January

19

2038

Structural engineering building information models present their own unique challenges to project navigation and auditing within the Revit environment. Ideate Explorer is here to help with both daily production tasks and project auditing tasks that are unique to Structural engineers.

For example, Structural engineers tend to utilize Reference Planes and Opening elements more frequently than their architectural or MEP counter-parts. Both of these element types are not exposed within the Revit Project Browser, but are easily discovered within Ideate Explorer as shown below.

Finding Reference Planes with Ideate Explorer

Additionally, Structural Engineers can use the Ideate Query tool within Ideate Explorer to select weld symbols according to their parameter values or to sort the project data quickly by the Level or Phase settings.

Learn more about how Structural Engineers can make the most of Ideate Explorer in this short Ideate Explorer video.


About the Author

Glynnis Patterson, Revit expertGlynnis Patterson, NCARB — Director of Software Development
Glynnis is a Registered Architect and has worked within 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 worldwide, developing, and consulting on solutions to Building Information Modeling challenges. In her spare time Glynnis does volunteer work for ECLC of NJ and Grow it Green Morristown. Follow Glynnis on Twitter.

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January

19

2038

Maximize Your Revit Projects with Ideate Explorer 
Join Ideate Software for a one–hour webinar focused on maximizing your Revit projects. Come see an introduction into the power and productivity of Ideate Software. We will take your questions about Revit data management and show you ways to save time and increase accuracy on data editing and entry tasks. We will showcase each of our Ideate Software solutions using examples from our extended training classes. For more details, see descriptions below. Register today! Presentation will be in English. Click “Register Here” to view the event in other time zones.

Register here!

Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Time: 11:30am PST / 2:30pm EST
Location: Online
Questions: Contact Ideate Software

In This Webinar We Will Learn More About →

Ideate Explorer 
Learn how to audit, review, and maintain the health of your Revit project. Find hidden CAD Imports and other culprits lurking in your Revit files that are impacting performance. Use Ideate Query to quickly find elements based on parameter values such as overridden dimensions or In-Place families.

Ideate BIMLink 
Learn how to edit the Revit data in Excel to manipulate data in Parameters, Sheets, Views, Rooms, & Families quickly in order to better manage your Revit projects. Extend the BIM Project team by using Excel to create and edit large amounts of data with ease.

Ideate Sticky 
Learn how to link Excel Spreadsheets into your Revit project allowing maximum graphic fidelity, and extending the BIM Project team.

View the full invitation. Register here!

En savoir plus

January

19

2038

Maximize Your Revit Projects with Ideate Explorer 
Join Ideate Software for a one–hour webinar focused on maximizing your Revit projects. Come see an introduction into the power and productivity of Ideate Software. We will take your questions about Revit data management and show you ways to save time and increase accuracy on data editing and entry tasks. We will showcase each of our Ideate Software solutions using examples from our extended training classes. For more details, see descriptions below. Register today! Presentation will be in English. Click “Register Here” to view the event in other time zones.

Register here!

Date: Thursday, February 11, 2016
Time: 1:00pm AEST
Location: Online
Questions: Contact Ideate Software

In This Webinar We Will Learn More About →

Ideate Explorer 
Learn how to audit, review, and maintain the health of your Revit project. Find hidden CAD Imports and other culprits lurking in your Revit files that are impacting performance. Use Ideate Query to quickly find elements based on parameter values such as overridden dimensions or In-Place families.

Ideate BIMLink 
Learn how to edit the Revit data in Excel to manipulate data in Parameters, Sheets, Views, Rooms, & Families quickly in order to better manage your Revit projects. Extend the BIM Project team by using Excel to create and edit large amounts of data with ease.

Ideate Sticky 
Learn how to link Excel Spreadsheets into your Revit project allowing maximum graphic fidelity, and extending the BIM Project team.

View the full invitation. Register here!

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January

19

2038

The Challenge: Provide more in-depth room and space data for Revit elements

In an architectural model, rooms are a basic building block, influencing how the building is shaped and used. Rooms help orient us within the building, both before and after it is built. Working on the design or maintenance of a building is easier when you know which room a specific part of the building is associated with. Despite its utility, this information is often incomplete or inaccurate in a Revit model. The first step to solving this problem is understanding how the room information is generated.

Recently, I took on the challenge of providing more in-depth room (and space) data for the elements in Revit. This was enlightening process, and I want to share what I learned with the community. The results of my work will be presented here in a series of short blog posts.

In this first post, I elaborate on how room data is reported natively in Revit.

The Solution – Step 1: Understand the three factors of reporting room data within Revit

There are three factors of reporting room data within Revit: rooms, schedules, and elements.

Rooms

Rooms (and spaces) are Phase-Specific Rooms and Boundaries in Revit. When they are created, their phase is set based on the view they are created in and can’t be changed. This is different than other elements in the model, which span phases. This is an important distinction that is essential to understanding room data.

