2D drawing is a layout of the design on a plane surface, drafting done on paper in forms of blueprints by a draftsman sitting at a drafting table. Digital 2D CAD incorporates the same drafting processes into computer programs and the design is drawn on the computer monitor rather than on a piece of paper. Converting the same 2D drawings into 3D BIM is not very strenuous, while being very beneficial.
Advantages of Converting 2D Drawings to BIM
Conversion of 2D drawing to BIM is greatly beneficial to the firms in the AEC industry:
- Improved visualization: With paper drawings in 2D, all the information is presented in a plane format. There is no other way to view the drawing from different angles. A 2D drawing of a building or a product requires the viewer to visualize what it will actually look like once it is built or manufactured. This means that the understanding of the product or building is limited to each viewer’s ability to visualize the finished construction. Not many people are good at this type of visualization, which makes it difficult to collaborate and revise the design. On the other hand, BIM adds various dimensions to the model, enabling users to view the drawing from any angle. In BIM, the model is shown exactly the way it will look when it is completed.
- Secure funding: Getting funding for a project is usually more successful when the project is presented as a BIM model. A simple 2D drawing does not attract attention or excite the investor. On the other hand, the different dimensions in a BIM tend to make an impression. 3D BIM gives a project the extra dimension and the ability to influence, which promotes successful projects.
- Easy to make changes: A 2D CAD file is produced using lines in layers and if you need to make any design changes, you have to change each sheet manually. In a BIM project, when you make a design change, you make it only one time and the change is propagated throughout the model, along with any subsidiary changes that need to be made to other areas of the design to contain the initial change.
- Cost effective: Due to the easily incorporable changes in a BIM project, it prevents a lot of time and money from getting wasted. The designs in BIM are flawless and add a lot of credibility to the body of work.
- Better life cycle assessment: The entire lifecycle analyses of a building can be done with BIM in a much better and reliable manner, also ensuring improved facility management.
The manufacturing process becomes much easier and simpler when the design layout is in BIM because of the better understanding it projects. The procedure of converting 2D drawings to 3D BIM is hassle free but finding the right CAD experts for the same would be beneficial in the long run.