Classroom Training – Open Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

5.1-3::San Jose
AutoCAD Fundamentals
5.6-8::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
5.6-8::Sacramento
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
5.6-8::San Francisco
Revit MEP Mechanical and Plumbing Fundamentals

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AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 Pressure Pipe Improvements – Extracting Material Quantities

Ideate is dedicated to bringing you the latest information on the new releases of Autodesk software. In AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 you could extract material quantities from gravity based pipe network by assigning them pay items. With Civil 3D 2014 you can now do the same for pressure pipe network parts. It’s easy! Here’s how: 

1. Edit the Parts list from the pressure pipe network contextual tab

2. To assign the Pay Item to the part – Click on the Dump Truck

3. Open/load a Pay Item file. Default Civil 3D install keeps a sample file at the following location:
 
C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\C3D 2014\enu\Data\Pay Item Data\Getting Started\Getting Started.csv

4. Assign the pay item to the pressure pipe network part

5. Layout the network.

6. And then extract the quantity from Analyze > QTO > Takeoff. This is summary takeoff is displayed as HTML.

 

In addition, you can now create pressure pipe and fitting table similar to pipe table for gravity pipe network.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Gaurav Bagga
Ideate Infrastructure Solutions Application Specialist

Gaurav is a well rounded Application Engineer and Project Manager for Infrastructure Solutions at Ideate based out of San Francisco. He has over 15 years experience in construction industry and has been helping numerous small, medium and ENR 500 firms maximize their CAD investment for the last ten years. Gaurav is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Autodesk Civil 3D Implementation Certified Expert. He has taught at several conferences, CAD Camps and Autodesk University. He has taught AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Land Desktop and Map 3D to thousands of students and helps Ideate develop the Infrastructure Services curriculum and courses. With his extensive CAD technology background he helps Bay Area engineering and surveying firms analyze and improve their design and drawing production process thereby improving productivity and the bottom line. Follow Gaurav on Twitter: @BeGeez

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New Elevation Line Functionality in Revit 2014

In coordination with the Ideate Inc. YouTube video on Autodesk Revit 2014 – Elevation Improvements, this post describes how the Revit 2014 elevation tag lines include a new improvement. 

For many releases, users have had the ability to create jogged sections to adjust a section line around different features of their design. However, this functionality has been lost to elevation lines until the introduction of Revit 2014. Previously when adding an elevation tag, the elevation line was limited to being linear. In design conditions such as in Figure 1, the addition of an elevation line would cause the elevation line to cross through other building elements obscuring the elevation view.

Figure 1

New to Revit 2014, elevation lines can be split into segments similar to the way a section is split to create a jogged section. Figure 2 represents the ability of splitting the elevation line to jog around Building B to create a desired elevation view. To do this, select the elevation line, in the Ribbon select the Split Segments tool and pick the elevation line where you would like to split the line, then move the split segment to the desired location.

Figure 2

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Ron Palma
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Ron has over 24 years of experience in the architectural industry as a drafter, designer, lead project designer, trainer, and a CAD manager implementing Autodesk Architectural Solutions for a residential design firm. His instructional background includes being an Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland and Clackamas Community Colleges, as well as a U.S. Army certified instructor where he was a senior instructor at Ft Lewis Washington. Ron is a member of the Oregon Army National Guard and platoon sergeant, training and mentoring soldiers in their careers. Ron is a published writer and continues to author professional technical training manuals and shorts for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit. As an Autodesk Certified Instructor, Ron provides Revit Architecture training and support for AEC firms. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

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What's New in Revit MEP 2014: Cap Open Ends

Revit MEP 2014 has some great enhancements, one of the best is the new ability to Cap open ends on Revit MEP Duct and Pipe. 

One of the most consistent problems facing the Duct and Pipe designers that we come across here at Ideate, Inc. during support cases dealing with Duct or Pipe Calculations is “missing” end caps. 

New functionality has been enabled that will add cap(s) on open ends of pipe and duct content. There are two methods in which this functionality can be used. The first method is to select pipe/duct content and then use the ribbon button “Cap Open Ends”. This method will add cap(s) to all open ends of the selected content. The second method is to right click on a pipe/duct connector and select “Cap Open End” from the popup menu. This method will cap the open end of the connector that was selected. 

