OpenBuildings Designer · Structural

OpenBuildings Designer Structural Modeling Training

From the first column to the finished structural sheets.

Model columns, beams, slabs, foundations and structural walls that carry the right attributes, such as grade, material and section, then produce clean structural sheets from the same model. No redrawing, and no missing data at submission.

Book Training

OpenBuildings Designer · Structural

Structural Modeling

Learning objectives

What you'll be able to do after Structural Modeling

You'll learn more than which tool places a beam. You'll learn to build a structural model that's complete, carries the right data, and turns into clean sheets without rework.

✓Model structural framing: columns and beams on the project grid, with the right sections and on the correct floors.

✓Place slabs, foundations and structural walls on the correct floors, framing cleanly into the rest of the structure.

✓Cope steelwork, work with steel connections, and place plates and structural components.

✓Add steel profiles and structural shapes to the library with user shape files, so the whole team can place them.

✓Cut openings and penetrations, and edit structural elements as the design changes instead of rebuilding them.

✓Deliver attribute-complete models, with members that carry grade, material and weight, not just geometry.

✓Produce clean structural sheets on the first pass, straight from the model.

✓Know the difference between a change to your file and a change to the project configuration, and which one you're about to make.

Who it's for

Built for the people who model the structure

Core audience

Structural 3D Modelers

You've learned the OBD basics and now model the structure on a live project. This course builds the habits that keep your model complete and your sheets clean.

Moving from 2D to 3D

Structural Drafters & CAD Technicians

You produce structural drawings in MicroStation and want to model the frame yourself instead of drafting it.

Switching platforms

Structural Modelers from Other BIM Software

You already think in BIM. This course covers how structural modeling and documentation work in Bentley's tools, which your project requires.

Leading a team

BIM Managers & Structural Leads

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

Book Training

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 structural drawings and understand how a structural frame works.

Software Access to OpenBuildings Designer on your own machine.

Syllabus

8 modules, from columns to structural sheets

Structural Members

Placing columns and beams as intelligent members on the project grid, with the right sections and on the correct floors.

Family, Part & section
Placing columns
Placing beams
Framing to the project grid
Section sizes from the structural profiles
Placing members on the correct floors
Member attributes: grade, material, section & weight

Coping Steelwork

Coping steel members where they meet and working with steel connections.

Coping steelwork
Steel connections

Steel Profiles & User Shape Files

Working with standard structural profiles, and adding your own steel sections to the library so the whole team can place them.

Standard structural profiles
User shape libraries
Adding custom steel sections to the library
Sharing profiles through the project dataset

Plates & Structural Components

Placing plates and other structural components.

Placing plates
Structural components

Concrete Elements

Modeling the concrete structure: slabs, foundations and structural walls on the correct floors.

Concrete columns & beams
Slabs
Foundations
Structural walls

Structural Openings & Penetrations

Cutting openings and penetrations through slabs, walls and members without breaking the model.

Openings in slabs & walls
Penetrations through structural members

Structural Editing & Modification

Changing the structure as the design develops, without deleting and rebuilding members.

Editing structural elements
Modifying members without rebuilding them
Updating the model as the design changes

Structural Documentation

Producing structural plans, sections and elevations from the model, with the member data your deliverables need.

Structural plans, sections & elevations
Member data on the drawings

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.