Showing Hidden lines on Paper Space and printing/plotting

[Anonymous]

hi all,

we are using a third party 3d duct software which runs on AutoCAD/AutoCAD MEP,
problem is during printing, we want to see hidden lines on objects that are under/below
the other object be it 3d or 2d objects even just on paper space and printing/plotting it.
thanks for all your help.

[Shawn_SunsetAir]

Which 3rd Party software are you using? Please don't tell me ShopData.

[Anonymous]

we are using cadpipe 2010.

[subsales]

5spot, I think you mean CadDuct, right???

So if you want hidden lines to display, I hate to say it but I think you are going to have to do this manually. Break, Change linetype and color maybe. That's only one of the reasons why I'm such a big proponent of using AutoCAD MEP objects. Those hide automatically for you depending on the overall object height relationship.

[Anonymous]

its' cadpipe subsales@autodesk.com, you can visit their website at cadpipe.com.
yes that's what we've been doing, changing the line to hidden and covering
up with a line on top of the hidden that's not really hidden, it's double work.
visual styles work during plotting, only thing is, it also put the text's that
are under an object in hidde line. meaning hidden/broken text and you
can't read it especially at the jobsite. cad duct is uk base company i believe
and cadpipe is here in america, we've been using them at least 8 years
now. thanks.

[Shawn_SunsetAir]

Your out of luck. Looking at Cadpipe, they seem to have the same problem as ShopDataSystems' Quickduct.

We purchased ShopData's software to create detailed shop drawings that we could then send down to the plasma table. While it will work's alright for doing that, if you want to modify it much, create nice looking drawings, work with other disciplines and their software, or pretty much anything else..... Your screwed. What a waste of money.

Now CAD-Duct, from the demo's I've seen and talking with other detailers that have used it, it works extremely better and will create a better looking drawing. You can actually purchase them through TSI here in the states. The only problem is that they charge an arm and a leg.

For BIM purposes and working with other disciplines, I have decided to just do my modeling using Autocad MEP. Although not perfect by any means, it's amazingly faster than trying to work with ShopData. ShopData is only useful if you already have the design set (ie..... your ready to start building). So it actually is faster for me to model in MEP, make my revisions, coordinate with other contractors....and then when we are about to build, re-model the work in ShopData. 😕

Now ShopData is supposed to be creating a translation piece.... but i'm not holding my breath. I'm also looking at EastCoast CAD. They have actually partnered with Autocad to create a seamless integration of their detailing software with MEP. So you model in Autocad MEP and then just push a button to create your shop drawings. If ShopData can't get their heads out of their asses soon..... that's where we are going. I'd rather spend another 18-20k than work much more with SDS.

Sorry I turned this into a rant......

[Anonymous]

hey shawn,

thanks for sharing, i've been busy. we use cadpipe for the last 8 years and we have about 18 licenses,
it'll be too much now to move to another program, i've looked at cad duct too and it's pretty amazing so
with Practicad, i don't know if you heard about them. they're pretty less money than cad duct but works
great, but like i said we just can't throw away 18 licenses with cadpipe, it's working for us but really
small things, hanging up or just stop working and you have to exit out of the autocad and come back again.
dunno if you heard about autodesk is teaming up or partnering (so they say) with a hvac software company
that will work with autocad mep, we've look at this in deep but they are not perfect yet. we just bought
22 new workstation, dell with xeon and nvidia quadro 1800, 6gb ram, it was'nt my first choice, i've really
wanted XI workstation with I7 920.

[Anonymous]

In 2009 MEP, if we want to show piping that's to show up hidden (for instance I drew all our sub-slab piping in 3D), to show it, we had to cut horizontal sections of it, then edit the section style to Keep All Hidden Linework (under the Design Rules tab)...

I hear this is not required for 2010.

[Anonymous]

There is a new software package for AutoCAD MEP 2010 releasing in a month or so, if your interested please send me a PM and I can connect you with the owner. It's a very good 3D pipe & electrical modeling tool with great BOM capabilities. Program is FabPro Pipe, 2010 FabPro Electrical 2010. It will come 32 & 64 bit versions Edited by: waydawn on Mar 22, 2010 6:30 PM

[Anonymous]

5spot,

for hidden lines in CadPipe....


type HALOGAP in the command line...this creates a gap in hidden lines so they appear dashed. i usually set it to (5).

type OBSCUREDLTYPE in the command line...it will ask you for a linetype. Here are the different linetypes...

0-off
1-solid
2-dashed
3-dotted
4-shirt dashes
5-medium dashes
6-long dashes
7-double short dashes
8-double medium dashes
9-double long dashes
10-medium long dashes
11-sparse dot

I also type HIDETEXT and make sure that its set to ON.

and make sure your viewport is set to HIDDEN in the properties palate.