The routing preferences will be used in conjunction with the Cap On Open end functionality to determine which cap will be added to the open end of the pipe/duct content. 

While this feature could probably be used for other reasons, it was built targeting the following use cases:  

• Use with Pipe
• Use with Duct
• Use with both Duct and Pipe fittings
• Use with both Duct and Pipe accessories

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for AutoCAD MEP, Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Bill Johnson
Ideate Senior MEP Application Specialist

Bill has over 20 years experience in applying AEC design solutions for large commercial companies. A graduate of Pasadena Institute of Technology, he has worked for TEECOM Design Group, GTE/GTEL, Greg LeDoux and Associates, and Scottish Power in England. Bill has also had the opportunity to act as Lead AutoCAD Designer for multimillion dollar communication sites which have included structural, electrical, HVAC, conduit, cable plans and equipment layouts. He has a Sustainable Design Certification from the University of California at Berkeley.

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include: 

4.30.13::Analysis for Master Planning

5.2.13::Ideate Software 101:
Ideate BIMLink for Revit MEP Projects

5.7.13::Revit 201:
Stairs and Railings in Revit

5.9.13::Ideate Software 101:
Revit Auditing with Ideate Explorer for Revit

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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Revit Server 2014 – What’s New

Since Revit Server was released a couple of years ago I’ve been seeing more and more customers implementing it across their offices. I provide Ideate’s Revit Server consulting and implementation services; and I was glad to see Revit Server is being further developed. But before we get into the latest 2014 release let’s briefly go over what Revit Server does and how it benefits users.

Revit Server allows multiple users across multiple locations within a single organization to collaborate on workshared projects. In normal file based worksharing users are working from the central model in a local area network (LAN). But when users outside the LAN within the organization’s wide area network (WAN) start working from the central model they’ll typically encounter file access errors, slow sync to central times, and in rare cases model corruption. To resolve these issues Autodesk developed Revit Server and server based worksharing. In server based worksharing Revit server silently manages the data going back and forth between users, accelerators, and hosts; to deliver a normal file based worksharing experience. For more information check out the Wiki: Revit Server – What It Is and What It Does.

So let’s take a look at what’s new with Revit Server 2014.

Windows Server 2012 Support
Revit Server is now fully supported on Windows Server 2012 which includes support for Internet Information Services (IIS) 8 and .NET 4.5. I actually like Server 2012, it took a little bit of getting used to, but overall I think it’s pretty good. Just like previous versions of Revit Server; 2014 needs specific Application and Web server prerequisite roles to be enabled. Here’s a good video I found going through this process in the new Server 2012 interface.

GUID Preservation
GUIDs (pronounced “goo-id”) are unique identifiers assigned to pieces of data.  In Revit Server GUIDs are assigned to each model hosted within the Revit Server network. Users see a file name but Revit Server sees the GUID. Now in 2014 when a user performs a Save As for a central model it will retain it’s original GUID.

Low Disk Space Warning
Revit Server 2014 now detects when disk space on the server is running low and will display a warning dialog.

Check out my quick video on these new features for Revit Server 2014.

For more information I recommend taking a look at the Revit and Revit Server 2014 Wiki site. Enjoy!

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Derek Wielkopolski
Ideate Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

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New Clash Detective Functionality in Navisworks 2014

In coordination with the Ideate, Inc. YouTube video on Autodesk Navisworks 2014 – Clash Detective Enhancements, this post describes how options added to Clash Detective will help you distinguish between clashing objects and prepare better reports with updatable views of clashes.
 
There was only one selection color within the clash detective which was an unnecessary constraint. New functionality has been added so the user can assign separate colors of choice to items in a clash, for each of the two systems being checked.

This makes it easy to distinguish similar systems, say piping or ducts, one from the other. The columns for a clash report also have a new viewpoints column that gives the user more control in automatically or manually saving custom viewpoints of the clash images.

