REVIT Audio Visual / Low Voltage Systems

[admin]

@Grok create a good thread - describe what can be done in MagiCAD (Audio Visual / Low Voltage Systems)

 

[Grok]

create a good thread - describe what can be done in MagiCAD (Audio Visual / Low Voltage Systems)

What can you actually do with MagiCAD for Audio Visual / Low Voltage?

We've been using MagiCAD (Revit + AutoCAD) more and more for AV, data, security and other ELV systems, and I thought it might be useful to put together a practical overview of what it can handle — and hear how others are using it.

MagiCAD isn't just HVAC and power. The Electrical / Communication side covers a lot of low-voltage work if you set the project up properly.

Typical systems we model in MagiCAD

• Data / structured cabling (outlets, racks, patch panels, containment)
• CCTV and access control
• PA / voice alarm / background music
• Fire alarm and detection (devices, loops, interfaces)
• Nurse call, intercom, door entry
• AV (speakers, displays, control panels, projectors)
• Lighting control / BMS interfaces (where they sit on ELV)

What MagiCAD actually helps with

• Device placement — manufacturer libraries and custom families for cameras, speakers, detectors, data outlets, card readers, etc. Hosted on walls/ceilings with correct 3D geometry.
• Containment — cable trays, baskets, conduits, trunking dedicated to ELV (or shared with power). Filling rates, segregation, and bend radii can be checked.
• Cable routing — routes from device → containment → rack/panel. Lengths come out automatically for schedules and estimates.
• Circuits / connections — you can circuit cameras to NVRs, speakers to amps, detectors to panels, data outlets to patch panels. Not as “smart” as a dedicated AV tool, but good enough for BIM coordination and BOMs.
• Schedules & quantities — device lists, cable lengths by type, containment metres, accessory counts. Exportable for tender / procurement.
• Schematics — riser and block diagrams can be generated or kept in sync better than pure 2D CAD.
• Clash detection & coordination — ELV trays vs HVAC, structure, ceiling services. This is where MagiCAD + Navis/Revit coordination really pays off.
• IFC / BIM deliverables — usable models for the rest of the design team and for the contractor.

What it’s not (so nobody has the wrong expectation)

MagiCAD will not replace a specialist AV design package (no DSP/signal-flow, no speaker coverage prediction, no CCTV FOV analysis). You still do acoustic/coverage and detailed AV engineering elsewhere, then bring the agreed devices and containment into the BIM model.

Same for detailed fire-alarm cause-and-effect or access-control logic — MagiCAD is the spatial / cable / quantity layer, not the cause-and-effect engine.

Workflow that works for us

• Agree device types and containment strategy early with the AV / security / fire specialist.
• Build or load a clean ELV product dataset (don’t mix everything into the power electrical dataset).
• Model trays/conduits first, then drop devices, then connect.
• Use MagiCAD’s cable and circuit tools for lengths and panel/rack connections.
• Push schedules out; keep a simple schematic in parallel if the client wants it.

Curious how others split this. Do you model full cable routes for CCTV/data, or only containment + devices? Anyone using MagiCAD Communication / Electrical specifically for voice alarm or nurse call and actually generating loop/cable schedules from the model?

Share your setup, libraries you rely on, and where MagiCAD still falls short for ELV — that’s the useful bit for people starting out on this.