PLANT 3D orthographics

[roryromano]

hello,

does anybody find the "orthographic drawing creator" to be a terrible way to make 2d drawings from a 3d CAD model???

AUTODESK: Why arent we xrefing the models into model space then creating a viewport in paperspace. then creating the drawing in paperspace.... either a "live" drawing or a "2drep'd" drawing" ????

I have quite a bit of experience with other CAD based programs. xrefing the model in and creating your drawing in paper space is much better and if done properly is actually very simple and straight forward.

in fact i had to create a work around and get plant 3d to create my drawings this way because the 'ortho creater' just wasnt cuttin it.

Designers want to create a "live model" and want to have a "live model" in behind their drawings. this is KEY !!!

AUTODESK: please look into something like the "2D REP" command that CADworx has. Something like this or very similar can drasctiaclly improve PLANT 3D !!!!

[TomislavGolubovic]

Having a live model in the background and then cutting a view is handy, but, with models that are continuously being updated, you have to draw the line as to when the models stopped being worked on.

You don't want to have to keep modifying annotation and dimensions just because your XREF'd model needs to be reloaded every 5 minutes because someone is working on it.

I understand both points of view, but (coming from probably the worlds largest EPC) taking a snapshot of a model is a better way of creating a drawing rather than a live model linked in Modelspace.

I've seen people have far better success with building a Plant (or its associated parts) with a model and Navisworks than having a 2D drawing sitting in front of them.

[roryromano]

Tomislav,

Thanks for the quick reply,

I agree with what you are saying completly. I may need to explain what I mean a little better...

Keep in mind, I am not trying to offend Autodesk here, I am trying to help improve the program.

I agree with drawing a line as to when the models need to stop being worked on. Idealy you want to be completly done the model before you begin your drawings....but In reality you will always have to modify the model and make updates to some extent. It is just the nature of the buissness.

Either way i do it, 'ortho creater' or the 'xref method', I would be drawing the same line of when to stop modeling.

I am not trying to say that we are creating drawings at the same time we are modeling and that we would need to refresh every 5 min.

In fact the two methods are very simliar. But what the '2DREP' command does is take the snap shot in paper space. You simply select a viewport that you want to 2DREP and then in about 5 seconds you get your snapshot. The viewport turns off but the model is still in behind. You are now getting the best of both worlds. The snap shot, and the "live" model in behind. And you can get this without having to go through the 'ortho creating' process. 

Now if updating is required, it can be done much faster and easier. For a simple change you can turn the viewport back on and adjust your snap shot. If it is a more complex change you can simply re-2DREP the viewport.

There are many more reasons why this is benificial as well.

Again, I am trying to help improve the Autodesk program.

I have used both methods of creating 2d drawings from a 3d CAD model. I have had way more success with the xref method.

I recommend at least looking into what I am talking about. I believe Autodesk could easily improve the 2D drawing creation and Plant 3D would easily out perform competing programs with this improvement...

Thanks,

Rory

[TomislavGolubovic]

No offence taken from my part. I enjoy healthy discussion on points like this. The developers and people in charge of the software would be the ones taking note of this thread, as feedback like yours helps with the progression of the software.

As for functionality on how it is now, then you do have the two options. First is using the Ortho mode, which gives you the annotation intelligence when required, second is to use XREF (or any other AutoCAD way for that matter) to create the views, which doesn't give you any annotation intelligence. I personally still lean towards option 1 for the annotation to appear without messing about.

If you're on 2013, have a look at the Model documentation also in AutoCAD. It takes a Modelspace view and takes a snapshot of each view (Front, Top, Side) and even an Iso snapshot of the Model. Again, this gives you no intelligence for annotation though. Its similar to Inventor in the way it creates views.

Sometimes it works for some people, sometimes it doesn't, its just life I suppose.

[phwatso]

We gave up early on with the Orthographic Drawing Creator mainly due to the inflexibility of view creation and the hassle in updating views.

Xref and conventional paperspace views allows us to turn layers on and off and create isometric views with instant model updates.

But I do love the idea of creating 2D views it just needs to be more flexible...

[roryromano]

I am hoping that Autodesk can create something similiar to the "2DREP" command I speak of and make it also have the intelligence like the 'ortho creator'. And also be able to have intelligence if you had a "live" view that isnt 2drep'd...

This would be a great improvement for PLANT 3D in my opinion.

thanks

rory

[dgorsman]

The new model documentation features have great promise in this area.  Kind of like 2DREP on crack.  Not there yet but might be useable in a production environment in another release or two.