The phasing information only lists a single phase that is not editable

The phasing information only lists a single phase that is not editable

Room data will be easier to gather if all the rooms are associated with the same phase.

Schedules

Revit reports room data in schedules for a limited set to categories. When setting the fields used by a schedule, there’s a drop down labeled ‘Select available fields from:’. If room data is supported for the schedule, the drop down will contain ‘Room’. When selected, the list of fields will change to list parameters that appear on a room. When these fields are added to the schedule, Revit will locate the room the element is in, and then report the parameter value for that room.

This can be very useful for grouping furniture or lighting based on where it is located. The trick is the schedule will only display information for rooms that are the same phase as the schedule. If the room is in a different phase, then the values are blank. This is controlled by the ‘Phase’ parameter in the schedule’s properties. The ‘Phase Filter’ is ignored for rooms

To work around this limitation, all rooms should be placed on the same phase or a schedule must be created for each phase where rooms exist.

In addition to phase, rooms placed in a design option are only reported in schedules that are set to that same design option. The design option that is displayed by a schedule is controlled by the ‘Visibility/Graphics Overrides’ parameter, which is only displayed if Revit design options are in use.

Elements

The elements that can report room information are limited to a few categories. When creating a family that wants to report room information, first review a matching schedule. Temporarily create a schedule for the desired category and verify that it lists ‘Room’ data in the drop-down.

Lighting Fixture schedule showing the Room data available from the drop-down menu.

Room Data in Lighting Fixture Schedule

Room data is accessed in the available fields drop-down

In addition to the category, the structure of the family determines the exact point that is used to locate the room. Here are the specific rules depending on the family and how it was constructed.

Most Families

The geometric center of the element.

Room Location for Standard Families

The point at which Revit will look for a room when the family is a typical model family and does not use a ‘Room Calculation Point’

Face Based Families

1’ from the face, taken from the geometric center of the element.

Room Location for Face Based Families

The point at which Revit will look for a room when the family is face based and does not use a ‘Room Calculation Point’

Spaces

At the combination of the location of the space’s reference point (in plan) and the ‘Computation Height’ of the level the space is associated with (in elevation).

Doors and Windows

1’ from the face of the wall, taken from the geometric center of the element. The ‘To Room’ is determined when the element is placed, set to the swing (for a door) or exterior (for a window) side. The rooms can be “flipped” by editing any of the ‘To Room’ or ‘From Room’ values in a schedule.

Families using a ‘Room Calculation Point’

The point at which the Room Calculation Point is located. The location of this point is the same for all elements of this family, it can’t vary by type or instance.

Doors and Windows using a ‘Room Calculation Point’

The point at which the Room Calculation Point is located. The location of this point is the same for all elements of this family, it can’t vary by type or instance.  The ‘To Room’ is the side the Room Calculation Point points towards. It is “flipped” when the door or window is flipped. Changing the ‘To Room’ or ‘From Room’ values in the schedule will flip the geometry of the door in the model.

Next Steps

With this information, you can begin to troubleshoot room information in Revit. In my next few blog posts, I will highlight the extended information the Ideate Software reports for room data, giving more reliable and complete results.

For information on our Revit software add-ins that help our customers get the most out of their Revit software, visit the Ideate Software website or contact your authorized Ideate Software partner.


About the Author

Jesika DiGregorio - Software Team Lead Jesika received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon in Eugene where she also spent time studying advanced math. Her work experience includes Junior Designer at an award-winning firm specializing in architecture and land planning, and Intern Architect at a firm that provides services in planning, design, construction documents and construction administration for projects of all sizes. After working in architecture design for several years, Jesika decided to pursue her interest in programming and her love of efficient systems. She now serves as a Software Team Lead for Ideate Software.

 

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January

19

2038

Our special offer designed for new customers of a 6-month subscription to Ideate Explorer, Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager for just US$500 just got better! 

Now, to keep Revit model management moving smoothly, we will give each new company that takes advantage of this offer a $500 virtual coupon to use toward an annual bundle (Ideate Explorer, Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Sticky, IdeateApps, and Ideate StyleManager) once the 6-month subscription expires.

Current Promotions

The initial offer is for a Single-User bundle that includes 1 subscription to Ideate BIMLink, Ideate Explorer, Ideate Sticky, Ideate StyleManager and IdeateApps for use by a single-user. 

This promotion is quite a deal. Should you decide to take a one-year, stand-alone subscription to each of our products individually, you would pay: 

  • Ideate BIMLink - $795 
  • Ideate StyleManager - $795
  • Ideate Explorer - $495
  • Ideate Sticky - $495
  • IdeateApps - $495 

Sign up today and get access to the tools you need to work more efficiently and with less stress.

Visit the online store to subscribe today. For any questions, please email us at [email protected]

Ideate Software solutions are compatible with Revit 2019 - 2022. 

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