@Jim Allen wrote:
I have come late to the MEP party.
I didn't install AC26 (no point, not enough features to make the ball ache of template updates, libraries, drawings conversion and upgrade of all stations & toolsets worthwhile) so I tried to use them for modelling some simple drainage in 3D in AC27.
Everything seemed to work okay for some simple drain runs. We added just 3 pipe runs, vertical soil pipes transitioning to horizontal drain runs - and built some manholes (anyone planning some parametric models for these?) and they basically broke the whole building model, which was working fine before, even with imported IFC structure from Revit.
The software hung after a couple of minutes. Having to restart the machine because some over-zealous IT security policy has disabled task manager is really no fun. Removing the MEP pipes and replacing them with columns and beams worked fine.
Not a great start - and just 3 pipes caused a catastrophic fail. Same behaviour on Windows and Mac, but at least I can force quit on my Mac, because our IT security Taliban don't understand Macs...
So there's clearly quite a lot of work to be done. I don't know why there wasn't extensive beta testing with users before releasing this.
MEP pipe routing tools are going to be used for the following purposes:
- Cabling
- Ductwork
- Pipework
- Conduits
- Cable trays
There might be more, but as an architect - pipes and wires aren't my thing.
Each path type has different requirements in terms of things like terminals/outlets, connections, turns, angles, curves and gradients, and different data properties.
Drainage for example needs gradient information, pipework and I would argue it would be useful to have options to display start and end levels as labels. Drainage also needs wall thickness and material information.
I would argue that you need a different path type for each element type, with the relevant properties and parameters built in. You can't easily use the same tool for a cable tray as a surface water drain.
Without knowing what these components do, how they are constructed and drawn, and what level of information is typically required, you can't possibly create toolsets to draw/model them effectively.
You may as well extrude a morph along a path, or use beams and columns with components for the connections and terminals. Routing path tools for these things need the kind of complexity provided by tools like railings, stairs and curtain walls.
A community of beta testers could have clearly defined the requirements, and I suspect parametric GDL objects could have been used. It works with gutters and downpipes. At least there would have been no compatibility issues between versions.
Could you send me the file in which the crash happened for you? We would like to test it and see what caused that issue.
