Reflected Ceilings in 3D model

We need a rael grid tool and fixture, grills, etc that are pcs file that cut through a ceiling or any other frame.

And then probably some lock that prevents them from cutting through the grid.

Just a guess, but maybe Bentley MEP can handle these things? I havnt used MEP, and havnt even looked at it.

Maybe they have a tool there that can do the penetrations automatically?

Would be nice to have a ceiling tool for sure to use in 3d.

OK so getting clg "slabs" in place isn't that complicated once you grasp that this clg tool is actually just redirecting you to use the floor slabs tool (you just have to switch your brain to think backward for this task).  But enough of that and on to the next headache related to the shortcomings inherent in this "stopgap" programming solution.  I'll try not to simply vent my frustration but rather provide some constructive criticism (reiteration?) for how the clg tools, which are pretty important to the whole BIM collaboration process, might want to get some attention from the developers.   Others have already pointed out, but I'll repeat, that by these slabs having no association w/ the clg grid patterns means that when items such as light fixtures or HVAC diffusers protrude from the plenums to perforate the clg plane the clg grid, which is basically just dumb linework, just goes crashing right through these items so one must then manually snip each of these indiv lines to clean up this graphics coord problem. which otherwise leaves the resulting refl clg plans from being confusing.  Another important problem hopefully which can be addressed at the next release is that the hovering slab portion of the clg, not being intelligent enough to understand that it's a clg entity, cannot then auto-cut itself and auto-heal itself as these various objects protruding down from the plenum proceed to penetrate through it.  And I'm assuming that, but have not yet attempted to confirm, that were I to use the very fine and very efficient boolean tools to quickly cut all these various holes then these slabs would demote to even less intelligent forms.  So now here I am at the routine clash detection task again after having previously added the missing clg slabs and I'm reminded that not only do these clashes impact how the clg plans appear graphically but I'm reminded that these clashes are also a headache that we should not have to deal with at this clash detection task.  Dealing with each of these intersecting items at this clash detection task consumes a significant number of man hours.

Assuming as I am that we should avoid using the boolean functions on intelligent items (hopefully another issue which will be corrected soon too BTW) what is the methd for automating these perforations.  Should I be communicating to our engineering consultants that they should be usingdifferent "out-of-the-box" Bentley items than the ones they are using?  Or is the fact that the arch clgs are in one dgn file while the various MEP items are in different dgn files at the root of this issue?

I dind it generates the ceiling "slab" fine.  And to assemble multible players use the "assemble" tool

the issue I have it it does not gernerate the ceilign plans automatically as it should.

Forward and Reverse attributes need to separated

A "Marker" need to be defined to be the starting point of a grid,

And if there is a plenum.  the Centerline tool needs to be corrected to provide the support for the grid

THIS SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC

I'd like to reawaken this ceilings construction thread with the Bentley folks.  We're on to another project and, again, find ourselves struggling to understand I think the basic Bentley concepts behind the construction of the ceilings.  This project is another BAXM one but I've poked arounf in v8i a little now and it looks like the clg tools may not have evolved to their next generation yet but please correct me if that is wrong as that will help me make the mental XM->v8i transition.  I'm jumping into this project in its latter stages of design and notice that the clg slab forms have not yet been generated.  What our users have been doing is simply keep turning off layers of data inside the plenum to produce the rcp extractions for annotation and that works OK most of the time.  But sometimes this method is simply not sufficient so I'm attempting to create these forms now for those instances.  The help page for this tool is, unfortunately, not helping me understand the process expected of me and perhaps explains to me why our users have abandoned it up to now.  I'll deal with the step-by-step instructions in a tech support call but I'd also like to re-activate the discussion about how this tool might want to evolve as the BA software moves forward.  I hate to compare the Bentley software to competing products in these forums but in this case I don't know how else to approach it.  Sorry in advance to Bentley for that indescretion.

Our users bounce back & forth between RevitArch & BentleyArch dependant on the indiv project req's and so do I.  I notice that the BA conceptual approach to clgs is dramatically different  that that of RA.  In the Revit environment the clg form and the clg grid patterning are integrated into the same physical 3D construction much like the actual physical built clg entitie would be.  To accomplish this the grid (or other) patterns are applied to the bottom face of the clg form as a bitmap image and they've some tools to control the origin of the patterning just as one does with straight 2D crosshatch patterning.  What this approach allows is that items such as light fixtures or HVAC ducts which penetrate the clg can then auto-communicate to the patterning that holes in it are occuring.  Surely there may be some disadvantages to this approach compared to the BA approach of treating the grid (or other) patterning as separate 2D linework disassociated from the solid hovering slightly above it but I cannot at first glance imagine what that may be.  My conclusion (perhaps prematurely, perhaps not, not sure yet) is that this conceptual leap should be one of the areas targeted by the BA developers for future releases of BA.  I think this mindset applies not only to clgs but also brick (and other) coursing patterns at elevational projections and tile (and other) patterns at flooring areas in plan projections.  Might this evolution be on the horizon for BA (and if so, then when?) or is there some deep conceptual reason why it might not be which I'm simply neglecting to see?