There is also a simplified button choice to help isolate clashes where the user can show the context dimmed or isolate just the clash items and an option to show clashes by selection color or by status color for new, active, reviewed, approved, and resolved clashes.
 
These enhancements reduce the need for workarounds, placing necessary control options within the clash detective feature. The new features targeting the following use cases:

•  You have systems being checked for a clash that are visually similar, duct with duct, pipe against pipe and you need to clearly distinguish by color which item in the clash belongs to which system. Two selection colors let you do this.
• You want to generate a clash report that shows the status of clash items rather than the selected items and you now have a single setting that lets you chose selection or status.
• You want to save a custom viewpoint that more clearly shows the clash and a right-click in the new viewpoint column lets you do that.

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Jim Cowan
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Jim Cowan’s extensive AEC design industry experience and Autodesk design solutions expertise have made him a sought after university curriculum developer, instructor and presenter. Jim’s areas of expertise include interoperability between solutions and overcoming barriers to the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Educated in Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University and in Landscape Architecture at University of Manitoba, Jim has special focus on sustainability issues: daylight analysis, sun studies, lighting analysis, modeling buildings and conceptual energy modeling (models with shading devices). YouTube Channel: MrJimCowan

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Classroom Training – Open Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

4.24-26::Portland
Civil 3D Fundamentals
5.1-3::San Jose
AutoCAD Fundamentals
5.6-8::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
5.6-8::Sacramento
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

Know your software. Sign up now!

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Ideate, Inc. Announces 2014 Release of Ideate-Developed Software Concurrent with Autodesk Launch

SAN FRANCISCO, California – 04/23/2013 – Ideate, Inc. announced today the delivery of Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit 2014. The release of both Ideate-developed solutions takes place as it traditionally does within 30 days of the Autodesk Revit product launch. Ideate BIMLink 2014.0 and Ideate Explorer for Revit 2014.0 have been ported to the 2014 Revit platform so that Ideate customers can begin their own software migration and testing processes for the Autodesk Revit 2014 platforms. 

This year Revit 2014 has several improvements that relate to the information, the “I,” in Building Information Modeling (BIM). See Ideate’s blog post on this topic: Revit 2014 Feature Review: More Data Liberated! Ideate has ensured that both Ideate Explorer for Revit and Ideate BIMLink support any changes to the data structures within the Revit file format. Further support of new workflows for Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations (A/E/C/O) customers is currently in development for Ideate 2014.1 releases. Both Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit have five star ratings on the Autodesk Exchange Apps Store. 

Ideate BIMLink is being released with new improvements including multi-category Area, Length, and Volume data for all Revit model categories, including system families. This improvement, along with other customer requests, is available for both the Revit 2013 and Revit 2014 version of Ideate BIMLink. A 30 day non-commercial trial is available: http://www.ideatebimlink.com/index.php/free-trial/

Ideate Explorer for Revit enables users to catalog or “index” all the elements within a project, including elements not found within the Project Browser and elements that are invisible. A 30 day non-commercial trial is available: http://ideateexplorer.com/free-trial/

Bob Palioca, President, Ideate Inc. says of Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit 2014, “We are seeing our Ideate-developed software become integral to the standards of firms large and small. Changed workflows are an indicator of the value of our solutions to our customers. Being concurrent each and every year with the Autodesk launch is an important commitment. It is one of the ways we make sure our customers get maximum productivity from their software solutions.” 

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer with 25+ years’ experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and is an Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry since 1992. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and operating five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATCs) in the northwestern U.S., Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk’s highest levels of authorization.

Ideate BIMLink lets users pull data from an Autodesk Revit file into user-friendly Microsoft Excel and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease. ideatebimlink.com

Ideate Explorer for Revit is a simple, powerful Autodesk Revit add-on to explore, quantify and manage the 100,000+ building elements in a Revit model. ideateexplorer.com

Autodesk, 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. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. 

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Revit 2014 Feature Review: More Data Liberated!

As the developers of Ideate BIMLink we’ve been very focused on the data that our customers are embedding within their Revit Building Information Models, so as always when a new version of Revit ships, we carefully scrutinize all the new features and how they relate specifically to information management. Here’s a brief synopsis of what to look for and why you should care.

