se13gits
2011-08-05, 04:58 PM
Revit 3-D Plan editing needs significant improvement.
Sometimes when you just have too much piping in both section and floor plan views to get vertical piping in at the correct pipe end you have to resort to drawing your pipe in the 3-D plan.
I am an avid user of Dassault Systèmes Solidworks CAD and would like to see the 3-D functionality that DS Solidworks uses in the next Autodesk Revit MEP's (2013/14, I dunno) 3-D plan editing. I find it extremely hard to utilize the snaps and auto-connect features to put together 2,3, or even 4 or more pipe's ends together at a single intersection to form either an elbow, tee, cross, etc. when I am working in Revit MEP's 3-D plumbing plan view.
Revit will just draw my pipe into the middle of nowhere many times contrary to what I can see when I'm drawing my pipe in my view orientation, mystery location depending on my view orientation, and then I will have to drag, adjust my 3-D view, and repeat until I can get close enough to the desired pipe end to snap and connect. On top of that the end connections for piping can get tedious/frustrating when Revit in 3-D plumbing plan view is connecting your pipe ends w/ 2 elbows instead of one because u snapped ur pipe ends together but upon zooming in u see they're not perfectly aligned. Or maybe Revit is just refusing at times to recognize that when 2 pipes intersect each other/ touch each other at all in 3-D they should be auto-connected. Not having to have the user come in and place a pipe fitting in 3-D view (which btw I have trouble seeing in my 2-D view sections/floor plans) and then try to get everything close enough to snap.
Another issue is when people draw pipe in Revit 3-D plan view I would think they would expect the pipe to be drawn as a line on a horizontal plane by default, not having to worry about pipe angles and the pipe being drawn coming off the horizontal plane to the desired point at an angle. It should just be drawn on the horizontal plane that have begun the pipe start from. From there the user can adjust the slope / angle manually after drawing out the pipe.
For many reasons SD Solidworks (not is but would seem) easier to use in 3-D plan editing because it allows the user to manipulate all how all the 3-D dynamic features interact with the user when he/she is drawing lines and other things. Revit MEP just seems so rigid in 3-D.
I urge Autodesk to take a look at what some of their 3-D competitors in the 3-D modeling markets (not limited to BIM, there's more out there) are doing and try to learn how to make their 3-D interface a lot more user friendly on top of what they have right now.
Sometimes when you just have too much piping in both section and floor plan views to get vertical piping in at the correct pipe end you have to resort to drawing your pipe in the 3-D plan.
I am an avid user of Dassault Systèmes Solidworks CAD and would like to see the 3-D functionality that DS Solidworks uses in the next Autodesk Revit MEP's (2013/14, I dunno) 3-D plan editing. I find it extremely hard to utilize the snaps and auto-connect features to put together 2,3, or even 4 or more pipe's ends together at a single intersection to form either an elbow, tee, cross, etc. when I am working in Revit MEP's 3-D plumbing plan view.
Revit will just draw my pipe into the middle of nowhere many times contrary to what I can see when I'm drawing my pipe in my view orientation, mystery location depending on my view orientation, and then I will have to drag, adjust my 3-D view, and repeat until I can get close enough to the desired pipe end to snap and connect. On top of that the end connections for piping can get tedious/frustrating when Revit in 3-D plumbing plan view is connecting your pipe ends w/ 2 elbows instead of one because u snapped ur pipe ends together but upon zooming in u see they're not perfectly aligned. Or maybe Revit is just refusing at times to recognize that when 2 pipes intersect each other/ touch each other at all in 3-D they should be auto-connected. Not having to have the user come in and place a pipe fitting in 3-D view (which btw I have trouble seeing in my 2-D view sections/floor plans) and then try to get everything close enough to snap.
Another issue is when people draw pipe in Revit 3-D plan view I would think they would expect the pipe to be drawn as a line on a horizontal plane by default, not having to worry about pipe angles and the pipe being drawn coming off the horizontal plane to the desired point at an angle. It should just be drawn on the horizontal plane that have begun the pipe start from. From there the user can adjust the slope / angle manually after drawing out the pipe.
For many reasons SD Solidworks (not is but would seem) easier to use in 3-D plan editing because it allows the user to manipulate all how all the 3-D dynamic features interact with the user when he/she is drawing lines and other things. Revit MEP just seems so rigid in 3-D.
I urge Autodesk to take a look at what some of their 3-D competitors in the 3-D modeling markets (not limited to BIM, there's more out there) are doing and try to learn how to make their 3-D interface a lot more user friendly on top of what they have right now.