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November 30 – December 3, 2004 ◊ Las Vegas, Nevada
What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005? David Pothier –
Company Name
BD35-2 Autodesk Building Systems 2005 has shipped and it's a
great time for you to learn what's new. Explore the new features
and functionality in this new release. We'll cover the key features
and benefits from enhanced layout and editing tools to engineering
analysis. And we'll take a sneak peak at what's coming!
About the Speaker: Dave is a senior applications engineer with
Autodesk, based in Manchester, New Hampshire. He has worked at
Softdesk and Autodesk since 1990 and has been working with
Autodesk® AEC products since 1987. During this time, he has also
worked in product design, QA, technical support, and product
development. Previously, Dave worked for a consulting engineering
firm in New Hampshire. He attended Bridgewater State College,
majoring in computer science.
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Productivity—Increase Efficiency by Reducing Tedious Drafting
Tasks Autodesk Building Systems offers an easy way to develop and
document mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection
systems. With intelligent engineering objects—such as ducts, pipes,
and wire—that interact logically, Autodesk Building Systems
provides many tools that automate tedious drafting tasks, helping
save you time and money. You can easily access tools and make
changes directly in an intuitive workspace, providing a smoother
means of design.
Tool Palettes Highly visual and customizable, tool palettes
provide centralized access to commonly used design tools. You can
take advantage of the tabbed tool palette interface, transparency,
and auto-hide options while working with powerful and familiar
tools, minimizing the use of toolbars, and maximizing screen
space.
Save time by dragging objects from the current drawing onto tool
palettes, automatically creating tools that reference the
definitions and properties of the existing objects, so that you can
reuse your previous work. Quickly access any Building Systems,
Autodesk® Architectural Desktop, or AutoCAD command by dragging
buttons from existing toolbars onto tool palettes while the
Customize dialog box is open, and customize tools with scripts,
cARX commands, and AutoLISP® expressions, automatcreating tool
palettes that behave exactly as your toolbars do. Group tool
palettes by category for enhanced easeuse and easily switch between
palette groups from the ToPalette title bar. Autodesk Building
Systems provides a collection of design-specific palettes,
including HVAC, piping, electrical, plumbing, architectural, and
structural groups. Use the DesignCenter™ feature to access content
that is located on local and network drives as well as on the web,
and to easily manage tools and tool palettes in a centralized
location.
ustom ically
of ol
Schematic Symbol Improvements Quickly and easily produce 2D,
not-to-scale, flow diagrams and details of intricate building
systems with plan and isometric schematic tools. With intelligent
schematic symbols you can connect to schematic lines without the
hassles of trimming lines, rotating symbols, or repairing broken
lines. Take advantage of the new schematic symbol behavior and
style enhancements to quickly convert your own schematic symbols to
“intelligent” schematic symbols that interact with Building Systems
schematic lines.
What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Fewer steps are needed to create accurate isometric riser
diagrams by using Isometric Mode to place symbols and lines that
automatically adjust to the correct iso-plane, and new schematic
symbol grips that enable you to quickly modify symbol location,
rotation, and iso-plane orientation on the fly.
Grip Editing Enhancements Now you can make design changes to
objects directly on-screen, streamlining the design process by
eliminating dialog boxes, keeping you focused on the tasks at hand.
Using grips you can now lengthen ducts and pipes, change location
of objects, and use basic modify tools, such as stretch, move,
rotate, scale, or mirror, to directly manipulate objects.
Sections and Elevations Want to make sure all sections and
elevations are current before you plot? With the enhanced Batch
Refresh feature, you can update all sections and elevations with
the click of a button. This feature gives you the ability to
automatically update every section and elevation in a specified
directory or every section and elevation associated to the current
project. And since the updates are extracted directly from your
building model, you can be sure that each drawing is up-to-date.
This capability complements the new drawing management features in
Autodesk Building Systems because it improves drawing coordination
and removes the tedium of manually updating section or elevation
drawings one by one.
Isolate Objects Working on a specific area of a complicated
design and need to simplify it to make your design modifications
easier? With the Isolate Objects feature, you can hide or isolate
specific objects such as ducts, pipes, equipment, and even xrefs,
without the tedium of manipulating layers.
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Annotation Enhancements with Keynotes and Callouts Reduce the
time spent annotating construction documents with the new Keynoting
and Callout features that streamline the annotation process.
