August

30

2023

There are many free Revit plugins on the market. Based on our personal experience as well as conversations with hundreds of people who have tried free and inexpensive plugins, we strongly discourage people from using them. Although a plugin may have a low upfront cost, it may cost a fortune in terms of time spent trying to get it to perform as described. And often, it never does. Not only does this frustrate users, if they downloaded the software in hopes of solving a pressing issue, they may miss a deadline and frustrate customers as well.

The Monetary Cost of Ideate Software Plugins for Revit

Developing, marketing, and supporting Revit plugins is complicated, and Ideate Software does it extremely well. While we like to focus on the value of our software, we understand that the monetary cost is important for budgeting, plus it creates a basis from which to determine the cost savings achieved.

Please visit our Bundles page for current pricing on our standard one-year subscriptions for single users, multiple users, and enterprise licensing, as well as our special promotions, which at the time of this post, include six-month get-to-know-us bundles for single and multiple users as well as the option to add Ideate Automation. Subscriptions to individual products are also available. For pricing information, go to our online store and click on each product’s name.

The Reasons Ideate Software Products are Top Revit Plugins

The whole reason Ideate Software is in business is to help companies in the architecture, engineering, construction, and owner-operator industries get the most out of their Revit software. It’s not an add-on to our business. It’s not a secondary or tertiary area of focus. It’s what we do! We are an Autodesk Authorized Developer and a member of the Autodesk Developer Network, meaning that we adhere to strict guidelines established by Autodesk and that they trust us to deliver products and services that strengthen their products and their reputation.

Here are some factors that contribute to our designation as a top Revit plugin developer:

  1. We create an atmosphere that attracts top talent. A people-first philosophy in which every person is treated with respect, encouraged to share their ideas, and recognized for their successes has led to several people staying with the company for decades as well as new people with outstanding skills joining us. For examples, read this press release about Rahul Verma, who celebrated his 20-year anniversary with Ideate in 2021, and this press release that announces three new hires who brought their talents to Ideate Software within the past year. 
     
  2. We develop plugins that Revit users want. We don’t ever think we know what functionality to work on next. We know what to do because we listen to Revit users. Because we have been in business for so long, we have a solid base of customers who tell us what they are working on, describe limitations in Revit that they’d like addressed, and provide candid thoughts on our product development ideas before we get to software development. As a business, our goal of course is to attract new customers, so we don’t just rely on our existing customers for direction. We tune into Autodesk Revit forums, we attend industry events across the world, and we ask for thoughts on product development after each of our webinars, which are open to the public and free of charge. 
     
  3. We put all our products and enhancements through rigorous testing. Our software development team takes great pride in their work. They test their work extensively before releasing new products or enhancements to existing products by providing them to the large group of people in our Beta Test Group who test them in real-world situations. We take their feedback to heart, making adjustments as needed to ensure each product works as described and performs a valuable function.
     
  4. We provide meaningful updates at least once a year. We are not a one-and-done company. Every year, we align our software with the new version of Revit, and we make customer-requested and process-improvement enhancements that bring additional value to subscribers. We highlight the enhancements in press releases, lead webinars on the updates, post videos on our YouTube channel, and put step-by-step workflow instructions in our online help files. Of course our top support staff are always available to offer assistance. Here is a video highlighting the enhancements in our May 2023 release:

Ideate Software’s Revit Plugins – An Overview

Here are highlights of our BIM plugins for Revit. Click on the links for more information.

  • Ideate BIMLink – Easily edit vast amounts of Revit data by using Ideate BIMLink to import/export Revit data to Microsoft Excel for editing. In addition to robust editing, you can create many Revit elements as well as manage workflows that just aren’t easy or even possible within standard Revit. A small sampling of these varied workflows includes the ability to swap Revit elements, easily manage Revit parameters, rename Revit elements, and flexibly manage Revit sheet revision workflows and sheet/view sets. Ideate BIMLink includes powerful filtering and sorting options to manage and extract the exact Revit data to modify. 
     
