Only elements of the physical model which are visible and enabled, are considered.
To enable elements, either select them manually or refer to Prepare.
The Generate step creates the analytical model counterparts for your structural analysis.
All the relevant information, e.g., Structural Material, Section or Thickness
is read from the physical elements and written to the new analytical elements.
Structural Role is assigned based on the Model Category of the physical element.
To tweak the creation, change the presets in the configuration file under Analytical Elements Alignment.
It is possible to define geometric limits as well as to prioritize the weight of the analytical elements.
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator can optimise the visualization for the best user experience during each step:
Template Mode
Determines whether the focus is on the Physical or Analytical model.
It is also where the visualization help can be turned Off altogether.
Each step has a pre-determined mode at the beginning and end, but it can be switched at any given time.
Filter Rule
Offers one additional Selection Filter to be activated in the active view.
Each step has a pre-determined rule, based on the most used functionality, but it can be switched based on the task at hand,
e.g., when working through the Importance and Keep Parallel during the Generate.
Filter Action
Offers the choice to highlight or isolate all elements for which the above rule applies.
Hint
The following Revit technologies are deployed:
Temporary View Properties
To avoid permanently changing the active view, the Temporary View Properties mode is activated.
All changes to the visibility and visualization are only temporary and will be abandoned when closing the steps.
Applying a View Tempate
The View TemplatesSOFiSTiKAMG2D/3D, which have the necessary Category Overrides and a set of Rule-based filters
for the best user experience pre-determined, are used.
Temporary Hide/Isolate
Only visible elements in the active view from before a step was started are considered.
They get loaded to a Temporary Isolate mode to respect the user selection.
Previously invisible elements will be ignored, no matter what causes their invisibilty,
e.g., Filter rules, Hide by Category or Hide by Element.
View Filters
A number of Filters allow to highlight, isolate or hide elements based on their Property Panel.
To achieve this, the respective elements are saved in various Revit Selection Sets.
The following concepts are important to understand when working with SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator.
During Generate, the optimal solution is determined based on these mechanisms and settings.
This feature is available for SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator2026 Service Pack 3and above.
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator attempts at finding the optimal solution for the analytical model,
adhering Element Priority and Adjustment Limits,
where all elements are connected.
In case this is not possible, e.g., due to contradicting demands, Analytical Links can be created
according to the respective setting in Analytical Elements Alignment.
This feature is available for SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator2026 Service Pack 3and above.
To exert more control over the resulting analytical model,
it is possible to determine the analytical representation for most given structural elements.
To do so, the GenerateAs property on the supported structural elements is introduced and offers the following choices:
If an analytical model already exists and is visible in the active view,
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator will take this into consideration when running Generate.
If an analytical element is the counterpart to a physical element,
Generate will update the element (see Local Coordinate System for specifications).
Hosted data, e.g., loads or boundary conditions, should remain.
If an analytical element is not the counterpart to a physical element,
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator cannot assess from which element it derives and the user is offered a choice:
Keep the existing analytical elements, possibly resulting in multiple elements.
Deleting the existing analytical elements, possibly resulting in loss of (hosted) data.
Example 1 (top): All elements are set to Primary.
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator will find a solution that considers the optimal location of the beam and columns.
Example 2 (bottom): The columns are set to Primary and the beam to Secondary.
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator will find a solution that considers mainly the optimal location of the columns.
Iteration during Generate step to find optimal location[1] based on the Importance of an element#
Example 1 (top):
Two elements of equal importance both iterate towards their optimal location[1].
Example 2 (bottom):
Between elements of different importance, the lower (secondary) importance element moves exclusively
towards the higher (primary) importance element.
This feature is relevant for linear elements, e.g., Columns and Framings.
It allows to determine if the orientation of the analytical member follows the physical component.
The options for Keep Parallel are:
TRUE (default)
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator will set the analytical element parallel to its physical element counterpart.
FALSE
Releases this constraint allows SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator to create an analytical element
that is not parallel to its counterpart physical element.
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator will optimize the end nodes of this element according to its optimal location[1].
To achieve an aligned analytical model, SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator can use Datum elements.
To meet the engineers’ need to control which elements are relevant, the property Analytical is available for:
The local coordinate system for analytical elements is based on the orientation of the respective elements of the physical model
at the time of creation (it will not be kept up-to-date at all times). It is possible to control if the local coordinate system
is updated during a re-run, depending on the settings in Analytical Elements Geometry.
The orientation is similar to the behavior in Autodesk®Revit®2022,
with added functionality for Walls.
This feature is available for SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator2026 Service Pack 1and above.
Before this, the orientation was always according to the floor orientation, see below.
For Floors, Analytical Panels with Structural Role: Floor are generated.
