Detailing Tool Set

[lwlehew]

I am trying to design some steel structures and use the Detailing Tool set but I seem to be unable to add length to my rectangular tubing. Is this not an option in Spotlight? That is kind of a downer if true but I am figuring a work around.

 

[spettitt]

Have you tried the Structural Member tool? Should be in the Rigging toolset for you most likely. You can choose from all sorts of standard SHS and RHS profiles. It's possible to add your own 2D profiles to be used by this tool as well, but chances are if you're using steel it's going to be standard RHS.

 

 

[lwlehew]

Hey I think that just might work. Thanks

Why does the Detailing Tool Set exist then? It has a lot of standard profiles.

[spettitt]

In terms of the 3D tools in the detailing toolset (i.e. I-Beam 3D), I don't really know what their relationship is to the structural member tool. I suspect the 3D detailing tools have been there for a while and the Structural Member is a more modern, all-in-one tool. Sometimes older tools/commands remain in the software for those that are used to them or have templates/processes that rely on them.

 

As for the 2D detailing tools, it's quite common (in my experience) for engineers to model a whole structure without necessarily drawing every nut and bolt in 3D, and then place a separate 2D detail view showing a typical connection in full detail - detailing.

 

In the world of BIM where each object has to exist in 3D to be part of the model exchange process, I think it's probably more common that steelwork designers are modelling each connection in detail, but I certainly know engineers who still do a 2D detail view on a sheet of a typical connection in the structure.