  • Ideate Explorer – Decrease the time spent on model management by using Ideate Explorer to find and delete incorrect, obsolete, and hidden problem items, including DWGs. Ideate Explorer comes with four additional tools that allow you to manage warnings, navigate through view-based elements, search on parameters, and filter model elements based on specific parametric conditions. 
     
  • Ideate Sticky – Easily link, import, integrate, and format non-BIM data into your Revit projects with Ideate Sticky. It combines the ease and flexibility of Excel, Word, and PDF editing with the convenience of a sticky note. Because the documents are live-linked, the Revit files automatically update when the original document is changed. 
     
  • Ideate StyleManager - Address the challenges that arise when Revit users load or import content into the model and the corresponding styles automatically come with the content. While management of styles in Revit can be time consuming and risky, it’s easy with Ideate StyleManager, which allows users to analyze, merge, or delete non-standard styles. 
     
  • IdeateApps – Streamline time-consuming repetitive tasks with the 10 tools that come with IdeateApps. Developed for both daily Revit users and BIM managers, IdeateApps will put hours back in your day while improving the quality of your Revit models.

In adIdeate Automation Logodition to developing the five plugins above to solve persistent problems in architecture, engineering, and construction, and owner-operator workflows, we developed Ideate Automation to boost the power of our Revit plugins by running time-intensive activities in the background. Learn more here

 

Stay Connected

Learn more about our top Revit addons.

Check us out on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, FacebookYouTube, and Instagram.

If you have any questions, reach out to us. We are here to help you understand and use our Revit plugin solutions
 

 

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July

31

2023

With five Revit plugins and an additional desktop application, including one plugin—IdeateApps—that come with 10 tools, we are often asked which of our products people find most useful. The truth is that there isn’t just one. We know that all the tools on our Revit plugins list are useful because we only develop ones that meet needs expressed by Revit users. 

  1. Useful Revit PluginsWe talk with our customers. Whether they have been with us since we first launched Ideate Explorer in 2008, recently partnered with us when we launched Ideate Automation to boost the power of our plugins, or anywhere in between, we talk with customers.
    • We take the time to understand their needs before selling them a product, and we follow up with them after they have had it for a while to make sure it meets those needs.
    • At the conclusion of every webinar we deliver, we ask attendees to tell us about any challenges they are having in Revit and if there are any features they’d like to see added to our products.
    • We track all calls that come into our Support team and note any issues that our products don’t currently address. Our Software Development team reviews all the data to determine if new functionality or even a completely new product is needed.
    • We work closely with a large group of beta testers who review our updates or new products while they are in the development stage, provide candid feedback, and then verify that everything works as expected before we launch them publicly
       
  2. Useful Revit PluginsWe are part of the Autodesk Community, which offers several ways to connect, find answers, share knowledge, build networks, and more, including the Community Forums, which are product discussion boards:
    • Revit Architecture Forum - Share knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular Revit Architecture topics.
    • Revit MEP Forum – Post questions and answers about Revit ducts, piping, plumbing, fire protection, electrical, and more.
    • Revit Structure Forum – Hear from users about how to use this tool to improve collaborations on structural design and engineering tasks.
    • Revit API Forum – Learn about this collection of programs and libraries that helps in building and integrating software to Revit to extend its functionality.
    • Revit Ideas Forum - Share ideas for future product features directly with the Revit team and collaborate on existing suggestions with peers
       
  3. Useful Revit PluginsWe know Revit. Our Software Developers, Support team, Business Development managers, and Customer Success managers know Revit. We are architects, engineers, designers, and others who worked in industry before joining Ideate Software. 

    We joined Ideate Software because we know and love BIM and Revit, and we want to help develop, sell, and support products that make them even better. 

Reasons our Revit Plugins are Useful

Here’s a quick overview of how our customers benefit from our addons for Revit. Architecture, engineering, and construction companies as well as owner-operators use our Revit addons to streamline activities, improve model health, and enhance model design. 

