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Edit Autocad Equipment

14 REPLIES 14
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Message 1 of 15
ESS1228
705 Views, 14 Replies

Edit Autocad Equipment

I am trying to edit autocad's built in switch gear equipment.  I would like to edit the size as well as take the conduit connections on the side and move them to the bottom of the switch gear.  Is this possible?

14 REPLIES 14
Message 2 of 15
Keith.Brown
in reply to: ESS1228

Short answer is Yes.  Long answer is you will need to do some research with the help files that came with MEP in order to discover how.  Additionally there are excellent free resources on the internet to help you on your journer.  Autodesk Univeristy has a nice writeup by on how to use content builder by Joshua Benoist.  Autodesk University is free and is a treasure trove of knowledge.

Message 3 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: ESS1228

Alright thank you for getting back to me.  I will look into this as well as check out Autodesk University.

 

While im on the subject of reference material and without starting a new thread, are there any great books you recommend to better my abilities with Autocad MEP in the workforce.  Looking at getting Mastering Autocad MEP 2012 (cant think of the author), Suggestions/Opinons?

 

Thanks again

Message 4 of 15
nestly2
in reply to: ESS1228


@eric.seip wrote:
....are there any great books you recommend to better my abilities with Autocad MEP in the workforce.  Looking at getting Mastering Autocad MEP 2012 (cant think of the author), Suggestions/Opinons?

 

I'm just getting started with MEP and I can recommend AutoCAD MEP 2012-2013 and Beyond (the most recent version of the book you referenced)  At least 3 of the authors (Aubin, McClelland, Stanley) also have material and video classes available at Autodesk University (free registration and you can use your forum profile).  As mentioned above Joshua is a Autodesk product specialist for MEP and has a lot of great resource material at AU and on his youtube channel.

Message 5 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: nestly2


@nestly2 wrote:

@eric.seip wrote:
....are there any great books you recommend to better my abilities with Autocad MEP in the workforce.  Looking at getting Mastering Autocad MEP 2012 (cant think of the author), Suggestions/Opinons?

 

I'm just getting started with MEP and I can recommend AutoCAD MEP 2012-2013 and Beyond (the most recent version of the book you referenced)  At least 3 of the authors (Aubin, McClelland, Stanley) also have material and video classes available at Autodesk University (free registration and you can use your forum profile).  As mentioned above Joshua is a Autodesk product specialist for MEP and has a lot of great resource material at AU and on his youtube channel.


Excellent, Thank You

Message 6 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: ESS1228

I drew up my switchgear in an autocad standard 3d template and created an mvpart.  Now i want to copy that over to my project templates which use 2d autocad templates and its not copying correctly.  in my 3d sketch i have the sides shaded with regions and they wont copy over, i only get a wireframe even though i am set on realistic, conceptual what have you.  I also can not get it to match my project templates layer standards and plot black.  It plots with the color of the layer even though in layer properites its set to plot "Black .0125". 

 

How might i tackle this so the 3d sketch can be placed into my project template without errors.

Message 7 of 15
nestly2
in reply to: ESS1228

Did you make the part using MVPARTCONVERT, or by creating a new MVPart.  My understanding is that MVPartconvert only works for the current drawing, you'll have use your 3D model to make a new MVPart and save it into a catalog in order to re-use it.

Message 8 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: nestly2

Darn used MVPARTCONVERT.  So now i gotta somehow get it back to a 3d block then redo all the connectors again, bummer.  Thanks for the quick reply ill give it a shot.

Message 9 of 15
nestly2
in reply to: ESS1228

I just went through this myself .. here's my topic at another forum.  The guy that reponds (StykFacE) is a top-notch for MEP help

Message 10 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: nestly2

Thank You.

I can create the part using content builder from my block however the switches i have shown on the block do not transfer over to the mvpart but do show up when i insert just the block.

Still having issues with plotting the mvpart, can only get it to plot in color.

Ill keep messing with it.
Message 11 of 15
nestly2
in reply to: ESS1228

Are the switches 3D entities, are they nested blocks?

Message 12 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: nestly2

Yea i believe they are.

 

Edit:

 

Exploded everything so nothing was a block anymore then selected everything and redefined my block and created a new mvpart but still no luck showing the switches.

 

Switches i actually copied from autocads equipment. (exploded that down the copied the switches over to my drawing)

Message 13 of 15
ESS1228
in reply to: ESS1228

Wait odly enough it works when i place the part into another drawing file.

Message 14 of 15
Keith.Brown
in reply to: ESS1228

You cannot place a mvpart into a 2D template and expect it to dislpay properly. You must use a mep template or edit the display representations of the 2D template.
Message 15 of 15
Keith.Brown
in reply to: nestly2


@nestly2 wrote:

Did you make the part using MVPARTCONVERT, or by creating a new MVPart.  My understanding is that MVPartconvert only works for the current drawing, you'll have use your 3D model to make a new MVPart and save it into a catalog in order to re-use it.


You can use a part created by MVPARTCONVERT in any autocad drawing.  The difference is that it lives in the drawing it was created in and once created it cannot be edited through normal means.  (there are means using the .net api to edit a part created by mvpartconvert but that is way beyond the scope of this post.)  Additionally once created you can copy the part to other drawings with no issues.  If you create a block of the part you can drag the block to your tool palettes and use it easily in other drawings.  Just change the property of the block on the tool palette to explode upon insertion and it will become a mvpart again instead of a block.

If you need to edit a mvpart created by MVPARTCONVERT then there is no need to start from scratch.  Just convert the part to a 3D solid by using the CONVERTTO3DSOLID command.  Alternatively you could explode the mvpart in an isometric view to obtain the original object used to create the part.

 

One more item.  You do not have to recreate the Display Representations in your 2D template.  You can just copy over the ones you want from a 3D template using the Display Manager.

 

Hope this helps.

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