People from Ideate Software are once again packing suitcases, visiting customers, attending conferences, and enjoying discussions focusing on the value of our Revit add-in solutions!
Craig Dodge and Richard Taylor recently had the opportunity to travel all the way to Australia to attend the BILT ANZ conference located on the beautiful Australian Gold Coast.
Richard Taylor and Craig Dodge at the BILT ANZ Conference on the Australian Gold Coast in November, 2022
Craig and Richard attended many excellent presentations and spoke with so many people from AECO firms about the value of implementing Ideate Software solutions for Revit. In addition, Richard conducted a lab session called Demystifying Datums and Scope Boxes within Revit on the Saturday of the conference.
The keynote speaker, Jeff Schwisow, focused on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace, and it was the perfect tone to kick off the conference. His discussion aligns with an important core value of Ideate Software, and it was very much appreciated as a keynote conference topic.
Ideate Explorer Included in Customer’s Presentation on Critical Revit Add-ins
Monica Greco of Jazmax in New Zealand gave a presentation on the most critical Revit add-ins they use on a daily basis.
Ideate Explorer was prominently featured on several slides as a “must have” application for Jasmax.
Reconnecting In Person
This trip provided a great opportunity to visit some excellent Ideate Software customers in Brisbane, Australia.
This is a picture of Richard Taylor from Ideate Software and Holger de Groot of Modmation. Modmation is a consultant within the Australian and New Zealand geography that has collaborated with Ideate Software many times, including:
It was a LONG way to travel from both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the USA, but it was certainly worth it to engage with our amazing and innovative customers within the Australian and New Zealand regions. The trip occurred during the US Thanksgiving Holiday, and we are certainly thankful for excellent customers and powerful software that can impact design, documentation, and construction all around the world.
Stay tuned for more events around the world in 2023!
Steve Deadman, Customer Success Manager, and I were delighted to have the opportunity to demonstrate our products and meet many of our German customers and partners in person at BIM World Munich 2022.
At our booth, we demonstrated the German versions of Ideate Software tools, which visitors really appreciated. They also appreciated that all our marketing material was in German, and that Markus Heirmer from Maxcad, our partner in Germany, was in the booth to speak with visitors in their local language.
In our view, this was by some distance the busiest event we have exhibited at and attended this year. A lot of customers from Germany, Switzerland, and the UK came by to say hello, and many new to Ideate Software from Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, and Serbia came by as well. We received so many enquiries for pricing and for free trials that it was challenging to keep up at times, but it was a fantastic buzz.
In addition to demonstrating our products at the booth, Steve gave a presentation called “Advanced Model Health Checks and Revit Warnings Management.”
Following that presentation, many people came to our booth to learn more. One even came by to congratulate Steve on his talk and to say how pleasing it was to see a presentation that was laser focused on how to improve quality and productivity using Ideate Software tools.
Take-Aways for Ideate Software
The people that came to our stand were respectful and engaging. It was a pleasure to attend this event and well worth our time. We learned that the adoption of BIM by German organisations is maybe two to three years behind the UK, but German AEC companies are catching up fast and have a thirst to learn more and to develop their knowledge. We also learned about what they are looking for from a partner like Ideate Software.
Thank you, BIM World Munich. We will be back.
About the Author
Nick Johns, UK/EMEA Territory Lead
Nick joined Ideate Software in 2021 after being a customer and advocate of our company and products for many years. He brought extensive experience gained while in sales and sales manager roles at several companies in the United Kingdom, including Graitec, Excitech, Cats Group, Hobs Group and Xerox Business Services. When not working, Nick can be found running, coaching football, and enjoying music, wine, and traveling. Find Nick on LinkedIn.
As a company that develops Revit software plugins, we love Revit. We think you should too.
BIM is Awesome
Many Ideate Software employees have been involved in architecture and engineering for several decades, so they remember the days of creating designs with pencil and paper.
The move from there to BIM within a career is almost overwhelming; seeing what used to take days come to life within hours really can seem like magic to those of us who have been around for a while. And our newer staff members are just as enthusiastic about where BIM is going as the more experienced ones are about where it has been.
