https://communities.bentley.com/products/ram-staad/f/ram-staad-forum/142173/tricky-modelling-in-staadSo, I attached two pictures, the hand drafted shows what I&#39;m trying to achieve in STAAD. I&#39;m not facing problem with the beams, those are already modeled, but how am I supposed to go about the plates at level 0.00? Note that only the beam in red hasen-USTelligent Community 12https://communities.bentley.com/thread/430967?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 18 Oct 2017 08:28:40 GMT6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:1e283afd-cb3e-4cc2-be8d-a688ebb4aa66Sye<p>Correct. Using large cross sections for dummy members often result in bad visuals during rendering ... so using high E is preferred.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://communities.bentley.com/thread/430965?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 18 Oct 2017 08:22:42 GMT6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:2b07a8ec-ef86-413f-af1c-ec1536186abfdImeNsiOnFifTh<p>... and the dummy member&#39;s cross section size/shape will not be a considerable factor if I assign a dummy material with a high E. Correct?</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://communities.bentley.com/thread/430963?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 18 Oct 2017 08:03:59 GMT6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:99d10c59-1bd8-4bfb-ae6c-9f4aa2233053Sye<p>Instead of applying a -1 offset to one end of the red beam, model both nodes for the red beam at level 0. Connect the end node for the red beam at level 0 to a corresponding node at level +1 using a dummy member with a high E ( say 100 times the usual ) and zero density. That way you will be able to generate the plate mesh at the&nbsp;level 0.0&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>