Ideate Explorer LotoQuickly find and delete incorrect, obsolete, and hidden problem items—even imported or linked DWG’s. Find, refine, and revise elements, including those that aren’t in the Revit project browser. This functionality dramatically decreases the amount of time spent on model management and enhances model performance. Ideate Explorer comes with four additional features that will contribute to you models staying in top working order:

  • Warnings Manager – Audit and address Revit warnings ranked by importance. Fix problems using tools in Revit while the Warnings Manager dialog box is open.
  • Navigate – Navigate through view-based elements; find unused sheets and views; find and filter legends, schedules, sheets, or views by category and/or keyword; and customize working environments without altering the project browser.
  • Query – Search within set parameters for elements like in-place usage, structure usage/area scheme, revisions, unused annotations, and design options. 
  • Filters - A dynamic, customizable, and rule-based method to quickly filter Revit model elements based on your specified parametric conditions.

 

Don’t work inside of Revit to verify and/or edit data one element at a time. Instead, use Ideate BIMLink to export the data you need to review into Microsoft Excel where you can quickly view and accurately manipulate massive amounts of data in seconds. You can then use Ideate BIMLink to import the verified or updated data back into Revit, and the model will immediately update.  

 

Ideate Sticky LogoShare accurate and formatted non-BIM data with your Revit teams by live-linking Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and PDF documents to the Revit file with Ideate Sticky. These “stickies” are easy to read, look nice, and can be easily updated within Revit when changes are made to the original files. Whether it’s building codes, consultant data, abbreviation lists, general notes, or any of the many other non-BIM data critical to a project’s success, you can be sure your team always has the current information. 

 

Ideate StyleManager LogoEliminate problems caused by copying/pasting data from one Revit file to another when styles associated with the original file get copied along with the data. This can clog up the model with incorrect information that can take a long time to remove if working in Revit. You have to remove it, because extraneous data can create model performance problems. With Ideate StyleManager, you can quickly analyze, merge, and delete non-standard Revit styles, and you can use it to see view filters applied to views and to clean object and line styles and patterns, text, fonts, parameters, and more. 

 

IdeateApps LotoStop spending so much time on tedious tasks in Revit that, when performed on large complex models, can contribute to mistakes, rework, and frustrations. Automate hundreds of common tasks with the 10 tools that come in the IdeateApps collection: Ideate SpellCheck, Ideate Align, Ideate Clone, Ideate ViewCreator, Ideate SheetManager, Ideate Annotate, Ideate XRay, Ideate ReNumber, Ideate SmartDelete, and Ideate QuickSelect

 

Ideate Automation LogoRun time-intensive BIM tasks silently in the background on this desktop application while you spend your time on more meaningful work with Ideate Automation. Start it manually or schedule it to run at a convenient time, even overnight. Ideate Automation can increase your productivity, eliminate the need to train staff on repetitive tasks, and ensure task outcomes are highly predictable, free of user errors, and standardized. Use Ideate Automation to: 

  • Export key Revit model health data
  • Create document issue records
  • Prepare COBie data drops
  • Generate quantity take-off data 
  • Generate regular, automated PDF exports
  • Deliver CSV reports on key Revit family and project metrics

Stay Connected

Learn more about our top Revit addons.

Check us out on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

If you have any questions, reach out to us. We are here to help you understand and use our Revit plugin solutions
 

 

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July

19

2023

We at Ideate Software sincerely thank Paul F Aubin for writing the following article on how he used Ideate StyleManager when he and other experts developed the Snowdon Towers sample model in Revit 2024.
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The 2024 release of Revit includes a collection of seven Revit files that together comprise the new Revit 2024 sample model, called “Snowdon Towers.” This project is a mixed-use project containing commercial, retail, residential and outdoor space. It is located on a real site in the town of Brownsville, PA. The project was designed and built by a team of experts across multiple disciplines and includes models for Site, Architecture, Structure, and MEP. Each of these is linked to one another and also makes use of georeferenced coordinates from the Brownsville location. 

Snowden Towers
 
Autodesk Software Expert Paul F Aubin and Snowdon Towers

My name is Paul F Aubin. I am an independent architectural consultant helping firms be successful with their Autodesk software. I am the author of numerous books and LinkedIn Learning video courses on Revit and other AEC industry tools. (You can learn more at: paulaubin.com). My background is in the architectural profession and I worked in architectural practice for many years before embarking on a career in consulting. Recently I was given the opportunity by Autodesk to assemble a team and devise what would become the Snowdon Towers project. The project was the perfect marriage of my various skills and interests.

