Re: Framing? Revit downstream without costing you more
I would not only use a free framing plug-in for Revit, I would pay for it!
I direct the engineering for a high end custom modular home manufacturer. We need to generate floor, ceiling, roof, and wall framing panels for everything in the house. I've done this automation my self a number of times using AutoCAD, though not through to CAM machines.
We are going to either pay someone to write this software for us or develop it in house ourselves. Another option we are exploring is exporting Revit objects to a program for AutoCAD that currently automates framing.
My experience with Architects and Designers is that they do not have the expertise to create a model that is actually build-able themselves. Every house we get from Architects to convert over to a build-able project has a number of problems we must work out before constructing it. Also most Architects I work with don't have the time to learn all these details, and just to finish the current project, hand it off, and move on to the next project. This is how they make their money.
My experience with framing automation software is that none of it is sophisticated enough to just do some configuration, push a button, and you have optimized cut lists of materials to feed into a machine. I've spent a lot of time over the last number of months researching what framing automation software is currently out there on any platform. There are many programs out there. I do know one company that is actively working on framing for Revit, though their opinion is that the Revit API is not sophisticated enough to fully automate framing. They don't think it will be sophisticated enough for a number of years. I think their first "basic" wall framing will not be available until after Revit 2009 is out, with more API enhancements.
Marty, if you develop this software, make sure you disclaimer your products to death that the software does not take the structural integrity of the building into account. By this, what I mean is if an Architect builds a model with a nice open vault, will your framer do a lateral analysis of the wall and put in vertical or horizontal wind beams to resist the wind loading? When you frame a gable perpendicular to a main roof, will the program insure proper support down through the building under the valley rafters? Or if there is a span opening, will it put the necessary columns down through to the foundation? What if the house is going to Southern California and you need to take seismic loading into consideration? My point is that there is a huge liability in framing correctly.
The closest you could probably come to having structurally sound framing is to develop what we use in the modular industry, and that is a "Systems Structural Package". We have a 500+ page book of nothing but structural calculations for walls, floors, roofs, and ceilings that spell out what material sizes to use for various height/width/snow-load spans. If the conditions are outside of the calculations, it would be flagged to go to a structural engineer to run some calculations on it.
Regards,
--Jim
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Originally Posted by Jim Merritt
