simple plan tabs

A Simple Plan for Implementing AutoCAD MEP Todd M. Shackelford – Alvine Engineering and IP Design Group ME204-1 Implementing software like AutoCAD MEP can seem overwhelming -- but this class will demonstrate a simple, phased approach that will make it easy for AutoCAD users to transition to AutoCAD MEP by minimizing changes to the current design process. You’ll learn to identify and implement tools that will bring your firm immediate return on investment without getting bogged down in the seemingly endless possibilities of AutoCAD MEP. The plan outlined in this session will allow for future expansion to the more complex tools while minimizing potential rework by exposing the end in mind. This class will benefit building engineering professionals, CAD and IT managers, as well as the one-person shop owner. Attendees should have intermediate AutoCAD knowledge. About the Speaker: Todd currently serves as the CAD administrator for Alvine Engineering and IP Design Group in Omaha, Nebraska. In addition, he teaches Revit Architecture as an adjunct professor for Metropolitan Community College. Todd is an Autodesk Architectural Desktop (now AutoCAD Architecture) Certified Expert, and has been published in “CADalyst” Online and “AUGIWorld” magazine. He authors two Blogs, “CAD Shack” and “The Lazy Drafter.” He has more than 14 years of CAD experience in customization, MEPT engineering, and CAD management specializing in AutoCAD MEP and Revit MEP implementations and support. tshackelford@alvine.com 1 A Simple Plan for Implementing AutoCAD MEP So, you are ready to make the jump to AutoCAD MEP, or maybe it’s your clients who are ready and you just have to make it happen. The problem is with years of AutoCAD experience built into your processes, there is a real fear that changing things up now will have a serious impact on productivity. This class will lead you through a phased; results based approach that will get your firm using AutoCAD MEP with a minimal change to current processes while allowing for the future use of advanced AutoCAD MEP tools without back tracking. This plan will also poise your firm to jump straight to Revit MEP in Phase 2 if desired. Creating a plan Creating a plan is essential to success with AutoCAD MEP. Just like planning a trip, the first thing you need to know is the destination. Where does your firm want or need to go with AutoCAD MEP? There are more than enough functions, capabilities and advantages of using AutoCAD MEP, but which ones should you pursue? Below is a break down of the things that I believe should be implemented no matter what (Phase 1), and the things that should wait until the Phase 1 items have been acceptably integrated (Phase 2). Phase 1 1. Define system definitions 2. Optimize layer key styles 3. Optimize display configurations 4. Configure HVAC, pipe, plumbing and electrical preferences and set wire styles 5. Customize/create required 3D content 6. Palette optimization Phase 2 (AutoCAD MEP or Revit MEP) • Scheduling • Project Navigator / Project Browser • Standards Enforcement • Circuit Management • External Calculations (GBXML) • Internal Calculations (Duct, Pipe, Wire) This class will address the Phase 1 items including some helpful tips along the way. Phase 2 items can be added in as needed after Phase 1 is complete. Phase 1 sets a foundation for working in a 3 dimensional model allowing the option for some firms to implement Revit MEP as Phase 2. Some common sense advice for any implementation; • • • • Assemble a small team to make decisions Plan on task oriented training for the startup team and for the final users Carefully select a pilot project to test the implementation and allow time to adjust it afterward Stay focused on maintaining the least amount of process change during Phase 1 2 Step 1 - Determining and Defining MEP Systems How you define your systems will ripple through everything else you do in AutoCAD MEP. No matter what the discipline, consider your current processes and try not to let out of the box AutoCAD MEP over power what you want to do. An example is the 34 electrical system styles provided out of the box. Compare that to the 10 system styles that satisfied the needs of my electrical department below. A decision about your firms’ systems must be made. Easy: Accept the OTB systems provided with AutoCAD MEP. Medium: Hard: Alter the OTB systems to suit your needs. Create your own systems from scratch. TIP: When determining the number and types of systems you will need, a great place to start is with your current layers. Chances are the level of detail you need has already been determined and demonstrated by the layer naming convention you use. Don’t feel locked in by your layers either. This is also a great time to re-exam your layers, and determine if more or less is needed. Your engineering staff should be questioned about their process for design, but weight that against how projects are currently drafted. The electrical engineers may want to dictate systems by voltage yet the drafted versions of all those voltages may end up on an identical layer. No doubt there will be plenty of conversation, but keep the end goal of minimal process change in mind as your team makes decisions. Electrical Systems AutoCAD MEP is a style based program. The first thing a new administrator should do is get used to working in the Style Manager. Each discipline has its own area of the Style Manager. You can access electrical system styles by selecting Electrical System Definitions… under the Electrical\ Electrical Setting menu. Electrical systems have 6 tabs in the Style Manager to define them; General, Design Rules, Rise and Drop, Other, Display Properties, and Version History. 