raj banerjee Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Hello peeps, im creating some 3d pipe blockes but im stumped on a block for a straight pipe. Basically I want to beable to apply the stretch command to a 3d pipe block which has the internal bore removed so its a hollow tube. I want to be able to have it as a block but also the be able to stretch it at either end. Is this possible as im struggling to find anything Many thanks Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 You don't have to stretch the block. When you insert the block change the appropriate scale to lengthen it. Quote
raj banerjee Posted July 10, 2012 Author Posted July 10, 2012 many thanks for the reply, wont the scale command alter the diameter as well as the length? cheers Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 The scale command gives you control over all three planes. You're only going to change one of them. Quote
nestly Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 AutoCAD doesn't really support 3D dynamic blocks. There are some things you can "fake", but you definitely can't "stretch" a 3D solid inside a dynamic block. Scaling wouldn't seem a very efficient method to me because you'd have to calculate the scale factor. I usually just Move>Faces or Extrude>Faces and the centerpoint OSnap to stretch 3D solid "pipes". or you can Ctrl+Click the face and stretch it with it's grip. Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 If you 3D pipe block is one unit long then scaling it shouldn't be that much of a problem. You could create a block for each of the sizes you normally have to deal with. Quote
nestly Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Without using a calculator, what's the scale factor if the pipe length has to be 37'-5 11/16" (You can have your choice whether the block units are feet or inches) Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 (edited) Your so funny I forgot to laugh. The block is one unit long. The user picks the unit that he/she feels would work best given their particular situation. My 3D pipe blocks are 1" in length. How long would it take to multiply 37 by 12? Maybe your abacus is broken? Edited July 10, 2012 by ReMark Quote
nestly Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 If you do a lot of this type of work, AutoCAD MEP would probably make sense, but in AutoCAD, I'd probably forgo the block for pipe. Quote
raj banerjee Posted July 10, 2012 Author Posted July 10, 2012 cheers fella, im creating a sel of blocks you see, I have done bends for every size we use with a simple visibility set. I know autocad has some standard parametric pipes which can be stretched so was kind of hoping I could creat a block this way? thank again for the amount of input chaps :-) any more ideas on the parametric idea Quote
raj banerjee Posted July 10, 2012 Author Posted July 10, 2012 ive used mep a lot, but its only good if the preloaded pipes in the catalogue match the actual pipes being installed such as flange offsets, design etc. Again the pipes used in mep can be stretced at either end too Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 If you had 100 pipes to place in your drawing would you rather stretch each one or do the math upon input? Quote
tzframpton Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 ive used mep a lot, but its only good if the preloaded pipes in the catalogue match the actual pipes being installed such as flange offsets, design etc. Again the pipes used in mep can be stretced at either end too AutoCAD MEP is still the way to go, since you can create your own catalogs that fit your needs dimensionally. Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 raj: Do you have a budget that will cover the cost of some new software? Quote
raj banerjee Posted July 10, 2012 Author Posted July 10, 2012 its more of a case of just dropping the block in and resizing to suit by using snaps as opposed to calulations etc. Just trying to make the actual drafting of a pipe run as efficiant and consistant as poss Quote
ReMark Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Can you afford, at this time, to buy AutoCAD MEP to make your a little bit easier? Yes or No? It's like pulling teeth around here today. A low cost alternate to buying AutoCAD MEP and it does pipes and connections in both 2D and 3D. http://www.asvic.com.au/products/MECH-Q-Piping-AutoCAD-16.html Quote
nestly Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 its more of a case of just dropping the block in and resizing to suit by using snaps as opposed to calulations etc. Just trying to make the actual drafting of a pipe run as efficiant and consistant as poss As I said previously, it's not possible to "stretch" 3D a solid object with a Dynamic Stretch property in regular AutoCAD. The closest you can get is to put an extruded section of "pipe" in a block, then insert it exploded, then grip edit it's length as shown in the 1st animation posted above. Quote
JD Mather Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Just trying to make the actual drafting of a pipe run as efficiant and consistant as poss For whatever it is worth - you might take a look at this http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/content/CAD238/AutoCAD%202007%20Tutorial%208.pdf maybe a library of Regions that you could sweep to any path might be an efficient technique. Quote
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