A great reason to use Ideate BIMLink for Autodesk Revit is that it allows non-Revit users to contribute to the data side of the model. What do we mean by this? We mean that interior designs or consultants who don't have Revit can fill out important space and room information such as a finish schedule or the Specified Airflow values using plain 'ole MS Excel. We mean that the project manager who is busy traveling to job sites can edit the sheet list  information from the job trailer without having to access the project's .RVT file. Or, maybe it's the building engineer, onsite, who is reading barcodes from each installed piece of mechanical equipment and wants that data stored back into the as-built model. Ideate BIMLink is the perfect solution for all these scenarios. 

How does it work? We'll use the example of filling out the manufacture and model number for the mechanical equipment or specialty equipment. Bob is the engineer who owns Revit and uses a workstation, while Sue is the general contractor completing the as-built information. Sue is onsite with an iPad walking through the building to confirm each piece of data. Here's the basic procedure:

1. Bob exports the list of mechanical equipment from the Revit model using Ideate BIMLink.
2. Bob saves the .XLSX file into Dropbox.
3. Sue uses CloudOn with Dropbox on her iPad and sees the file Bob just posted.
4. Sue opens the .XLSX and walks around to verify the Manufacture and model number for each piece of equipment that's actually installed.
5. Some of the model number fields are missing or incorrect.  Sue edits them on the iPad.
6. When Sue is done Bob uses Ideate BIMLink to import the edited .XLSX data and push it back into Revit.
7. Now the Revit file data matches the as-built information and the owner gets a high-quality deliverable!

Give it a try; you can download a free Trial version of Ideate BIMLink and both Dropbox and CloudOn are free Apps for the iPad and iPhone. Note that CloudOn also works with Google Drive and with SkyDrive accounts.

About the Author

Glynnis Patterson, NCARB - Director of Software Development Glynnis is a Registered Architect and has worked with the BIM industry since 1998. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked as an architect, educator and construction site manager. Glynnis is currently the Director of Software Development Services at Ideate, Inc. and continues to work with AEC clients across the nation, developing, and implementing best practices solutions. In her spare time Glynnis does volunteer work and builds Lego projects. @GVPinNJ

SAN FRANCISCO, California - 11/27/2012 - Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk® Authorized Developer and Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry, introduces new Ideate BIMLink 2013 workflow enhancements at AU 2012, November 27-29, 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada. Ideate BIMLink is an Ideate-developed Autodesk® Revit® software add-on with a five star rating on the Autodesk Exchange Apps Store.

At AU, architects, engineers, construction professionals, building owners and project managers from firms of all sizes around the world who use Ideate BIMLink can see how their requested enhancements have been integrated into the software solution to further ensure the integrity, stability and quality of their building information modeling (BIM) data.

New Ideate BIMLink features include License Borrowing enabled (2013 only), Multi-Category Links, Smart Filtering that allows exclusion of items from Export, Read and write to existing Excel files, and Coordinate (XYZ) data.

"As developers, we are committed to making sure our customers get maximum productivity from their software solutions. To that end, we ask for feedback, we listen, and we continually refine and enhance. We update Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit on an ongoing basis," says Ideate Inc. president Bob Palioca.

Ideate BIMLink lets users access, analyze, control, edit, extract, and manage BIM data with speed, ease and accuracy within a reliable and stable platform. With Ideate BIMLink, users can pull data from a Revit file into user-friendly Microsoft® Excel®, edit and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease. The data - the "I" in BIM - can then inform BIM decisions with precision. Wasteful data-entry tasks are eliminated. Tasks that once took days take only minutes. Get started with a trial version today.

To coincide with AU 2012, Ideate, Inc. is offering worldwide an Autodesk University 2012 bundle promotion until December 31, 2012. The combination is available via easy web download. It is limited to one offer per company. Included are single, stand-alone, full, upgradeable licenses of Ideate BIMLink 2013 and Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 at US$599. Ideate Explorer for Revit finds hidden elements in Revit databases. The promotion offers a savings of more than 50 percent from US$1249. Offer expires Jan. 1, 2013. Network pricing is also available. (This offer has expired, see the latest packages and pricing here.) For more details, contact: [email protected]

About Ideate, Inc.

Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer with 25+ years' experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and is an Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry since 1992. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and operating five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATCs) in the northwestern U.S., Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk's highest levels of authorization.