Keynoting tools allow for Section and Elevation objects or
components of those objects to be quickly annotated in accordance
with project standards. Since Keynotes are managed from Access
databases, modifying the note in the Access database will result in
the full coordination of your construction documents as the note
will be dynamically updated throughout the project. Keynote legends
can be automatically created and maintained using the new Keynote
Legend Tool. Out of the box, Building Systems will provide a robust
Keynoting database in the standard Master Format organization.
Quickly create detail callouts, section marks, and elevation
marks that are integrated with the appropriate commands for
creating sections/elevations and the Drawing Management system in
order to automatically create the views in the proper location,
support the placing of resulting views in Sheets and automate the
coordination between callouts, sheet numbers, and appropriate
section/elevation/detail designation.
Hatch on Duct Eliminate the need to manually add crosshatching
to your construction documents to distinguish between construction
phases, such as new versus demolition ductwork. With the new
“hatch” display component for ducts, you can quickly and easily
display hatching on ductwork in plan, section, and elevation
views.
Connection Types Change the connection type of building systems
objects, such as ducts and pipes, during layout. With an enhanced
collection of available connection types, easily swap connection
types directly in the Add dialog boxes as you layout a run, and
quickly create objects with different end connectors, eliminating
the need to make connection modifications through object
properties.
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Layer Manager The space-saving design of the new Layer Manager
provides greater functionality in a more intuitive interface. You
can provide a description for each layer, and you can immediately
apply any layer changes without closing the Layer Manager. If you
right-click the column headings, you can
quickly maximize columns based on content. Any changes you make
to the display of columns remain the next time you access the Layer
Manager. One of the most noticeable changes in the Layer Manager is
the new Filter tree view control that enables you to group layers
using filters. Filters for xref layers are automatically created
and displayed in the tree view. Using layer filters, you can easily
control layer visibility for all layers in a particular filter
group.
Plotting Enhancements Whether you publish your designs to DWF
format or to paper, with Autodesk Building Systems you can continue
working in the drawing editor while Building Systems plots in the
background. You can control background plotting, which is enabled
by default, from the redesigned Plot and Publish tab of the Options
densure that your plots were successfully completed, Building
Systems can automaticallycreate a log file listing comprehensive
plotdetails, including start time and date, completion time and
date, and final status. Thelog file stores cumulative plot
information fmultiple plot sessions. You can specify the location
of the log file using the Files tab of the Options dialog box.
ialog box. To
rom
Building Systems offers a simplified Plot dialog box similar to
the new Page Setup dialog box. You can display the Plot dialog box
in collapsed mode for easy access to the most frequently used plot
controls.
Content Browser Search Tool The Content Browser is a central
repository for tools and content, such as tool catalogs, tool
palettes, blocks, and Multi-view Parts, and provides a central
location to disseminate project-based information, ensuring that
every member of your design team has access to the most up-to-date
tools. Improvements to the Content Browser include new tools that
enable the organization, sorting, and searching of valuable project
data with the click of a button.
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Publish Part Catalogs Looking for a way to quickly and easily
share part catalogs with your extended design team? Now you can
publish customized part catalogs as web pages directly to local or
network locations, including intranet and web sites, with the click
of a button. Take advantage of the i-drop® functionality embedded
in the web pages to quickly drag and drop parts from the published
catalog into your designs.
Accuracy—Streamline Your Design Process with Fewer Errors
Designs in Autodesk Building Systems are coordinated with your
construction documents, eliminating time-consuming, nonproductive
drawing reviews, so you have more time for design. Extensive
libraries of industry-based parts and equipment integrated into
engineering-specific tools make the documentation process more
efficient by helping to reduce errors and omissions. Built-in
design calculators and the ability to extract engineering design
data for interoperability with third-party analysis applications
eliminates the need for manually data transfer, while helping
ensure that the work you do in design development is available for
immediate use during the documentation process.
Content Autodesk Building Systems provides extensive collections
of parts, such as fittings, equipment, and fixtures, based on
common industry standards in the box for increased accuracy
throughout your designs. New fire protection content helps you lay
out fire protection piping, sprinkler heads, fire pumps, and
control valves for a more complete building information model.
Additional HVAC parts, such as slot diffusers and outlet plenums,
plus an enhanced collection of fittings, including 3D plumbing
fittings for drain, waste, and vent systems, and a complete
collection of ASHRAE duct fittings, packs the box with tons of
content. Autodesk Building Systems also includes a rich content
library of parts that are formatted for the U.K. market and meet
British standards.