3 The Design Rules tab defines the system abbreviation, system group, system type and layer key. The abbreviation is an identifier that is called when labeling an object. Some examples would be 277 for 277 Volt systems or DCW for domestic cold water and SA for supply air. Think about how you label or attribute entities now and be consistent. The system group clusters similar systems and allows interconnectivity between the systems within groups. Keeping potable and non-potable systems in different groups is a great way to ensure that they are not accidentally connected in a drawing. Electrical and Plumbing systems have system types. Electrically system types like Lighting and Power or Cable Tray are required. Plumbing systems only require a system type (Waste) for calculating sanitary pipe sizes for gray or black water systems. The Layer Key identifies how objects of this system will be displayed. Defining Layer Keys is often done in parallel to defining systems. For more on Layer Keys, see page 7. Mechanical Systems You can access HVAC system styles by selecting HVAC System Definitions… under the HVAC menu. HVAC systems have 7 tabs in the Style Manager to define them; General, Design Rules, Design Parameters, Rise and Drop, Other, Display Properties, and Version History. The Design Rules tab defines the system abbreviation, system group, and layer key just like the electrical system. The Design Parameters tab (shown below) is where the user can define how automatic duct sizing is performed and set the roughness and density constants for sizing calculations. 4 TIP: If your designers use both friction and velocity calculations, I recommend that when they are ready to switch, they should change the style in that file rather than create a velocity style and a friction style for each duct air type. You can access Piping system styles by selecting Piping System Definitions… under the Piping menu. Piping systems have 7 tabs in the Style Manager to define them; General, Design Rules, Rise and Drop, Other, Pipe Size Displays, Display Properties, and Version History. The Pipe Size Displays tab is used to dictate if and what sizes to show pipe as 1-Line or 1-line graphical rather than 2-line. It’s helpful to show smaller pipe as 1-line because when it plots out the 2-line representation can blur together. The 1-line representation shows fittings and connections at their actual envelope dimensions while the 1-line graphical representations show them as schematic symbols not actual size but fitting with the scale of the drawing. TIP: So where do you draw the line? I let the plotter call it for me. Plot a sheet at full and half scale with 2”, 3”, 4”, 5”, 6” or what ever size you like. The smallest size that prints clearly at full and half size will be the smallest pipe to get a 2-line representation. You can access Plumbing system styles by selecting Plumbing System Definitions… under the Plumbing menu. Plumbing systems have 7 tabs in the Style Manager to define them; General, Defaults, Design Rules, 5 Rise and Drop, Other, Display Properties, and Version History. The Defaults tab is used to dictate graphic representations of elbows, tees up\down, crosses and transitions for the system. TIP: Custom symbols can be imported by selecting the Import << button then selecting from the drop down list to choose a Plumbing fitting style in your current drawing. Step 2 - Layer Key Styles The system styles above all asked for a layer key. A Layer Key holds a layer description, name, color, linetype, weight, plot style, plot/no-plot trigger and layer override choices. When a system has an assigned layer key, objects of that system type are inserted on the keyed layer and conform to the specified parameters of the key. A Layer Key Style is a collection of layer keys. AutoCAD MEP has out of the box layer key styles which can be altered to conform to your firm’s layer colors and or names. Access Layer Key Styles by selecting it from the Format\Layer Management menu. 6 A decision about your firm’s layer naming convention must be made. Easy: Accept the OTB layers provided with AutoCAD MEP. Medium: Hard: Alter the OTB layers by changing the layer colors only to suit your needs. Create your own Layer Key Style from scratch. TIP: Copy a standard template (DWT file) and edit the Layer Key Style there for color as a minimum and names if required. Direct your users to a network location of the saved template in “Options” to get everyone using the same Layer Key Styles Use the Add… and Remove… buttons add or remove layer keys to your company standard layer key style. Some of the out of the box layer key styles in AutoCAD MEP come with 1600+ layer keys. You may not feel it necessary to have that many. Early on, I do not recommend deleting layer keys too zealously. You can not be sure what out of the box components you might need that are looking for those layer keys. Once things get settled, a review of layer keys in your layer key style is a very good idea. TIP: When creating standard layer keys for your firm, prefix them with the firm’s name or acronym. This will make them easy to identify and sort by if necessary. Step 3 - Display configurations In the AutoCAD world, layers are used to help control what and how entities are shown. More control has always meant more layers. Display configurations in AutoCAD MEP simplify the situation by allowing the user to instantaneously set if and how objects are displayed with much finer control. Display Configurations allow users to view an object differently based off the requirements of the drawing. 