Explore the complexities of creating and cleaning up level 2 piping plans in a detailed model, with a focus on visibility graphics and tagging pipes. Learn how to strategically hide elements, such as mechanical piping and ductwork, to enhance the clarity of your project.
Key Insights
- Visibility graphics can be used to hide unwanted elements such as mechanical piping and ductwork in a level 2 piping plan, enhancing the clarity and focus of the plan.
- Tagging pipes is an essential step in creating a detailed model, helping to categorize and identify different sections of the plan.
- Understanding and adjusting the view range is crucial as it can show or hide elements from different levels, such as the level 1 system appearing in the level 2 plan.
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Let’s go ahead and open our Level 2 piping plan and continue with the same process. Before we do that, we don’t want any mechanical piping to be visible here, so let’s open Visibility/Graphics by typing VV. Go to the Model Categories tab, and look for any categories related to mechanical systems and ductwork.
Deselect categories such as Duct Accessories, Duct Fittings, Duct Insulation, Duct Linings, Mechanical Equipment, Flex Ducts, Flex Pipes, MEP Equipment, and Air Terminals.
That’s done. We don’t have anything to hide on Level 1, so that’s fine. If we were working on a multi-level project, we could set up a View Template to hide these elements automatically. But since this project only has two levels, it’s fine to just hide them in this case.
Let’s return to Annotate > Tag by Category and continue tagging this section of pipe. I’ll move this section of the main down slightly and tag the main here as well. Try to find a location that doesn’t obstruct any other elements.
Cleaning up as I go. The piping we’re seeing here and here actually belongs to the Level 1 system, but it appears here as well because of our current view range. Let’s go ahead and hide that piping in the library area. In the kitchen/cafeteria area, let’s also hide that, including the main pipe.
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Take a quick look to verify the layout. Alright—when we continue, we’ll add annotations to our piping plans.