Snowdon Towers was chosen for the name to pay homage to the buildings that previously stood on the site and as a way of thanking the various entities in the Brownsville community who worked with us to help make the project a success.

Ideate StyleManager Used Throughout Design and Into Delivery

The mixed use building in total encompasses about 52,000 sf which makes it a good mid-sized project example. Given the multidisciplinary nature of project, the various files and its size and scope, there were many styles of all kinds in use in the various project files throughout its development. Ideate StyleManager was one of the tools used throughout the process of design and into delivery of the project. 

Design Phase

During the design phase, Ideate StyleManager was useful in consolidating items when various types and styles would accumulate and/or become unused. 

The Challenge

If you consider the standard workflow in a typical project, it is common to start with a collection of standards that come from the Revit template file used to start the project. As design progresses, styles are modified, and more styles are added. Some of these are added intentionally, others end up in the project because of importing and working with other outside content items. Also factor in multiple team members and periods of weeks and/or months and it is not hard to understand how many unintended and unused styles can accumulate.

Revit does include some tools to help manage items like types, fill patterns and line styles; but admittedly these tools are not always well suited to the job. Consider tasks like renaming elements and types or deleting unused items. These are much harder to track down with out of the box tools. And if you have items that are duplicates and need to be consolidated, the process is quite manual. 

Tackling The Challenges with Ideate StyleManager

To tackle these issues with Ideate StyleManger is simple! You open the tool, choose the kind of style item you want, select one or more styles in the list on the left, and then click the Analyze button. This will reveal the pertinent information about the items selected, including handy color coding to identify those that are duplicates. With this information in hand, you can decide what you want to do. Actions include: renaming, deleting and merging of styles.

Ideate StyleManager and Snowden Tower

Using Ideate StyleManager Throughout the Project

It is advisable to run Ideate StyleManager on a regular basis to help combat these issues. Monthly can be a good interval for most projects, but for larger and more complex projects, more frequently might be warranted. You do not necessarily need to go through every style type each time you use the tool. Items like Line Styles and Patterns, Fill Patterns, and View Templates might need more frequent attention, while Object Styles and Scope Boxes might be less frequent. But naturally each project’s needs will be somewhat unique. 

In the case of Snowdon Towers, View Templates, Filters, and Line Styles were addressed regularly while a one-time change was made to fonts early on in the project. At the start of the project, a decision was made to change the default font used by all annotations in the new sample (and the new Revit Template files). The change is not radical; Trebuchet has replaced Arial, but it is just enough to give the project a fresh look. Making this change without Style Manager would have been ill-advised. This is because each annotation item must be edited individually. However, to make the change with Ideate StyleManger was much simpler. 

Ideate StyleManager and Snowdon Towers

Step-by-Step Instructions

First, a new file was created. 

Next, all annotation items (tags, etc.) in the out-of-the-box library were imported into this file. 

Once this was done, Ideal StyleManager was run. The first step there is to choose Fonts. Select all fonts in the list, and then, next to the Analyze button are three checkboxes. Check all three. This allows Ideate StyleManger to analyze the families and schedules in the file as well. Click the Analyze button and let it process. Once the analysis is complete, you can select the font(s) you wish to replace, click the Merge button. A dialog will appear showing all fonts on your system. Pick the one you want and then click OK. Let it process. 

When it is done, you can use the Save As > Library > Family command from the file menu to save copies of all loaded families that have been updated with Ideate StyleManager. 

Ideate StyleManager and Snowdon Tower
 
Keep in mind that many annotation families and styles include the name of the font in their name. This means that you will also need to rename these items.

A few other things to note:

  • Ideate StyleManager looks at the actual settings of each style when performing its analysis. This means you might identify several styles with different names that are actually identical. The merge function is designed to help you consolidate such items. You will be prompted as to which name to keep when merging, the other(s) will be deleted.
  • Analysis can take some time, so plan accordingly and be patient. There are performance tips in the tool. But even though it can take time, the process is far faster than it would be to attempt it manually. 
  • Many style types have an edit icon near the top of the list. Use this to get to the standard Revit interface for that type of item. 
  • Many style types will show a nice preview on the right side of the selected item. This is helpful in identifying the correct style to keep or merge. 