7 A decision about your firm’s display configurations must be made. Easy: Accept the display configurations provided with AutoCAD MEP. Medium: Alter the display configurations to suit your needs. Hard: Create your own display configurations. Which ever route you take the exercise below will help prepare you. The figure below shows a single wall object with the three different display configurations of “Low Detail”, “Medium Detail” and “High Detail” applied to it. Each shows varying levels of hatch in a wall object. A Display Configuration is a collection of rules for all object types that defines how objects will be displayed (not lines, arcs and circles). The configuration contains display sets and display representations. The Display Sets are enabled by the selected configuration. A Display Set contains Display Representations for all object types and applies them to a view orientation (Model, Plan, Section/Elevation, and Diagnostic). Display Representations are enabled by the Display Sets. A Display Representation is a set of rules for a particular object that defines how that object will display. This should make no sense at all until you apply it by creating your own display configuration. Let’s create a display configuration for an electrical lighting plan in AutoCAD MEP to demonstrate these relationships. For this example only a couple of objects will be configured, but the methodology is repeated for every object type required for any configuration. Creating a Display Configuration The Display Manager is used to create and control all aspects of a display configuration. From the Format menu select “Display Manager”. To create a new configuration, select “Configurations” in the left hand window, right click and select “New” (see below). 8 Name this configuration “Acme Lighting”. Add a description of the configurations in the “General” tab. Apply the configuration. The configuration needs a set of representations to define how objects are displayed. Rather than create one from scratch, copy the standard “Electrical Lighting Plan” set by expanding the “Sets” folder and selecting “Electrical Lighting Plan”. Right click and select “Copy” (see below). Then right click and select “Paste”. Select “Electrical Lighting Plan (2)” and rename to “Acme Lighting Plan”. The “Acme Lighting Plan” set will contain the representations for objects when viewed in plan. Repeat this process with “Electrical Lighting Model” to create “Acme Lighting Model”. To assign these sets to the configuration “Acme Lighting”, select the “Acme Lighting” configuration on the left and the “Configuration” tab on the right. Select “Acme Lighting Plan” for the display representation set associated with the top view direction. Next, select “Acme Lighting Model” for the display representation set associated with the default view direction. (See below). Now that we have a configuration that the user can select, and that configuration is calling view specific sets, it’s time to define how individual objects will represent themselves. Expand “Representation by Object” on the left of the Display Manager. A list of objects is displayed. Select “Ceiling Grid” from the list. Select the “Model” display representation for the “Acme Lighting Model” display set and the “Reflected Screened” display representation for the “Acme Lighting Plan” display set. This will show the ceiling grid screened in plan view and normal in a model view (See below). 9 Note: If any of the “plan” display representations are used for the ceiling grid in the Acme Lighting Plan set, it will remain invisible because ceiling grids are only visible in “reflected” representations. TIP: When creating a power plan display set do not select a display representation. This will prevent ceiling grids from showing up when using the Power configuration. Let’s review all three components to defining a display configuration and their relationship’s to each other in the context of the configuration we just made. Representations Define how individual objects can look. Sets A group of representations defined for a specific view. Configurations A complete collection of sets required for the desired display of objects. Ceiling grid objects have different representations. We selected “Reflected Screened” for when viewing our design in a top or view and “Model” for every other view. We created two sets of representations called “Acme Lighting Plan” and Acme Lighting Model” We could now open a set and edit all of the representations within. We created a Configuration called “Acme Lighting”. When selected it calls the appropriate sets which in turn selects the appropriate representations. 