Revit 2014 Supports New Schedules Types
On the View tab, under the Schedule tool, find these new kinds of schedules. 

New Schedule Category	Value 1-5 (5=Best)
(Arch) Columns	1
Feature: These are the architectural columns; the structural columns are already being scheduled. Benefit: Questionable value unless you are using the column family in some atypical way. Structural columns are generally the ones to schedule for takeoff work.
Detail Items	5
Feature: 2D detail components, including fill patterns, are included in this new schedule type. Benefit: This has been a user request for some time, which is why it’s been in Ideate BIMLink since version 2011. Oddly, the repeating details and filled region elements appear to be lumped in with the more conventional items, so you may need to filter them out. Editing the keynote assignment will be the most practical use of this new functionality. Take Detail Items farther with Ideate BIMLink.
Entourage	1
Feature: These are the 2D stick people that when rendered look slightly less 2D. YinYin – where are you?! Benefit: I see no practical use of this feature, so email me if you can figure it out. I guess if you had 100+ Entourage components and you wanted to use this schedule as a way of knowing which Rooms they were in, that might be useful, but that seems like a bad use of a schedule.
Generic Models	4
Feature: All those items that otherwise defy categorization can now be scheduled. Benefit: This was another early Ideate BIMLink request that was implemented in 2011, so no doubt this will prove useful to some who are managing uniquely modeled elements. The absence of level and host information is why this is not marked as a 5.
Grids and Levels	5
Feature: The name says it all. Benefit: Why not schedule these? While this hasn’t been a strong user request, having a summary of this information is a great way for a project manager to understand the project at a glance. I particularly like the fact that you can see and modify the Scope Box assignment for these items. Auditing Grids and Levels are part of Ideate’s Revit Audit Tips.
Pads	1
Feature: The building pad object that is used to create a topography “cut” and place a slab-like object at the same time. Benefit: If used at all (it has an issue, still, with being properly managed by phases) the pad is unlikely to be needed as a scheduled object.
Roof Soffits	3
Feature: Roofs, Roof Fascia, and Roof Gutters have always been able to be scheduled; now Roof Soffits join the mix. Benefit: This is a long-standing Revit request related to the delivering a more complete quantity takeoff. Glad to see that it’s been included.
Structural: Beam Systems, Area Reinforcements, Path Reinforcements, and Fabric Areas	2
Feature: As with Roof Soffits, the addition of this data rounds out the Structural elements that can be modeled. Benefit: Unclear to me whether this has value. I think this information may be a bit ahead of the curve for most structural/construction firms, but it’s nice to see Autodesk expose this information to be leveraged as customers see fit.

Revit 2014 Schedules Include New Properties
In addition to the new schedule categories several bits of data have been exposed for your use. What will you leverage?
 

New Property Added To Schedules	Value 1-5 (5=Best)
Phase Created/Phase Demolished	5
Feature: Now your takeoff schedules can include the name of the Phase in which the element was created. I’m assuming that the Demolished field has negligible value when it comes to schedules. These two fields can also be used as a Filter within the schedule. Benefit: As we have documented in this blog called “Avoid Takeoff Blunders,” not having the phase info could cause significant issues within a quantity takeoff. In a multi-phase project these fields should be required as part of a QC process.
Analytical and Physical Element Data Merged	3
Feature: When you schedule the structural framing category (or any other category with associated structural analytical model categories) you can now find both the physical and analytical properties available within the same schedule. Benefit: Being able to edit some of the analytical structural properties, in-line with its physical properties is part of a larger improvement related to the analytical model which will help solve round-tripping issues between Revit and structural analysis software.

It’s great to see all this newly liberated data – it will be fun to see the new and creative ways in which Revit users put this data to work.  

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc. Glynnis is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon and has worked in the commercial, residential, and healthcare markets as an architect and has also worked in the construction industry as a construction estimator and project manager. Follow Glynnis on Twitter: @GVPinNJ

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Rebar Documentation and Concrete Modeling Enhancements in Revit Structure 2014

Thank you for visiting Ideate’s blog to check out the new features added to Autodesk Revit Structure 2014. My name is Shruti Harve and I work as a Senior Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc.

