View templates are a key and vital part of any Revit project. View templates control the ‘look and feel’ of your printed (exported) output as well as 2D documentation. 2D pdfs are still very much the accepted contract documents. So, you want to make sure that all your drawings are consistent and look identical. View templates manage this very well. But what about managing the view templates themselves? There is no way to do this easily within Revit.
Within Ideate BIMLink are many pre-defined link definitions that look after standards and model health within models, including links that manage views. You can assign view templates to views using the Views link definition that ships with Ideate BIMLink:
Bulk Assign View Templates to Views using Ideate BIMLink
There are also a number of links that deal with view templates themselves:
Link Definitions for View Templates
Using our Project_Stds-View_Templates link definition, it’s possible to review the properties of each view template and make edits to multiple templates at once such as turning on and off the properties included within each template.
This link can be used to edit all the properties shown in yellow below (with any of your view-specific custom parameters) but cannot be used to dig into any property that has an Edit… button within the dialog. This means that you cannot, for example, edit the settings within the V/G Overrides RVT Link. You can control whether the V/G Overrides RVT Link settings are applicable for the given view template.
Editable Properties within Ideate BIMLink Shown in Yellow
Managing View Template Properties with Ideate BIMLink
Browse our website to learn more about how Ideate Software add-on products help Revit users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables and elevate design. You can give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to the Revit plugin solutions Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, Ideate StyleManager, and IdeateApps for six months.
About the Author
Steve Deadman - Customer Success Manager - EMEA
Steve provides support to customers and helps them get a strong return on their software investment. He has a B.Eng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering and various certifications in engineering. Before joining Ideate Software, he worked at several top architectural firm in the United Kingdom where he specialized in the implementation and management of BIM processes and technology. Find Steve on LinkedIn.
Recently, I had the terrific opportunity to speak with viewers from around the world on Revit Pure Live, a weekly show that teaches strategies on how to become a better Revit user. Hosted by Nicolas Catellier, the founder of Revit Pure, this session attracted people from Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, England, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain, Portugal, the United States, and more.
The title of my presentation was “Mastering the Art of Revit Data,” which is something I am very passionate about. It featured a high-level overview of the Revit challenges solved by Ideate Software tools, which were my favorite when I worked as a BIM manager prior to joining Ideate, and then a deep dive into how to become a Revit Ninja by using the tools. This session covered the following topics:
Work around the most common Revit database access limitations
Efficiently navigate models relying on model data
Safely and quickly edit large volumes of data
I also had the honor to preview new features to Ideate Explorer and Ideate BIMLink that are in their final development stages. These features include dynamic filtering within Ideate Explorer and compound layer management within Ideate BIMLink! The recording is available on the Revit Pure Live YouTube channel.
Browse our website to learn more about how Ideate Software’s Revit add-ins help Revit users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables, and elevate design. You can give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, Ideate StyleManager, and IdeateApps for six months.
About the Author
Nivin Nabeel, Customer Success Manager, Americas
Nivin has a background in architecture, visual arts, and computer science and has extensive experience in managing and manipulating BIM data, developing and implementing BIM standards and workflows, and applying BIM workflows to ancillary project components for improved efficiency. Before joining Ideate Software, Nivin worked at several architecture and design firms where she learned about Ideate Software products, used them, advocated for them, implemented them, and trained others on how to use them. She earned her Bachelor of Architectural Science degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. Follow Nivin on LinkedIn.
We are excited to have the opportunity to meet with Revit users at BuildTech Asia (BTA) in Singapore on March 28-30. The goal of BTA 2023 is to be the Asia Pacific region’s leading event for people in the building and construction industries to:
Facilitate the exchange of insights, knowledge, and solutions
Accelerate the adoption of automation and digitalization
Help start, scale, and sustain the transformation journey
Please visit our booth G17 within the Singapore Expo Hall 3 to meet with Richard Taylor, our Technical Evangelist, and representatives from our local partner, BIMAGE Consulting.
If you're an Ideate Software customer, learn about the recent enhancements to our portfolio, including the Ideate Annotate tool within IdeateApps and our new product, Ideate Automation. Not yet an Ideate Software customer? Stop by to see demonstrations of how our tools are essential for every Revit user and savvy BIM manager.