10 Test the new configuration by placing a ceiling grid in the current drawing. In the figure below, the SW isometric view shows a green ceiling grid and the Plan view shows a grey ceiling grid. This demonstrates that a single configuration provides view dependant control if set up correctly. If your model view displays gray, check the color of the Ceiling Grid layer key. Out of the box it is set to gray. TIP: It is extremely helpful to have a display representation that shows everything visible, like having all your layers visible and thawed. Now let’s set this configuration up to handle mechanical duct and diffusers. In a lighting plan, having the diffusers visible is critical, but the duct will only confuse the drawing. Open the Display Manager and expand “Representation by Object” on the left. Select “Duct” from the list. Select the “Model Screened” display representation for the “Acme Lighting Model” display set and unselect every display representation from the “Acme Lighting Plan” set (see below). With no display representation selected for duct, it will not appear in the “Acme Lighting” display configuration. Repeat with “Duct Custom Fitting”, “Duct Fitting” and “Duct Flex” to prevent all forms of duct work from showing up in your lighting plans. 11 Diffusers are MvParts. Select “Multi-View Part” from the Representations by object list, and then select only the “2 Line Screened” display representation for the “Acme Lighting Plan” display set. Select the “Model Screened” display representation for the “Acme Lighting Model” display set. Test the configuration by placing some duct and a diffuser into the current drawing. The figure below shows the results you should get in model and in plan views. 12 Step 4 – HVAC, Pipe, Plumbing and Electrical Preferences and Set Wire Styles To ensure proper routing, parts usage and automatic annotation, preferences must be set all disciplines. The HVAC preferences can be accessed by selecting Preferences from the HVAC\Duct menu. The tabs in the Duct Layout Preferences dialog are very straight forward with the possible exception of the Parts tab. This tab sets which parts are used by default based off the connection type and duct shape. In the example below the standard takeoff for rectangular flange type duct is being set to a beveled tap. TIP: These preferences should be saved in your firm’s default template file to ensure consistency. Pipe preferences can be accessed by selecting Preferences from the Piping\Pipe menu. The tabs in the Pipe Layout Preferences dialog are also straight forward. The Pipes tab is where the user can choose to apply a label or flow arrow or both by default as well as add insulation to pipe. TIP: To apply a pipe label and a flow arrow check both “Apply Labels/Flow Arrows” check boxes and set one to a label style and the other to a flow arrow style. It’s a good idea to set the layout methods differently for the two so they do not display on top of each other. 13 The Electrical preferences can be accessed by selecting Electrical Preferences from the Electrical\Electrical Settings menu. The Voltage Definitions tab in the Electrical Preferences dialog allows the user to set the needed voltage ranges. The Circuiting tab is where the circuit naming convention is defined. This naming convention is applied when circuits are labeled. The electrical Project Database can be ignored until you are ready to use the circuit manager and the Project Navigator. Wire styles can be accessed by selecting Styles from the Electrical\ Wire menu. If you are going to use AutoCAD MEP’s circuiting capability, it is important to set the Annotation tab to ensure tick marks, homerun arrows and wire crossing appear as required for your firm. The Specifications tab can be set up, but does not need to be addressed until your firm is ready to implement the wire sizing capabilities of AutoCAD MEP. 14 TIP: The biggest benefit to using these 3D objects can be getting interference detection. Traditionally interference detection in ABS products has meant turning on “Collision Detection” in the MEP Layout Rules tab of Options. This changes the color of an object to red where it is occupying the same space as another object. It is up to the user to identify all the red objects and deal with them. Alternatively, “clashreport” command produces a dialog allowing the user to dictate what interferences to check for. 15 Selecting “OK” will cause AutoCAD MEP to find all interferences and create a schedule of them. You can insert the interference schedule anywhere in your drawing file. Each interference is represented in a numbered row. Numbered triangles are automatically placed in the drawing area to visually show the area of the interference. This works for objects created with AutoCAD MEP and AutoCAD Architecture, but Interference with Revit objects requires exporting IFCs from AutoCAD MEP and importing those IFCs into a Revit product to be checked for interferences. Step 5 - Content management, creation and customization No matter have closely people have tried to use only out of the box content, situations always arise where creating or customizing the out of the box content is required. In this section we will cover the basics of device styles, block based MvParts, and the Parametric Parts Wizard for AutoCAD MEP. Content Management Before any customization or creation of content takes place, thought should be given to how that content is managed. If your firm requires that all users call identical content, the best way to accomplish this is to store that content in a user assessable network folder. Direct each user to that location in the “MEP Catalogs” tab of the Options dialog shown below. 