    Ideate StyleManager and Snowdon Towers

 
Delivering a Higher Quality Product with Ideate StyleManager

Managing project files and adhering to office standards can be an ongoing headache for project teams. Ideate StyleManger is a fantastic tool to help alleviate some of this stress. While it would have been possible to deliver Snowdon Towers without its use, I am grateful to have had the tool at my disposal as it enabled me to deliver a higher quality product than would have been possible with it.

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June

30

2023

Every year, Autodesk adds new features and functionalities to Revit software, and this year is no exception. This year’s enhancements include interface modernizations and upgrades that will help users:

  • Design more creatively
  • Document more efficiently
  • Manage projects more effectively in BIM

Here are 10 Examples

  1. Dark Theme – Interface enhancements that allow users to work more comfortably and intuitively
  2. “My Insights” Panel – Aggregates usage data and finds workflow trends to help users quantify common commands and keystrokes; offers ideas on how to streamline design tasks  
  3. Interdisciplinary Imperial and Metric Template – Replaces discipline-specific templates
  4. Sample Content – Provides a learning resource and a good examples of documentation best practices 
  5. Toposolids – Improves the quality of site designs
  6. Enhanced Visualizations – Enables architects and designers to tell a more compelling story
  7. Auto Sync with Twinmotion – Live links Revit and Twinmotion
  8. New Capabilities for Energy Analysis – Simplifies workflows when working in linked architectural models in Revit 
  9. Enhanced Electrical Load Analysis Capabilities – Supports the use of demand factors and manage load sets for non-coincident backup equipment loads
  10. Powerful Rebar Documentation Features – Allows detailers to create more complete shop drawings 

Ideate Software’s Top Revit Plugins

One reason Ideate Software tools are at the top of Revit Plugins lists is because every year, when Autodesk releases their new version of Revit, we quickly align our software to the new version and deliver meaningful enhancements. Most enhancements are based on user requests, and all are tested rigorously, so users can upgrade to the newest version of Revit with no issues and jump right into the new functionalities to streamline Revit workflows and improve the quality of their Revit models. 

Ideate Software Product Descriptions and Recent Enhancements

Below is information about our products and recent enhancements. For video demonstrations, check out our What’s New playlist on YouTube.

ABOUT IDEATE EXPLORER

Where Revit comes with a project browser, Ideate Explorer is a model browser that makes it easy for users to: 

  • Find and delete incorrect, obsolete, and hidden problem items, including DWGs
  • Find, refine, and revise elements, even those excluded from the project browser

Ideate Explorer includes these valuable features: 

  • A Warnings Manager that allows users to easily review and manage Revit warnings with ease. It:
    • Allows the user to rank warnings based on importance
    • Notifies users when high ranking warnings appear in the models
    • Enables users to fix problems using tools in Revit when the Warnings Manager dialog box is open 
  • A Navigate function that allows users to steer through the view-based elements in a Revit project and customize their browsing experience. It is used to find unused sheets and views and filter legends, schedules, sheets or views by category and/or keyword. It is also used to customize working environments without altering the project browser. 
  • A Query function that can be used to search within set parameters for elements such as unused annotations, design options, in-place usage, structure usage/area scheme, and revisions. These query functions can now be saved and used multiple times via our Dynamic Filters.

May 2023 Enhancements to Ideate Explorer

Ideate Explorer now includes the ability to create and save dynamic filters using expanded Revit properties exposed within Ideate Explorer that are not always available with the out-of-the-box Revit user interface. Users can search elements throughout a Revit model based on their parameter values, including parameter values in related data tables. Because this filtering system is dynamic, when parameter values in a model are updated, the list in Ideate Explorer will update as well. 

Learn more and watch a demonstration:

ABOUT IDEATE BIMLINK

Verifying or editing massive amounts of data in Revit can be incredibly time consuming. It’s easy with Ideate BIMLink. This powerful Revit plugin allows users to export the data they need to verify/update to Microsoft Excel, use its powerful editing capabilities, and then import verified or updated data back into the model. Whether you need to check to make sure naming conventions comply with customer standards or update a product manufacturer’s name, Ideate BIMLink is the tool. 