One of the new features added to Revit Structure 2014 is the ‘Multi Rebar Annotation’ tool that lets you annotate multiple rebar elements as well as tag rebar sets with a single tag. This will greatly assist when creating rebar details and shop drawings.
 
There is also support now for Rebar Shape definitions according to European Standards and Rebar Length Calculation and Scheduling for UK Shapes.

Another interesting tool on the Concrete Modeling side is the of ‘Switch Geometry Order’ tool that has been added  under ‘Join Geometry,’ This tool lets you select the concrete elements that have been joined and change the order of joining and will help with representing the concrete design more accurately.

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Navisworks, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Shruti Harve, LEED AP

Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is LEED accredited. Her experience includes working in Architecture and Construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as Structural Engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. At Ideate, Shruti provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max, Ecotect and AutoCAD Architecture.

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include: 

4.23.13::Ideate 101:
Network License Manager

4.30.13::Analysis for Master Planning

5.2.13::Ideate Software 101:
Ideate BIMLink for Revit MEP Projects

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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What's New in AutoCAD MEP 2014: Ability to Automatically Attach Property Set Definition

Attached at the Hip! The Situation is Terminal!

AutoCAD MEP 2014 has some great enhancements, one of the best is the new ability to automatically attach Property Set Definition.
 
A constant issue that comes up in our AutoCAD MEP support area here at Ideate, Inc. is the attaching of Property Set Data or PSDs to MVPart for Schedules and Tags. Designers are frustrated by Schedule Tables that are full of question marks or exporting drawings to DWF, only to discover that the expected properties are not present.

These time-consuming annoyances will no longer occur, now that Property Set Definitions can be automatically attached to all relevant objects in a drawing. In addition to attaching existing Property Sets to new objects as they are created (whether directly in the drawing, in blocks or Xrefs), newly created or modified Property Sets will immediately be attached to existing objects.

This feature:

• Automatically attach property set definitions to any object
• Attach existing property set definitions
• Attach new or modified property set definitions

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Bill Johnson
Ideate Senior MEP Application Specialist

Bill has over 20 years experience in applying AEC design solutions for large commercial companies. A graduate of Pasadena Institute of Technology, he has worked for TEECOM Design Group, GTE/GTEL, Greg LeDoux and Associates, and Scottish Power in England. Bill has also had the opportunity to act as Lead AutoCAD Designer for multimillion dollar communication sites which have included structural, electrical, HVAC, conduit, cable plans and equipment layouts. He has a Sustainable Design Certification from the University of California at Berkeley.

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Exploded Axonometric Views in Revit 2014: No Problem!

Thank you for visiting Ideate’s blog to check out the new features added to Autodesk Revit 2014. My name is Shruti Harve and I work as a Senior Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc.
 
In this new release of Revit, it is exciting to see the ease with which it is possible to create exploded axonometric views, perspective views and diagrammatic 3D views. I remember using a lengthy process to accomplish this in the previous releases.
 
There is now a ‘Displace Elements’ tool on the View panel of the Modify tab that becomes available when you select elements in a 3D view, and this lets you move the elements away from the model by either using the ‘XYZ’ gizmo or by typing in the distances in the properties palette. You can also drop paths to display how the displaced/moved objects are connected to their original locations in the model. The nice thing is that this ‘displacement’ is specific only to the 3D view you are working in and does not affect the rest of the model; it also works on parts and assemblies!

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Structure, Revit MEP, Navisworks, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Shruti Harve, LEED AP

Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is LEED accredited. Her experience includes working in Architecture and Construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as Structural Engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. At Ideate, Shruti provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max, Ecotect and AutoCAD Architecture.

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Classroom Training – Open Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

4.24-26::Portland
Civil 3D Fundamentals
5.1-3::San Jose
AutoCAD Fundamentals
5.6-8::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

Know your software. Sign up now!