16 TIP: Once the pathing is setup, export it into a standard profile that each user can start with. It’s a good idea to limit the number of users who have write access to this network drive in order to maintain consistency and order. Device styles Most electrical content comes in the form of electrical device styles. A decision about your firm’s device styles must be made. Easy: Accept the electrical devices provided with AutoCAD MEP. Medium: Hard: Alter the electrical devices to suit your needs. Create your own electrical devices. To begin making this decision review your electrical symbol legend. I recommend inserting the out of the box devices next to devices your firm used in the past and consider them individually. The symbols are relatively standard; you might find that most of them look close enough to the original symbol. This method will also help you identify where there is no out of the box device at all. In those cases, you will have to create your own. 17 When creating electrical device styles, there is also an easy way (convert your existing blocks to device styles using the Convert to Device tool) and a hard way (create the required 2D and 3D blocks and assemble the Style in the Style Manager). A savvy CAD Manager will convert all his old AutoCAD blocks the easy way, and then open up the styles that require a 3D component and fix them the hard way. TIP: Not every device style will need a 3D component. Switches, receptacles, and data outlets do not need a 3D component. They are not an interference concern and will only serve to make drawing files larger. Creating Electrical Device Styles For this example a 2x4 surface mount fluorescent fixture style will be converting from an existing AutoCAD block and then manipulated in the Style Manager to add a 3D component. First insert an existing block into the current draw, and then select the Convert to Device tool found under the Electrical\Devices menu. Select the block you want to convert then select option one on the command line. Option 2 is used to convert polylines into device styles. Name the device style. A standard naming convention here will pay huge dividends. Select Lighting as the type, and pick an appropriate Layer Key (see below). Select “Next”, to set the defaults for the electrical connector. Here is another place where discussing things with your engineers is important. This fixture can have a standard voltage, load or demand factor all of which can be locked down or left as a default. Having an idea of have you will use this tool is important before you create it. Select “Finish” saving the device style into the current drawing. 18 TIP: You can prevent users from overriding these last four values in this drawing by setting the corresponding Prevent Override setting to “Yes”. In attributed blocks the attributes will cease to function inside the device style. Use tags to replace that functionality. TIP: Use the “Batch Convert Devices” tool found under the CAD Manager\Content Editing menu to convert all your blocks at once. Just navigate to a folder or drawing containing the required blocks. The Autodesk standard styles have some nice 3D blocks associated with them, rename those blocks for use in your device styles. Do try to adhere to some sort of block naming convention as you go. I used the following blocks naming convention for this device. Open the Style Manager by selecting it from the Format pull down menu. Device styles are found under the Electrical Objects heading of the current drawing. Select Device Styles and browse to the newly created 2x4 Surface Mount style. There are 6 tabs in a device table style. Let’s start at the left and visit each tab in the style. In the General tab, rename this new style “Acme 2x4 Surface”. You may supply a description if you like and attach any notes by selecting the Notes Button. 19 The Design Rules tab allows you to define Type, Layer Key and Wire Cleanup. Select “Lighting” for Type and “E-SY-Devc-Lighting” for the layer key. If E-SY-Devc-Lighting is not available choose an appropriate layer key for fixture. The Wire Cleanup option allows you to define how circuited wire is cleaned up with the defined device. There is no clean up with the None option selected. The Bounding Box option will clean up circuits to an imaginary box that encompasses the limits of the devices shape. Inscribed Circle cleans up circuited wire to an imaginary circle inside a box that encompasses the limits of the devices shape. Circumscribed Circle cleans up circuited wire to an imaginary circle outside a box that encompasses the limits of the devices shape. Trace Geometry uses the geometry of the device for wire cleanup. Choose Trace Geometry for this example (see below). The Views tab is where you define which block to use to represent the device based off the view direction. Select an appropriate 3D block in the current drawing from the View Block list. Select the “Model” Display Representation, and then select the “Front”, “Back”, “Left”, “Right” and “3D” View Direction check boxes. 