OpenBuildings Designer Existing Conditions & Reality Modeling Training

From the site scan to an accurate as-built model.

Bring laser scans and photogrammetry into the right place, model what's already there from the point cloud, and keep existing, demolition and proposed work clearly apart. The existing model is the base every new design is built on, so it has to be right.

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OpenBuildings Designer · Existing Conditions

Reality Modeling

Learning objectives

What you'll be able to do after Existing Conditions & Reality Modeling

You'll learn to bring laser scans and photogrammetry into OpenBuildings Designer, model existing buildings accurately from the point cloud, and keep existing, demolition and proposed work clearly separate.

✓Understand reality capture: how laser scanning and photogrammetry produce point clouds and reality meshes, and what each gives you to model from.

✓Bring point clouds into OpenBuildings Designer and work with them in your model.

✓Place scan data in the correct real-world position using the project coordinate system, Helmert transformations and AEC Transform.

✓Know the difference between a temporary ACS and the project coordinate system, and why the project coordinate system is never changed by individual users.

✓Model existing elements from the point cloud, recognizing each element in the scan for what it is: beam, column, wall or slab.

✓Assign Existing and Demolition Parts so existing elements classify, display and report correctly.

✓Keep existing and proposed geometry clearly separate on renovation work.

✓Create as-built models and verify them against the scan data before anyone designs on top of them.

Who it's for

Built for anyone who wants to learn to model existing buildings from scan data in OpenBuildings Designer

Core audience

Existing Conditions Modelers

You model existing buildings and structures from scan data. This course builds the habits that keep the scan in the right place and the existing model accurate.

Renovation projects

Architectural & Structural 3D Modelers

You model proposed work inside an existing building and need a reliable existing model to design against, with existing, demolition and proposed elements kept apart.

Switching platforms

Scan-to-BIM Modelers from Other BIM Software

You already model from point clouds. This course covers how reality data and existing conditions modeling work in Bentley's tools, which your project requires.

Leading a team

BIM Managers & Team Leads

Get your team bringing in scans and modeling existing conditions the same way, with training built around your project's workflow and the mistakes your team keeps running into.

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Prerequisites

What you need before you start

You'll get the most from this course if you already know your way around OpenBuildings.

Required OpenBuildings Designer Fundamentals or relevant experience.

Required You can read building drawings and understand how buildings and structures are put together.

Software Access to OpenBuildings Designer on your own machine.

Syllabus

6 modules, from the site scan to a verified as-built model

Reality Capture & Point Clouds

How existing conditions are captured on site, and bringing the scan data into OpenBuildings Designer.

Reality capture: laser scanning & photogrammetry
Point clouds
Reality meshes
Point cloud workflows

Coordinate Systems & Alignment

Putting scan data and the model in the correct real-world position, so they line up with survey data and every other discipline.

Coordinate systems
Geographic Coordinate System (GCS)
ACS vs the project coordinate system
Why individual users never change the project coordinate system
Helmert transformations
AEC Transform

Modeling from Point Clouds

Scan-to-BIM: modeling around the scan to create existing elements, with the engineering knowledge to model what's really there.

Modeling from point clouds
Scan-to-BIM workflows
Existing conditions modeling
Modeling an existing building

Existing Parts & Families

Classifying existing elements with the right Family and Part, so they display, schedule and report as existing.

Existing and Demolition Parts
Applying a Part to existing elements
Confirming the assigned Family & Part
How Parts control display, reports & IFC exports

Existing vs Proposed Geometry

Keeping existing, demolition and proposed work clearly separate when new design goes into an existing building.

Existing vs proposed geometry
Modeling proposed works
Renovation workflows

As-Built Models & Verification

Producing an accurate as-built model and checking it against the scan before anyone designs on top of it.

As-built model creation
Model accuracy
Verification against scan data

About BIM Global

Taught by an industry expert with 12+ years in Bentley tools

BIM Global is a Bentley-focused firm offering training, support, consulting, and modeling services for OpenBuildings Designer, MicroStation, and ProjectWise, for teams delivering large infrastructure projects.

Our training is led by an industry expert who has trained multiple teams and uses these exact tools on live projects every day. Most experienced users already know how to navigate the software. What makes the difference is knowing why people get stuck, spotting the mistakes teams keep repeating, and delivering training in a way that makes skills actually stick.

Our approach is deeply interactive. We connect new skills to the tools and workflows you already know, continuously check for understanding, and stay on a topic until it’s truly mastered, not just demonstrated.