Our customers are overwhelmingly delighted with one of our newest features developed by Michael Coffey. This is also one of my favorites. I can see how helpful it can be in creating similar sheets with room views for projects. I wanted to bring your attention to this hidden powerful feature! Long gone are the days of manual view creations and manual alignment.
When using this feature in Ideate ViewCreator, one of the tools in the IdeateApps collection, you can setup one sheet with the room views that you like and then use it as a template to create many more.
Tips to making this successful: Make sure to turn off, Grids, Sections, and Levels in your view template prior to cloning the Sheet. This ensures the scope box placement and the extent of the view match the original setup without being affected by Grids, Sections and Levels. Once when the new Sheet is created, you can turn these categories back on, if desired. The same View Template will be applied to the Cloned Sheet, so turning the items back on will be a breeze.
Original Sheet used as a Template:
New Cloned Sheet:
Bonus! You can select multiple rooms to follow one template! Batch view creation made easy!
Learn more about batch creating room-based views here.
This blog post is part of our Training Series. Access more here.
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.
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.
We recently launched the ability to create the export of DWG files from Revit models via Ideate Automation. (We have supported the creation of PDFs since June 2022). Controlling the output of the files is done within the Ideate Automation set up wizard. We have improved upon the Revit DWG export settings and can control the naming of the DWGs better and add custom parameters where appropriate.
The default file naming for many of the scripts that export to DWG is controlled by the variable ${view_parameterValue}. This value is in turn controlled by either a sheet or view name parameter. The default value for the sheet elements is to use the parameter called “Sheet Number” while the default value for view elements is to use the parameter called “View Name.”
To comply with ISO 19650 standards for example, many people are managing the required sheet number value with a custom parameter name. In the example shown below, the sheet number is combined on the title block to include two custom parameters called Project Code and Originator, both of which are stored under Project Information.
Example of title sheet using custom parameters to comply with the ISO 19650 UK standard
Both the AUT-Export_DWG and IBL-Export_DWG_Dynamic Ideate Automation scripts can be used to deliver unique DWG file names by adjusting the File Name variable to:
You can add custom parameters from Project Information to the file name.
After the script has completed and the files have been created the file name is created by concatinating the Project Code, Originator and Sheet Number parameters.
DWGs created with names consistent with ISO 19650 UK standard.
Read more about automating your DWG exports from Revit in this How To guide.
If you’re a fan of ISO 19650, you may find these related blog posts useful:
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, a customer was using our Ideate Automation script: “AUT-Export-Combined_PDF” and ran into a timeout error during the export process. Our timeout for this workflow was set to two hours. As a result, we changed the timeout to four hours for the latest release.
This also sparked a conversation around the factors that impact the export to PDF time. Here is a short list to help you troubleshoot your model before exporting to PDF:
Views Far Clipping and Depth Clipping Parameters Aren’t Managed
Showing too much of what you don’t need in a view increases the time it renders it for the view, therefore impacting the time it takes to print, especially if the clipping setting is set to “No Clip,” which means that it’s infinite, and you are at risk of showing more than what you need.
Here are the settings you can manage to control this:
Depth Clipping: Plan Views and Plan Callouts
Far Clipping: Elevations, Elevation Callouts, and Sections
Note: Far Clip Settings for Elevation Callouts can either be independent or same as parent view, however, Sections and Elevations are inherently independent.
To manage this, you can utilize Ideate BIMLink to audit your Views clipping options. Ideate BIMLink has a link definition named “Views” you can use as a starting point and add the necessary parameters. In this case we need “Depth Clipping” and “Far Clipping”
You’ll notice that the clipping values are 0,1,2:
0 = No clip
1 = Clip with line
2 = Clip without Line
“Far Clip Settings” is another parameter we can investigate. There are two options as indicated above, Same as Parent View or Independent.
Views Far Clip Offset Isn’t Managed
To manage this parameter in BIMLink, you need the “Far Clip Offset.” You can go ahead and add it to your Link Definition. When far clipping is set to clip with or without a line, you can control the Far Clip Offset. You can audit your model by reviewing and editing the distance so that it’s not showing too much information for that view.
Depth Cueing is Enabled for the View
This property can be managed with “Depth Cueing: Show Depth.” If this is enabled for a view, it will take longer to print and it rasterizes the image.
Views with Shadows Turned on
If shadows are turned on for a view, it takes longer to print as it rasterizes it, much like Depth Cueing. Unfortunately, there is API limitations to access this data, but it’s on our roadmap once Revit makes it accessible.
Views Detail Level
The rule of thumb for Views detail level is that the majority should be set to Coarse level of detail. Use Medium or fine level of details for detail only. To manage this, you can utilize the “Detail Level” parameter and add it to the “Views” BIMLink Link Definition.
Number of Views on Sheet
Using the BIMLink Link Definition “Views,” you can use the property “Sheet Number” to investigate how many views are on the Sheet. Sheets that contain a lot of views take longer to print.
Views with CAD Links that aren’t clean
A dense CAD file on a view increases printing time. Cleaning CAD links before linking them into the Revit model is a general rule, however, there comes times where you miss a few layers or want to do a quick merging or deleting layers. You can use Ideate Style Manager; Navigate to Object Styles and check Imported Styles. Scroll to the DWG file you’re looking to clean. You can analyze, merge, and delete certain layers.
You can also check if there are any CAD Links or imports in your project to begin with. You can utilize the Ideate BIMLink definition “HC-Imports” and go to the Filters tab and delete “Is Linked” filter to list all CAD Links and CAD Imports in the project.
As you see, there are many factors that impact the time it takes to export to PDF from Revit. With this short list and the proper tools, you can audit your model and find your Export to PDF from Revit culprit!
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
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.
Trying to navigate your way around a Revit model can be a challenging and time-consuming exercise. Fortunately, Ideate Software tools are on hand to make this easier and more efficient.
When you are searching for a particular value or element within the Ideate Software applications, how you specify the search term can affect the results produced.
In the example below, searching for Block A, the results are finding any level with either Block or A in the name.
The results are not filtered for just Block A
Adding quotation marks will return results that match exactly Block A.
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.
Nivin Nabeel, Customer Success Manager, Americas
Steve Deadman - Customer Success Manager - EMEA
Ideate Software