Choosing a template
Start a Struxt3D model from one of 21 parametric templates — buildings, industrial, bridges, towers, foundations, elements, offshore — or draw your own.
Every new model in Struxt3D starts in the template gallery — the first setup step, titled What are you building? A template is a parametric structure: it builds a complete, connected model with members, slabs or walls where the structure has them, supports, member groups and any special loads (water in a tank, earth on a wall, a crane on its runway). You then set its size in the next step, without drawing anything.
The gallery
The gallery shows one card per template, with its category and how many inputs it asks for. Hover or tab to a card and the structure appears in 3D behind the gallery, built with its default sizes, so you can see what you are choosing. Click a card to start a model from it: the project takes the template's name, default sizes, groups and material, and you move to the Size step.
Your design code is kept when you change template, so the preview and the new model use the code you already picked.
Categories
The chips above the cards filter the gallery:
| Category | Templates |
|---|---|
| Buildings | Multi-storey frame, Flat slab building, Shear wall core, Stair |
| Industrial | Portal frame shed, Warehouse with crane, Pipe rack, Steel truss roof, Space frame roof |
| Bridges | Girder bridge, Truss bridge, Cable-stayed footbridge, Arch footbridge |
| Towers | Lattice tower, Monopole, Elevated water tank |
| Foundations | Raft foundation, Retaining wall |
| Elements | Continuous beam, Cantilever canopy |
| Offshore | Offshore jacket |
Each name links to a tutorial that builds and designs that structure. The templates page describes them all.
Search
Type in Search templates to filter by name, description or category — for example crane, slab or truss. Search and the category chip work together. If nothing matches, the gallery says so and points you to drawing it yourself.
Drawing your own model
The last card, Draw it yourself, starts an empty model in the workspace with the Member tool active. It keeps your design code, material and grade, and gives you three member groups — columns, beams and bracing — that new members join by their direction: near-vertical members become columns, near-horizontal ones beams, and the rest bracing.
A drawn model has no template, so the Size step has nothing to set; it says Drawn by hand and links back to the gallery or the workspace. Materials, supports and loads work as for any model. See Editing the model for the drawing tools.
In the Full interface, File › New blank model does the same, and File › New from template… reopens the gallery.
Continuing or opening a project
- If the browser has a project from an earlier visit, the gallery shows Continue “name”. Click it to go straight back to the workspace.
- To open a saved
.s3dfile, use Open a project at the foot of the gallery.
Templates and hand edits
A template model stays parametric until you edit it by hand — move a node, draw or delete a member, change a support. After that, the Setup card says Template · edited by hand, and the Size step warns that changing a size rebuilds the model from the template and drops your edits. Set the sizes first, then refine by hand.
Changing template later
Click Change in the template line at the top of the Size step, the Template step in the top bar, or the template line on the Setup card. Choosing another template starts a new model from it; use Undo (Ctrl+Z) to go back if you change your mind.