Ideate BIMLink lets users pull data from an Autodesk Revit file into user-friendly Microsoft Excel and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease. ideatesoftware.com

Ideate Explorer for Revit is a simple, powerful Autodesk Revit add-on to explore, quantify and manage the 100,000+ building elements in a Revit model. ideatesoftware.com

Autodesk, ATC, and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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My favorite new feature in Revit 2013 is the ability to persistently control views through the use of View Templates. In earlier versions of Revit there was a "Default View Template" field which didn't do a whole lot. Sure, you could grab a whole bunch of views through the Project Browser and manually force them to update per your View Template rules, but who has time to remember?

Ideate BIMLink exposes this data and lets you extract information from the host object that the rebar is placed in, thus allowing you to create a schedule that contains both rebar information as well as information about the elements it is placed in. Creating such a schedule using Ideate BIMLink is easy:

1. Launch IdeateBIMLink from the Add-Ins tab

2. Create a New Link with Structural Rebar as the category

3. In the Properties dialog box, notice how you can add data about the objects that the rebar is hosted in.

You can export this data to Microsoft Excel, Edit it if need be and bring it back into the Revit Model.

This post was originally published on the Ideate Solutions Blog 11.12.2012

SAN FRANCISCO, California - 05/15/2012 - Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer and Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry, today announced an update to Ideate BIMLink, the popular application for Autodesk Revit software. Expanded content and improved performance give users of Ideate BIMLink 2013 unprecedented access to and control of BIM data.

With Ideate BIMLink 2013 the Revit project team and non-Revit using data contributors can access information appropriate to their needs within a platform that safeguards the BIM model against error. Ideate BIMLink is used for a wide variety of data management tasks and now in 2013 supports several new important workflows including the ability to automatically generate consultant sheet lists, automatically populate with unplaced spaces, export detailed information about parts and materials and assist with view template implementation.

"We recognize the importance of a timely product delivery and are pleased to be able to deliver both Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 within a few days of the official Autodesk Revit product launch this year," said Ideate Inc. president Bob Palioca.

"We've included many new features and improvements thanks to all the great customer input we've had," remarked Ideate director of Software Development Glynnis Patterson, "And we've also re-tooled Ideate BIMLink with significant performance improvements that will bump our customer's ROI even higher."

For current bundles and pricing visit our purchase page. Get started with a trial version of Ideate BIMLink today. For information on network pricing, contact [email protected]

Ideate BIMLink works with Autodesk Revit Architecture, Autodesk Revit MEP, and Autodesk Revit Structure software in conjunction with all versions of Microsoft Excel. 

Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit will be shown at the upcoming Revit Technology Conferences (RTC); one in North America on June 28-30, 2012 and another in Australia May 24-26, 2012.

About Ideate, Inc.

Ideate, Inc. is a member of the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) with 25+ years experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM).

Ideate BIMLink lets users pull data from an Autodesk Revit software file into user-friendly Microsoft Excel and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease.

Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk solutions provider, offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to AEC professionals. Established in 1992 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk's highest levels of authorization. Ideate, Inc. operates five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATC): San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose, California; Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Ideate facilities are Autodesk Authorized Certification Centers, providing globally recognized certification courses for professionals who sell, service and support Autodesk products and solutions.

Autodesk, ATC, and Revit, are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Carpe Vista!; or Using View Templates in Revit 2013

My favorite new feature in Revit 2013 is the ability to persistently control views through the use of View Templates. In earlier versions of Revit there was a "Default View Template" field which didn't do a whole lot. Sure, you could grab a whole bunch of views through the Project Browser and manually force them to update per your View Template rules, but who has time to remember? Now in 2013 you can assign a View Template to a set of views and the elements within those Views will continually abide by the View Template rules! This goes a long way towards eliminating plotting errors by putting up a small roadblock for those who ponder setting overrides to a view's display settings. When a View Template is assigned in 2013, the corresponding Visibility Graphics (VG) dialog will appear as grayed out per this image. Initially this may cause some minor heartburn but in the long run, returning the visibility control over to the BIM Manager can only be a good thing!

My colleague, Shruti Harve, made this great video on how to manage the View Template settings in Excel using Ideate BIMLink 2013. All views will not need a View Template assignment, but taking the time to assign your floor and ceiling plans will be well worth the effort when it comes time to publish your project. Set aside some time today to look closely at this new Autodesk Revit 2013 feature. So with apologies my 8th grade Latin teacher - Carpe Vista! Post scriptum: for all you Windows Vista™ fans (?!) that's "seize the View"

This post was originally published on the Ideate Solutions Blog 04.26.2012