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Civil 3D 2014 Pressure Pipe Network Improvements: Data Shortcuts

Ideate is dedicated to bringing you the latest information on the new releases of Autodesk software. The 2014 release of Civil 3D has many improved editing features for Pressure Pipe Networks. One of the most important improvements is the ability to create pressure pipe network data shortcuts. This means that you can share pressure pipe network data with the use of data shortcuts and references.

Data Shortcut Options for Civil 3D 2013
vs. Data Shortcut Options for Civil 3D 2014

The data shortcut process for Pressure Networks is the same as other data shortcut objects. Once created, pressure networks will appear in their own category under the Data Shortcuts section of the Prospector tab.

Since this is a new feature, however, you will not be able to use the data shortcuts and data references in Civil 3D 2013 files. Files created and saved in 2014 with pressure network references will open in 2013, but the network will not have full functionality in the earlier release.
 
If you’re using Civil 3D 2014, take advantage of the new pressure pipe network data shortcut options for improved project efficiency and data sharing.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Kate Ming
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Kate has a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior to Ideate, she worked at a multinational company for four years doing general civil design on large infrastructure projects. She is versed in roadway, rail, and utility design. She also has experience with utility demand analysis and Low Impact Development plans. At Ideate, Kate provides training and support for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and Navisworks.  

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Virtualization’s Impact on the AEC Industry

Ideate is always investigating new technologies that affect AEC firms’ workflow. Virtualization is one of those technologies. Server virtualization has been around for a while, and the firm’s IT Department/Consultant has been at the forefront of server virtualization.

Application virtualization is a different type of virtualization technology. Application virtualization is the dividing of a server into separate ‘virtual’ computers and then pooling the RAM resources of the server to serve all the virtual computers. Why is this a ‘game-changer?’

• No need to purchase new laptops/workstations every 18-24 months. 
• Ability to allocate resources (CPU + GPU) based upon usage metrics. Resources can be allocated dynamically, so each user gets the RAM they need, when they need it.
• Deployment of software applications, users, and resources can be done centrally and pushed out to the users. Resource usage can be monitored and measured.
• Lastly, users can access the firm’s software assets from anywhere, using any hardware (MAC or PC), through virtualization’s secure URL interface.  

Sounds easy, right? Well, it turns out there are some key issues to consider. This is what Ideate has been researching and testing over the last year. Here are some key factors to consider: 

• Buying the right server hardware is crucial. Most critical errors to user satisfaction are because the hardware was bought on price, without thought of usability. 
• Make sure your virtualization partner has Autodesk and virtualization experience. Most IT consultants are very experienced at virtualizing Microsoft Office programs, and not experienced at successful Autodesk software virtualization. 
• Have the right Autodesk licensing. Virtualization is not a methodology to use one license of Autodesk product to serve many concurrent users. A review of the Autodesk Software Licensing Agreement is essential.

Want to know more? 

• Watch Ideate’s Virtualization video – What is the Business Value for AEC Firms?
• Email Ideate at consulting@ideateinc.com for more information. 

Ideate Consulting can provide both implementation and support services to ensure your firm’s successful move to virtualization.

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Navisworks, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech

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Autodesk Products + Mac OS

Ideate, Inc. gets many questions about the use of Mac operating system (OS) and Autodesk products. There are Autodesk products, like AutoCAD for the Mac, which run natively on the Mac OS. However, many Autodesk products, including Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Navisworks, run only in a Windows OS environment. There seems to me an ever increasing number of Ideate customers with Mac laptop and desktop hardware.

PROBLEM: What are the ways to use Autodesk products in a Mac environment? What workflow does Autodesk support? 

ANSWER: There are two ways to use Autodesk Products on a Mac.

1. Apple Boot Camp This is free for Mac users. This provides for a ‘boot’ level decision for the user. You either boot into Windows or you boot into a MAC operating system. The total RAM on the computer is available to either Windows or Mac. Some users have found boot level decision problematic if they are using both Mac and Windows programs (because you have to reboot to go between Mac and Windows). 
2. Virtual Machine The two most popular products are Parallels and VM Ware. Either of these two programs cost under $100. The virtual machine approach allows you to run Windows ‘inside’ of the Mac OS. You can get about 75% of the RAM allocated to Windows, so having enough RAM is important. Users are able to run both Mac and Windows programs at the same time. 