The local coordinate system can be influenced by the respective settings in
Analytical Elements Geometry.
Local Axis
Uniformly acc. to global coordinate system
Individually acc. to floor orientation
x
according to the global X-axis
according to the span direction of the associated floor
y
according to the right-hand-rule
z
facing upwards
Warning
Existing Analytical Panels may change during re-run of Generate step,
e.g., when the span direction wasn’t aligned previously or has since changed.
For Walls, Analytical Panels with Structural Role: Wall are generated.
The local coordinate system can be influenced by the respective settings in
Analytical Elements Geometry.
Local Axis
Uniformly acc. to global coordinate system
Individually acc. to wall orientation
x
facing upwards
y
according to the right-hand-rule
z
according to the global coordinate system
(nearest global X- or Y-axis in positive direction)
according to the orientation of the associated wall
(in direction of exterior face)
Warning
Existing Analytical Panels may change during re-run of Generate step,
e.g., when the local coordinate systems wasn’t aligned previously or the exterior face has since changed.
For all elements of the physical model, where the analytical model counterparts already exist,
the Locked parameter is available on the analytical elements.
If an analytical element is locked (Locked = TRUE), its properties are not adjusted
and it will keep its original location during the Generate step. SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator will still attempt
to connect the freely moving analytical elements to it.
Warning
When too many constraints are applied to the existing elements,
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator cannot obtain a properly aligned new analytical model,
as shown in the following example.
Please be advised that locking analytical elements impacts the resulting analytical model
and SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator may not be able to obtain the optimal analytical model.
Small inaccuracies in geometry can lead to problems during the analysis.
While SOFiSTiK Analysis+Design allows you to determine a Tolerance for Intersection of Structural Elements in the Analysis Settings,
other third-party software may not offer this option.
SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator can merge the end points of Analytical Members as a final cleanup of the analytical model
at the end of the Generate step, if they are very close to other Analytical Members or Analytical Panels.
This feature can be activated to account for specific accuracy requirements when using SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator with third-party FE packages.
Structural Material and Thickness for Analytical Panels are determined by SOFiSTiK Analytical Model Generator
based on their physical element counterparts, such as Walls and Floors. The following rules apply:
For physical elements with only one layer:
Structural Material and Thickness are taken from that layer, independent of its properties.
For physical elements with multiple layers:
Structural Material and Thickness are taken from the layer marked as Structural Material.
Other layers are ignored and a warning is given, if they are of Function: Structure.
The ends of vertical elements[3] only adhere to Analytical Levels
when connected to horizontal elements and the respective setting is activated.
It is also possible to define local overrides on an individual element basis by selecting the physical element.
Choose a different face of the physical element or pick a specific reference (level or reference plane).
Use cases are:
the adjacent level search does not lead to the desired results,
Depending on the section ratio of the physical column and the respective settings,
different analytical model representation applies. The figure below shows the two mechanisms at play.
Mechanism 1: Wide Columns in General (blue):
Decides whether or not a physical column is treated as a wide column
based on its section ratio compared to the Wide Columns - Minimum Section Ratio parameter (1) in the settings.
Mechanism 2: Create Analytical Panels for Columns (green)
Decides wether a physical column is represented by an analytical member or an analytical panel
based on the Create Analytical Panels for Columns parameter (2a)
and the Create Analytical Panels for Columns - Minimum Section Ratio (2b) in the settings.
Examples of column treatment based on section ratio compared and settings#
Top left:
Actual column section ratio smaller than Wide Columns - Minimum Section Ratio parameter (1), column is not considered a wide column.
Therefore analytical members of framings and column are brought together (if possible).
Top right:
Actual column section ratio larger than Wide Columns - Minimum Section Ratio parameter (1), column is considered a wide column.
Therefore analytical members of framings and column are not brought together but connected with a rigid link.
Bottom left:
Actual column section ratio larger than Wide Columns - Minimum Section Ratio parameter (1), column is considered a wide column.
Because Create Analytical Panels for Columns - Minimum Section Ratio (2b) is set to No, the column is represented as an analytical member.
Bottom right:
Actual column section ratio larger than Wide Columns - Minimum Section Ratio parameter (1), column is considered a wide column.
Because Create Analytical Panels for Columns - Minimum Section Ratio (2b) is set to Yes, the column is represented as an analytical panel.
Important
Offset boundaries prevail over this setting. If the offset limits do not allow the analytical members for the framing and column to align,
a rigid link is created notwithstanding this parameter.
![Iteration during *Generate* step to find *optimal location* [#optLoc]_ based on the *Importance* of an element](../../_images/amt_generate_iteration.png)
SOFiSTiK Analysis + Design allows you to determine a Tolerance for Intersection of Structural Elements in the Analysis Settings,
other third-party software may not offer this option.