20 The Model view is now configured to show the model block when viewed from any direction other than “Top” or “Bottom” when the Display Representation is Model. See below for Plan and reflected configurations. The Plan view configuration 21 The Reflected view configuration The Connectors tab is where the MEP connection point is defined. If you do not define a connection point, circuits running to the fixture will have nothing to connect to. This should already be configured. The Classifications tab allows the classification of device styles. Some typical classifications for device styles are “Lighting”, “Receptacles” and “Fire”. Classifications are required for schedules to differentiate this light from anything else a device can be. Select “Lighting” as the device classification. If “Lighting” is not a choice in the Classification list, a classification definition for device type must be added to drawing. Classification definitions are found in the Style Manager under Multi-Purpose Objects (see below). The Display Properties tab is used to define color, visibility, layer and more for all parts of the device style. TIP: Create a drawing with all lighting device style in it. Save it to the network location specified in the MEP Catalogs tab of options for Electrical Devices to make them available to all of your users. 22 Creating a Block Based MvPart MvParts have different representations when viewed from different vantage points, and connection points for connecting systems like a device styles, but they can also be more complex and come in standard sizes. Listed below are the categories of MvParts that come standard with AutoCAD MEP 2008. Mechanical Piping\Plumbing Electrical 23 In this example, we will create a water heater. We’ll model it using 3D solids, add it to a catalog, and define the appropriate connection points. MvParts are created from 3D solids. Using 3D solids allows for interference detection because 3D solids represent the entire volume of a shape. The basic shapes and commands for solids are listed below. Box Defined by height, width and length Cone Defined by radius and height Cylinder Defined by radius and height Torus Defined by radius and width Wedge Defined by height, width and length 3D solids can be edited with the following commands. Union Subtract Intersect Interfere Combines two or more solids into one. Removes the common volume of two or more solids. Retains only the common volume of two or more solids. Combines the common volume of two or more solids and retains the original solids. Closed plines can be extruded to give depth to 2 dimensional shape. Closed plines can be completely or partially revolved around an axis to create an otherwise difficult to make shape. Extrude Revolve To create our water heater we’ll start with a cylinder that is 5’-0” tall, with a radius of 1’-0”. Type “cylinder” at the command line and specify 0,0,0 as the base point, then 12 as the radius and 60 as the height. 24 To add an electrical box, invoke the “box” command. Specify an origin near the cylinder. Right click and select Length from the pop up menu. Type 4 for the Length, then 2 for the depth and 4 for the Height. To add cold and hot water connections, create a smaller cylinder, 3” tall with a ¼” radius and place it on the center Osnap on top of the larger cylinder. Basic water heater solids Select the front elevation tool from the Views toolbar (see below). Set the UCS in the front view to by view using the View button in the UCS toolbar (see below). Move the small cylinder 6” to the left. Be careful not to use any objects snaps. When snapping to 3D objects, the chances are greater of snapping to a point you don’t want than snapping to the single point you do. Verify in the other views that the cylinder is where you want it. Still in the front view, copy the small cylinder 12” to the right. Be careful not to snap to any objects during the copy command. Verify in the other views that the cylinders is where you want them. In the model view move the electrical box from the mid point between its lower rear corners to the bottom front quadrant of the water heater as shown below. 25 Set the UCS in the top view to by view using the View button in the UCS toolbar. Move the electrical box ¼” back into the body of the water heater to provide full contact between the tank and the electrical box. Select all these 3D solids and use the Union command to join them into one shape. Points or nodes now need to be added to this solid to define where the MEP connection points are. Before adding any points type “ddptype” to invoke the Point Style dialog box and select a point style that will be easier to identify than the standard single point. See image below. Use the “point” command to place a point centered on top of each of the small cylinders for a hot water pipe connection and a cold water pipe connection. Place a point in the middle of the left face of the electrical box for the electrical conduit connection to this water heater. 26 Verify the points are in the appropriate places and orientated on the appropriate planes in multiple views. Switch to the top view and use the block command to create the block which will become the basis of this MvPart. Select the entire shape and fill out the Block Definition dialog box as indicated below. This is also a real good time to save the drawing file. If needed, create a 2D block to be used as a symbolic plan or top view in your construction drawings. Below on the left is the top view of the water heater we just created. On the right is the 2D symbol to show in the construction documents. By creating this additional block now, we can specify that it be used when ever this MvPart is viewed from a top view. Name the created block “Electric Water Heater Plan View”. The geometry and block has been created for our