We are pleased to report the results of our August 2020 survey in which we asked BIM Managers and BIM Leads from around the world how often their office and staff use Ideate Explorer. 

In this blog post, we share information on the tasks they reported performing at various times throughout a project. We have already posted with the results about the tasks performed daily and tasks performed weekly. 

Ideate Explorer is a comprehensive Revit model browser and Warnings management tool, as opposed to the Project Browser that comes with Revit software. Revit professionals use Ideate Explorer to keep their models clean and accurate, decrease the time they spend on model management, increase the accuracy of their models, and reduce file size.

Ideate Explorer Tasks Performed at Various Times Throughout a Project

Calculate Your Financial Return on Investment

In addition to improving the quality of your Revit models and freeing your users to focus on more valuable activities, the time saved by using Ideate Explorer can result in large financial savings. To help you convert the time you can save into dollars, we developed this ROI calculator. Enter a few data points to determine the approximate amount you could save by using Ideate Explorer instead of the functions within Revit. 

Learn More

• 10-minute Video: Ideate Explorer Overview
• 3-minute Video: Select by Host Phase
• 4-minute Video: Ideate Query and its Value to all Revit Users
• Video Playlist: Instructional Videos on Ideate Explorer
• Help File: Getting Started with Ideate Explorer for Revit
• Help File: Project Auditing for Revit Modeling with Ideate Explorer
• Help File: Ideate Query Available Properties for Revit in Ideate Explorer
• Help File: Ideate Query Examples for Revit Workflow with Ideate Explorer
• Help File: Find and Audit In-Place Revit Families
• Blog Post: Auditing Worksets

Check out our Ideate Explorer ROI web page for other ways in which our clients use this powerful Revit add-in application to save time and money. 

Contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you. 

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.

San Francisco, CA, 04/24/2018 – Ideate, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has divested itself of its Autodesk value-added reseller (VAR) business and is actively expanding investments in developing solutions and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, and owner (AECO) community. 

Bob Palioca, who re-launched Ideate in 2005, relinquished his role with the Autodesk VAR portion of the business, and he remains President of Ideate, Inc., which now focuses all its investments and efforts to: 

1. Expand and grow Ideate Software, which develops and sells worldwide software applications that solve persistent problems in AECO workflows, enabling customers to save time, increase accuracy, improve project deliverables, and elevate design
2. Expand its partnership with Modulus Consulting, which supplements project teams with in-person and virtual BIM experts to save time and money during every stage of the building cycle
3. Grow its Bluebeam Platinum Partner business, which provides Bluebeam Software sales, support, and training to help users get the most out of their Bluebeam investments

“Ideate, Inc.’s success in developing and selling its own software solutions and its rapid growth in providing services with Modulus Consulting make this the ideal time to switch our focus from being an Autodesk VAR to building unique software and services solutions for the AECO industry,” said Bob Palioca.

To accomplish this goal of focusing on being a software developer and services provider, Ideate, Inc. sold its Autodesk VAR business to IMAGINiT Technologies.

Ideate, Inc. will continue to provide sales and services to customers and partners worldwide from its main office in San Francisco California.

About Ideate, Inc.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer with 25+ years of experience in software development and sales with a specific focus on building information modeling (BIM). As a BIM solutions provider, Ideate, Inc. offers quality software, training, support, and custom consulting services to the architectural, engineering, construction, and owner (AECO) community. Ideate, Inc. is also a Bluebeam Platinum Partner, providing sales, support, and training.   

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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Thank you to everyone who commented on our previous “Beyond Traditional Data Editing Tasks” webinar, which focused on using Ideate BIMLink for model health checks and reviewing project standards and quality control. Based on your positive feedback, we continued the theme with this webinar, which focused on using Ideate BIMLink to create new elements and types.

Ideate BIMLink is part of our collection of tools that reduce laborious data editing, viewing and management tasks. Within Ideate BIMLink, the link definitions (sample content) are categorized by discipline and workflow. It’s a best practice to start with one of these pre-configured link definitions and if necessary, add or remove parameter data to meet your specific needs. 

Watch the recording of this webinar to learn how to create new:

1. Instance-based links and use them to create/place instances of elements, such as:
   • Sheets, including placeholders
   • Unplaced rooms
   • Spaces from linked rooms
   • Custom families
   • Areas
   • Schedule keys
   • Revisions
2. Type-based links and use them to create new types in families, such as:
   • Views
   • Walls
   • Furniture
   • Mechanical equipment
   • Structures
      

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.

As a Bluebeam Certified Consultant, David Haynes gets to speak with users and help them get the most out of their software. Here are answers to recent questions he received that may be helpful to others:

Q. When changing a keyboard shortcut in Revu 2018, does Revu warn you if the shortcut is already in use?
A. Yes. If you select a letter that is already in use, you will get a warning message, for example: “C is currently assigned to Cloud. Select Reassign to proceed and remove the current Keyboard Shortcut Assignment or try another.” 

Q. Can you add shortcuts to a task that doesn’t already have a shortcut?
A. Yes. You can add a keyboard shortcut if the task is blank, and you can add one if it isn’t. The only shortcuts you can’t reassign are those that are assigned by Windows.

Q. If we update to Revu 2018, can we still collaborate with those on 2017?
A. Yes. The screen will look different, but the file will be the same.

Q. When a file is synced in Studio, where does it go? Is it saved locally somewhere? 
A. If you are in Projects, it will be held on your local machine. If you are in Sessions, the file will be held in the Cloud, and you will be able to check it in and out. 

Q. In Sessions, do users without a license still have full mark-up capabilities?  
A. Yes. That has not changed. 

Q. If the Cloud crashes while I am syncing to Sessions, can I recover the information? 
A. Yes.  The file will stay in the Pending box. It’s the same process as when a user is disconnected from the internet. Changes are kept in the Pending box until the user reconnects to the internet, at which time the Pendings are completed.

We hope you found this helpful. If you have other questions, or if you would like a free trial of Bluebeam Revu, please contact us at  [email protected]. 
 

San Francisco, CA, June 8, 2018 – Ideate Software, a veteran Autodesk Developer Network member, announced today the launch of its applications for Autodesk Revit 2019.

“Throughout the year, we listened as our customers explained their design, BIM, and workflow challenges,” said Glynnis Patterson, director of software development. “In direct response, our software developers created enhancements to our popular and effective tools for Revit.”

The updates are also for Autodesk Revit versions 2016, 2017, and 2018, and they streamline Revit BIM data management:

• Ideate BIMLink enables precise Revit data control.  This Ideate BIMLink video highlights the updates, which include:
  • Access to more data for items such as conduit runs, cross-section rotation, reference planes, and primary design options
  • Data about who created and updated elements and types
  • Streamlined installation and activation
• Ideate Explorer enables fast Revit data discovery. This Ideate Explorer video highlights the updates, which include:
  • Revit warnings review interface tab
  • Access to more Revit data and information about who created what elements
  • Streamlined installation and activation
• IdeateApps offers efficient Revit data production. This IdeateApps video highlights the updates, which include:
  • The ability to renumber elements from within a schedule view
  • The ability to renumber conduit runs
  • The ability to use ViewCreator to duplicate sections and elevations
  • QuickSelect support for <direct shapes> and <ifc> elements,
  • Streamlined installation and activation
• Ideate Sticky provides accurate data display. This Ideate Sticky video highlights the updates, which include:
  • Streamlined installation and activation

“Our customers know the value of saving time and improving their design deliverables. I am both proud of the accomplishments of the Ideate Software team and our customers who continue to push us to develop better products to solve their design and business challenges,” stated Bob Palioca, president.

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.

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.

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