Release Highlights 2024T3

Read 2024T3 release highlights and download the latest version in the customer portal.

Top Picks – what we’re most excited about in 2024T3!

Outfitting/3D Plant Design

  • Circular ducts made easy: Circular ducts manufactured from plates can now be modeled using duct design rules, with an improved interface for routing both circular and rectangular ducts. You can resize entire duct runs and equip flanges with gaskets, making duct design smoother and more efficient.
  • Hull markings for outfitting: Outfitting steels and plates can now be displayed in Plate Cutting Data Drawings. This enhancement marks outfitting parts on hull plates during cutting, simplifying the installation of outfitting parts on the hull without needing detailed drawings.
  • Aligned pipe support: The follow pipe feature now aligns pipes with primary supports, ensuring the supporting plane remains consistent across varying pipe sizes and support types, streamlining support alignment across projects.
  • Cable router flexibility: We’re making cable routing more versatile than ever! Now, you can set cable stacking heights beyond the width of the stack – ideal for situations where a single tray accommodates multiple interference classes. This added flexibility simplifies complex cabling scenarios, ensuring that your design aligns with real-world requirements.
  • External valve data support: Integrate with ease! With enhanced Web API and XML import capabilities, external valve data for ducts is now fully supported. This update streamlines data import processes and enriches your models with accurate valve data from external sources, saving time and reducing potential errors.

Hull

  • View cube for enhanced navigation: Hull Viewer is getting a sleek new View Cube that replaces the sidebar, giving users an intuitive way to manipulate 3D models and enhancing the overall user experience – another step forward in modernizing Hull Viewer.
  • Outfitting object markings on hull plates: Streamline installation with semi-automatic markings for outfitting objects on hull plate cutting data. Parts modeled in the Outfitting application that need to be welded to hull structures are now marked directly in the hull plate DXF contours.
  • Jumbo Panels (beta): Simplify complex plate designs with Jumbo Panels. Create large plates and split them into sub-plates with varied thicknesses and materials, perfect for connected plates on the same plane that need to be differentiated.

Information Management

  • Collision detection reporting: eShare’s collision detection just got an upgrade! Now, you can save test setups, view results in a table format, and share findings with other users, making collaboration on collision checks easier than ever.
  • Automatic label detection: AI-driven label detection lets you identify relevant labels from point clouds, configure what’s valuable to your project, and create Smart Points automatically – bringing intelligence to your laser-scanned models.

Electrical

  • LED strip tool for 2D and 3D: Add LED strips to your design with our new LED Strip tool, now available in both 2D and 3D layouts. Define width, height, and other properties, and assign device IDs, making LED strips function like any other light fixture with dedicated controls.
  • EDZ import for EPLAN macros: Creating product models just got easier! Now you can import EDZ files directly, adding product details, symbols, images, and manuals into CADMATIC Electrical. Customize what you import, focusing only on the data you need.
  • DIALux evo import and export: Simplify light calculations by exporting spaces directly from CADMATIC Electrical into DIALux evo. Once lighting calculations are complete, export the IFC file back into Electrical to insert fixtures at the correct coordinates, ensuring accuracy and efficiency.

Draw

  • Customizable ribbon: Personalize your workflow by creating custom tabs on the ribbon! Add your favorite tools from other tabs or design entirely new functions. Tabs are saved per user but can easily be shared with others, enhancing collaboration and efficiency.

Outfitting / 3D Plant Design

Marking outfitting objects on hull plates

Outfitting parts that are to be welded to a hull plate can now be equipped with an attribute that prompts CADMATIC Hull to draw the edges of the part on the coded plate and mark the location with the text string that the attribute provides. In the new Hull Markings tool, this attribute can easily be added to model objects that are located near hull plates.

Improved cable router

The cable router has undergone numerous enhancements, particularly with the management of previous routes.

