Speaking of Project Auditing, Don't Forget Your Groups and RFAs

We spend a lot of time talking to customers about how to maintain a lean and robust BIM project database but not enough about also keeping the underlying custom content clean. Here's a great tip that has surfaced with many of our customers via our Technical Support that highlights the need to audit Revit content; both for Groups and custom family files (RFAs).

Imported DWG/DGN content is the bane of many a BIM Manager. Ideate Explorer for Revit is the perfect tool to find and remove any hidden Imports. However, what Ideate Explorer for Revit does NOT do is find DWGs that may be nested within a custom family (RFA). If a DWG is brought into a family or Group and then not purged, the imported categories essentially infect the project with unwanted categories found within the Visibility Graphics. This can cause undesired results, particularly when Exporting the project back into DWG/DGN format. To avoid these problems in the first place we recommend using Ideate Explorer to delete any non-essential items from Groups and Custom families as follows:

1. For Groups, select all items as you normally would to make a Group then:

• Run Ideate Explorer to audit the "Current Selection"
• Uncheck any Imports or other items not intended to be part of a Group. We would never advocate including an Import item within a Group. In Revit 2012, in fact, this behavior is no longer possible (mixing an Import with other detail items). If this problem has already surfaced, you should check out this article at the Revit Clinic which describes the painstaking procedure that may be required to fix the Group-related problem.
• Exit Ideate Explorer
• Use the Create Group command.

• Run Ideate Explorer to audit all of the items in the "Entire Project"
• Check any Imports or other items not intended to be part of the Family.
• Exit Ideate Explorer
• With the unwanted items still checked, select the Delete Key.
• The last step, before publishing any BIM content for company use, is to purge - twice for good measure!

And, lastly, if you haven't done so already, consider a company policy about both family and group creation per the steps above as it will surely mean fewer support calls!

About the Author

Glynnis Patterson, NCARB - Director of Software Development
Glynnis is a Registered Architect and has worked with the BIM industry since 1998. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked as an architect, educator and construction site manager. Glynnis is currently the Director of Software Development Services at Ideate, Inc. and continues to work with AEC clients across the nation, developing, and implementing best practices solutions. In her spare time Glynnis does volunteer work and builds Lego projects. @GVPinNJ

This post was originally published on the Ideate Solutions Blog.

San Francisco, CA, June 19, 2018 – Ideate Software, a veteran Autodesk Developer Network member, is pleased to announce that Stephanie Fitzgerald has joined its team as a Software Developer. Ms. Fitzgerald is a Full-Stack JavaScript engineer with a passion for the design and development of educational technologies.

“To take our Revit application development to the next level, we need software developers with technical expertise and the desire to dig into challenges, collaborate with others, and develop innovative solutions,” said Glynnis Patterson, Director of Software Development, Ideate Software. “Stephanie’s background, creativity, and enthusiasm make her ideal for this role.”

Before joining Ideate Software, Ms. Fitzgerald worked for Zaniac, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Tufts University. She earned her Ed.M in Technology, Innovation, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and her B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from University of Oregon. She also has a certificate in Advanced Full-Stack JavaScript from Alchemy Code Lab in Portland, Oregon.

Visit our About page to learn more about Ms. Fitzgerald and other Ideate Software team members. 

Ms. Fitzgerald is working with the rest of the Ideate Software development team in the Portland, Oregon office.

About Ideate Software

Ideate Software empowers Revit users to gain unprecedented control over their data. Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, and IdeateApps were all developed to solve persistent problems in architecture, engineering, and construction, and owner (AECO) workflows. Ideate Software solutions enable Revit users to save time, increase accuracy, improve project deliverables, and elevate design.

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

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IMAGINiT Technologies recently hosted a webinar on Ideate Software products. IMAGINiT is a value-added reseller of Autodesk products, including Revit, making them an ideal partner of ours. 

