Bottle Project Reflections

Briefly summarize your struggles, adjustments you had to make to your process once you started implementing your vision within the software:
Originally we had assumed that it would be difficult to create the geometry required for a bottle in Revit. As we began to work with the program we realized that, although it did not have the modeling depth of some other pieces of software, it offers a basic array of modeling tools: extrude, sweep, loft, et cetera. We eventually decided to draw the profile of the bottle and revolve it around a central axis.
Another issue we were confronted with was the difficulty of working with parametrics within Revit. This was the primary software strength we were using Revit for, so it was imperative that it functioned properly. Revit has two different parametic “referencing” available to the user. One type is a “Reference Line,” which allows the user to snap and lock elements of their work to a one-dimensional, line in space. The other type is Revit’s “Reference Plane,” which exhibits the same properties of the “Reference Line” but allows for objects to lock and snap to a two-dimensional plane. Where we ran into difficulties was with actually locking elements of our bottle to the reference lines and planes. We found that this locking must occur immediately after a line or shape has been drafted for this option to be available. This has obvious limitations in regards to a flexible design process. Instead it forced us to determine from the onset what lines and shapes needed to be locked.

Do you think your outcome would have been different if you designed without using the software?
Surely our design was greatly influenced by the software that we used. Our intent was to capitalize on the parametric capabilities of the software. Although it could be considered that Revit’s limited three-dimensional modeling tools limited our potential design solutions, we viewed Revit as an advantageous design tool that allowed us to manipulate our final design in a way that would have been impossible in other 3D modeling programs.

Is your model in its present state easy enough to tweak? For example, if your client or user research suggests modifications, how comfortable you feel with doing so?
As aforementioned, the entire basis of our project was to create a fully customizable bottle. This was facilitated through our use of parametrics and therefore we would feel quite comfortable adjusting our design to our client’s needs, even if the changes altered the bottle’s form.

Are there certain changes that are easy to make than others (for example, changing color)?
It is relatively easy to change any aspect to our model. The element properties manage allows for a vast range of adjustments from line weights to color changes, to rendering options. Additionally, we are able to easily make geometric alterations.

Are there things that require substantial effort (for example changing the shape of the bottle from circle to square)?
This specific example might require some effort but by changing our modeling technique from revolving to extruding, this design change could be relatively easily accommodated. Perhaps the most difficult thing to change would be if the client would desire a more amorphous design solution. We also acknowledge that this problem would most likely inherent to all parametric modeling programs.

Compare your project/process with that of your peers. What aspects do you like about yours in particular. Talk about some of the aspects you liked in others (be specific).
We particularly enjoyed the parametric qualities of our project/process. We find that this was an especially advantageous aspect of our project. Compared to groups that used Maya and Rhino, we felt that our design process was different because we were not able to rapidly manipulate and experiment with three-dimensional forms within the software in the early design phases. Instead, we were forced to much of our preliminary designing by hand. We felt that our project and process was stronger in its technical considerations/tolerances than other programs, specifically the groups using SketchUp.