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Or you could use the Wall tool, set the Wall Style to be the glazing, then use the Mullion tool for the vertical mullions and the Framing Member tool to do the horizontal mullions. That way you can insert Doors and Windows (e.g. "vents") and even custom symbols for spandrel panels.

Refer to the images in a Flicker set:

Flickr - VW 2010 BIM Methods - Curtain Walls

Edited by Jeffrey W Ouellette
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Guest Wes Gardner

As a follow-on to Jeff's idea regarding storefront, here is a screen image and a VW file using standard VW bits and parts. I deviated slightly by using the Mullion Tool exclusively for both horizontal and vertical elements for the storefront frame.

Edited by Wes Gardner
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Thanks for the great tip Wes. It had never occurred to me to use the mullion tool that way to define horizontal members.

I've learnt two good things today from you and Jeffrey. Demonstrates the versatility of Vw and how often there is a solution to the problem when a bit of lateral thinking is used.

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Christiaan,

What exactly is "freeform" about this method? I've demonstrated using native Vectorworks BIM tools (Wall *round wall works, too!*, Mullion, Window/Door, Framing Member) and applied the symbol methodology in the correct way, using multiple instances of a single configuration definition.

If I choose to export this via IFC, I can leave the objects as they are or I can Group the Wall and all its inserted elements and attached the IfcCurtainWall data to it.

I can edit this system using the same tools I use to edit any Wall and symbol geometry. I can structure the wall to be segmented on a floor-by-floor, or an entire facade basis; dealer's choice. Each choice has advantages or disadvantages, depending on the needed output and method of sharing the data.

I can schedule the elements of the system, quantifying the amount of glazing (WallNetArea), the number of mullions (both horizontal AND vertical, the number of spandrel panels of each type/config/size AND all the windows and doors (individually or by type). AND I can slice and dice this information for feedback on a floor-by-floor basis, if I so choose. I can name the individual components and tag them, if needed for component/assembly drawings.

I can control my graphic standards for each of the parts to satisfy any needs.

I have the flexibility to deal with alternate conditions where a vertical or horizontal bay has a different configuration for aesthetic effect.

I can even take the details of the system further by creating custom symbols with more detailed intricate profiles of any component part, if needed.

This method is consistent with Vw tools and methods. I would argue that a single curtain wall object would be more complex and too cumbersome to deal with, especially for more complex configurations. There would be such a high number of parameters needed that it would make the tool as difficult to use as the current Window Wall tool, just on the other end of the spectrum.

More and more, I am finding that "magic" all-in-one BIM objects are not all that they're cracked up to be. In some cases they work, but what options does a user have when they don't? With the tools and system I have at my fingertips in Vectorworks, I don't have to worry about an objects limitations in order to design, document and share BIMs.

The more rigid a system is, the less that can actually be done with it.

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I didn't say your method was freeform. I implicitly noted that it wasn't.

NNA's pitch for VW these days is that it's "flexible," largely because of its superior freeform modelling capabilities, which is true. However freeform is also more cumbersome. As your suggestion demonstrates it's almost always preferable to use an intelligent tool to achieve something, even if it's an unintended use of that tool.

I totally agree with you about "all-in-one" BIM objects not being what they're cracked up to be. But we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water. What we need is a good mixture of generalised tools and specialised tools, with freeform modelling available as a last resort (and more of the hybrid type of solution that is wall sculpting). (for example there should be a specialised window tool for modular windows).

While your solution is probably the most convenient it's still a fail in my book to have to tell a user that they can't insert a door into one of your wall objects so they need to cobble their own wall together using a mixture of tools (some of which don't talk to each other).

The most obvious answer to StaticDOS's problem is that the Window Wall tool needs to be able to handle openings such as doors. It's a good example of a specialised tool that falls short of what it needs to be.

My ultimate point, as always, is to rail against the copious amounts of manual lifting required in VW, which instead of being admitted to as a shortcoming is often spun as its flexibility.

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Demonstrates the versatility of Vw and how often there is a solution to the problem when a bit of lateral thinking is used.

It also demonstrates a failure on the part of intuitive UI design. If a user interface requires lateral thinking it is, by definition, not intuitive.

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  • 2 months later...
Or you could use the Wall tool, set the Wall Style to be the glazing, then use the Mullion tool for the vertical mullions and the Framing Member tool to do the horizontal mullions. That way you can insert Doors and Windows (e.g. "vents") and even custom symbols for spandrel panels.

Refer to the images in a Flicker set:

Flickr - VW 2010 BIM Methods - Curtain Walls

Do you know if you use this method to create horizontal Mullions in 2009?

I have found that my Vertical Mullions are limited to three in the 2009 WindowWall Tool. Is stacking windows the only solution?

Also, in 2009/2010 will this mullion method work on a Curved Wall?

Thanks

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