NEW ORLEANS, May 5, 2010 – QuickPen® today introduced the latest versions of its popular PipeDesigner 3D^® and DuctDesigner 3D^® CAD applications for plumbing and HVAC contractors. QuickPen’s CAD lineup now fully supports the latest version of Autodesk’s AutoCAD, version 2011 which includes AutoCAD Architecture 2011, and AutoCAD MEP 2011. PipeDesigner 3D and DuctDesigner 3D benefit significantly from the new AutoCAD features such as transparency for objects, file size reduction, Microsoft Windows 7 compatibility, and general performance improvements.

The announcement was made today at the Associated Builders and Contractors 2010 Educational Conference, the association’s annual gathering of merit shop contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers and related firms throughout the U.S.

The PipeDesigner 3D and DuctDesigner 3D products have played an important role in the QuickPen suite of products focused on providing software for piping, plumbing and sheet metal contractors who want to increase productivity by providing interoperable solutions that eliminate waste while improving the design-to-field process. “QuickPen has steadily improved their CAD products with the 2010 release,” said Ryan Cavanaugh, Engineering Manager with D/K Mechanical. “And by providing our company with 2011 compatibility in such a timely manner proves that QuickPen is on track with their development.”

Both products include 64 bit compatibility, an automatic and manual point creation feature with Trimble^® MEP export option, data export to the QuickPen AutoBid^® estimating application, and multi-user SQL database for sharing files across organizations.

Designed to extend Trimble’s Building Construction portfolio, the new versions of PipeDesigner 3D and DuctDesigner 3D can provide robust “BIM to Field” solutions for the building construction industry.

PipeDesigner 3D 2011.1 and DuctDesigner 3D 2011.1 are available now through QuickPen directly by calling

866-799-6673.

We have two calls for PipeDesigner 3D® models.

1. Want to be represented by QuickPen in sales presentations? QuickPen is looking for great models that could be used in presentations and marketing about BIM. Permission to share these models must be provided in written form. We will happily tag our presentations with your company name and logo.
2. Help our QA department! PipeDesigner 3D® is actively tested every day and we are looking for customer models to use in those test cases. We are looking for models that help represent complex projects. These drawings will not be shared without your permission and used solely for internal purposes. The drawings will be used to test internal drawing upgrades, conversions and other utilities resulting in a more stable release and potentially help us speed up release time.

If you would like to share your models with QuickPen, please contact our support department.

The 2009.2 release of PipeDesigner 3D® offered several new reroute tools to help with modifying or changing current runs of pipe and fittings. When I offered what's new webinars for our 2010 version, I found that a lot of customers were still unaware of those reroute tools and the power behind them. I hope that you find them useful!

With these new tools, you can do the following:

• Apply RouterLine to an existing run of pipe and fittings.
• Optimize long runs of pipe to eliminate short pieces. 
• Replace run of pipe and fittings for those from another spec or simply replace certain fittings with others from your current spec.

Applying a RouterLine to existing runs of pipe and fittings:
There are many reasons to go back to an existing run of pipe and fittings and repopulate a RouterLine. One example would be to copy the routing for rack piping.

Step 1: Select the new button called  "Build Route From Fittings"

Step 2: Select the starting fitting in your run of pipe, connected fittings will highlight.

Step 3: Select that last fitting on the run of pipe. Once you select the last possible highlighted fitting, the  RouterLine should populate.  *Note, cannot currently select through tees or reducers as it processes those "Routes" seperately, but the command can be restarted to pick those seperate "Routes" up.

This command could also be used in conjunction with the new command line option for Auto Route to replace fittings. While running the Auto Route command, notice the new ignore or replace option at the command line. By default, Auto Route is set to ignore fittings that already exist on a router line, but the replace option will remove those existing fittings before routing new fittings.

Optimizing a run of pipe and fittings to eliminate wasteful short pieces:

This new routine can be used to reroute an existing set of pipe and fittings. The example below shows how the tool can be used to eliminate short pieces, but a more common use of this tool would be to reroute the pipe and fittings with a different spec/part list. To use this tool, use the steps below:

Step 1: Select the new button called "Reroute From Fittings"

Step 2: Like with the Build Route From Fittings tool, choose the first and last fitting on the route.

Step 3: You will noticed that it has generated a router line, removed the previous fittings and now using Auto Route to redraw the fittings. This will work through tees and wyes, but you need to choose which fitting you want to use as you do with Auto Route.

The finished result is a new route of pipe and fittings using the current spec, size and layer. All extra cut pieces were automatically removed and replaced with full joints of pipe.

Well, I hope that these tips have helped! If you have suggestions for the CAD blogs, please let me know by sending an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Welcome to our blog! My name is Brett Stacks and I started working for QuickPen in August '08 as the CAD Product Manager. I got my start in this industry in 1995 through Local #67 in Austin, Texas as a union sheet metal worker. I have fabrication, installation and detailing experience in the fields of semiconductor, pharmaceutical and general construction. I've worked as a detailer/designer for Strauss Systems (Houston, Texas) and Dynamic Systems (Austin, TX) where I became proficient with AutoCAD, Navis and several of the HVAC CAD packages currently sold on the market today. While at Dynamic Systems, I've had the opportunity to help train the detailing department as well as setup and enforce standards. For many years, I supported sheet metal, piping and plumbing detailers so I feel that has helped prepare me for my role as the product manager for DuctDesigner 3D® and PipeDesigner 3D®.

I've always been excited about learning new things in CAD and keeping up with the changes that affect our industry. Through this role, I'm lucky as I get to be involved with some of those product and industry changes. I also get to attend and speak at industry shows and meetings as well as visit many companies and shops throughout the U.S. With each trip, I learn more about how our products are used and get essential feedback that helps with the prioritization of product development.

Since joining QuickPen, I've had the opportunity to work with many of you, but it's also been great to continue to work with people that I knew from earlier in my career. Through this section of our website, I intend to keep you up to date with QuickPen and Trimble events that relate to the CAD products and also to try and provide you with tips and tricks or other information that will help you as you use DuctDesigner 3D® or PipeDesigner 3D®.

I look forward to working closer with each of you. My goal in this position is to help implement changes that will make our customers more productive. To do so, I need your feedback so please feel free suggest any changes that you would like to see regarding our CAD products and/or service.

Thank you,

Brett Stacks

http://www.linkedin.com/in/bstacks