Visit our Events page to learn about other opportunities to meet with the Ideate Software team in person and online.
Ideate Software’s Richard Taylor in front of the famous Singapore Merlion in 2018
Browse our website to learn more about how Ideate Software’s top Revit plugins help Revit users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables and elevate design. You can give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to our addiins for Revit, which includes Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, Ideate StyleManager, and IdeateApps for six months.
Revit software is the most popular BIM software used by architects; structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers; designers; and contractors to create, edit, and review 3D models. It’s used to:
Model 3D shapes, structures, and systems
Start from scratch or convert 2D models to 3D
Create photo-like representations of structures or systems
Identify clashes early in the design stage
Streamline documentation work
All model data is kept in a single database
Changes made in one place automatically update throughout the model
Monitor, review, and share information on changes
Unite multidisciplinary teams in a unified project environment with specialty toolset that empower:
Architectural designers to focus more on creativity and innovative designs by using Revit to easily iterate design ideas and then document, coordinate, manage, and deliver architecture projects
Structural engineers to save time, reduce risk, and minimize errors by using Revit to design, detail, analyze, and document structural systems through all stages, from pre-planning through maintenance
MEP engineers to reduce headaches down the road by using Revit to model, analyze, and iterate system designs that support better performance and sustainability
Construction teams to increase productivity by working from accurate drawings of constructable structures
Feature Requests from Revit Users
Autodesk’s mission is to “empower innovators with design and make technology so they can achieve the new possible.” To do this, they must listen to the users of their technology, and they do. One way they listen is through Autodesk Community, a place for software users to connect, find answers to questions, share knowledge, build networks, and more. The Autodesk Community offers many ways to connect, including community-led webinars, a Community Voices vlog, and Community Challenges. The Community places for people to ask questions, get help, and share knowledge are the Community Forums, or product discussion boards. To make it easy to find topics of interest, Autodesk has separate forums for each of its products. Revit users can go to:
Revit Architecture Forum
Revit MEP Forum
Revit Structure Forum
Revit API Forum
Revit Ideas Forum
The Revit Ideas Forum is where users can go to share ideas for future product features directly with the Revit team and collaborate on existing suggestions with peers. At the time this blog post was written, there were more than 43,000 posts in the Revit Ideas Forum. To simplify the process of contributing to and finding posts, Autodesk has three main tabs on the page: Hot Ideas, Top Voted, and Latest Ideas, and they have all posts sorted into more than 30 categories, including Architecture, BIM Management, Collaboration, Construction, Documentation, Mechanical, Modeling, Multi-Discipline, and Visualization.
Ideate Software – Essential Revit Plugins List
We at Ideate Software know that we create essential plugins for Revit because we actually address challenges expressed by Revit users. The Revit Ideas Forum is one of the ways to learn about what’s important to Revit users. We monitor the site regularly, paying attention to the ideas that get the most “votes,” which are ways for Revit users to express their agreement with the original post. Armed with that information as well as information we get from discussions with Revit users from around the world, we decide which ones to focus on, and then determine if we can add functionality to an existing product or develop a new product.
Here's a recording of a one-hour webinar in which Richard Taylor, Ideate Software’s Technical Evangelist, highlighted feature requests addressed by Ideate Software
Here are links to the blog posts referenced in the video. Within each blog post, in addition to providing step-by-step workflow instructions, we link to the related feature requests on the Revit Ideas Forum, so you can see how our features granted a “wish” made by Revit users that Autodesk has not addressed:
Below is the top Revit plugins list of tools developed by Ideate Software:
Ideate Explorer – Revit users want to spend more time on interesting design activities. Ideate Explorer helps them do this by dramatically decreasing the amount of time they have to spend on model management. They use it to quickly find and delete incorrect, obsolete, and hidden problem items—including imported or linked DWG drawings—as well as to find, refine, and revise elements, even those not included in the Revit project browser.
