Autodesk User Group International

The tools in Autodesk Building Systems 2006 make a host of day-to-day drafting tasks easier for engineers, designers and drafters. From more intuitive organizational capabilities to automation that minimizes potential for errors and inaccuracy, these features and functions help you draft even smarter and faster, with the following tips and tricks.

Make Your Workspace Work for You
Tool palettes provide centralized access to commonly used design tools, and pull-down menus give you fast access to a host of commands and settings. Customize both for your needs.

Tool Palettes
To tailor your tool palettes, start by pressing Ctrl+3 or by selecting from the Window menu to display them. Here are some quick ways to add tools:

Open Content Browser (Ctrl+4) and drag tools one by one � or drag an entire tool palette into your current session.
To publish Catalog to central location for user accessibility, open Content Browser (Ctrl+4), right-click on a catalog and select Publish... from the shortcut menu.
Add tools from the Web by opening DesignCenter� (Ctrl+2), selecting the DC Online tab, and dragging design tools and content onto a tool palette.
Create a tool palette using all blocks in a particular drawing ﬁle � just open Design Center (Ctrl+2), select the Open Drawings tab, right-click drawing name and select Create Tool Palette.

Pull-down Menus
Get to shortcuts and commands for specific building system-related tasks, with additional pull-down menus (figure 1).

Select Pull-downs from the Window menu.
Toggle the desired menus on or off. Or select Customize to access the Menu Customization dialog box.

Figure 1. Choose Pull-downs to select discipline-specific task menus.

Make Short Work of Engineering
A host of tips speed ducts and sizing work.

One Line Duct Sizing
Get more control over duct sizing:

Use the AutoCAD Break command to locate transitions in the one line unsized duct. Converting the one line duct to a sized duct adds transitions automatically at each break point.
Use Duct Length to specify transition locations on one line duct based on typical duct segment lengths.
Specify connection types and default parts in Duct Preferences to deﬁne settings to be used when sizing duct systems.

Sizing Calculators
Size your ducts instantly during layout (figure 2).

Choose the Calculate Size option in the Add Duct dialog box. You can also use the new Duct System Sizing Calculator to size a duct run or entire duct system.
Simply select a duct, right-click and select Calculate Duct Sizes.

Figure 2. Open the Add Duct dialog box and choose Calculate Duct Sizes� to size ducts in layout.

Size your water supply and sanitary waste plumbing systems automatically with schematic pipe sizing tools.

Select and right-click the pipe you want to size and select Size Schematic Pipe from the shortcut menu.
In the Size Pipe dialog boxes, click the Pipe Sizing Table icon to customize the sizing table.
Localize ﬁxture units for your projects by creating custom Fixture Unit Tables.

You can quickly size wires as you connect devices assigned to circuits, too. Select the Calculate Wire Sizes icon in the Add Wiring dialog box, or size wire directly in the Circuit Manager with the Calculate Wires option.

Streamline System Layout
A host of shortcuts and key commands make quick work of manipulating objects and data in the layout process.

Routing Solutions
Increase the accuracy of suggested routing solutions using these techniques:

Specify default parts based on project requirements on the Parts tab in the Preferences dialog boxes.
Add or delete pre-deﬁned elbow angles to eliminate undesirable solutions on the Routing tab in the Preferences dialog boxes.
Select Display Collision Detection from the MEP Common menu to turn on Collision Detection and display conﬂicts as you cycle through layout solutions.
Lock the elevation to route stacked runs or when attaching runs to risers by selecting the Lock/Unlock Elevation icon in the Add dialog boxes.

Eccentric Transitions
Use the horizontal and vertical insertion justiﬁcation in the Add Ducts dialog to place and control the direction of transitions.

Set vertical justiﬁcation to bottom, to place a transition when changing duct heights within a run.
Use left or right horizontal justiﬁcation to align a transition along a wall.

MvParts
Quickly cycle through available insertion points to place an MvPart in your drawing based on the actual location of a connector.

Select the MvPart you want to place in your drawing.
Enter b (Basepoint) and press Enter to move the insertion point to a connector. Continue to enter b and press Enter to cycle through points if there are multiple options.

Work with Objects
A few handy tips make it easier to ensure you modify the right objects in complex designs.

When there are many objects close together, type N (next) and press Enter to cycle through selection candidates.
Use Building Systems Snaps to quickly locate connectors on building system objects.
Use the Tab key to cycle through the object snaps.
Turn off the Electrical Curve Snap to ensure you are connecting a wire to a device.
Select the Duct Curve Connector Snap to add a tee ﬁtting at the end of a duct; select the Duct Connector Snap to continue the duct.
Specify the type of connector with a quick command at the command line: scon (Schematic Connector), dcon (Duct Connector), pcon (Pipe Connector), econ (Electrical Connector), wcon (Wire Way Connector), scur (Schematic Curve), dcur (Duct Curve), pcur (Pipe Curve), ecur ( Electrical Curve) or wcur (Wire Way Curve).
When working with duct length, use the Break option to separate ducting or piping into speciﬁc segment lengths, then use Merge option to reconnect unattached lengths after moving or deleting them.

Minimize Interference
You can automatically detect spatial interferences between objects in the same drawing or through xrefs, with these techniques (figures 3a-c).

In the Options dialog box, check the collision detection Alert box on the Layout Rules tab.
Create a new layout tab or plot sheet and use the Page Setup Manager to set all colors � other than the collision marker � to black, to create a black-and-white layout with colored collision markers that stand out.
Turn on Alert when using suggested layout paths, to avoid collisions during layout.
Turn Collision Detection off before you end your session or when you don�t need it, so that drawings open faster.

Figure 3a

Figure 3b

Figure 3c

Figures 3a-c. Activate collision Alert and re-set colors to anticipate and see collisions during layout.

Autodesk Building Systems lightens the burden of manual effort associated with updating and revising engineering drawings. With a few more tips and techniques, you�re equipped to make powerful tools work even more to your advantage. Contact your local Autodesk Authorized Reseller to obtain a copy of the ABS 2006 Tips & Tricks flipbook.

(Discuss this Article! in AUGI's Discussion Forums.)

Submitted by Armundo Darling, technical marketing manager for MEP solutions, Autodesk, Inc.