August

29

2023

Revit software enables some revision capabilities. Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Sticky take over where Revit leaves off.

  • Do you need revisions that aren’t in Revision Clouds to appear in the Titleblock?
    If yes, in Revit you must update the “Revision on Sheet” option within each sheet view.
  • Do you need a schedule of all revisions on each sheet?
    If yes, chances are that you have created a workaround, because Revit only lists the latest revision.

While the methods above can get the job done, they take a lot of time and they increase the chance of errors.

Watch our short video to see how you can use Ideate BIMLink to aggregate revision information in Microsoft Excel to edit the options in bulk and Ideate Sticky to bring the formatted Excel schedule back into Revit to place onto sheets.

 

You’ll see how the work that has taken you hours if not days can be reduced to just minutes by completing two simple steps.

For implementation services or to learn more about how Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Sticky can help your business, please contact [email protected]


 

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August

18

2023

We are proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the 2023 BIM Coordinators Summit that will be held in September virtually and live in Dublin, Ireland. The virtual event will be held on September 6 and 7, and the live event will be on September 7 only. 

BIM Coordinators Summit LotoWe were also happy to nominate several of our customers for BIM Hero Awards acknowledging their contributions to information management in the architecture, engineering, and construction arenas. Winners’ names will be included on the BIM Hero Register on the event website.

If you will be attending in person, visit the Ideate Software team on booth A3. Bring your Revit challenges to President Bob Palioca, Director of Software Development Glynnis Patterson, UK/EMEA Territory Lead Nick Johns, and UK/EMEA Customer Success Manager Steve Deadman. They will answer questions and provide demonstrations on how Ideate Software add-ins for Revit can address your challenges.

BIM Coordinators Summit Team

And please attend the presentation called “Quality Control and Best Practices for Successful Project Delivery” that Steve will deliver on September 7 at 2:20 p.m.

Visit our Events page for information on more opportunities to meet with our team at upcoming virtual and in-person events. 

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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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July

14

2023

Environmental Systems Design’s Digital Practice Leader Samir Abdelmawla delivered an engaging session called, “Arsenal of Revit Tools for the MEP Team” at the 2023 BILT North America Conference in Dallas, Texas. He featured several Revit add-on tools for the MEP team, and many of those tools were from Ideate Software!

“I am a strong believer of the tools developed by Ideate Software. A number of these tools are helping our engineers on their daily tasks. I am pleased to showcase how powerful they are for many MEP workflows and how easy they are to use,” said Samir.

Here is the information about Ideate Software tools that Samir featured in his presentation:

  1. Ideate Sticky 
    • Successfully get Excel spreadsheets to Revit
    • Starting with Revit 2020, Revit supported inserting PDFs to a model, however it only allows for one page at time. Ideate Sticky can place selected pages and maintain links to the source PDF.
      Environmental System Design - Ideate Sticky
       
  2. Ideate BIMLink – Edit various MEP data and schedules in Excel and then import the data back to Revit. Editing in Excel offers the speed of copy/paste, fill down/across, concatenate data, and easily search/replace.

    Environmental Systems Design - Ideate BIMLink

    Also, with Ideate BIMLink, users can create definitions from a wealth of provided Libraries by category or by schedule: Export the data to Excel, edit, then import it back to Revit. Ideate BIMLink highlights changes for review before making them in the Revit model.

    Environmental Systems Design - Ideate BIMLink
     
  3. IdeateApps
     
    • Environmental Systems Design - Ideate XRay
      Ideate XRay – Understand why a Revit element is not visible within a specific view.
      • Fix
      • Show how to fix
      • Get more information
         
    • Ideate XRay gives the options to:
       
    • Environmental Systems Design - Ideate ReNumber
      Ideate ReNumber – Use this tool to number Revit elements by:
       
      • Individual selection
      • Selecting a path
      • Numbering all elements within the active view
         
    • Ideate Align – Coordinate floor plans, legends, schedules, or any other view across multiple Sheets
       
  4. Ideate Explorer – Manage model warnings

    Environmental Systems Design - Ideate Explorer

Thank you, Samir! We are honored that you included our products in your presentation.

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