Sept. 7, 2023 Update

Autodesk announced on 6 September 2023 a fix for the Schema Error, which we highly recommend everyone read carefully. The Autodesk blog post has two very important statements that we would like to emphasize:

“This is an important update for all Revit 2024 (all versions) users, and we recommend that everyone using a 2024 version update to this version as soon as possible. This update is especially important for worksharing users that all project team members are using this release of Revit or higher. Why? To avoid the possibility of older versions of Revit 2024 reintroducing this problem back to the project teams’ model.”   

We are grateful to the Autodesk team for escalating this so quickly. We feel that all customers who want to upgrade older models to Revit 2024 can proceed safely now, being sure to first deploy the new 2024.1.1 version to all Revit users – this should include not only staff but all other Revit collaborators. Outside consultants using 2024.0 or 2024.1 who open a 2024.1.1 file during the same session could trigger this schema error. Everyone must upgrade or no one should upgrade. If you have 2024.0 or 2024.1 files that experience the schema error, your action item is to contact Autodesk, per the details in their solution article.

 

August 8 Update

Today Autodesk ‘pinned’ the Revit Forum topic that relates to this important issue. Additionally, Kimberly Fuhrman, Revit Community Manager at Autodesk, has noted in that same post: “Yes, this is a critical issue and our teams are focused on getting a solution. We will keep you posted!”. We feel that both items indicate that Autodesk has now escalated this issue to the level it deserves. Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this issue. 

 

If you have the option, we are recommending that you delay your 2024 upgrade until Autodesk can deliver another update. If you need to move to Revit 2024, which does contain some nice improvements, then we strongly recommend that you carefully follow the workaround steps noted below. The bottom line is that Autodesk has broken our (and other 3^rd party) schemas during the 2024.1 upgrade process, so any fix will need to come from them. 

 

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July 31 Update

Since the blog post below was written last week, we’ve learned a little more about this issue.

First, in our support case with Autodesk they have acknowledged the problem and indicated that it would be addressed in the “upcoming releases of Revit. However, at this time, we do not have a timeframe as to when this fix would be available.”

Autodesk has published three articles that relate to this issue. Each article identifies a unique problem but includes the same workaround designed to prevent the problems from happening. The workaround is very labor intensive because it involves closing and re-opening Revit for each file that needs to be upgraded to 2024.1. It is also not yet clear whether linked files would need to be detached during this process. We have tested and confirmed the suggested steps work but feel strongly that preventing the problem from occurring in the first place should be a high priority for a code fix.

We also know that not all projects exhibit this problem and suspect it may relate to files that were started a long time ago. Until we can learn more about the conditions that cause the problem or when Autodesk fixes the problem, we will continue to recommend that our customers refrain from upgrading to 2024.1

You can read the three Autodesk articles at this Revit forum post. Please let Autodesk know that this fix is important to you by posting or liking this newer post. 

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The newly published Revit 2024.1 update, released on July 11, 2023, appears to introduce a new schema error when opening some files that previously contained Ideate Software and/or other 3rd party add-in data, which are stored as Schemas.

The error condition may look like this:

Picking “Continue loading the file” option does not appear to impact the functionality of either Ideate Explorer or Ideate Sticky. 

We are currently investigating this problem and will update here when we learn more. So far, what we know is that the 2024.1 update release notes do mention changes to the API that relate to Schemas.

 
We have also noticed that many others are starting to experience the same problem, independent of Ideate Software. We are hopeful that Autodesk will quickly identify the problem and provide a solution. 

We strongly recommend that you hold off on updating Revit 2024 to the 2024.1 update until we learn more. You can add your voice to this discussion by either liking Glynnis Patterson’s comment or by adding a reply to this existing Autodesk Revit Forum topic. This action will help Ideate Software and Autodesk better understand the scale of this problem. Thank you for your support. 

 
 

San Francisco, CA, July 12, 2023 – When appointed Information Manager on a major project that required weekly reports to demonstrate the development of Autodesk® Revit® models, Evolve Consultancy, a premier BIM consultancy in the UK, turned to a suite of tools, including Ideate BIMLink. Ideate BIMLink is a Revit productivity tool developed by Ideate Software, an Autodesk AEC Industry Partner and Autodesk Authorized Developer. 

Joseph Frame, an associate with Evolve Consultancy said, “Simplicity is the key. We need anyone to be able to produce and analyse these reports with a minimum of training, as quickly as possible. Ideate BIMLink gives us that ability.”

In the customer success story published by Ideate Software, Joseph Frame and Francesco Pirritano, a consultant with Evolve Consultancy, share the steps they follow to:

The process of reporting starts with a custom link created in Ideate BIMLink to extract the necessary property values from the model.

• Use Ideate BIMLink to select the required properties and categories to be included in the report
   
• Export that data, which includes data from linked Revit models, to an Excel spreadsheet
   
• Calculate the number and percentage of elements against each key performance indicator
   
• Create a summary sheet to show the progression of how the models are developing over time

Francesco Pirritano said, “Ideate BIMLink allows the selection of multiple Revit categories, including both system and loadable families into the scheduled export, something not possible with Autodesk Revit multi-category schedules.”

Read Spotlight on Evolve Consultancy for details and screenshots.

Visit www.ideatesoftware.com to learn how Ideate Software add-ins for Revit help users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables, and elevate design. Give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager for six months.
 

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About Ideate Software - Ideate Software, an Autodesk AEC Industry Partner and Autodesk Authorized Developer, empowers Revit users to gain unprecedented control over their data. They developed Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager to solve persistent problems in architecture, engineering, and construction, and owner-operator (AECO) workflows. They developed Ideate Automation to boost the power of their Revit plugins by running time-intensive activities in the background.

