Holes/Windows disappear

[anderG]

Here’s my problem. I am modelling in Rhinoceros/Grasshopper, where I manage to build big models (usually office buildings, not very complicated geometries) much faster. I also manage to import this model to Sketchup, easily without any problem: every room, every window, every shading is there. Then I select components and I identify rooms: the plugin identifies them very easily (as I always create room envelopes, that is, ‘whole rooms’). The problem is that when identifying rooms, some of the holes in the rooms (which I clearly see in the model) just disappear, they are not longer taken into account, so they are not imported to IES. The weird part is that all these holes are done the same way (algoritmically in Grasshopper), so I find this problem complete random… I save a lot of time modelling via Rhino/Grasshopper but all this process makes no sense if the geometry that I see in Sketchup is not the same geometry that the IES plugin detects. Any clue? Thank you.

[PCully]

Hi,

Once the model is in SketchUp then the plug-in should treat it the same way regardless of where it started.

One idea I have based on what I've seen in the past in SketchUp is that the textures are sometimes only applied to one side of a surface. It's weird and not sure why it's allowed but it is so you could have your "hole" texture (0% opacity) assigned on one side of the hole but on the other it isn't. You can actually see this in SketchUp by looking at it from one side then the other.

Another thought is that if you have holes on external surfaces then these are not allowed in a VE Thermal Analysis model so would be disregarded or converted to glazing.

Phil

[derzu]

Hi Phil,
Thanks for the answer. Texture is not a problem, transparency is already adjusted in Rhino and I doubled checked it in Sketchup: it is always applied to both sides.
I am guessing now: can it be a matter of unit tolerance? The Sketchup model is perfect, but what I see afterwards (when I run the plugin & export it to IES) is that only some windows randomly disappear, without any apparent reason for this. As if some points that create some of the windows were not in the surface any more. In IES, some windows are correctly created, but some windows become just shades.
Any other thoughts?

[PCully]

any surface that is not part of a wall boundary would be picked up as a shade so if it is showing as a shading surface then I'd say that the plug-in isn't seeing the windows as part of the walls. This could well be part of the import process, I think a test for that would be to select one of the windows in SketchUp and delete - if the wall is completely left behind rather than a hole then I think that is the problem.

Phil

[srang]

Hi

I'm having the same issue as well where the windows on my building are shown perfectly in the sketch-up model but some would randomly disappear when I import into IESVE. It doesn't matter how you cad/draw the windows.

any resolution yet??

Srang

[PCully]

check you have applied the translucent material to both sides of your window. That's only reason I can think of that it wouldn't work.

If the windows still aren't being identified then please send us your SketchUp model with details so we can take a look at it, mention this forum post as well if you don't mind.

http://www.iesve.com/support/contact-support-team

Phil

[Herrington_Daylight]

Hi everyone,

When modelling in Sketchup, and then transferring/ importing into VE, using the plugins I have also encountered errors like this where the windows drawn in a Sketchup room/ model envelope, and seemingly picked up successfully in the room scan get removed when imported and launched into VE proper. From my experience this tends to occur when the axis and geometry alignment between the window you're drawing, and the surface you're drawing it on are out of alignment, even by the tiniest fraction. If the window isn't completely planar with the wall surface, it seems to get lost later on, and isn't recognised by VE. (I haven't used rhino, grasshopper, etc to comment on the earlier stages of your modelling process though.)

Naomi.