Control over model creation or export from source tool

This case is where the E3D Design user has control over the creation and export of the plant models from the authoring tool, for example where the plant was originally designed in-house and the original project data and authoring tool is still available for use.

Recommendations

• When large models are to be imported, it is more manageable to break them up into pieces and import each piece by itself, rather than trying to import it all as one single large file. This can for example be done by area or discipline. Consider the final deliverables to help determine the original model separation. For example, tagged items that should be separately identifiable.

• Where possible, try to reduce the level of detail of exported models to a suitable level for what is needed in E3D Design.

• The above advice should be considered when preparing and exporting the CAD models from the source authoring tool. However, the results may vary depending on model properties and with different file formats, so we recommend trying different approaches to find the best option for your use case.

• It may be tempting to use Model Simplification to import complete plant models to E3D Design, but in most cases this will not work when the plant models are too big. The Model Simplification feature is adapted to being used on models of a reasonable size. Refer to Model Size and scalability for further information.