  • When recreating the cable routing network, the cable data stored in COS remains unchanged, and only the status of the cables might be different in the new network.
  • Even if the status of a cable has changed, the original cable length is still accessible.
  • Changed cables have two lengths—the original length and the new length—until the user approves or rejects the change.
  • Changed cable routes display the percentage of the change, which makes it easier to evaluate how much the route has changed.
  • Fill rates are maintained even if some routed cables get broken.
  • If the route becomes available again, the broken cables are automatically repaired.
  • The reasons for why something is broken are visualized more effectively.
  • The speed of manual routing has been improved by enabling users to select a sequence of routing points.

Improved ducting

Circular ducts whose size needs to be defined on-the-fly during routing can now be routed in the same way as rectangular ducts. Additionally, gaskets can now be defined for circular or rectangular duct parts that have flanges, and the ‘change size’ command can now adjust the size of an entire duct run at once.

Improved follow pipe

The ‘follow pipe’ command is now able to take Primary Supports into consideration. This allows the supports of the new pipe to align with the supports of the pipe being followed, regardless of differences in nominal size or support type.

Improved isometric and spool drawings

Isometric drawings and spool drawings have multiple enhancements, such as:

  • The drawings can be automatically adjusted to display short branches that would otherwise be obscured by the main pipe.
  • The drawings can use Plant Modeller’s coordinate references configuration.
  • The drawings have improved dimensioning for piping parts with triangles.
  • Automatic annotation can insert a nominal size label to the end of each pipe run.
  • The color, the lineweight, and the layer of weld symbols, field welds, and extra lengths is now configurable.
  • Plant Modeller can generate spools from multiple isometric groups at once.
  • There is a preview in pipe spool drawing settings for checking how the settings will affect drawings.
  • Creating a new isometric group displays a preview also when isometric group contains multiple pipelines.

Improved P&ID integration

3D designers can now use the P&ID view, initially introduced in 2024T2, to link diagram objects to 3D objects or to remove these links.

When routing a pipe defined in a diagram, the candybar line can show the route to the correct equipment even when the pipeline includes branches.

Relinking deleted sister project objects

Sister project objects, lines, and documents that have been unlinked and then deleted can now be restored and relinked back to Sister Project Management.

Hull

View cube for enhanced navigation in Hull Viewer

View cube and the associated toolbar replace the sidebar and provide a compact and intuitive way to navigate the 3D model. View cube offers both planar and non-planar viewing options as well as the ability to select specific viewpoints with a simple click. Users can easily switch between different viewpoints, even when objects are obstructing the view from their current position.

Mark outfitting parts in hull plate cutting data

Outfitting parts like plates and beams that need to be welded to Hull structures can be marked on Hull plate cutting data (DXF files). This feature helps streamline the installation of outfitting parts. Whether outfitting parts will be marked or not can be controlled with a System Management setting.

Mark overlapping plating in plate cutting data

Plates and brackets which are overlapping a parallel plate can be marked on plate cutting data. The contour of the overlapping plate or bracket is marked in the DXF file of the plate below. This feature is useful in situations where a doubler plate is welded on a deck plate to reinforce it, for example.

Parts’ minimum and maximum extent in reports

New logistical field types have been introduced for the minimum and maximum extent of parts in the vertical, longitudinal, and transverse directions. When these field types are included in the logistical database, they can be used in reports and other outputs.

Jumbo Panels Beta version

In conjunction with the CADMATIC Hull 2024T3 version, we are releasing a special CADMATIC Hull Jumbo Panels Beta version which contains an advanced jumbo panels feature. With this feature, you can split large plates into sub-plates with varied thicknesses and materials using seams.

Parts connected to a jumbo panel take the sub-plates' positions and different thicknesses and materials into account. For example, if the thickness of a connected sub-plate is changed, or seams in the jumbo panel are deleted or moved, the system adjusts the position of the connected parts accordingly.

This version is released with the purpose of letting our customers investigate and test out the feature. We warmly welcome any and all feedback on this feature.

Note that this version is not meant to be used in production.

Information Management

Collision detection reporting

Collision detection has plenty of new features to further improve the collaboration in a project and sharing information between applications. When a collision test is run in eShare App, the test results are now displayed in table format which opens in split screen mode next to the model.