The following three features that are included with Ideate Explorer add additional value to the Revit plugin:
Ideate Warnings Manager – Audit warnings that are ranked by importance and fix the problems using Revit tools while the Warnings Manager dialog box is open
Ideate Query – Search in parameters for elements like unused annotations, design options, in-place usage, structure usage/area scheme, and revisions
Ideate Navigate – Navigate view-based elements; find unused sheets and views; find and filter legends, schedules, sheets, or views by category and/or keyword; customize work environments without changing the project browser
Ideate BIMLink – You can use Ideate BIMLink instead of working in Revit to verify and/or edit data one element at a time. Export data to Excel where you can easily view and manipulate large amounts of data easily. Once the data is updated, you can then use Ideate BIMLink for Revit to import data back into Revit, and the model will immediately update.
Ideate Sticky – Revit users appreciate the ability to share accurate and nicely formatted non-BIM data with Revit teams by live-linking Excel, Word, and PDF documents into a Revit model with Ideate Sticky. These “stickies” look nice, are easy to read, and can be updated easily when changes are made to the original source documents.
Ideate StyleManager – Pasting data from one Revit model to another often causes problems because information associated with the original files get copied along with the data. This clogs models with incorrect information that can take a long time to remove if working in Revit. Not removing the information is risky because it can cause model performance problems and documentation errors. With Ideate StyleManager, it’s easy to analyze, merge, or delete non-standard Revit styles. You can also use Ideate StyleManager to see the view filters applied to views and clean object and line styles and patterns, text, fonts, parameters, and more.
Ideate Automation – Do more meaningful work as Ideate Automation runs time-intensive BIM tasks silently in the background. You can start the script manually or schedule it to run at a convenient time, even during non-working hours. Our customers add Ideate Automation to their toolbox to increase productivity, eliminate the need to train staff on repetitive tasks, and ensure task outcomes are highly predictable, free of user errors, and standardized.
Learn More
Browse our website to learn more about how Ideate Software’s top Revit plugins help Revit users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables and elevate design. You can give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to our addins for Revit, which includes Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, Ideate StyleManager, and IdeateApps for six months.
Glynnis Patterson, Richard Taylor, and I had the chance to visit New York City on Feb 7 – 9, 2023. During this time, we had the opportunity to teach, learn, network, and get inspired!
In addition to the visits, we hosted a seminar at WeWork for representatives from different companies in the AECO industries. During this seminar, Richard Taylor spoke about our latest product developments, including Ideate Annotate and our NEWEST product, Ideate Automation. I followed Richard with a presentation that showcased unique workflows using Ideate Software tools for savvy BIM managers as well as users.
Reconnecting with our users in person gave us excellent insight into their existing workflows and challenges and how Ideate Software can help make a difference!
We were also fortunate enough to catch the post-COVID relaunch of NYC Revit User Group. It was a presentation by one of our customers Thornton Tomasetti. Later, we walked around the city and loved the bustle! Here is a photo of the fearless team with the Fearless Girl statue in Manhattan.
We look forward to visiting again!
About the Author
Nivin Nabeel, Customer Success Manager, Americas
Nivin has a background in architecture, visual arts, and computer science and has extensive experience in managing and manipulating BIM data, developing and implementing BIM standards and workflows, and applying BIM workflows to ancillary project components for improved efficiency. Before joining Ideate Software, Nivin worked at several architecture and design firms where she learned about Ideate Software products, used them, advocated for them, implemented them, and trained others on how to use them. She earned her Bachelor of Architectural Science degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. Follow Nivin on LinkedIn.
Steve Deadman - Customer Success Manager - EMEA
Nivin Nabeel, Customer Success Manager, Americas
Facilitate the exchange of insights, knowledge, and solutions
Model 3D shapes, structures, and systems
Autodesk’s mission is to “empower innovators with design and make technology so they can achieve the new possible.” To do this, they must listen to the users of their technology, and they do. One way they listen is through Autodesk Community, a place for software users to connect, find answers to questions, share knowledge, build networks, and more. The Autodesk Community offers many ways to connect, including community-led webinars, a Community Voices vlog, and Community Challenges. The Community places for people to ask questions, get help, and share knowledge are the Community Forums, or product discussion boards. To make it easy to find topics of interest, Autodesk has separate forums for each of its products. Revit users can go to: 
Ideate Software