Recently I had the pleasure of collaborating with Jeff Tiddy, AIA LEED AP, with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architects in Greenville, SC. Jeff is working on a site master plan using Autodesk Revit and was looking to present different scenarios to their client. The project had a variety of options and required many days working with Revit topology surfaces and massing forms to design alternatives for the development of the land and the building placement possibilities. Manually preparing Revit data for 3D printing can be as time consuming as creating the A/E designs in the first place. The idea of allocating additional time and limited budget resources to make the same Revit files ready for modeling through 3D printing was daunting.
“We’re always looking for new and better ways to help our clients visualize our ideas. 3D printing is a resource that’s becoming more and more practical and affordable,” says Jeff Tiddy. “Intermediaries, like 3DMTP, help us outsource the time consuming and mundane aspects of the process, allowing us to focus on the design.”
In providing a service to prepare Jeff’s data for 3D printing,
3DMTP allowed me to quickly offer a time-saving and cost effective method for
modeling the land development options using his original Revit designs. Since introducing 3DMTP I have developed a list of 3D printing service bureaus to which I refer clients. This helped Jeff find
the right 3D printing solution and a company that could deliver his models on
schedule.
Jeff presented me with the Revit data and a sketch showing the need to create a three section model from a combination of topology-surfaces and building masses all created in Revit. The middle section was to be used to demonstrate alternatives for the master plan, while the side sections were to illustrate the environment that was to remain unchanged.
Problem: When
exporting the topology-surfaces from Revit using the STL exporter, it was
discovered that the topology had no defined thickness and only the building
masses were exported. Additionally, the ground surface designs and contours
line definitions, which resided on a different layer within Revit, could be
exported in a separate file but not mapped to the surface to be physically
modeled.
Solution: Using 3DMTP I opened the three Revit alternative topology surfaces and the building masses, scaled and sectioned the model according to the client’s specification and defined a thickness to the surface so the contours became discernible plus they met the minimum 3D print requirements of the 3D printer. The ground surface patterns and contours line exported from Revit as a PNG texture file were mapped to the surface. 3DMTP added a ½ inch platform to allow the topology surface model to sit flat on a table.
All during the design and modeling process, Jeff’s client
meeting was looming. The challenge was to find a service bureau with the right
equipment to print the base model and the three alternatives plus meet the
deadline. Jeff worked with The Print Machine, Inc. (TPM) who used their 3DSystems ZPrinter 450 to commit to and successfully meet the deadline. Matt Luther, General Manager of TPM’s
Columbia, SC office adds, “We strive to help our customers leverage technology
to differentiate them in an extremely competitive landscape. We were thrilled to leverage our in house 3D
printing technology to help Jeff execute on his customer presentation.”
Jeff was extremely pleased with both the process of creating
the model files by 3DMTP and the results of the 3D printed models. The client
meeting was successful and Jeff said he would recommend and use 3DMTP and TPM
again on future projects. See more pictures and a video by clicking
on the following link:
3DMTP LAND DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES
Jeff presented me with the Revit data and a sketch showing the need to create a three section model from a combination of topology-surfaces and building masses all created in Revit. The middle section was to be used to demonstrate alternatives for the master plan, while the side sections were to illustrate the environment that was to remain unchanged.
Problem: When
exporting the topology-surfaces from Revit using the STL exporter, it was
discovered that the topology had no defined thickness and only the building
masses were exported. Additionally, the ground surface designs and contours
line definitions, which resided on a different layer within Revit, could be
exported in a separate file but not mapped to the surface to be physically
modeled. Solution: Using 3DMTP I opened the three Revit alternative topology surfaces and the building masses, scaled and sectioned the model according to the client’s specification and defined a thickness to the surface so the contours became discernible plus they met the minimum 3D print requirements of the 3D printer. The ground surface patterns and contours line exported from Revit as a PNG texture file were mapped to the surface. 3DMTP added a ½ inch platform to allow the topology surface model to sit flat on a table.
All during the design and modeling process, Jeff’s client
meeting was looming. The challenge was to find a service bureau with the right
equipment to print the base model and the three alternatives plus meet the
deadline. Jeff worked with The Print Machine, Inc. (TPM) who used their 3DSystems ZPrinter 450 to commit to and successfully meet the deadline. Matt Luther, General Manager of TPM’s
Columbia, SC office adds, “We strive to help our customers leverage technology
to differentiate them in an extremely competitive landscape. We were thrilled to leverage our in house 3D
printing technology to help Jeff execute on his customer presentation.”Jeff was extremely pleased with both the process of creating
the model files by 3DMTP and the results of the 3D printed models. The client
meeting was successful and Jeff said he would recommend and use 3DMTP and TPM
again on future projects. See more pictures and a video by clicking
on the following link: 3DMTP LAND DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES
Phil Magenheim –
@3DMTP
 |
| EMAIL ME: 3DMTPUSA@gmail.com |
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| NEED 3D LASER SCANNING SERVICES?Visit: WWW.DIRECTDIMENSIONS.COM |
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