IFC Aggregates vs. Parent/Child
I've been looking for some best practices on how to model multi-element assemblies, starting with a stair railing that is too complex for the existing parametric tool (as it has balusters, a hand rail, etc). Initially, I'd been creating this by creating the various component elements (mostly IfcColumns) and then making them children to an empty that I assigned as a IfcRailing.
This works, but it isn't clear to me what I am missing by not using the Aggregate capability in the Object Information tab. I've done this on some test elements, and I see that it is making them an IfcElementAssembly, but it isn't grouping them in the Outliner as my previous method did (and with dozens of IfcColumns, not having them nested under the IfcElementAssembly is making my Outliner really cluttered).
Any advice on how best to go about this? I can't find much documentation on Bonsai's Aggregates feature, so I may well be using it incorrectly.
Comments
The blender outliner 'used' to show spatial hierarchy of the elements and aggregates, but doesn't anymore. I'm not 100% certain why this changed, but i think there was too much technical overhead (laggy) to continue to use the outliner in this way.
To really verify your hierarchy go here...