Cost Tracking And Reports

UI3 has built in Cost Tracking that gives the user an estimate of the cost of his choices in the scene.

How to print reports to a file with a free plugin.

UI3 allows to track the cost of the project. The cost will update when the user makes a change or chooses a different option.

Enable Cost Tracking

Cost Tracking needs to be enabled in the Info Map and in all actors that are relevant to Cost Tracking.

Cost Tracking Widget

The result can be shown in the Cost Tracking Widget.

• Feature Type - Cost Tracking
• Feature ID - None (ignored)

Cost Reports

Two buttons at the bottom of the widget will print the report into the Output Log.

You can install the free plug-in FileSDK to print the report as a file.

Cost Groups and Rooms List

The cost items can be grouped to make the list more readable. Groups are set in the DT Cost and Room Groups data table.

The element ID from the list is then used in the cost item actor.

• Rooms List Name - the row name for a rooms list. Used for inventory lists and not for the cost estimate.
• Cost Groups List Name - the row name for the Cost Groups.

No Charge Cost Group

Cost categorized with this ID will not be added to the total costs.

Include Base Price from Data

The cost set in the Unit Data section will be added as Unit Base Price

Show Prices

Activate this box to enable cost tracking in an Variation Actor.

Cost Behavior

There are 3 ways to track the cost of the Variation Actor:

• From (Material) Choice - uses the price set in the Choice Button
• From Mesh Choice (Info) - uses the price set for the mesh
• Mesh plus Material Choice - uses the sum of the two

Quantity

How many items there are or the size of the item

Cost Group ID

The ID of the Cost Groups defined in the Info Map

Price in Choices Button

The price will be taken from the Choice Button by default. The choice will be for a material in most cases. It could be for a mesh change, like changing the cooktop from gas to induction.

Price in Object Info

The price can be taken from the Object Info section. There are 2 examples in the image:

• Dining Chairs - There are 3 chair models available and each has a different price. The material options also have different prices and the final price is the sum of both.
• Dining Table - The price is set in the Object Info. All material variations have the same price. The Price Behavior is set to From Mesh Choice (Info)

The Object Info is very similar to the Variation Actor but doesn't have the choices logic.

Price

Set the price for one item or unit in the Object Info array.

Cost Group ID

the Cost Group defined in the Info Map.

Unit Quantity and Type

Set the amount, or quantity, of assets and the type

Example: 3 (units), 123.4 m2

Read the page about Multi-Unit Projects to learn how to use the Object Info to mark the units in a building and track their cost.

Data Table Designer

Open the data table and select the row for the current Designer.

• Show Prices - Tick the box to activate cost tracking for this designer.
• Cost Group ID - The group ID from the list of groups set in the DInfo Map.

(Use) Element Quantity Overwrites

The quantity set in the element can be overwritten by this array. Sometimes you can re-use an element with only the quantity being different.

Designer Documentation

Elements Data Table

The prices are set in the Elements Data Table where each row is an element.

The settings are identical to the ones described above for the Variation Actor.

Target Actor Type (Overwrite)

Gets the quantity from the Variation Actor if the actor is in a streaming level.

Example: the kitchen layout can change in the example scene. The quantities for the kitchen designer elements change between scenarios.

Choice Price Overwrite

Overwrites the prices for the element choices. In cases where the buttons and choices are the same but the prices are different.

Example: the choices for the bench and the splash are identical. The splash is thinner so the cost for the splash is a less. This can be set in the Price Overwrite array.

BP_SDotUI3_CostGroup

This blueprint adds cost items to the (sub) level it is placed in. Additional costs for a layout scenario or other level can be tracked with it.

Price Group ID

The ID of the price group defined in the Info Map

Named Costs

Add an array element for each cost item.

Introduction

The UI3 has a series of built in reports that can be printed to a file. For example

• Cost Tracking Estimate
• Inventory Lists of all items per room

Cost Tracking can be created from the buttons in the Cost Tracking Widget. The image shows a report printed to a *.html file and opened with a web browser.

Adding Reports to the UI

• Feature Type - Button Features
• Feature ID - Row Name of the button feature in the DT Button Features data table.

The report will be printed to the output log. A html document will look like this

--------------
< !DOCTYPE html >
< html >
< head >
< style >
th, td {padding-right: 23px;}
< /style >
< /head >
< body >
< h2 >USER CHOICES
< p >LOFT STUDIO APPARTMENT< br >

and so on...

< /body >
--------------

Create a report file manually

Further down is a better solution using a free plugin

• Select the code in the Output Log between the two dashed lines.
• Copy the code via [CTRL] + [C]
• Right click on an empty spot on the desktop and choose New -> Text Document
• Paste the selected code into the new text document with [CTRL] + [V]
• Save the file
• Rename the file from *.txt to *.html or *.csv or *.json depending on the report type.

Now you can open the file with a double click from the desktop or save it somewhere else.

FAB

You can get the free Blueprint FileSDK plugin from the FAB marketplace.

Add it to your library if you haven't already.

Activate the Plugin

Open the Plugins settings where you also find the Project Settings. Activate the plugin.

Close the Editor and continue with the final step below.

Rename Blueprint Library

Use the Windows Explorer to browse to the project folder

Content / ArchVizUI_V3 / UI / Blueprints

• Rename the BFL_Custom_Report.uasset to BFL_Custom_Report.old
• Then rename the BFL_Custom_Report.sdk to BFL_Custom_Report.uasset

Now the files will be printed to your project Save / Reports folder.

You may have to make the file extension visible in the Explorers View properties to be able to change the files

BFL_Custom_Report

The image shows the 3 nodes that are used from the Blueprint FileSDK. This is how it should look after renaming the blueprint library.

• Create Directory - creates the directory from the File Path
• Create File - creates the file from File Name and Extension
• Write String To File - writes the data from Report Text into the file

Other file creating plugins may have slightly different nodes but should work as well.