Measure and Paste

[theald]

Does anyone know of a routine that will take a piece of conduit in MEP and paste a block in 3D space on top of that conduit for a given distance? Basically I want to select a piece of conduit and have the system paste a block, based on the size of the conduit I selected, at a distance of my choosing.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Opie]

I don't use MEP, but do you have a sample drawing for others that may have it? It could possibly get you a quicker response.

[aaron.bentley]

I don't use MEP either but I have a program I found online that will extrude 3-D pipe very fast. You draw your center line and it will extrude around it. If you draw it as a pline it will trim the pipe as it turns corners or angles up/down. I use it to lay out duct work and it's fast and simple. You specify outside dia, then inside dia and then the contour to follow and it does it. The program was complements of Aleksandr Smirnov (ASMI).

[theald]

Thanks for your help!

MEP is like CAD on steroids for the building industry, like revit but not quite as geared toward design, at least in my opinion. You should try the trial and see if you like it.

Basically what I want to do is select a "run" of conduit - which in MEP is a type of object - and have the system paste a block, in my case a trapeze, every x feet depending on the distance that I tell it.

I am not even sure that MEP can do this...

[theald]

If you don;t have MEP you might be able to see this but what it is is a run of conduit with a trapeze that I have made into a device. I want to have the system auto paste every 5' for example.

[tedg]

Thanks for your help!

MEP is like CAD on steroids for the building industry, like revit but not quite as geared toward design, at least in my opinion. You should try the trial and see if you like it.

Basically what I want to do is select a "run" of conduit - which in MEP is a type of object - and have the system paste a block, in my case a trapeze, every x feet depending on the distance that I tell it.

I am not even sure that MEP can do this...

I know in AutoCAD you can divide a pline with a block.
Not sure if this would work in your case, but if you have a center line you can pick, you should be able to use the "divide" command, select the block option.

You would have to do the math first though, like if you want your blocks 10 feet apart, and your conduit was 120 feet long you would divide it in 12 spaces.

Just another option...

[Opie]

Ted, you also have the MEASURE command, which allows you to place blocks along an object at set distances apart.

[tedg]

If you don;t have MEP you might be able to see this but what it is is a run of conduit with a trapeze that I have made into a device. I want to have the system auto paste every 5' for example.

Per my suggestion above, I used your drawing to start with.
I drew a 20' line and divided it in 5 places (= 5' apart).
Because I don't have you're program, I had to create "TRAP" block from a pline (with thickness) with it's middle as the insertion point.

[tedg]

Ted, you also have the MEASURE command, which allows you to place blocks along an object at set distances apart.

Really? I'll need to check that out!