Revit is the Best BIM Tool
While you may know that Revit is one of the top BIM tools in the world, you may not know why it is better than all the rest. Here are a few reasons:
Unified Database
All the data needed to generate a Revit model is kept in the same database, and that database is updated anytime the model is modified. No longer do team members need to search for data through numerous project files.
Scheduling
Revit schedules are used to report the information in the model in a tabular format. Scheduling, which can be one of the more time-consuming tasks in the architectural design process, is greatly simplified with Revit because the schedules automatically update as changes are made to the model, ensuring they are always in alignment.
Collaboration
With Revit, several users can work on the model at the same time. Users push the work they do to the central model while pulling changes made by colleagues into their local copy. This not only speeds the process, it also exposes clashes that can be mitigated in the design phase rather than when the structure is being built.
3D Renderings
There are a lot of programs available that provide 3D visualization outputs, but those from Revit are truly realistic. With views from any angle or perspective, architects can “walk” customers through early designs to point out large and small details, incorporate customer feedback into the next version, and quickly iterate until the customer sees that their vision is accurately reflected in the design. Design options can also be easily explored.
Parametric Modeling
Parametric modeling lets you specify the key parameters of your project and make changes interactively, with the model automatically updating. Revit employs parametric modeling in the form of families. Everything in Revit is part of a family; some are integrated into the software, others are accessible through libraries, and others are created from scratch.
Cost Estimating
Accurate cost estimating is vital to the success of a project. Revit can be used to develop a detailed construction cost estimate in various ways.
Consistent Documentation
Using templates that come with Revit or storing custom templates within Revit means you can deliver consistent construction paperwork across all your projects. Consistency contributes to clarity, which helps eliminate frustration caused by confusion.
Ideate Software is the Best Revit Software Plugin
You may say we are biased, but we’re not the only ones saying that our products are great. Here are a few examples:
“Why these application functions haven't been replicated, bundled or brought out into Revit itself astounds me. They simply transform the process of using Revit from a data perspective entirely into one that is 100% more automated, feasible and enjoyable.”
“Ideate's suite of tools is indispensable at our firm. There are so many tasks that are made more efficient, and many tasks that would just be flat out impossible without these tools. Ideate does a fantastic job at listening to their customers and they implement suggestions and feature requests quite rapidly. I have been using their products for more than 6 years and highly recommend all of them.”
“The Ideate suite of tools are one of very few tools I've come across for Revit that do exactly what they're supposed to, without spamming your toolbars with useless gizmos.”
“I recommend every firm within AECO that uses Revit to invest in the Ideate Software Bundle. Not only does the software make Revit users more efficient within the program, allowing for advanced communication with Revit itself, it also has a user interface that is second to none. All Ideate applications are essential for every Revit user to be able to utilize on a daily basis - BIMLink for interaction with Revit data through Excel, Sticky to bring in static Excel data to a Revit sheet, Explorer to analyze the model in an advanced way, etc.”
Success Stories
We are pleased that companies in all disciplines and across the world have taken the time to share their experiences with Ideate Software through success stories, blog posts, and webinars. Access information about them all via the Case Studies filter on our blog posts.
Our most recent success story is about Evolve Consultancy, one of the UK’s premier BIM and design consultancies. Evolve uses Ideate BIMLink to populate Revit models with COBie (Construction to Operations Building information exchange) data to satisfy ISO 19650-2 requirements. Read more and see screen shots here.
