huge an ask... 

 

Yeah, but how to you get consensus on what is a "decent" plumbing fixture?

Anyhow, we've spent more time discussing it than it would take to actually model something from scratch at this point 😉

It's probably faster to model something than searching the VWX library too, unfortunately.

 

[bcd]

And don't forget access to BIMObject in the Furn/Fixtures Tool Palette

[JustinVH]

The biggest issue with plumbing fixtures and a lot of architectural content is that those manufacturers don't want to work with Vectorworks because the other CAD softwares have larger market shares and are able to use DWG and Revit formats right out of the box. Those companies don't want to devote the resources to working with Vectorworks even though the CAD Content Team would be doing the clean up for them. Emails and phone calls are left unanswered or simply stated not interested. On the other hand, Entertainment companies are beating down the door to get added are willing to do the work for us or provide whatever we need to make the process as seamless as possible, this is also starting to be true for Landmark products as well which is why there are more of those symbols being added. We ask the user to hound the companies to work with Vectorworks so we can include their products as we feel that if many users complain there is a better chance of it happening.

[Jeff Prince]

1 minute ago, JustinVH said:

We ask the user to hound the companies to work with Vectorworks so we can include their products as we feel that if many users complain there is a better chance of it happening.

 

That's good advice.  Landscape Forms seems to do a great job of getting their content into Vectorworks.  They are also awesome to work with on projects, bending over backwards to help you along every step of the process.  Consequently, they get spec'd and installed on lots of public work.

Same thing with Tuuci umbrella, they probably sold over a 100 of those rectangular cantilever units just because I found them in the Vectorworks library 🙂

[Jonathan Pickup]

i use 2D plan/elevation for my designs. it does not matter if the fixture is correctly modelled, as the client might choose a different one.

[Jeff Prince]

32 minutes ago, bcd said:

And don't forget access to BIMObject in the Furn/Fixtures Tool Palette

 

But never use that tool when you have an important drawing open, it's a recipe for disaster.

Like most things, best to import into a clean file first.