Autodesk and Autodesk Revit are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

Microsoft Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
 

 

San Francisco, CA, June 21, 2023 – In response to increased global demand for its add-ins for Autodesk® Revit® software, Ideate Software, an Autodesk® AEC Industry Partner and Autodesk® Authorized Developer, has added three new professionals to its technical team.

“Despite the restrictions on in-person meetings over the past few years, our team has done an outstanding job of getting the word out about the value of our Revit add-in tools,” said Glynnis Patterson, Director of Software Development, Ideate Software. “We’re thrilled that our continued success led to the hiring of three more people who are passionate about BIM and committed to helping customers enhance the quality of their Revit models while streamlining workflows.” 

Jason Bailly
Training Manager
Jason brings 20 years of experience in the architecture, engineering, construction, and owner-operator space with past roles including customer success manager, digital practice specialist, digital design principal, and application manager. At Ideate Software, he develops and leads training courses for customers and the internal technical sales and software development teams. When not working, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife and children as well as mid-century modern architecture, road racing vintage two-stroke motorcycles, and landscaping. 

Matt Moser
Software Developer
A Registered Architect in New York with experience as a BIM manager and digital design specialist, Matt is an ideal addition to the Ideate Software development team. While at work, Matt focuses on helping companies in the architecture, engineering, construction, and owner-operator space improve efficiency with technology. When not working, he enjoys traveling with his wife, woodworking, mass timber architecture, forestry, classical guitar, theater acting, and play reading. 
 
Adam Sandberg
Software Developer
Adam is pleased to return to the software development field where he uses his 25+ years of related experience to create innovative solutions that improve the lives of Revit users around the world. Most recently, Adam was a development manager leading teams for Fortune 100 companies. Before that, his roles included software developer, technical lead, consultant, and lead developer. When not working, Adam can usually be found having fun with his kids skateboarding, rock climbing, watching silly movies, and getting into a little mischief.

Visit www.ideatesoftware.com to learn how Ideate Software add-ins for Revit help users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables, and elevate design. Give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager for six months.
 

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About Ideate Software - Ideate Software, an Autodesk AEC Industry Partner and Autodesk Authorized Developer, empowers Revit users to gain unprecedented control over their data. They developed Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager to solve persistent problems in architecture, engineering, and construction, and owner-operator (AECO) workflows. They developed Ideate Automation to boost the power of their Revit plugins by running time-intensive activities in the background.

Autodesk and Autodesk Revit are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

 

San Francisco, CA, June 8, 2023 – When Corstorphine & Wright, an architectural practice with design studios across the United Kingdom, hired a new Head of Digital, it learned of the time savings possible with tools from Ideate Software, an Autodesk® AEC Industry Partner and Autodesk® Authorized Developer.

Corstorphine & Wright Project: Stockeld Park, Daniel Shearin

Neil Carter, head of digital at Corstorphine & Wright, said, “When I joined Corstorphine & Wright in April of 2022, I brought along experience with Ideate Software tools that I used in my previous role. I had used Ideate Explorer to keep models performing effectively by finding and deleting unused elements and fixing Revit warnings. I had used Ideate BIMLink to export data from Revit to Excel for editing as well as to create unplaced rooms, unplaced spaces, sheets, masses, and areas.” 

After talking with a representative from Ideate Software, the company decided on a three-year bundle subscription that includes:

• Ideate Explorer for access to all elements, even those excluded from the Revit browser 
• Ideate BIMLink to pull data from a Revit model into Microsoft Excel for editing, and then push volumes of updated data back into the model
• Ideate Sticky to link Microsoft Word and Excel as well as PDF documents to Revit projects
• IdeateApps to streamline the tasks that Revit users perform most often 
• Ideate StyleManager to easily analyze, delete, and merge non-standard styles

They also subscribed to Ideate Automation, a scripting solution that runs time-intensive BIM tasks in the background.

Neil continued, “The value of each of the tools was clear, and access to all of them would enable our architects to quickly get through so many different tedious data management tasks that historically have taken a lot of time.”

Read Spotlight on Corstorphine & Wright.

Visit www.ideatesoftware.com to learn how Ideate Software add-ins for Revit help users save time, increase model accuracy, improve deliverables, and elevate design. Give them a try by downloading trial versions or purchasing the bundle for access to Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager for six months.
 

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About Ideate Software - Ideate Software, an Autodesk AEC Industry Partner and Autodesk Authorized Developer, empowers Revit users to gain unprecedented control over their data. They developed Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager to solve persistent problems in architecture, engineering, and construction, and owner-operator (AECO) workflows. They developed Ideate Automation to boost the power of their Revit plugins by running time-intensive activities in the background.

Autodesk and Autodesk Revit are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

 

Like us, others are exploring the many improvements included in Revit version 2024. One enhancement getting a lot of attention is the new project templates. Autodesk is touting it as a key improvement, and Nicolas Catellier ranked the change #3 in his RevitPure blog post, Top 20 Best New Features in Revit 2024, and he said, “The templates have been reworked to include more ‘best practice’ features. Instead of 1 template per discipline, they have been merged into one super multi-discipline template.”

We agree that the new templates are a very nice improvement, and we are proud to see that Ideate BIMLink played a role!

If you have Ideate BIMLink installed, and you want to test drive the new Revit template with embedded link definitions:

1. Start Revit 2024
2. Select File>New
3. Pick one of the two new templates
4. Select Ideate Software>BIMLink

The five pre-loaded templates, shown in yellow in the image, are the ones included with the Autodesk out-of-the-box template. 

A good template is built with clean and accurate standards. Ideate BIMLink is a Revit add-in that makes the process fast and easy. We are thrilled that Autodesk trusted it when updating the templates to make starting projects and developing templates easier than ever. We recommend reviewing your own custom templates and consider adding your own must-have link definitions.