The H-Factor

Reducing Entropy

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  • Adding Ribbon Tabs to Your Workspace

    It is pretty easy to rework your ribbon menus here is how to add one called BIM 360 (Glue)

    1. Type in CUI to get to the menu editor

    2. Select the Workspace you are used to using – then pick Customize Workspace on the right

    Cui1

    3. Expand Ribbon Tabs

    Cui2

    4. On the Left, navigate to BIM 360, expand Ribbon and check ‘Tabs’ (as below)

    Cui2

    5. Pick Done and pick OK to save and close out of the menu editor you are ready to go! (PS – You may need to switch your workspace once to a different one and then back to yours to see the changes, or close AutoCAD and reopen)

  • Installing AutoCAD’s Offline Help

    I really, really don't like the way AutoCAD accesses its help on-line instead of on my local drive. The time lag drives me nuts and if I am away from the internets, I cannot use it, period. Luckily, Autodesk has made it easier than in the last few versions to download and install the offline help!

    Pick the Help pulldown and then pick Download Offline Help. After that is downloaded, go ahead an locate the download and install it

     

  • Changing Default Pipe Stock Lengths in HydraLIST

    From a customer today:

    Where do you change the standard length for a piece of pipe so optimization will work for 20’-0” pieces. We are doing a stainless job.

    Here is how…

    Open HydraLIST and pick the General Data button, below:

    Pick the Pipe Length Tables tab. On the left, you will notice 27 pipe types. 'Default' is the only one shipped with HydraLIST. It is preset for 21 foot lengths of pipe. The other 26 alphabetical choices are used to record specific lengths for a particular pipe type.

    Pick the yellow Default button to fill out the tables with the current settings:

    Pl1

    If you want to change the Default length to say, 25', then enter 25 in all the fields that currently have 21. Pick Save to record those changes, then pick the Project Data button (same icon as the General Datas button) to go back to HydraLIST Input:

    If, however, you want to create a set of pipe lengths for a particular pipe type (in this case, Type S for Stainless), then pick the letter of the Type you want to work on.

    This will show an empty table if the type has not been previously filled out:

    Pl2

    Enter the particulars for this pipe type. Stainless usually comes in lengths of 20', so we would enter 20 in the Std Length 1, Std Length 2 and Length Between Couplings columns for all sizes.

    Some other entries in these tables:

    Max Nipple Length -  the longest length that can be considered a nipple. A part number is required to be set up for all lengths up to this length

    Max Scrap – the longest piece conidered to be scrap

    Brk Main List – Check this box for each size to force a break in the pipe at the Length Between Couplings (LBC) distance. This is the usual condition for most users. Basically it means that if you enter a pipe longer than the LBC distance, it will be automatically broken in the stock list and a coupling added. If listing from the drawing, this never comes in to play unless to neglect to cut couplings in and/or cut them in at a length longer than the LBC.

    Tolerance – The main will only be broken if the pipe length exceeds the LBC plus the tolerance

    Again, pick the Save button and then the Project Data button when finished.

  • Using the CPVC List Command to Generate a Stocklist

    The CPVC command on the Listing toolbar very quickly generates a raw material list for plastic. And, it creates a file that can be imported into HydraLIST to check for availability of fittings and swapping of bushings for other fittings.

    Once selected, you get a dialog box:

    The program automatically filters out pipes size larger than the setting seen in the Largest diameter of CPVC item. I pick OK on the following drawing and select what I want to list:

    CPVC1

    And I get this list, within seconds:

    You could edit this notepad document for any changes you might like to make, and print it for the shop. Or, you could import it in HydraLIST and check to see which fittings are in your database and make changes there.

    Open HydraLIST and save a new job – ie. CPVC Test. Switch to the Miscellaneous tab and enter a new Section ID named CPVC (exact name unimportant). Pick Load List. You will see LastCPVCList.itf in the list. Select it and pick OPEN.

    CPVC2

    This loads the most recent list created by the CPVC list program:

    Pick the Error Check Section button. This will search the database and flag parts that, although they may be manufactured, are not likely to be used, and therefore are not in your database:

    Note these are usually crosses or reducing fittings that most companies do not stock because they prefer the use of straight fittings and bushings. I will replace the three different reducing crosses with a 2" straight cross and add bushings. I click on the first open line of the list and pick CPVC Fittings from the left and pick Find. This adds all the available fittings:

    CPVC3

    I locate 2" CPVC CROSS and put in a quantity of 10 (the sum of the three reducing crosses being replaced). I also locate the bushings and put a quantity of 16 next to the 2 X 1 CPVC BUSHING and 5 next to the 2 X 1-1/4 CPVC BUSHING. I also find the 1-1/4" CPVC 90 ELL and enter 1 for that and 1 for a 1-1/4 X 1 CPVC BUSHING. I then pick the Clean Up button to add those to the list.

    Lastly, I click on each of the replaced fittings and pick Delete to clear them. This gives you a list you can then process and hand to the shop!

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Should you buy AutoCAD, or Rent It?

    Autodesk offers renting AutoCAD (and other products) versus an outright buy of them.Does it make sense?

    Here are some scenarios where rental may make sense:

    • You plan to hire an intern for the summer to help out in your design department
       
    • You have a project that will last two or three months and need another seat of Navisworks Manage for that period
       
    • You are just starting out or need to add another seat of AutoCAD and don't want to stretch your cash flow to pay for a new seat up front
       
    • You want predictability in your budget, and rental can make that a fixed cost

    Aside from the reduced amount of money needed up front to add a new seat of whatever, one advantage of Autodesk rental is that it includes the latest version of the software, so you do not need to pay a separate maintenance subscription fee.