water heater. Creating catalog information for a new MvPart is the next step. 27 MvParts are arranged in the MvPart Catalogs as shown on page 26. The folders shown there are referred to as Chapters under the specific catalogs. Some thought should be given to where to place your custom MvParts. Custom parts placed in existing chapters will be intuitive for users to find, but may get left behind when migrating to new versions of AutoCAD MEP. If our water heater is placed in a custom catalog or chapter, it would not be with the other standard water heaters for insertion in a drawing, but when migrating I would be sure not to miss bringing across this water heater or any other part because I have kept them together in one Catalog or Chapter. For this example we will create a new chapter in the plumbing catalog for our water heater. Select the “Content Builder…” from the CAD Manager\Content Editing menu. Highlight the Plumbing catalog in the “Getting Started – Catalog Screen” dialog box and select the “New Chapter” button indicated in the image below. In the “New Chapter” dialog specify a name. A good chapter name will use you company’s name so it sticks out as added content. For this example the chapter has been named “Acme Plumbing Parts”. Highlight the new chapter and select the “New Block Part” button indicated in the image below. 28 In the “New Part” Dialog you are prompted to input a name and a description for the new part. The name is used inside of the editor and for creating view names. The description is used to list the part inside of the catalog and other user interfaces. For simplicity sake I make the name and description the same thing. Once you have typed in a name and switched to the description field, the name will automatically appear in the description field. For this example the name and description is “Water Heater - Electric”. The MvPart Builder dialog opens. In this dialog we will specify the part type from the available types, force a layer key if desired, and specify a subtype if available. Specify your water heater as shown below and specify if the new part Breaks Into or Anchors to existing runs. Our water heater anchors into new runs. 29 Select the “Next >” button. To load a new part size select the “Add Part Size” button indicated in the image below. Expand the Model Block pull down to expose all the defined blocks in the current drawing. Select “Electric Water Heater” from this list. All other block names will automatically fill in with RED text. The RED text indicates that the view blocks have not yet been defined. Select the “Generate Blocks” button to have AutoCAD MEP automatically create front, back, left, right, bottom, top, and symbol blocks based off of the 3D shape. The “Views” dialog box opens. If you did NOT create a 2D plan symbolic view block, select “OK” to close the “Views” dialog box. If you did create a 2D plan symbolic view block, select the view number associated with top views and assign the 2D created block. Below I have changed the One_Line_Top representation to use the block I named “Electric Water Heater Plan View”. Make sure to also change the Two_Line_Top representation. See the image below. Select “OK” to close the “Views” dialog box. A schematic block may be specified here. For this example we will not specify a schematic block. Select the “Next >” button. 30 In the next dialog you can specify an image file if you have created one or have AutoCAD MEP create an image from the 3D solid. For this example I chose to have AutoCAD MEP generate an image from the selected block by setting up the dialog box as shown on the next page and clicking the generate button. Select the “Next >” button. 31 To create the connectors for this water heater right click on the MvPart family as shown below. For this part we will add 2 Pipe Connectors for water in and out and 1 Conduit Connector for electrical power. The “Part Family Connector Properties” dialog opens. Name the first pipe connector “Hot Water” and set its flow direction to “Out” as shown below. 32 Repeat for “Cold Water” setting its flow direction to “In”. Name the Conduit connector “Electrical Power”. Right click on the “Hot Water” connection and select “Edit Placement…” as shown below. A new docked palette appears. Select “Position” or type “P” on the command line to locate the connector on the part. Zoom extents to see your part. Snap to the left node for the hot water connection. See the image below. 33 Select “Normal” or type “N” on the command line to show the normal side of the plane the connector should be on. Pick to points that indicate a start and direction for normal. The normal for the Cold and Hot connection should point away from the tank as shown above. Set the Connection Type, Diameter, and Nominal Diameter as shown below and select “OK”. Repeat for the Cold Water connection and again for the Electrical Power connection. Select the “Next >” button. The next dialog box allows the user to review and modify the MvPart. For this class, we will accept what was done and select “Finish”. Test your new part by invoking the Add MvPart dialog box and inserting the created water heater. Modifying a Block Based MvPart To modify existing parts, select the “Content Builder…” from the CAD Manager\Content editing menu. Browse to the catalog and chapter where the part you want to modify is located. Select either the “Modify” or the “Add Part Size” tool to