When your designs require manufacturer-specific content, take
advantage of the i-drop® technology bdownloading the part you need
strafrom a manufacturer’s website into your design. The i-drop
functpermits a fast, simple consistent means of accessing standard
ancustom content to increase your productivity. And if your designs
require custom content, Building Systems provides in the box
content creation tools, including the Content Builder, that enable
you to create custom parts, such as fittings and equipment on the
fly.
y ight
ionality
d
What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Spaces and Zones Automatically generate engineering spaces from
architectural floor plans or design drawings to produce room
information, complete with square footage, volumes, and engineering
design data, such as air flow and temperatures. Use grips to easily
manipulate the space to create an accurate representation based on
door, window, and opening locations, unique room shapes, and
interior versus exterior walls. By defining loads, design
temperatures, and airflow rates, and grouping into zones,
engineering spaces can eliminate the need for manually transferring
design data for load calculations and building energy analysis.
HVAC Load and Energy Analysis Take advantage of intelligent
design data stored in engineering spaces and zones and eliminate
tedious manual data transfer by extracting engineering data dfrom
your model in standardformats, such as gbXML and application
programmin(API), for interoperability with third-party applications
for heatinand cooling load calculations and building energy
analysis. For minformation about the availathird-party applications
compatiblewith Autodesk Building Sys2005, visit www.autodesk.com/
buildingsystems-par
irectly file
g interfaces
g
ore bility of
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tners.
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Duct Sizing Want to size ducts during layout? With the new duct
sizing calculator added directly to the Add Duct and Modify Duct
dialog boxes you can quickly size ducts automatically during layout
based on CFM requirements. Customizable design parameters determine
whether duct sizes are calculated based on equal friction or equal
velocity.
And if you are looking for a complete system sizing tool, export
your duct system layouts to standard file formats, such as ddXML,
for interoperability with third-party duct sizing applications.
Autodesk Building Systems also provides additional tools to resize
your duct systems based on the results of the external sizing
calculations. For more information about availability of
third-party applications compatible with Autodesk Building Systems
2005, visit www.autodesk.com/ buildingsystems-partners.
Fire Protection System Design The addition of fire protection
content, such as sprinkler heads and control valves, enables you to
layout fire protection systems with Autodesk Building Systems.
Extract design data directly form your model in standard file
formats, such as application programming interfaces (API), for
interoperability with third-party fire protection pipe sizing
applications. Resizing tools enable you to update your system
layout when changes are made, helping to create an accurate model
of your design.
What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Wire Sizing Efficiently size wire on the fly while maintaining
design requirements. The new instant wire calculator provided on
the Add Wire and Modify Wire dialog boxes enables you to size wires
automatically when connecting devices and panels based on
customizable engineering data, including conductor sizes, material,
insulation, and temperature ratings.
Coordination—Work Effectively with Extended Design Team With
Autodesk Building Systems you can see a true representation of the
constructed system during the design process, resulting in better
coordination between your extended design team. Since your designs
are linked to your construction documents, coordinating changes is
easier, reducing design cycle time and helping avoid costly design
changes in the field. Because Autodesk Building Systems is
interoperable with other Autodesk building design solutions—such as
AutoCAD® and Autodesk Buzzsaw® —data sharing among the extended
design team has never been easier, resulting in better coordination
between engineers, architects, and builder.
Tables Tables are a fundamental part of any set of drawings, and
with the new table functionality in Autodesk Building Systems, you
can increase your productivity by automating the tedious task of
creating and maintaining tables. The new Table objects are flexible
in their appearance, and are based on table styles. With an
interface that is similar to the Dimension Style dialog box, the
Table Style dialog box enables you to set the current table style,
create new table styles, and modify or delete existing table
styles. Populating tables is easy with intuitive keyboard
functionality that enables you to enter data and navigate around
the table, and grips provide a quick and easy way to modify the
table location, column width, and row height.
Tables are also interoperable with Microsoft® Excel and other
database spreadsheet applications. Table data can be directly
copied from Excel and converted into a table object while
maintaining
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
formatting from the original spreadsheet. And if you want to use
the table data you create in your drawings in other applications,
you can easily export the table data to a comma-separated value
(CSV) file format.
Export Design Data Need to know the amount of material required
for a project? Now you can easily export scheduling data in
Autodesk Building Systems drawings to Microsoft® Access, where it
can then be viewed, sorted, queried, and even imported into other
applications to perform specific tasks, such as cost
estimation.
Need instant access to building model and resource information?
