I am pleased to announce that new US content is now available for Revit MEP customers that are on subscription on the subscription center. The download is called the "US Content Extension for Autodesk Revit MEP 2010"

The US Content Extension for Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010 software provides new content to help electrical engineers, drafters, and contractors create electrical designs and layouts for projects in the US and elsewhere. Contents include electrical devices for nurse call systems, fire safety, communications, security, and power.

Content is available in both imperial and metric units.

I am pleased to announce that new content based on UK industry standards is now available to Revit MEP customers on the subscription center. The download is called the "UK Content Extension for Autodesk Revit MEP 2010"

The UK Content Extension for Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010 software provides new content to help mechanical and electrical engineers, drafters, and contractors create mechanical and electrical designs and layouts for projects in the United Kingdom. Contents include mechanical and electrical devices based on UK industry standard symbology; pipe fittings based on common British and European standards; and additional duct fittings based on DW144 and revised UK templates. This extension provides both UK users and those adhering to UK standards with new content based on these industry standards.

Are you looking for additional resources to learn AutoCAD MEP?

Paul Aubin (author of several books for Autodesk products) has just created a new book titled, “Mastering AutoCAD MEP 2010”. Paul wrote this book in conjunction with current and former Autodesk employees. Here’s the link for the book on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-AutoCAD-2010-Paul-Aubin/dp/1439057664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259710063&sr=8-1

Product Description
MASTERING AUTOCAD® MEP 2010 is the ideal book to provide readers with the skills needed to create construction documents with AutoCAD MEP that are reflective of industry standards and expectations. This book focuses on the rationale and practicality of the AutoCAD MEP process and emphasizes the process of creating projects in MEP, rather than a series of independent commands and tools. Tools are introduced together in a focused process, with a strong emphasis on "why" as well as "how". Both the book and the exercises will provide readers with a clear sense of the value of the tools and a clear indication of each tool's potential. MASTERING AUTOCAD 2010 MEP is a resource designed to shorten readers' learning curve, raise their comfort level and, most importantly, give them real life tested practical advice on using the software to create mechanical, electrical and plumbing designs and calculations.
If you’re at Autodesk University this year, Paul and the rest of the authors are also presenting an “Ask the Experts” session.

Regards,

Toby Smith, PE, LEED AP
AutoCAD MEP Product Manager

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The concept of Type parameters vs. Instance parameters seems to put many users' minds into a spin.  Instead of trying to describe what the difference is, I'm going to provide a scenario where Type parameters should be used instead of Instance parameters.  Perhaps by providing a concrete example, one will be more readily able to discern when to use one over the other.

I came across a Revit project file recently.  Some things weren't jiving for me in trying to diagnose an issue, so I put together a quick schedule, and found this:

 

If you have a keen eye, you're asking yourself, how can multiple "Fixture Types" be associated with the same Family and Type (i.e, the Corp_Recessed : 277V Recess)? 

Upon further inspection of this particular Family, I found the following:

 

The issue is simply that the method used in this project to 'type' the fixture will easily lead to inconsistencies.  The Instance parameters, indicated by (default), introduce a lot of uncertainty into the model. 

Take for example the following instances in the model:

 

I.e., what is to keep someone from adjusting the length of an "A1" fixture to be 8' long instead of 4'?  What is to keep someone from adjusting the geometry of an "A4" fixture to appear like a 2x4, or even a 4x4 (instead of the apparently intended 2x2), or adjust the height too?  Or... what is to keep one from mis-'Fixture Typing' a "A1" as an "A9"? 

Even the Load in this family is an instance parameter... I don't think anyone would want to rely on someone to enter the proper load at each instance of all of these fixtures.  For this one type containing 514 total instances, that is over 2500 opportunities for error (514 x 5 params each: length, width, height, load, fixture type).  Using Type parameters for these properties avoids all such problems and will lead to a much more consistent model. 

Take for example (referring to the schedule above) fixture type "E1" - is this fixture supposed to be Wall mounted or Ceiling mounted?  120v or 277v?  If it makes a difference in the model number that needs to be ordered, it could be a change order waiting to happen.

To summarize:  each fixture type (corresponding to a manufacturer's model number) of a lighting fixture should be uniquely identified - this is nothing new.  However, the execution of how you do this can make your documentation much more consistent if applying the proper techniques in your modeling application.  In Revit - this means make sure you have a separate Fixture Type for each Type of fixture.  If you use the 'Type Mark' parameter built-into the software, Revit will even warn you if you in-advertently duplicate a value!

Cheers-
Martin Schmid, PE
MEP Customer Success Engineer