We often get asked a variety of different questions about streamlining electrical workflows using Ideate Software. So, I’ll address a few electrical and equipment workflows in two parts, or should I say two circuits? Hopefully, you had a chance to review Circuit #1, and here is Circuit #2, which highlights Ideate Explorer and IdeateApps.
Can I use Ideate Explorer to find and select Electrical Data within the Revit model?
Ideate Explorer allows Revit users to quickly find, filter and select electrical data and sort by Category, Level, Phase, Room, Space or Zone. In a Worksharing-enabled model, you can also sort by Workset and ‘Edited By’ properties.
With Ideate Query, a component of Ideate Explorer, you can select Lighting Devices as an example. You might want to review elevation parameters that are just not available to be shown in a default Revit Schedule. You can select all the Lighting Devices that have an incorrect elevation and quickly change them all via the Revit Properties Palette.
Ideate Query gives you access to more parameters and data than is available in Revit. For instance, you can search for Pinned Status, Flipped Status or In-Place family status … just to name a few! Please review some of the tips for using Ideate Query here.
You might want to review additional information in our HELP files on MEP Examples for Ideate Query.
Ideate Explorer helps easily locate Electrical Equipment within the Revit model, and it can sort by many options such as Space.
You can use Ideate Query to review important information such as elevation of Lighting Devices. Almost any parameter can be used to select a series of elements for further refinement.
Can I use IdeateApps to help me renumber lighting fixtures based on the architect’s room data?
With the Ideate ReNumber application that is part of the IdeateApps collection, you can renumber almost any Revit element. You can create a rule that extracts the Architect’s Room Number as part of the light fixture numbering sequence, even if that room is located within a Revit linked file. In fact, Ideate ReNumber gives you access to geometric spatial data on Room, Space or Zone parameters. You can also access Instance, Type, Assembly, Host, Level, Model Group, Phase, Project Information and RVT Link parameters as part of a numbering sequence. In addition, critical coordinate data is also accessible for renumbering rules.
You might want to review additonal information in our HELP files for including Revit Linked information such as rooms.
Ideate ReNumber ships with many pre-defined rules, and you can create your own rule that might extract the room number from the architect’s model. The room data doesn’t need to be loaded into a MEP Space first, which reduces errors and speeds up the process.
These are just a few of the questions we get about using Ideate Software with Revit electrical data. Check out our Video Library.
Our Ideate StyleManager can also assist with many workflows for EVERY Revit engineer or user, but that’s a shockingly bright idea blog for a different day and different circuit! (I promised myself no bad electrical puns until the VERY end. Sorry!)
Visit our website for more information on our Revit productivity tools. Give them a try with a free trial version, or subscribe today.
About the Author
Richard W. Taylor, Associate AIA – Technical Evangelist
Richard has more than 30 years of experience working for companies that develop architectural and engineering software solutions, such as Intergraph, Bentley, and Autodesk. He has over 18 years of Revit experience, and he was part of the original development of Revit while at Revit Technology Corporation. He worked for 12 years at Autodesk, where he presented, taught, and worked to improve features in Revit. Richard holds both a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and Master of Architecture from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. As Technical Evangelist, Richard works with AECO clients worldwide, developing and consulting on BIM solutions. Find Richard on Twitter.