Now you can also convert pertinent design data contained in
Autodesk Building Systems drawings into informative and interactive
facility maps using Autodesk MapGuide® software. With this tool,
engineers can provide additional support to other industry
professionals, such as facilities managers, who are using Autodesk
MapGuide software to give them quick access to building areas and
their corresponding resources.
Standard File Format Support Through standard file formats,
including XML formats such as ddXML and gbXML, and open application
programming interfaces (APIs), engineering data can be extracted
from Autodesk Building Systems models for interoperability with
third-party applications, and also your own applications in
Microsoft® Visual Basic®, Excel, and Access, helping to ensure the
accuracy of your designs. For more information about the
availability of third-party applications compatible with Autodesk
Building Systems 2005, visit
www.autodesk.com/buildingsystems-partners.
Interoperability with Architectural and Structural Objects Since
Autodesk Building Systems is built on top of Autodesk Architectural
Desktop Software’s object technology, and includes the latest
version of architectural features conveniently located on separate
tool palettes and menus, coordination among design teams has never
been easier within the building design process. You can use
structural members to visually check for interferences in your
model, improving the accuracy and integrity of your designs. And
with the new MvPart Convert feature you can now convert 2D blocks,
such as Architectural Desktop plumbing fixtures, into Building
Systems parts that logically connect to your designs, enabling you
to
What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
effectively use 2D architectural drawings.
Drawing Management Enhancements Drawing management tools ensure
consistency throughout all aspects of the project. You can be
assured that everyone on your design team is accessing the most
current documents— from project templates to sections and
elevations—from a centralized location. Anow with the new Sheet Set
functionality integrated in the Project Navigator, plans,
elevations, sections, details, schedules, sheet numbers, sheet
indexes, callouts, and general annotations are coordinated and
resulting sheets can be fully managed, plotted, published,
electronically transmitted and archived.
nd
Installation and Deployment Improvements An improved Network
Installation wizard now gives you the flexibility of pointing
content and support files to a centralized location, for both
network and single-user installations, making it easier to control
and manage content. The wizard gives you the option of installing
content and support files to a central location, various locations,
or directly on the computer where the product is being installed,
according to your best practices. Additional desktop shortcuts can
also be created during installation including an AutoCAD-only
shortcut for those users wanting to launch Autodesk Building
Systems as basic AutoCAD.
Sharing Drawings New publishing tools provide an efficient way
to distribute and share your design drawings with your extended
design team. Since Autodesk Building Systems is built on the same
technology as Autodesk Architectural Desktop, it includes the
latest version of AutoCAD so you have all AutoCAD software’s
functionality, including Autodesk’s industry leading DWG
compatibility, for seamless exchange of legacy drawing
information.
The Export to AutoCAD feature “flattens” the your Building
Systems designs to basic AutoCAD entities, making it easy to
collaborate with those members of your design team who may not be
using Autodesk Building Systems software.
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What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
You can also use the new Publish feature to publish individual
drawings in their current state without first having to save the
drawings. The Publish dialog box enables you to include a plot
stamp, specify the number of copies, and you can even preview your
electronic plot before starting the publish process.
By publishing DWF™ (Design Web Format™) files now you can view
non-graphic information as well as design graphics, making your
design intent clear to anyone who reviews the document. With the
click of a button, you can view pertinent non-graphical data such
as a door’s fire rating or a room’s square footage using Autodesk®
Express Viewer. Since it is DWF format, members of your design team
can review and redline the files, making DWF an efficient means to
distribute and share data. And with Autodesk® DWF Composer and the
new Markup Set Manager feature you view and manage the DWF files
directly inside Autodesk Building Systems enabling you quickly and
easily verify design corrections.
What’s New in Autodesk® Building Systems 2005?
Productivity—Increase Efficiency by Reducing TediTool
PalettesSchematic Symbol ImprovementsGrip Editing
EnhancementsSections and ElevationsIsolate ObjectsAnnotation
Enhancements with Keynotes and CalloutsHatch on DuctConnection
TypesLayer ManagerPlotting EnhancementsContent Browser Search
ToolPublish Part Catalogs
Accuracy—Streamline Your Design Process with FeweContentHVAC
Load and Energy AnalysisDuct SizingFire Protection System
DesignWire Sizing
Coordination—Work Effectively with Extended DesigTablesExport
Design DataStandard File Format SupportInteroperability with
Architectural and Structural ObjectsDrawing Management
EnhancementsInstallation and Deployment ImprovementsSharing
Drawings