start the modification process. Every parameter set in this process can now be modified. If the 3D solid needs to be modified explode the block, make the appropriate changes and re-block the new solid shape. Catalog Editing When adding rectangular duct you can not insert rectangular duct larger than 96”x96” out of the box. Ducts are constrained by the catalog in which they are defined. These catalogs can be altered by using the Catalog Editor. In this example we will edit the duct catalog to add larger 34 duct to the list of available sizes. Begin by invoking the Catalog Editor by selecting it from under the CAD Manager\Content editing menu. Before opening the Catalog Editor, check the MEP Catalogs tab in Options to find the duct catalog you are using. Mine is located in a shared network drive. Once the catalog is opened, drill down to Duct US Imperial\Rectangular\Slip Joint\Ducts\Rectangular Duct Slip Joint\Constant Lists. 35 To add additional heights and widths, scroll to the bottom of the list and right click on the gray square under the last available size. Select “Insert” and then “Cell” and type in your new height or width. I added 98 and 100 to both columns in this example. Save and close the Catalog Editor. Now return to the MEP Common pull down and select “Regenerate Catalog”. Type “D” on the command line to regenerate the Duct catalog. Now when you select the Add Duct tool the new sizes are available. Keep in mind; we have only added duct sizes. To effectively add duct you will have to repeat this process to add the appropriate elbows and transition sizes. TIP: This is a good place to begin if you are ready to start exploring the Catalog Editor, but please be careful and back up what you don’t want destroyed. Too much exploring and playing around could back fire here with catastrophic results. 36 Parametric Parts Wizard One of the easiest places to add custom content is by using the Parametric Parts Wizard. It has its limitations, but it’s quick and powerful. Invoke the Parametric Parts Wizard by selecting it from the HVAC, Piping or Plumbing menus. For this example a square neck diffuser will be created. Ensure “Multi-view Part” is selected for the Part Catalog and select “Air Terminal” for the Part Type. For the sub type select “Square-Neck Rectangular Diffuser Template”, and then supply a name and description. TIP: The description is used for the name in the parts catalog. Prefix the name with an underscore to place it at the top of the list of available parts. Double click in the cells at the bottom of the dialog to add all the possible dimensions for the parts of your diffuser (see below). 37 TIP: don’t go too crazy adding dimensions. Each dimension adds to the total number of possible combinations exponentially. The more combinations created the longer to load the tool when called. 38 Step 6 - Palette configuration and customization Palette Configuration Not optimizing your palettes is like buying a car and not adjusting the seat or mirrors or not programming the radio with your stations. It works, but how comfortable are you? Palettes are possibly the best way to direct your users to the proper way of doing things. Put the tools they should be using at their finger tips and remove the ones they should avoid. A decision about the user’s ability to customize their palettes must be made. Full Control: Install the palettes locally. The user controls everything. Partial Control: No Control: Palettes are broken into 2 groups: company and user. Palettes are stored on the server and read only at the user level. It is very important to have company standard palettes, but I also believe it is just as important to allow your users the latitude to optimize their own palettes as they see fit. We all draft different, viva la difference! The image below shows multiple paths for tool palette locations. A server path that the user can not edit or change for the company standard palettes and home drive path that the user has full control to customize. 39 Customization Another way to ensure an easy transition is to migrate most all AutoCAD customization into AutoCAD MEP. This allows the users to fall back to the old ways when necessary (and when not). As the transition progresses the old way should fall off. To ensure this, remove them over time. It’s important to communicate that intention from the beginning and provide solid training on new tools. This is not unlike giving a smoker a nicotine patch to help them quit. TIP: I found that while drawing in 3D, I constantly need to place objects at a particular elevation. Knowing my standard electrical elevations and creating a range of mechanical elevations, I added them to my template so every drawing would have these standard elevations that my users will never have to type in. Just add them to the MEP Elevation tab in options using the add button indicated below. Conclusion A phased implementation, no matter how you split it, ensures that users have a chance to walk before they run bringing a greater chance for success. Don’t take my word for it; here are some additional resources to reference during your research. Good Luck! Autodesk MEP White Papers http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=8475436 Avatech Solutions – Charting Success http://www.avat.com/products/services/cad_implementation.asp AUGI - ACA and AMEP Tips and Tricks http://www.augi.com/archdesktop/default.asp?page=966 40