The buildings object allows you to create buildings or other box-like elements which are based on the ground, such as containers.
The buildings object reads AutoCAD polylines, arcs, circles, ellipses, and splines. Buildings consist of a base, walls, and a roof. The shape of the building is defined by a polyline.
The height of the building can be defined in two different ways:
- If the polyline of the building has a Z value, the building walls are modeled from this absolute height to the ground.
- Otherwise (Z = 0) the height of the building is defined by two settings in the building parameters: floorheight and number of floors (nrfloors).
The roof is modeled on the building polyline and roofline polyline(s). A separate layer is defined for the polylines of the roof. The shape of the roof is defined by polyline(s).
The height of the roof can be defined in two different ways:
- If the polyline(s) of the roof have a Z-value, the roof is modeled from that absolute height to the building walls. The thickness value adds relative height to the roof.
- Otherwise (Z = 0) the height of the roof is defined by the roofheight setting in the building parameters. The thickness value adds relative height to the roof.
- If automatic_rooflines = yes, this automatically generates a roofline between midpoints of the neighboring edges of the longest edge (applies only for 4-corner rectangular buildings).
The height and material of the base are defined in the building parameters. Texturing of the walls and the base start from the first vertex.
Parameters
• layer
Layer where wall lines are.
• materials
Material of the wall. A material's width and height properties define how many floors and corner positions the wall texture image has. Texture is stretched so that corners are always fixed by this division. If you choose multiple materials, they are randomly put on buildings but are dependent from the roof materials. For example, the first material here will always be used with the first roof material.
• description
A descriptive text for the entry. If defined, it will be shown instead of the long description.
• info text
Information text attached to items.
• info URL
URL link attached to items. MAGNET Explorer can launch a web browser with the URL.
• object data tables
These are Autodesk Map object data tables that will be used for source of object information for the elements in the virtual model. The table list also matches wildcards.
• facade_materials
List of materials for use in facades. The number after the material name defines the wall line polyline segment number on which the material is attached. Numbering starts from first vertex of polyline and is always counterclockwise, independent of polyline direction. With this feature it is possible to attach facade textures for each facade separately. Facades that don’t have a texture defined here will use the normal building material. Users can also texturize building facades using the right-click menu tools when building wall polyline is selected.
• rooflinelayer
Layer where roof lines are.
• baseheight
Height of the base from the highest surface level. If set to 0, no base is modeled, and the wall stretches underground.
• eavesWidth
Eaves prevent rain, snow, and other debris from causing leakage-related damage to the building facade, by directing it out and away from the building. Typically, the eaves' width is related to the roof pitch. The steeper the pitch is, the narrower the eaves. Width of eaves measured from the wall:
- ≥ 0 = when on the *.DWG is outer wall edges
- < 0 = when on the *.DWG is outer roof edges
• floorheight
Height of one floor.
• nrfloors
Number of floors. If left empty, the number of floors is guessed based on the building size.
• roofheight
Height of the rooflines that don't have an absolute position defined.
• texwidth
Width of wall texture in system units.
• roofmaterial
Material of the roof.
• basematerial
Material of the base.
• automatic_rooflines
Select yes or no. A yes value automatically generates a roofline between midpoints of the neighboring edges of the longest edge (applies only for 4-corner rectangular buildings).
• texture_autofit
- segment = The facade texture always will be scaled to the facade defined by a polyline segment and from base to roof.
- polyline = The facade texture always will be scaled to the whole building length (around the building) and from base to roof.
• interpolate_to_materials
In case of multiple materials on top of each other, defines the material that these items will be interpolated on.
• interpolate_to_layers
Select those layers that will be used to raise your component. For example, if you use LandXML as a reference or Civil 3D surface as a reference, you generate layers for those references and then select that layer into this box.
• group
The name of the group of these items.