MEP 2014 - Slow Conduit Placement

[JoeVernice]

I recently upgraded from AutoCAD MEP 2012 to AutoCAD MEP 2014, same computer, clean install. When adding conduit, there is a delay of about four to five seconds from when the first pick point is placed to the appearance of the compass. The drawing is fairly complex with a mix of both 3D and 2D objects. I can replicate the problem with a clean drawing started from the 2014 MEP supplied template, the more conduit, the longer the delay (1000+ conduits/fittings). The interesting part is the delay is present only when using a visual style other than 2D wireframe. I have replicated this problem on two different computers with two different hardware configurations. I’ve tried turning hardware acceleration off/on, manual tuning the 3D configuration, all usual performance tuning, nothing made a difference. This delay was not present on any computer while running AutoCAD MEP 2012, even with more complex drawings.

DELL T3600, Intel Xeon 3.6, 16GB RAM, AMD V7000 4GB, WIN 7x64

JMV

[pothied]

I am also seeing a bit of a delay when using conceptual in 2014 but to make sure that I am seeing the same thing as you are, could you post the 2012 version of the drawing so I can test this in both 2012 and 2014. If I can duplicate a significant performance change with your drawing, then I will submit a change request to have development look into the problem.

[JoeVernice]

Attached is a test file I created in AutoCAD MEP 2012. While editing this file in AutoCAD MEP 2012 there is no delay when placing conduit. I created a similar file in AutoCAD MEP 2014 and the delay is significant.

The file size is too large to upload.

JMV

[Keith.Brown]

Autodesk is working towards being dependent on DirextX instead of the software.  The slowdown you are experiencing is probably related to this in someway.  Do you have the most update DirectX drivers?  I am not a hardware guy so beyond that I am not really sure where to look.

[Scott_Loadman]

I have noticed the same thing when adding flex duct.  In 2012 it was quick.  In 2014 it's about a 8-10 second delay for the command to start and then another 6 seconds for the flex duct to show up once I'm done picking the attachment node.  This is ridiculous to have this kind of production slowdown on upgraded software.

[Anonymous]

I also have the same problem with the slow response when selecting to run conduit.  I also have an issue with the program crashing when I use 3D orbit and pan while trying to change my view of the conduit so that I can continue my run.  Anyone know why this is happening?  My drawings are about 15MB.  Also, under "options", "3D drafting", what should my "Visual Style while creating 3D objects" be set to?  Right now, it is set at the deafault "By Viewport".

I am using AutoCAD MEP 2014.  I also have windows 8.1 and have downloaded the service pack from Autodesk for 8.1.

Any help would be appreciated as I have alot of downtime on my job because of these two issuses.

[debbie1961]

i have the same problem trying to draw pipe. There is a 10-15 second delay before the command initiates when something other than just 2D wireframe is selected. Unfortunately we need to draw pipe in the vertical, so we use 2 view ports with one of them a Realistic display quite often. Needless to say, I am still using 2012 because I haven't got time to wait over ten seconds every time I draw a pipe. Sloped pipe is even worse.

I'd be interested in hearing a solution to this.

Oh, and this is running AutoCAD MEP on a network. My stand alone license at home for my laptop doesn't have these problems. 2013 is a little slower, but I can tolerate it.

[smbrennan]

---

@Keith.Brown wrote:

Autodesk is working towards being dependent on DirextX instead of the software.  

---

Really? That's interesting ... 

[mdeterdi]

I am curious if a resolution to the slow conduit placement has been found.  I've been running AutoCAD MEP 2014 for conduit and cable tray for about 6 months and have experienced the same issue.  The more complicated the drawing becomes the slower the responce.  Initially I thought it may have been related to my custom library objects not being fully compatible with 2014, but even after removing and purging the issue remains. 

This is causing a serious delays in productiviity.

[razzor_x]

I would just like to bump this thread since I haven't heard anything new in a while.

