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PowerCivil for Finland v8i, changing components in cells?

Sari Pehkonen
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Hi Bentley and the forum members,

We are using PowerCivil for Finland V8i (SELECTseries3) and would like to ask about the possibility to change the size of the components of a 3D cell. Is it possible to change the components of an already created cell when placing it in a drawing/model? We know that it is possible to alter the xyz scales of a cell but then it stretches the whole object. Eg. we would like to have a single streetlight cell where you could select the height of the light pole, the diameter/radius of the light pole and the length of the light arm when placing the cell. So instead of having 10 different cells for streetlighting with different height light poles we could have just one cell where we could change the size of the components. Can this be done with PowerCivil?

Many thanks in advance!

Sari

  • 0 Offline in reply to Chris Key
    We took a look at DDD tools and Feature solids and Feature cells in the hopes of finding a solution to creating these parametric cells. DDD only seems to work mostly in 2D and we've been able to create simple parametric objects in 2D by using the DD tools and some simple 3D objects by using the DD tools and some Feature Solids tools -> Extrude Feature tool to turn it into a 3D object. We've also used the Parameter sets in the objects and placed the objects into a drawing by using Place Feature Cell tool as well as edited the parameters by using the Edit Feature Cell tool. This seems to be working fine when the objects are kept very simple.

    The problem is that we don't know how to make parametric or scalable objects when it comprises of more than one solid. Eg. when making a very simple tree object the space the tree requires underground would be a slab, the trunk a cylinder on top of the slab and the foliage a sphere on top of the cylinder. We'd like to know how you can make a parametric 3D cell that would eg. link the slab and the cylinder and the sphere together so you could for example change the height of the trunk or the radius of the foliage. Has anyone done these by using just the tools in MicroStation? Or have you used some kind of additional program on top of MicroStation? Could Parametric Cell Studio work for example?

    Also if someone has a clue if there are downloadable feature cells somewhere, we'd love to hear about it!

    Thanks a lot in advance!

    Sari
  • 0 Offline in reply to Chris Key
    Hi Chris,

    Thank you very much for your help, we will look into it!

    BR,
    Sari
  • 0 Offline

    I believe this can be done through Feature Modeling Feature Cells, as it is through MicroStation.  You can place a cell and determine certain parameters on placement.  This is the only direct option I know in MicroStation (PowerCivil) to create such an editable cell.

    http://communities.bentley.com/products/microstation/f/141/t/10440

    It appears that some Bentley programs in the Building Analysis and Design family does have the ability to create parametric cells which can be adjusted by values in tables.  These are not your typical cells, but are cells which have editable parameters so you can adjust the values and adjust the cells individually to suit your needs.  There appears to be a good amount of information regarding parametric cells through their forums if you would like to check it out.  These tools would only be available in those building products and I don't believe would be used by only MicroStation or PowerCivil.

    http://communities.bentley.com/products/microstation/w/microstation__wiki/8813


    For more information about the Road and Site design tools, visit the Road and Site design WIKI at: http://communities.bentley.com/products/road___site_design/w/road_and_site_design__wiki

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