During the webinar, our Technical Evangelist Richard Taylor fielded questions while I led a presentation on the importance of addressing Revit model and health standards as well as behaviors that lead to model health and standards issues. I also demonstrated some of the ways to combat these issues using two of our Revit applications, Ideate Explorer and Ideate StyleManager: 

• Ideate Explorer
  • Filter to review model standards for model clean-up of CAD imports, groups and lines
  • Refine selections to find elements modelled as in-place families and pinned elements
  • Compile and rank warnings and select elements for easy warnings clean-up
     
• Ideate StyleManager
  • Review object styles sub-categories, including usage analysis, delete unused elements, merge and purge from one style to another
  • Review filters, including usage analysis, delete unused elements, merge and purge from one filter style to another
  • Review fonts and text styles, including usage analysis, merge and purge from one style to another

I used architectural and MEP models for the examples, but the workflows covered can be extended to other disciplines.

In case you missed the presentation or would like to see it again, here’s a link to the recording.

Browse our website for more information on our Revit productivity tools. Give them a try with a free trial version, or subscribe today. 

About the Author

Sash Kazeminejad - AIA, LEED AP - Customer Success Manager
Sash earned his Master of Architecture from Montana State University and is a California registered architect, LEED Accredited Professional. He has extensive experience in project management; BIM management; design for architectural firms in California, Montana, and Oregon; and leading classroom and online BIM training. He provides consulting, sales, support, and training solutions to AECO customers around the globe. Find Sash on LinkedIn.

IdeateApps is a set of nine tools that simplify the tasks that daily Revit users perform most often. Four of the tools address specific sheet and view management challenges experienced by Revit software users:

• Creating, arranging, and replacing sheets - Ideate SheetManager
• Copying sheets after views have been placed - Ideate Clone
• Aligning views on sheets - Ideate Align
• Creating a batch-series of new views and rules for logically naming those views - Ideate ViewCreator

To introduce Revit users to these applications, we regularly host a webinar called, “Automate Sheet and View Management with IdeateApps.” To make it easy for users to retain their knowledge, we keep a recording of that webinar on our website. 

In addition, we created short videos focused on each of the tools:

• Ideate SheetManager Overview Video
• Ideate Clone Overview Video
• Ideate Align Overview Video
• Ideate ViewCreator Overview Video

Please view these recordings and videos as often as needed and share them with others who you think will benefit from these tools.   

If you have any questions or would like more information, please reach out to us at [email protected].

About the Author

Richard W. Taylor, Associate AIA – Technical Evangelist
Richard has more than 30 years of experience working for companies that develop architectural and engineering software solutions, such as Intergraph, Bentley, and Autodesk. He has over 18 years of Revit experience, and he was part of the original development of Revit while at Revit Technology Corporation. He worked for 12 years at Autodesk, where he presented, taught, and worked to improve features in Revit. Richard holds both a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and Master of Architecture from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. As Technical Evangelist, Richard works with AECO clients worldwide, developing and consulting on BIM solutions. Find Richard on Twitter.

Are your Revit projects cluttered with schedules whose sole purposes are to find elements?

There’s no need to create these schedules if you have Ideate Query.

Ideate Query is a powerful selection refinement tool within Ideate Explorer that lets you browse through your Revit elements and make a selection based on the parameters' values. You can also use it to find important properties that aren’t available through the Revit Schedule tool.

With Ideate Query, you can:

• Select all elements that are assigned to a certain size or Mark value
• Find Sheets based on their Revision or Issuance numbers
• Find and review dimensions that have been overridden
• Review all the elements that are modeled as in-place families

See how easy it is to use the Query function by viewing this short demonstration video:

Visit the Ideate Query support section of our website to learn more about this powerful and easy-to-use tool, including how to get started, available properties, examples, and tips.

For implementation services, or to learn more about how Ideate Explorer with Ideate Query can help your business, please contact [email protected].

About the Author

Richard W. Taylor, Associate AIA – Technical Evangelist 
Richard has more than 30 years of experience working for companies that develop architectural and engineering software solutions, such as Intergraph, Bentley, and Autodesk. He has over 18 years of Revit experience, and he was part of the original development of Revit while at Revit Technology Corporation. He worked for 12 years at Autodesk, where he presented, taught, and worked to improve features in Revit. Richard holds both a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and Master of Architecture from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. As Technical Evangelist, Richard works with AECO clients worldwide, developing and consulting on BIM solutions. Find Richard on Twitter.