How much is too much?

[hmunsell]

I have a energetic gentleman in our office that is helping with our templates. To date, he has made 102 filters, in one template, to control how different pipes and ducts look and act. Mainly at the request of the, Non Revit-Non CAD, project managers/Designers. They make a comment “ it would be nice if Revit could…” and he makes a filter/family to do it.

I admire his ingenuity and energy but I’m wondering how much is too much. if it was Architecture (what I’m more familiar with) i probably would have stopped him a while ago, but I’m not as familiar with MEP Standards/Needs. When do you say “this isn’t AutoCAD, stop trying to force it to look/act like it”?

[RobertB]

I would say that on the HVAC side, there does not need to be a bunch of filters. But piping/plumbing could well have a lot of filters depending on how many systems are typical. However, 102 filters does seem overboard.

A review of the current filters and their purpose might reveal some needless complexity.

Or, it may be better to have separate templates for distinctly different projects types. For instance, waste water treatment plants would have filters that commercial buildings would never need.

[Random Man]

I would say that on the HVAC side, there does not need to be a bunch of filters. But piping/plumbing could well have a lot of filters depending on how many systems are typical. However, 102 filters does seem overboard.

A review of the current filters and their purpose might reveal some needless complexity.

Or, it may be better to have separate templates for distinctly different projects types. For instance, waste water treatment plants would have filters that commercial buildings would never need.
I use 2
I draw conduit with plumbing pipe and for now using sqr duct for cable tray. In the conduit properties under COMMENT I call it EMT
For Cable tray i do the same just for duct properties. I use this to differentiate between plumbing /hvac/mechanincal piping

[cjehly]

too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

[jj mac]

A review of the current filters and their purpose might reveal some needless complexity.


I would say not only a review, but a manual to go along with it. As a user I would feel pretty confused with scrolling through a list like that to find what I want. Naming conventions should follow a consistent format as well. It is hard on the eyes to see some parts of text abbreviated or names turned into acronyms etc... If there is some way for a user to reference what it all means it might not be too bad.

It does seem like a lot to me as well but if things are consistent and organized it might be ok.

I also agree that we should not be trying to use Revit like AutoCAD - unless the data is not required to be in 3D - there is no need to model, if , it will only be shown in one view. If filters are being used to add colour, I say thats a good thing... especially with 102 of them.