Coming soon...AutoCAD MEP 2012 virtual training on CADLearning

Just wrapped up some consulting work with 4D Technologies and Matt Murphy's group - I helped them with the AutoCAD MEP 2012 tutorial series. A lot of after hours and weekend work, but I think you guys will really like it. The lesson includes about 12 hours of material, from fundamentals to advanced topics, including project navigator for MEP, schematics, modeling MEP systems, creating custom content and more.

Keep an eye on the CADLearning website - the sessions will be posted soon. For more details, go to http://www.cadlearning.com/.

They have packages for individuals and businesses - so check them out!

later - David B.

AU...2011...He's back....

Batter up - it's time to start working on AU 2011. Got 4 classes this year:

Class ID: MP2503

Title: Supercharge your Revit MEP 2012
Type: Lecture

Class ID: MP2531-L
Title: Revit MEP - Fast Families for Engineers
Type: Hands-On Lab

Class ID: MP3724-L
Title: HVAC in AutoCAD MEP - New and Improved
Type: Hands-On Lab

Class ID: MP3726-L
Title: Revit MEP - Systems? Filters? Layouts? I Need Help!
Type: Hands-On Lab

I had to do the tips and tricks things again - working on some new ways to do the templates...and the labs were based on areas that were constant issues we cam across in our firm. So, hopefully, these will help you in these areas, too.
 
And we're back at the Venetian - so I'll see you in Vegas!

Shared Parameters - I learn something new every day...

Ever have this happen - you create a shared parameter, such as voltage for an electrical connector that you want to include in a schedule...then you add it to a family. Then, somewhere else, you wind up creating another shared parameter for the same value. In the scheduling dialog, you wind up with more than one parameter with the same name...in my case, I had 3 voltage parameters - but who knew which was the right one?

Here's a little secret about the shared parameters (thanks, Norb, for reminding me). It's not the name of the parameter that Revit remembers, but the GUID number:

*PARAM GUID NAME DATATYPE DATACATEGORY GROUP VISIBLE


PARAM 36abb100-7229-462d-afc8-9b0148c51bb6 Panel Source TEXT 11 1

PARAM 43632901-7736-4250-a30e-4af2329dbc2c Boiler EWT NUMBER 19 1
 
So, everytime you make a new parameter - they each have a unique identifier. If you're not working from the same shared parameters file, you could wind up with duplicates. Make sure you clearly define what you're going to use - for example, our new MEP shared parameters file only has values that are actually used in schedules...and common ones such as electrical load values - voltage, phase, apparent load - that are used by more than one schedule, are only created once.
 
So if you ever get one that shows up more than once, this is why...
 
Data's the truth...nyuk, nyuk, nyuk...
 
later - David B.

Make sure you do it this way - Editing pipe libraries

This is short and sweet...but I've been editing a lot of piping libraries lately...make sure you follow these steps:

1. Select existing fittings that match desired parts - creating from scratch is not only painful, but foolish..for my buttweld pipe, I started from standard and went forward from there...
2. Make a copy of the fittings you need to a new location - preferably, where you plan on storing these when they're added to a project or template.
3. Select Corresponding Lookup tables - edit the fittings family to see what the referenced lookup table is - then make a copy.
4. Rename Tables to match your standard - don't use the same names, especially if you're editing the values.
5. Edit tables for correct sizes (again -review each fitting family and determine what dimensional parameters correspond with the correct ##values##).
6. After editing, copy the Tables to default pipe lookup table location.
7. Next, edit fitting to correctly located the lookup table (this must be in the final location – otherwise, the table may not find the correct file)
8. Copy edited fittings to shared location, or load into your template.
9. Create a test project, and define the pipe types, setting the fittings.
10. Verify the pipe size material used matches the standard used to define the fittings, so OD, flange diameter, etc. match - don't forget about this, it's stored under the Mechanical Settings, under pipe sizes - we use the ones we purchased from CADworks, with some modifications to add pipe sizes.
11. Flex/Test fittings and pipe types to make sure they work right!

 I've tried this both ways - making from scratch, and working from copies - and it's a heck of a lot easier to work from the copy.

 

Now - go make those pipes right!

Electrical parameters - what's your preference?

So I'm doing a little tweaking on our templates, and wanted to ask the question - what's your preference for assigning voltage/phase and load?

Right now, we're doing it by taking the voltage connection in a family, and setting it equal to a shared parameter named voltage. This makes the parameter editable on the type or instance properties (based on what option you select when you define the parameter).

I was thinking about making this a project parameter instead - that way, all schedules that need voltage in a schedule could already be defined, so when the part is added, you shouldn't have to edit the family for it to be available.

The question is, who's tried this out - and does it work any better than the shared parameter method?

The reason for asking is that we're getting multiple parameters showing up named voltage (with identical properties) when we go to create the schedule. We wind up adding all of them, then picking the one that actually shows the correct values, then removing the wrong ones from the schedule.

Thoughts?

Update on the MCC's and panel schedules in Revit MEP -

First up - thanks to David May at Eaton, and Martin Schmid at Autodesk for their help on this item...sometimes having extra eyes helps you to change perspective.

So how do you work with an MCC, and create a panel schedule? My confusion started by using the out-of-the-box MCC components, which represent groups of sections in one part of an MCC. We had been trying to figure out how to tie all of these to one panel schedule, but weren't getting it right - so we asked for help.

The problem was my approach - in a water treatment plant, you can have a wide variety of motors and values that are hooked  up to a single MCC - so the right solution is to treat the MCC as one panel, and ignore the sections. Our buddies at Eaton provided us with a Revit family for each MCC, once we used their BID Manager tool (http://www.eaton.com/EGDRCUS/US/OrderManagement/BidManager/index.htm) to layout how the components would be connected - then they built the MCC's for us and sent back the model (to which we added our own conduit surface connectors, to run the conduit out to the main sections). All we needed to do from this point was connect the motors to these panels so the load was tracked, and associated with the correct sections. We're also working on from-to parameters for the conduit runs as well, and I'm looking into how we can create this association automatically.

One other important note - with VFD controls on some motors (like pumps) the VFD acts as a panel - so you need to go through the VFD to the MCC to make sure it's circuited corrrectly.

The next part I'm working on is using the Revit DBLink feature to associate data from their exported MDB file that was provided with the panel - so that over current protection, circuit breaker, and other additional data we might include in the panel schedule for each section can be associated back to the MCC. I'll make another post when we get this worked out...

I may be a little slow, but I'm getting there with a lot of help from friends...

thanks - David B.

I'm a little behind...

Sorry that's not a pun on my last name...had a loss in the family, and needed a little recovery time.

up on the Labs - there's a nice little tool for migrating families for new releases of Revit - getting ready to try this one out, and see how it works. I've already done it the old fashioned way (open - review - save) but am looking at cleaning up some manufacturer's content this way.

It's the Plugin of the Month - download it and try it out....

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/ADN_plugins/

thanks - David B.