Hello SU folks,
I just released BIMShell, an extension that allows creating outer shells / envelopes of BIM and other complex models automatically. It is made for SU 2017 and above, Windows and Mac.
The focus on BIM comes from a common issue for a few domains that I know (GIS for example) are willing to use BIM models in their workflows (3D city modelling, simulation, urban planning, etc.) but are often struggling to deal with the complexity of such models (too much details irrelevant to the domains, heavy processes, indoor details exposing to privacy concerns, slow visualisation, etc.). But apart from the name, BIMShell would process any geometry regardless of its categorisation as BIM or not.
With this version 1, you can generate 3 types of shells:
- a Footprint Shell which is an extrusion of the footprint of the model along the Z axis;
- a Voxel Shell which is a watertight approximation of the models’ envelope using a voxel data structure, and
- an Outer Shell which is a copy of the faces located at the exterior of the model (second video above).
The SU community is pretty familiar with the Outer Shell option, and its constraints (components need to be solid, manifold, etc.). BIMShell takes a different approach as there is no constraint on the model/components that can be processed, however if the notion of interior/exterior are ill-defined in the input model (because of gaps, an open door or windows, etc.), the resulting envelope model is likely to include interior faces as well. Some resolution parameters are provided to mitigate this though.
Please, give it a try and do not hesitate to provide feedback as this is an evolving tool. I am also very keen to hear from other domains where such simplified version of building models are of intertest.
Enjoy!
Abdou
