Introduction
In 2023 I created a getting started video series to introduce the world to the revamped Building 3D Design application. These videos were uploaded to our YouTube and documented in the original post here.
I'm embedding the videos here and adding content to this page so that it is easier to use. Please enjoy!
Video Teaser
PDF of the Video Steps to Download & Follow Along
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Video Series
| Video Name | Video | Video Description | Supporting Data |
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| Part 0/8 - Series Introduction | The training introduces the CATIA building 3D design application on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and outlines its role in transforming building design and construction processes. | ||
| Part 1/8 - Project Setup | The training demonstrates how to configure a fresh install of CATIA by adjusting navigation and display preferences, generating a product structure from an Excel spreadsheet, inserting reference models, and creating level planes using parameter settings. It further shows how to manage documents and insert a 2D drawing into a 3D model and finally extract geometry for further modeling operations. The presentation covers detailed step-by-step actions and offers insights into the standardization and automation features available in the building 3D design application | The Excel file to create the Product Breakdown Structure The 3dxml reference models. The imported 3D model is called "CSL_REF_Context_and_Concepts". | |
| Part 2/8 - Building Massing and Slabs | The demonstration shows the process of creating building massing and slabs in CATIA. The training covers setting up the product structure, modeling levels, and using a building grid and extracted geometry as references. It explains how to create a sketch for building massing, output profile curves, and draw rectangles representing volumetric cubes. The video emphasizes constraining geometry, renaming geometrical sets for clarity, and using the parallel curve command to create slab edges. It also demonstrates extruding volumes to level planes, combining volumes with copy-paste and input editing, and modeling slab geometry in the structures driver part using volume limits and elevation planes. | DXF files to insert the grid and floorplan | |
| Part 3/8 - Stairs & Railings | The training demonstrates the process of modeling vertical circulation in CATIA by creating stairs and railings. The document explains how to extract geometry from a building grid and use the intersect command to generate reference points. It details the stair command usage with options for mid landings, solid stair types, modified input planes, and gap adjustments. It also shows how to use shaft volumes to generate slab openings automatically. In addition, the training covers the automated creation of railings along stairwells with configurable parameters for rail, posts, balusters, and handrail, highlighting the parametric and associative nature of the model. | ||
| Part 4/8 - Walls & Doors | The training demonstrates how to model walls and doors in CATIA by inserting a DXF floor plan, extracting exact geometry, and using that data to create walls with controlled height, input type, and priority. The session also covers adding doors with multiple positioning options, auto relaunching the door command, and adjusting door parameters such as elevation and type. This approach emphasizes practical techniques for floor plan-based modeling and the use of CATIA commands to streamline design. | ||
| Part 5/8 - Powercopies & Windows | The training demonstrates advanced modeling techniques in CATIA using power copies and the window command. The session explains how to duplicate existing geometry such as walls and doors across different levels by using power copy selection, replacing slab inputs, and editing geometrical set inputs. It further shows how to model windows by accessing the window command, adjusting parameters like sill height and vertical alignment, and positioning windows relative to the wall. These techniques streamline the design process by leveraging CATIA's parametric and associative features. | ||
| Part 6/8 - Facade Design for Construction | The training covers the complete process of facade design for construction using CATIA. The session details how to model a building facade by extracting faces from envelope massing, create and configure variable curtain walls for dynamic patterns, and use matching techniques to ensure consistency across facades. The advanced process shows how to transition a concept design model to a detailed design model for fabrication using extract cells, component-based design, and assembly pattern commands. This process enables optimized reuse and efficient fabrication of facade panels | Here is the 3dxml of the detailed facade panel Object Type | |
| Part 7/8 - Distribute and Component Based Design | The training explains how to encapsulate knowledge in reusable templates and object types and store them in libraries for reuse in CATIA. It covers the use of the distribute command to transfer building features between 3D shapes using various distribution methods that maintain traceability and associativity. The training also demonstrates component based design to instantiate engineering templates for detailed fabrication models, the use of UDFs for automatic parameter population, and the distribution manager for tracking and managing distributed features throughout the design to construction process | The 4 Different Distribute Types | |
| Part 8/8 - Quantity Take Offs and Shadow Casting | The training covers the process of linking BIM attributes in a CATIA model to an Excel spreadsheet for attribute modification and quantity take offs. It demonstrates how to extract and update data for building features such as doors and walls, and how to perform quantity calculations using Excel formulas. The training also explains how to extract variable curtain wall cell data, activate geolocation, adjust visual settings, and perform shadow studies using sun path tools and the heliodon. These techniques enable precise data management and enhance the visual communication of design ideas and construction requirements | ||
| Appendix 1 - Creating a Wall Object Type | This training covers the complete process of creating a wall object type in CATIA from the initial creation of wall content, through setting up geometrical sets and modeling a UDF with control parameters, to capturing a detailed wall assembly as an engineering template and finally instantiating the object type in the detail design model. The demonstration shows the use of component-based design, parametric modeling with formulas and relations, and the integration of the UDF and engineering template into a resource table to achieve an adaptive and updateable wall object type. | More information can be found here | |
| Appendix 2 - Creating a Door & Window Object Type | This training covers the process of creating object types for doors and windows in CATIA. The demonstration shows how to import SOLIDWORKS models and adjust their orientation, create a user defined feature with light geometry using sketches and extrusions, set up critical parameters and relations, and build an engineering template with a base axis system. Finally, the training illustrates how to create an adaptive object type that integrates the UDF and engineering template and how to instantiate these object types in an apartment unit model with change LOD to update details automatically. | ||
| Building Grids | This training explains how to use native grid functionality in the Building 3D Design application in CATIA. The demonstration shows how to launch the grid by table command, set grid origins and spacing, and adjust grid labels through manual editing and Excel integration. In addition, the video covers creating grids with sketches and outputting grid geometry for downstream use. These techniques enable precise control and adaptive updates for building model grids |