Ever since the new format release the add conduit, duct or pipe has been rediculously slow on all my machines in my office (5 desktops, 4 Laptops - all clean installs with various configurations and video cards. All 16GB+ Ram).

Like mentioned before this only happens if at least one viewport is not in Wireframe. I've worked with 100MB and above files in 2012 and never had an issue. As soon as the files hit about 5MB in MEP2013 or 2014, the problems adding pipe, conduits or duct start.

I would love to "downgrade" back to 2012 but can't, since we are required to use AutoCAD2013 products on our current projects.

I've tried everyting including turning hardware acceleration on/off to no avail.

Any solution to this would be greatly apprechiated.

[JoeVernice]

I posted this back in May and the issue was confirmed, since then SP1 was released with no solution. 2013 and 2014 AMEP products are unusable for me at this point. Also, see my post regarding a Conduit Rise-Drop Issue confirmed in 2012 with no solution in 2014, so much for my 15 seat subscription $.

JMV

[Scott_Loadman]

I guess I will pile on as well.  Autodesk I hope your watching and have this fixed in 2015.  YOU did something in the "upgrades" from 2013 to 2014 that makes my life, and apparently a lot of others, miserable.  I cringe every time I TRY to add a flex duct, or tag a duct and forget the other view has a visual style other than 2D wireframe.  There goes a good 20 seconds of productive time. Oh, by the way if I cancel the command, some of the objects disappear from the 3D view.  Really nice programming upgrade!  The only way to get them back is to save, close the file and reopen.  Another minute of production lost.  Did I mention the 4-10 crashes a day.  Those are always fun.  Spending 5-10 minutes getting everything back to where I was.

[smbrennan]

It appears this has become the norm for AutoCAD products. They're really pushing Revit and not putting much effort into AutoCAD.

[Anonymous]

I thought I was losing my mind or had a bad machine, even though the specs on my computer are crazy. These same issue happen to me every day. It is so frustrating. I am working on a huge project with deadlines I have to meet. I am working overtime to get the job done because of these issues. AutoCAD......please do something about this..come out with service pack 2 so we can get back to being productive at our jobs!

Lisa Cooley
Project Coordinator/CAD Technician
319-365-8677319-365-8677> - office
319-533-2203319-533-2203> - cell
319-365-0541319-365-0541> - fax

[Acme]319-365-0541>319-533-2203>319-365-8677>

[smbrennan]

I'd be surprised to see a Service Pack, unless they release one right before 2015. We're near that time of year where 2015 gets announced.

[razzor_x]

Now since AMEP 2015 is out I will download the trial and attempt to place some conduit and piping unless anyone else has already tried. Considering there are 8 new features in this release I doubt that the speed was changed much but we will see.

[JoeVernice]

Please post your results, interested to find out if this was fixed.

[razzor_x]

Sorry it took me a little while to get back on here.

The download was pretty slow and tedious (Considering the 10MB installer alone took 15 mins to download).

I loaded an older drawing saved in 2010 format, added conduits, pipes and ducts in "shaded view" with little or no delay.

closed drawing, no save.

Loaded the same drawing in MEP2013, added conduits, pipes and ducts in "shaded view" at the SAME locations as before and got to wait 5- 10 seconds before MEP would respond. I'm used to this by now but here I am hoping to what MEP2015 will do.

closed drawing, no save.

Loaded the same drawing in MEP2015, added conduits, pipes and ducts in "shaded view" at again the SAME locations. Wait time: 5-10 seconds before I could continue routing anything.

So same old, same old and another year of waiting I guess. MEP2015 does look pretty and the The drawing did seem to regenerate faster after rotating the view around than MEP2013. Still not as quick as it was in the 2012 release, though.  😞

[razzor_x]

So another 2 months or so for MEP2016. Maybe this will be fixed?

Amazing to see that some of us have been waiting for 3 years to get this corrected.

[arch-tech]

In MEP 2014 was the same problem in "shaded view". Than I tried DISPSILH set to 0 and SETENABLEPROGRESSIVEUPDATE set to 0. The MEP became a bit faster.