What Workflow Does Autodesk Support? 
In the post ‘Parallels + Fusion + Boot camp + Autodesk Products’ from Autodesk, Autodesk Technical Support outlines the three ways to implement and which methodology is supported. Also note the work-around for those who prefer to point the virtual machine to the Mac Boot Camp partition. 

Ideate will continue to monitor this situation and will keep you informed.  

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Navisworks, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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David Haynes, NCARB, PMP, LEED AP
Ideate Director of Consulting

David is a Registered Architect, Project Management Certified Professional, who previously had his own architectural practice and was President of a commercial design-build construction company for 15 years. A graduate of University of Arizona, he has worked as an Architect, contractor, developer and as a national construction manager for a national retailer. David currently provides business process analysis, virtualization and change management solutions for AEC clients across the United States involved in the design and building industry. Follow David on Twitter: @dhaynestech

Get it. Know it. Use it.

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include: 

4.15.13::
Civil 101: Civil 3D for Beginners
4.16.13::
Revit 201: Site Tools
4.23.13::
Ideate 101: Network License Manager

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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What's New in Revit MEP 2014: What's Your Angle? Ability to Constrain Angles in Revit MEP

Revit MEP 2014 has some great enhancements, one of the best is the new ability to constrain MEP angles. 

One of the most common questions that I receive while delivering Revit MEP training classes here at Ideate, Inc. is how to “lock” angles in Revit MEP like you can in AutoCAD MEP. New functionality has been enabled that allows for the restriction of available angles when adding or modifying pipe, duct, conduit, and cable tray. The controls have been added to Mechanical and Electrical settings. Piping may now be limited to specific angles while duct, conduit, and cable tray may be limited to specific angles or incremented angles. 

While this feature could probably be used for other reasons, we built this feature targeting the following use cases: 

• Add pipe, duct, conduit, and cable tray layouts with the “Use specific angles” setting enabled. Add or remove angles from the list as you go. 
• Add duct, conduit, and cable tray layouts with the “Set an angle increment” setting enabled using any appropriate angle value. 
• Use the Duct/Pipe Sizing, Generate Layout, and Connect Into tools with restricted angles. 
• Modify layouts by dragging elements, changing type, and reapplying type after limiting the angles that may be used.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Bill Johnson
Ideate Senior MEP Application Specialist

Bill has over 20 years experience in applying AEC design solutions for large commercial companies. A graduate of Pasadena Institute of Technology, he has worked for TEECOM Design Group, GTE/GTEL, Greg LeDoux and Associates, and Scottish Power in England. Bill has also had the opportunity to act as Lead AutoCAD Designer for multimillion dollar communication sites which have included structural, electrical, HVAC, conduit, cable plans and equipment layouts. He has a Sustainable Design Certification from the University of California at Berkeley.

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Revit 2014 Feature Review: Allow Parameters to Vary Across Groups

This new feature in Revit 2014 is very timely as we had an Ideate support case just last week regarding this issue! 

This feature is for all of us who have ever been editing a schedule and received this error:  

You want to edit that door or plumbing fixture that is part of a group, but Revit 2013 (and earlier) would not permit an instance-based change except while editing the group. This has meant that you could not, for example, assign a unique paint color to a door, or assign a barcode value to a toilet or light fixture, if it belonged to a group. Now, with some caveats, this is possible in Revit 2014.

If you’re interested in giving this a spin, this video covers the basic of how to implement this new feature.



The limitations of this feature are:

1. It works for project and shared parameters only. It does not work within the Family Editor
2. It works only for text-based parameters. It does not work for yes/no or dimensional parameters
3. It does not apply to most built-in parameters such as “Comment” though it does work for “Mark”

This is a nice feature that will definitely support those who are managing lots of group-based data, such as apartment unit plans, hospitals, or office furniture layouts.  
 
Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc. In a previous life Glynnis spent many hours looking at blueprints with a scale, highlighters, and a scratch pad to develop detailed cost estimates.

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