Using existing plain vanilla AutoCAD D in plant

[TPHadden]

Hello,

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I'm a newbie here and I don't have time to scan all the topics. My employer is considering upgrading to the 3D Plant suite and since I will be the point man for the upgrade, I'd like to know if existing D solids models with ignorant entities can be imported and used quickly in 3D plant.

Some additional information: I'm using Plain Vanilla AutoCAD 2008. I'm running currently on an XP Pro machine. I have the plant designed and built in D solids using 2008. I do not use any other 3rd party add-ons, nor do I use any specialized AutoCAD sub-products.

I have attached a png rendered file of part of my plant done in plain vanilla AutoCAD

Do I have to rebuild my whole plant in 3D Plant or is there an conversion process I can use?

Thanks

T.Hadden

[TPHadden]

Sorry about the above post, it seems I wasn't in sync with the spell checker ... lol.

it replaced all my 3D with just the letter D ... so please when reading the above, put 3D in where you see just the letter D.

Thanks.

[PeterQuinn]

T.Hadden,

Wow, that's an impressive model built with just 3D solids.

There's no tool to convert whole model of solids to Plant 3D. The data just isn't there to do so. However, there are some things you could do.

1) If this is an existing plant and you want to do additional engineering and design, you can xref it into your Plant 3D model and go from there.

2) If you are looking to convert it, some parts are easier to convert than others.

• The equipment should be pretty straightforward. There is a function to select some solids and tell Plant 3D what type of equipment it is and from then on Plant 3D treats it as a regular piece of equipment.
• For piping, we don't have the same kind of feature. However, you could pretty quickly create new piping if you can turn your 3D solid pipes into centerlines. From centerlines, there is a function to turn them into intelligent piping objects. You'd then need to put in you valves and other inline components.
• For structural steel, you could also do turn them into centerlines and pretty quickly populate them. Depending on what you're planning to do with the model, this may or may not be worthwhile. I would recommend leaving the structure as solids until you plan on making changes and then convert the parts that you need to change.
• Everything else (foundations?) you would want to leave as solids anyway.

I hope this helps.

[TPHadden]

Thanks Mr. Quinn,

This is a plant that is under development. There is nothing built as yet, and this is just the start of the facility.  We do not have AutoCAD Plant software yet at the office, I have downloaded the 30 day trial for use at home though, and had hopes of being able to convert this to something usable in Plant.

Putting centerlines in the piping or the steel isn't that big a deal and can be done in a day or so. Anything special I need to know about that? For instance layer name, color, linetype, etc.?

I do have a couple questions:

Does Plant pull material take off lists, (bills of materials)?

Where can I find a decent tutorial document on using Plant?

Again, thanks for the help, I look forward to hearing more from you folks soon.

T. Hadden

[TomislavGolubovic]

By default, the software will put the piping components on the Line Number layer, for example, if you change the pipe line you are working on to have a line number of 10001, then the layer will be 10001, by default. You can change this setting within the project preferences.

Plant does BOM's, and for some video examples, you could visit the Plant Exchange website. Has some great video's on Cats and Specs also, which you may need to edit/update to suit your project.

http://autocad.autodesk.com/?nd=plant_tips_tutorials

[TPHadden]

Thank you Mr. Gloubovic for the link.

I have had an opportunity to watch all the videos for a first time though sitting, I'll go back later to refresh some of my memories later.

In the mean time, again I'm looking or a good hardcopy tutoral publication ...

Respectfully,

T. Hadden

[mark_lam]

If we export the model into dwg files, it will be very difficult to re-construct the pipes for those have slop.

What i suggest is making P3D support as much model format as possible.

As an engineering company, compatibility of different model format can sometimes become a crital factor for getting a contract.

PS:We were using TriCAD for plant modelling. Now we meets this trough situation for maintenance with P3D.

[TPHadden]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread again.

But I've stayed away from using my 30 day free trial till I find a good guide book, which I haven't.

In the mean time, let me ask this question:

Does plant recognize ducting?  As in Fans and Blowers and ductwork from Boilers and the like?

Thanks for the replies in advance.