AutoCAD MEP Wishes

[#1]

I would like to request a program change that would greatly increase flexibility in electrical documentation. Text has been given the ability to be visible at specific annotation scales. I can choose that a string of test is only visible at one or multiple scales. This is a fantastic feature. I would like to request that Devices have that same flexibility. This would allow us to document multiple scales on the same plan without having things look like a mess all the time. For example, I have a 1/4" = 1'-0" part plan of an electrical room and all around it is drawn at 1/8" = 1'-0". When I have completed my design and have created a plotting view at 1/8", the devices in the 1/4" area look a mess and the only way to hide them is by using layer management. Can you please add this flexibility?

[#2]

I can not even believe that no one has even told you that this is available and has been since 2008 we create our own parts all the time and they have anotative scaling properties, but you will have to learn a few things in order to make it happen, no one seems to remember the proper size to get the objects to scale properly but I figured it out see below;

1"= .111029167
6"= .666175
9"= 1"
1'= 1.33235

find the size you want your annotative item to be and I would scale a block that you already use to one of the above sizes, start with the 1' for ease of explanation purge the drawing and make sure you have no device definitions in the electrical device style manager for your drawing.
set the format of the drawing to 1"=1" then set the plotted text height to 3/32" in the same window, then you take the scaled down block and left click on it and then right click and choose the create device follow the prompts and click finish then right click on the newly created part and you will get the some choices click on edit device style and you will see some tabs at the top go to the view tab and in the window that opens over to the right you will see a check box the scaling box is the one you need check the anotative scale check box click ok and you now have a new part for your use which will automatically scale in all of your drawings.

Your, Welcome in advance,
Peells

[#3]

Hello Peells,
Thank you for you response. The scaling is not the problem. It is the ability that text has for viewing information. I can set text to be visible at specifics annotation scales only. I would like to have this capability for devices. Right now devices are scaled and visible at all annotation scales. The Set Annotative Object Scale is the selection you get when you click on text then right click. I would like this for Devices. It would avoid having to use layer control.

Thanks again.

CS

[#4]

C. Shaw,
I am not sure about what you mean with using layer control and we are talking about scaling, I know what you mean about the text scaling and that menu and all I use it all the time to add additional scales, And I am not sure if the feature you are talking about is even available for the devices, are you also having trouble getting the devices to come in on the right layer automatically? I am just trying to figure out what it is exactly that you are trying to do with the devices and layer control.

[#5]

Hey Peter,
I will try and explain as best I can. Lets say you have a floor plan drawn at 1/8"=1'-0" and in the center of this plan you have a room that you want to show at 1/4"=1'-0". You have a single, what I call a working file, and two, what I call plotting sheets, one plan sheet at 1/8 and an enlarged plan sheet at 1/4. If you do all you work 1/8 and 1/4 in the same working file, the only way to control the view of the 1/4 scale devices in the 1/8 scale plot sheet is by putting them on a different layer and turning them off. If the devices had the same ability as text for selecting what scales they are scaled and viewed at then the layer control goes away because the 1/4 scale devices in an 1/8" scale plans sheet would not be visible.

I hope this helps. Thanks for taking an interest in this.

CS

[#6]

ok I see what is going on you have obviously had to scale your device to view at 1/8" scale what I am talking about is the device will automatically scale no mater what view port (sheet you plot from)
Here is a DWG with 4 different view ports I didn't include any text as it seems you have that all figured out now we created these devices as stated in my example above, now look in the model space and you will find the devices there are only four of them no layer control needed it just works and they were created at the sizes previously stated and when you activate the annotative scaling like I said they enlarge to the proper size. just check out the drawing you put these devices in the drawing one time and set them up in any scale viewport you like they always stay the same size.

[#7]

You almost have it. Take a look at the file. I modified yours. I hopw this helps out. Let me know.

Thanks

CS

[#8]

Ok this is how we accomplish what you are trying to do, I assume that the detailed room you have there is what the room next to it is going to look like when built (I know that this is just an example) am I right because auto cad doesn't let the parts do like the text so we wind up having to just use a separate floor plan and just detail the rooms we want above the normal plan then your plan is clean and only has detail call outs and the page has the separate details off to the side, I hope this gets you where you want to go. we used to scale devices in these details years ago then when we started using the scalable devices we were loving it, you probably wish you could do it all right there on the same sheet you use for the main plan, we used to do it that way with layer control but figured out how to do it this way and it is better and a lot less to worry about

Pete

[#9]

Dear Cshaw,

Our company for years now has been doing 1/4" details on our plans and had to use layer control, then one fantastic day we decided to copy the floor plan above the 1/8 inch plans and use a separate plan to create our 1/4" plans now layer control is no longer an issue, and because we use detail bubbles we no longer need to draw the detailed info all on the same floor plan leaving room for all the lighting and such on the 1/8" plans. Recently today included I have been creating some generic annotative blocks which represent the same objects we use as MEP devices (they are our old block drawings re created into full blocks with annotative capabilities) now we are using these instead of the mep devices to free up memory on our computers to avoid crashing, and on some projects (for Us) full blown MEP is not safe to use like on high rises way too much information for our current systems so we go into an overload state and crash, we have one station with a 64 bit system and have been putting it through it's paces and it is doing rather well overall,

But the thing I wish for is this, using the insert command having the option to at the time make the block annotative and have it work properly with sub text. Right now I have been having to create the block then add text and in a paperspace view set the text where I want it to show up in each of the desired view port scales (just make a block and select annotative and you will see what I mean) the sub text goes crazy when you insert the block oh yea you will have to re scale your block to the proper size after creating it.

P.Eells