BIM Components and 100% Detail

[Thomas Hanson]

How detailed can BIM go? Maybe it's because I use Vectorworks for product design, and we model everything in 3D to precise detail, which forms the basis for manufacturing and assembly drawings, but I find the BIM components restrictive and low on detail. Maybe this is the point? That the BIM model is a 'diagram' and not the real thing, appropriate for 1:20 scale but not particularly detailed at 1:2? 

 

Do I need to work within the simplistic representations of BIM components, and the configurable settings on offer, in order to benefit from their functionality? Or can I push the detail further? And how is the best way to achieve this? For example, on a simple panelled door, I can't add chamfered beading to the panels on the leaf settings. On a top hung casement window, I can't add a rebate and have the opening window further out than the fixed glazing below. I can't seem to edit the BIM components to what they actually are in reality. Do I need to change my mindset - that this isn't reality?! 

 

Do I need to adjust my thinking of what BIM is - an intelligent model, with elements which are 'generic representations' - or can refine and add detail to my hearts content, and what is the best way of doing this?

 

Can BIM be as flexible as 3D modelling, or is this just 3D modelling and BIM is something else?!

[Diego - Resuelvector]

Inside the BIM workflow, you have the LOD schema, the "Level of Development" in the early stages of a BIM project when we are studing alternatives for a project, the BIM models are simple enough to perform form and function analysis, but as the project approach the Bid-Build phase, the detail and development increases, because we need to extract more information from the models.

Check more infoi about LOD here:
https://bimforum.org/lod/

[Thomas Hanson]

OK, thank you. I sit outside the BIM world (although have an architectural education and background) so am figuring out BIM and new to these concepts. There is an interesting article on LOD here - https://www.redstackshop.com.au/levels-of-development-levels-of-detail-lod-explained.

 

How do you go further in the LOD though? What are the limits to how much you can configure a door, window or roof in Vectorworks? Do you rely on additional 3D modelling in your work flow? Or can the BIM conponents be pushed beyond their settings?

[Diego - Resuelvector]

That article is nice, it explains a lot what we are saying, The LOD level depends on the stage of the project and where is going to be sent afterwards, the LOD level for a architectural project woukd be 350, and in Vectorworks you can go up to exactly that, in a door you can start just with a generic door with the aproximate size, no hardware, no manufacturer  (LOD 100 or 200) and at the end of design you end up with a door with the real final size, hardware and manufaturer specified (LOD 350), for the slabs and roofs, you can start with a generic roof, with no componets and in the final stage change and add the final components for detailing and output.