I can understand your frustration, it's not that hard to stay above the ceiling. We do most of our MEP modeling in a composite "work" view that has everything visible so we can avoid the other disciplines as we draw. These composite views are set for wireframe, so the ceiling is not blocking the view.

We use temporary sections a lot to monitor how the content we are drawing interacts with the other disciplines, as well as the architectural and structural models. We also use Navisworks throughout the process to catch anything we might have missed.

As for suggestions for the architects, the most important thing for me is being able to trust that the model is accurate. If a ceiling assembly is 4", it should be modeled at 4".

Thanks for asking,
John

John,
thanks for the feedback. I can certainly see where us doing things diagrammatically could cause you no end of grief.

One other thing I am curious about. We often need to see light fixtures and such in 3D, with good render materials. My question is, is there any reasonable workflow where we can provide a version of the light fixture that you incorporate into your family? Including getting the materials mapped and such? Or is this just not viable and the only option is still for us to have our own set of lights for rendering purposes? Indeed, I would love to be able to provide the Electrical Engineer with a library of light families, that can then be nested in an electrical light family that contains the connector and all the engineering data. Would it be reasonable for you to work from an Architect provided library like that? I suspect something like the KiwiCodes Family Browser would make it easier, you just have a different folder for each architect' library. Hmm.... Crazy, or potential?

This is one of those things where Revit is really fundamentally changing the workflow. Back in the day, any "rendering" was a long process done out of the office, or at least in office by a dedicated renderer working in totally different software and using their own modeled lights and such.

In Revit, it is not at all uncommon to have the client request a rendering of a particular space on very short notice. And honestly, if the model is "right" there is no reason at all we shouldn't be able to knock out a decent rendering in a day, from the current model, not some 2 month old SketchUp or Max model that needs a ton of revising. It can, and I think should, be a team task, not a specialized task. BUT, that means all the consultant's models need to be render ready too. We are still struggling with getting our own models render ready on short notice, but I would love to find a way to coordinate this aspect of Revit use across the larger team as well. Ideally without it being too painful for anyone.

One thought that comes to mind is to find a way to make the rendering an added cost item, and that money is shared. But of course there are too many who just give away everything, so clients now expect that and added cost may be a hard/impossible sell in some markets.

Gordon

Gordon,

We're not an engineering firm, so I'll let them speak for themselves as to what they would need if the architect provided the families, but what we would need is that it is accurately sized. We do BIM coordination, so everything needs to be "real life" sized so that we know if there is a clash or not when we run our Navisworks check.

Generally, our scope is usually the mechanical and plumbing, with just the large conduit and cable trays for electrical. All of the rest of the electrical and fire protection are provided to us by the subs to link in to our file. So, while light fixtures wouldn't apply to us, we'd be happy to use mechanical or plumbing fixtures provided by the architect as long as they're not hosted, since our arch file is linked in.

I can see what you are trying to accomplish for your renderings, and I feel your pain. I used to do architectural renderings in a previous career from a 2D industry. I had to use vanilla Autocad to model the building. The only concession was they bought Accurender for me to use for the rendering part, so I know how important it is to have a consistent model to match your material mapping.

John