After the test is saved, the collision test results can be displayed also in eShare in a browser, where all the saved collisions tests for the project are displayed as a list. You can view the data of the test setups, or display the actual results both as a table and see the collisions in the model.

A saved collision test can be displayed any time in either eShare in a browser or eShare App, collision statuses can be changed accordingly, markups can be created for the effected objects, or you can rerun the collision test in eShare App. The collision test results can also be exported as an Excel file to enable further handling and utilization of the data.

Label detection in point clouds

AI can be, after configuration, used to detect labels from selected point clouds in the project in eShare. AI processes the point clouds and generates a list of labels found from the point clouds.

In the analysis view the found labels can be filtered according to newly found labels or labels found earlier, or labels already used to generate Smart Points. The actual results can then be filtered according to selected rules, which can utilize model keys, document object or Smart Point links, data in an Excel file, or regexes with patterns. The filters can be saved for later use, and applied to the current results.

After configuring the Smart Point generation rules, which can use data gathered from the detection or regexes, which were created earlier, or create new ones. Finally, the Smart Points can be previewed to test used transformations, or check for duplicates. After viewing and filtering the results, you can select which labels to accept and for which labels to use to generate Smart Points.

Orthographic projection and grid lines

eBrowser, eGo, and eShare all have the possibility of selecting between orthographic projection and perspective projection. Using orthographic projection enables viewing the model in two dimensions instead of three, if there is a need for more accuracy in taking measurements. Orthographic projection preserves distances in the view, and objects further away are not rendered smaller than objects which are closer as in perspective projection.

You can now also show grid lines in the model to, for example, enable easier measurements and to help with positioning when the frame numbers are visible.

Electrical

LED strips

Our new LED strip tool is available in layout symbol functions. You can define the width, height, and other properties for the LED strips and draw them in 2D and 3D as any other Electrical symbols using different elevations. Drawing an LED strip creates a device with a device ID. The device ID enables LED strips to be used with product models, making them function like any other light fixtures.

EDZ Import

Product models have been used in Electrical for a very long time. Users have been able to create their own libraries with different symbols and product information, for example. Now, there is a new way to create product models by importing EDZ files that are used in EPLAN. EDZ files contain all the specifications for generating product models in Electrical: product information, symbols, product images, and manuals. In case all the information is not needed in Electrical, it is possible to specify what to include in the EDZ import.

EDZ files are available, for example, on manufacturers’ websites.


DIALux evo import and export

Light calculations in DIALux evo usually need to be started by adding spaces and inserting light fixtures into them. This has now been made easier with STF export: When the spaces are exported to DIALux evo, the time spent creating them is drastically reduced. After the light calculations are complete, the IFC file can be exported back into Electrical with product information. The IFC file will help to insert light fixtures at the correct coordinates and create the product model using product information.

Drawing busbar and feeders

In DB tool, you can create a distribution board, busbar and feeders with actual symbols or copy an existing distribution board in your project. When there are no occurrences of the newly created or copied distribution board in a single-line drawing, you can use automated functions to draw the busbar and feeders. The automated drawing function reduces the time spent when inserting different symbols and devices into the drawing.

User wire marking in schema drawings

You can now define user-specific wire markings and make them the default. User wire markings are saved to the user wire markings table.

Wire markings can be presented, for example, as lines, boxes or even hatches. With the Insert info to drawing function, you can define all the necessary information to be shown.

Improvement for schema symbols and objects

Load diagrams consist of different symbols and objects, creating a table of distribution board feeders, protection devices and such. All these objects combine into an object group which has been a little challenging to move. We have added system variables giving the object group a few handles for easier adjusting.

Draw

Customizable ribbon

It is now possible to customize the ribbon user-specifically. With the editing tools, you can add your own tabs on the ribbon and then copy your most used functions from other tabs or create completely new functions. These tabs are saved user-specifically but can also be shared with other users.

The 2024T3 release also includes numerous improvements to the IFC4 import and export functions. Furthermore, the daily use of the application has been made easier in many ways – for example, zooming or panning no longer marks the drawing as edited.