    Looking at the prices, does it make sense to Rent versus Buye? Well, we need to figure in the annual AutoCAD Subscription Fee (currently $545 SRP) to get our answer.

    Let's look at a five year period for this one:

    Annual Rental – $1680 (list) x 5 = $8400

    New AutoCAD – $4195 (list) + 545 x 5 = $6920

    Still cheaper to buy the AutoCAD and get it on subscription than rent it. But since renting is always more money than buying just about anything, that shouldn't be a suprise, should it?

    So, when is the rental beneficial? Probably when you don't have the money lying around, and need to preserve cash flow. There are probably tax advantages, too, but I don't know anything about that.

  • Using Grips to Move Multiple Objects

    Grips, IMHO, are the best thing AutoCAD ever added to their program. When they first came out, everyone freaked out (myself included) and we turned them off until we got a better, um, grip on them.

    Many (most?) people use grips to move a single object. But, they can be handy to use many objects at once, too.

    Look at the image below. All four heads are amongst lights, and I want to move them all down 16 inches:

    Pick each item to highlight it:

    Now, hold the SHIFT key down and select each of the four grips, then release the SHIFT key:

    This makes each grip be a 'hot' grip. You can now pick any one of them to move all four items at once:

    Wih ORTHO on, I point down and type in 16 and press enter to move the heads that distance:

    Try it out!

  • Using BTS (below top of structure) Blocks with Sloping Pipe

    From a Customer: "On this job, the main is sloping (using the sloping pipe block), as are the lines. I need the last head to be 5” down from the deck. I Gave them a fixed elevation of [5 Bts] and a fixed elevation at the top of the riser, [34 BTS], but it does not work properly."

    Sloping2

    The solution here calls for using Above Finished Floor (AFF) blocks. Why? Because the sloping pipe markers cannot use a BTS as a starting elevation – it has to be an AFF. Fortunately, there is an easy way to do this.

    In the Define Pipe Elevations tool (AFF) there is an option named AFF based on BTS. This tool will automatically calculate the AFF at the point selected, adding both an AFF block and a BTS block.

    If i input the 5 inches as the Distance, select AFF based on BTS and then select Pick Defining Points, I can then pick near the last head, as requested by the customer.

    Sloping2b

    As this requires a single insertion point, it can only be inserted on one line at a time. You can, however, stretch the orange definition line across as many lines as you like. Or, you can copy or array the blocks as needed, as long as the elevations line up.

  • Rotating Riser Nipples

    From a customer: "When I mirror typical piping for an area, how can I get the riser nipples to rotate properly without having to reinsert them all?"

    This is from the drawing he sent me:

    There is a solution. And, the truth is, I didn't know about the following tool myself.

    1. Pick the 3D Modeling Options command (3MO) to open the SMaRTools Options dialog

    2. Then, pick the HydraPipe Setting tab

    '

    3. Pick the Change All RN Symbol Rotations button. This opens another dialog box:

    4. For the example above, I chose Rotate By Process as my option and picked Proceed. I then pick four riser nipples and pressed <Enter>

    Each riser nipple is the rotated to match the pipes it is connected to. Problem solved!

    Note: To rotate the riser nipple text, use the Rotate Riser Text (RRT) command in the Cleanup Sizes toolkit.

     

     

     

  • Ceiling Heights, Drops and their Options

    You likely know that Ceiling Heights and Drop/Sprig Lengths are inserted using the same tool, but here is a list of some things you might not know about this tool:

    1. If you are manually specifying the drop lengths, then use the User Specified setting under Length Determination. If you want the computer to figure out your drop lengths, then choose the Computer Gen. setting. You will notice that the text above the elevation entry box changes based on that setting.

    2. Only sprinkler heads that are configured to be 'On a Drop' or 'On a Sprig' pay attention to this dialog box and its resulting definition windows

    3. Drop Lengths/Ceiling Heights that result due to the use of this command are further adjusted by takeouts applied by the AutoList routine for the fitting it is attached to and by the Head Adjustment setting in the Select Sprinkler dialog box

    4. If all of your drops are the same length, it is easiest to make one big window around your entire drawing. Don't worry if upright heads get caught up in this window. See Rule 2, above

    5. If most of your drops are the same length, it is still easiest to make one big window around the entirety of the drawing. Then, draw smaller windows around those heads that have a different length. The easy to remember rule is that the 'smallest window wins'

    6. The drop windows do not have to perfectly line up with the walls of the rooms, the only important thing is that the heads are completely within the associated window

    7. Drop lengths are recalculated and redisplayed every time you elevate the drawing, and return it to 2D

    8. You have a lot of control over the drop tags that appear when you elevate the drawing. Pick the Annotation Options button to get to the annotation setting screen:

    Here, you can control the height and angle, plus the wording of the tags. If you don't want any tage, you have that option as well.

    9. The definition windows are in is a layer (DeflinesCeiling) that is set to not plot, to reduce clutter on the drawing. The Ceiling Height blocks will plot, as will the drop/sprig text that appears when you go to 3D

     

  • Using the ALT+TAB and CTRL+TAB Keys in Window Apps

    Most people seem to know that holding down the ALT key while tapping the TAB key switches Windows applications, not as many appear to know that holding down the CTRL key while tapping the TAB key cycles through open Documents or Drawings _within_ the current window. In other words, if you are in AutoCAD, and have more than one drawing open, holding down the CTRL key while tapping the TAB key will cylce through the drawings you have open.

    Bonus tip – If you have a Windows key on your keyboard, holding down the Windows key and pressing E opens up Windows Explorer. Windows+I opens Internet Explorer, Windows+D displays the Desktop. A complete list of Windows key shortcuts can be found here: Windows Key Shortcuts