Here’s a short video about another company, HLW, and why they recommend Ideate Software tools:
The Ideate Software Difference
Visit our website for details of each of our products. Here are highlights:
Ideate Explorer – Dramatically decrease the amount of time spent on model management and enhance model performance with this Revit software plugin. Use it to quickly find and delete incorrect, obsolete, and hidden problem items—including imported or linked DWG drawings—as well as to find, refine, and revise elements, even those not included in the Revit project browser. Included with Ideate Explorer are three features that also help you keep your models in top working order:
Warnings Manager – Audit and address Revit warnings ranked by importance and fix problems using tools in Revit while the Warnings Manager dialog box is open
Navigate – Navigate through view-based elements to find unused sheets and views; find and filter legends, schedules, sheets, or views by category and/or keyword; and customize work environments without altering the project browser
Query – Search within set parameters for elements like unused annotations, design options, in-place usage, structure usage/area scheme, and revisions
Ideate BIMLink – Instead of working inside of Revit to verify and/or edit data one element at a time, you can use Ideate BIMLink for Revit. Import to Excel where you can easily view and manipulate large amounts. Once the data is updated, you can then use Ideate BIMLink for Revit to import Excel data back into Revit, and the model will immediately update.
Ideate Sticky – Share accurate and nicely formatted non-BIM data with Revit teams by live-linking a Revit file to Excel, Word, and PDF documents. These “stickies” look nice, are easy to read, and can be easily updated when changes are made to the original file.
Ideate StyleManager – Problems frequently occur when data is pasted from one Revit file to another and the 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. It’s important to remove that data, otherwise it can cause model performance problems. With Ideate StyleManager you can quickly and easily analyze, merge, or delete non-standard Revit styles. You can also use Ideate StyleManager to see the view filters applied to views and to clean object and line styles and patterns, text, fonts, parameters, and more.
Ideate Automation – Run time-intensive BIM tasks silently in the background while you do more meaningful work. Started manually or scheduled to run at a more convenient time, Ideate Automation increases productivity, eliminates the need to train staff of repetitive tasks, and ensures task outcomes are highly predictable, free of user errors, and standardized.
If you have any questions, reach out to us. We are here to help you understand and use our Revit plugin solutions.
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.
Ideate ReNumber, one of the tools in our IdeateApps collection, is a great tool for renumbering virtually any element in your Revit model. Whether its rooms, doors, windows, areas, you’ve probably used the tool when in a plan view.
But did you know you can also use Ideate Renumber in schedule views?
Example
In this example, I’m renumbering sheets to match the ISO 19650 UK standards.
I’ve built a custom rule using custom shared parameters for each of the different containers of the ISO 19650 UK document naming standard. The parameters are concatenated and then pushed into the Sheet number parameter to renumber the sheets.
With the schedule view open, run the Ideate ReNumber tool. The sorting order of the schedule drives the order in which the elements are numbered, meaning the order in which the increment part is applied.
After the renumbering, the sheet numbers have been changed.
Bonus!
There is also a rule to renumber details views on sheets. This rule can be loaded from our standard as delivered content.
Load the rule by clicking on Import.
Once loaded, customize the rule to suit your company standard, then start renumbering!
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.
If you are an experienced software developer living in the Pacific Time Zone—ideally the Portland, OR metro area—skilled in object-oriented and functional programming (C# preferred), we’d like to hear from you!
We offer a collaborative work environment with a team of personable, hardworking, creative people.
This position is full-time with average hours expected to be Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time. While remote work is supported, we encourage working in the Portland office with teammates occasionally, and in-person participation in quarterly departments is required. Travel is rare, however employees located outside of the Portland metro area are required to travel to Portland up to four times per year.
Ideate Explorer Included in Customer’s Presentation on Critical Revit Add-ins 
This trip provided a great opportunity to visit some excellent Ideate Software customers in Brisbane, Australia. 
At our booth, we demonstrated the German versions of Ideate Software tools, which visitors really appreciated. They also appreciated that all our marketing material was in German, and that Markus Heirmer from Maxcad, our partner in Germany, was in the booth to speak with visitors in their local language. 
In addition to demonstrating our products at the booth, Steve gave a presentation called “Advanced Model Health Checks and Revit Warnings Management.”
Nick Johns, UK/EMEA Territory Lead
Many Ideate Software employees have been involved in architecture and engineering for several decades, so they remember the days of creating designs with pencil and paper. 
Steve Deadman - Customer Success Manager - EMEA
If you are an experienced software developer living in the Pacific Time Zone—ideally the Portland, OR metro area—skilled in object-oriented and functional programming (C# preferred), we’d like to hear from you!
Ideate Software