May 2023 Enhancements to Ideate BIMLink

New features include the ability to:

  1. Create new shared project parameters
  2. Create shared and unshared family parameters
  3. Push parameter standards to multiple models
  4. Batch edit the material assignment and thickness value for compound walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, and slab assemblies

Learn more and watch a demonstration:

Watch our What’s New video for information on the other enhancements to Ideate BIMLink capabilities:

  • Support for MEP pipe and duct elevation properties
  • New support for sheet and view sets 
  • The ability to manage family type properties that may vary across family types
  • The ability to edit the bounding boxes of views
  • The ability to create new worksets 

ABOUT IDEATE STICKY

The limited text editing functionality in Revit makes it difficult for project managers to organize and format non-BIM data that their project teams need. Ideate Sticky overcomes this issue by combining the familiar flexibility of Adobe PDF documents, Microsoft Word documents, and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with the convenience of a sticky note. This Revit plugin live-links non-BIM data into a Revit project, and when the source document is updated, the linked “sticky” automatically updates. 

Enhancements to Ideate Sticky

Recently, Autodesk updated its Desktop Connector from version 15 to version 16, which changed the location and path where non-Revit files are stored within the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC). The latest version of Ideate Sticky is compatible with both versions. 

The improvements to the Autodesk Desktop Connector solve a long-standing problem with the non-Revit data stored on the ACC not being actively refreshed. The latest version allows you to choose which folders are actively updating, which ensures that files linked via Ideate Sticky and stored on the ACC will be the most current. Ideate Sticky has a new “Show” button on the main dialog that highlights the selected sticky within the active view. 

Another enhancement reduces the initial size of the Ideate Sticky dialog on start-up, reducing the time it takes for Ideate Sticky to open. 

ABOUT IDEATE STYLEMANAGER

Pasting data from one model to another can create issues when style information associated with that data automatically transfers as well. With Ideate StyleManager, users can easily analyze, merge, or delete non-standard Revit styles more reliably, quickly, and accurately than possible with the built-in Revit style management system. 

May 2023 Enhancements to Ideate StyleManager

Ideate StyleManager can now expose both Family parameters and Nested parameters within the Family Editor environment, making it much easier to standardize parameters within Revit content. We’ve also introduced Quick Analysis and In-Depth Analysis options to increase performance.  

ABOUT IDEATEAPPS

IdeateApps is a set of tools that enhances the functionality of Revit. With it, Autodesk Revit users can access and manipulate the data in their models with greater ease. Designed to take on common challenges identified by people who use Revit daily, these Autodesk Revit add-ins automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows, freeing time for more interesting and valuable activities.  

May 2023 Enhancements to IdeateApps

  • Ideate ReNumber
    • Skip a number within a numbering sequence by just selecting the element again
  • Ideate SpellCheck
    • Support added for using SpellCheck within the Revit Family Editor environment
    • In the Project environment, you can now choose which views to spell check
  • Ideate ViewCreator
    • Enhanced existing ability to automatically copy plan-based views to multiple levels by adding support for copying schedules from one level to many
    • When using the Rooms View method:
      • You can now choose rooms located in a Revit linked model
      • You can clone 2D linework and annotations if selecting a sheet to clone
      • We’ve added support for using more than one plan or ceiling plan view
  • Ideate Annotate
    • New text align and distribute features
    • Additional issue reporting functionality
    • Watch these short videos for details:
       

Stay Connected

Learn more about our top Revit plugins.  Check us out on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

If you have any questions, reach out to us. We are here to help you understand and use our Revit plugin solutions

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March

31

2023

Whether you are an urban designer, industrial architect, commercial architect, residential architect, or interior designer, chances are that you chose your field so you can be integrally involved in designing the look of structures and ensuring that they are both attractive and functional. The ability to express your creativity, be a part of new trends, see the fruits of your labor, and make an impact on your community probably contributed to your career path as well. 

Like many careers, the most desirable activities are often rounded out with some activities that are less interesting. For example, many architects at both large and small firms around the world get to work with Revit software, which allows them to create realistic 3D models, iterate and optimize designs, collaborate with people in other disciplines involved in the projects, “walk through” their designs with customers, and deliver constructable plans to construction crews. However, some Revit workflows interrupt the creative process because they are time consuming and tedious. Because time-consuming and tedious activities can cause the mind to wander, they often need to be done over and over again, frustrating the engineers, project teams, project managers, and customers.

Ideate Software Add-Ins for Revit

Fortunately, Revit users don’t need to spend their time and energy on repetitive activities. Instead, they can turn to Ideate Software. Since launching our first Autodesk Revit addin in 2008, we have focused our efforts on listening to Revit users, understanding their challenges, and developing products that address those challenges. Today, our suite of products includes Ideate Explorer, Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, Ideate StyleManager, and Ideate Automation.

With our products, architects around the world have more time to focus on interesting activities while they create high-quality models that accurately reflect their design ideas. Their customers are happy because the models look good, perform well, meet regulatory requirements, adhere to style guidelines, and are delivered on time. The construction teams are happy because they get clear and accurate instructions they can follow to get to work quickly and keep the projects moving smoothly without having to stop for clarifications, deal with clashes, or correct mistakes. Building operators are happy because they get accurate as-built information they can use for maintenance and more. 

See Some Examples

In addition to developing top Revit add-ins, we are also known for providing outstanding support through numerous methods, including how-to videos and webinars, both live and recorded. These resources also serve as ways for prospective customers to see our products in action before they determine that they are well worth the investment. 

Here is a quick summary of each of our products as well as a link to a related video, so you can see the products in action. You can access hundreds more videos from our website.  

  • Ideate BIMLink – Export data from a Revit file to Microsoft Excel for fast and easy auditing and updating, then import the data back into the Revit model, which will update automatically.

    Three-Minute Demo Video:  Push "To and From Room" data into Door Tags
    Need to schedule and tag the “To: Room” and “From: Room” parameters? This can create challenges in Revit because it does not list system parameters for tagging. This video shows you how to easily do it with Ideate BIMLink. 

  • Ideate Explorer - Revit comes with a project browser. Ideate Explorer is a model browser that lets users get a full view of all elements in the model, find and delete incorrect items, revise elements, and deal with Revit warnings. 

    Nine-Minute Video – Top 10 Revit Model Auditing Workflows Using Ideate Explorer

    Large Revit models can be difficult to understand and manage, but not with Ideate Explorer, which has an easy to use interface that provides many tools to display, sort, filter, search, query, review Revit warnings, and fully understand the complex relationships of your Revit model. This video delivers 10 tips for everyone who uses Revit, and are especially important for BIM managers or project managers. 

  • Ideate Sticky – Elegantly connect non-BIM data from an Excel, Word or PDF document into Revit projects.

    Eight-Minute Introduction Video – Introduction to Ideate Sticky 

    The lack of a text editor in Revit makes organizing and formatting essential non-BIM data frustrating and time consuming. Watch this video to see how easy it is to use Ideate Sticky to manage the look and feel of text and other tabular data.


     
  • IdeateApps – This collection of 10 tools streamlines the tasks that Revit users perform most often. 

    Five-Minute Demo Video - Numbering Revit Sheet Sets with IdeateApps

    Watch this video to how to meet a common permitting checklist to include in the title block the sheet number relative to the total number of sheets in the permit set. 

  • Ideate Automation – This scripting solution runs time-intensive BIM tasks in the background while your staff does more meaningful work.

    Five-Minute Demo Video - Publishing to PDF with Ideate Automation 

    Learn how to use Ideate Automation to set up and schedule publishing to PDF from a single Revit model or many Revit models located on a computer or the Autodesk Construction Cloud. 

Read About How Architects use Ideate Software Add-Ins for Revit

We are proud that many of our customers share their experiences with Ideate Software addins. Revit users discuss how they benefit from our tools in the stories linked to below:

Ready to Learn More?

Browse our website to learn more about how Ideate Software’s Autodesk Revit addins 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.

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