Workset Reporting with Ideate Explorer for Revit

A few weeks ago we gave a gentle nudge to BIM Managers to take the courageous step of actually executing on their workset plans. That post generated a lot of positive feedback and discussion. Including this follow-up question.

Q:  Can I use Ideate Explorer for Revit to generate a list of elements per Category or by Workset for offline review? 

A:  Yes, any elements selected within Ideate Explorer can be exported to Excel from the Detail View. After Exporting to Excel the information can be easily transformed to include element counts by using a Pivot table. Here's how:  http://www.screencast.com/t/eyB3nisThiuN

Try the Ideate Explorer for Revit Free Trial today.

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc.

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Your Ideas, Writ in Code – Annual Ideate BIMLink Survey

A big thanks to everyone who graciously gave us their input last month for the third annual Ideate BIMLink survey. Our winner from this year’s Ideate BIMLink survey is Trent Best of Rosendin Electric. Enjoy that iPad mini Trent! 

When you purchase Ideate BIMLink you’re buying not only a piece of software, but also the email support, online classes, and development efforts that are on-going. For example, your past input has resulted in the following “point” releases:

2013.0 :: March 2012, Revit 2013 ships, and so do we, with new and improved workflows!

2013.1 :: August 2012 – improvements for ease of network deployments

2013.2 :: December 2012 – Top 3 user requests added plus many improvements.

2014.0 :: March 2013 – Revit 2014 ships and so does Ideate BIMLink 2014.0

2013.4/2014.1 :: July 2013 – We provide improvements for both 2014 and 2013 users. What’s New Video

2013.5/2014.1 :: Give us a bit of time, we just got your feedback!

In addition to some great ideas about how to make Ideate BIMLink even more useful, users are reporting an average of ***23.7 hours saved per project***, meaning that for most customers they re-coup their initial investment within the first project. Sign-up for online training to learn how you can make the most of Ideate BIMLink.

Missed the survey? You can always provide your input from within the Help menu.

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc.

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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. 

10.8.13::Revit 201:
Site Tools

10.10.13::Civil 3D 201:
Working with ReCap

10.15.13::Revit 201:
Worksharing Best Practices

10.17.13::Civil 3D 201:
Intro to InfraWorks

10.21.13::Ideate Software 101:
Ideate BIMLink for RMEP 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

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. 

10.1.13::Navisworks 101:
Introduction to Navisworks Manage

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

10.3.13::Civil 3D 101:
Data Short Cuts

10.8.13::Revit 201:
Site Tools

10.10.13::Civil 3D 201:
Working with ReCap

10.15.13::Revit 201:
Worksharing Best Practices

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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Dealing with CAD Files in Revit

Did I link it or did I import it? Was the box checked for “Current view only” selected or not? Where is it! It wasn’t exploded was it??? Do these phrases come to mind when asked these questions? I don’t remember? I think I did? I have no clue…, I hope not! I recently had a conversation with a client who wanted to search for CAD files within a Revit Model and had  these very questions. With the latest release of Ideate Explorer for Revit you’ll be able to answer these  questions and more…

Did I Link or Import the CAD file?
Within the Revit products the only way to know if a user linked a CAD file is to go to Insert tab and select the button then the CAD Formats tab.   Using this function in Revit gives the user an idea of what CAD Files in the Revit Model have been Linked. Note that it does NOT provide any information about files that have been imported!

Ideate Explorer informs the user if CAD Files are Linked or Imported by separating them out into two distinct categories: CAD Imports & CAD Links.

Was the box checked for “Current view only” selected or not?
 Within the Revit products the only way a user knows if the “current view only” option has or hasn’t been selected is when the CAD File shows up in a view other than the inserted view. That is of course, as long as a team member hasn’t turned it off with the various Revit graphic tools. 

Ideate Explorer informs the user through separating out the CAD files into DWG File or DWG File <View-Specific> whether they are linked or imported.

• DWG File = CAD Files found in this section informs the user that these CAD Files may be found in multiple views because the “Current view only" option wasn't used during insertion/linking.
• DWG File <View-Specific> = CAD files found under this section informs the user that these CAD Files can only be found in the view that they have been inserted in, or there was a check in the box for “Current view only”.

Where is it!  It wasn’t exploded was it????

To find a linked or imported CAD file within the Revit products it is truly a "hunt and peck" process for the user.

One of  the method that could be used to find an Import is by using the Line Stylestool found in the Manage Tab > Settings panel.  Within this tool the user is able to tell if an imported CAD file has been exploded by the presence of certain line styles. 

When using Ideate Explorer a user can quickly determine if an imported CAD file has been Partially or Fully exploded.  My two favorite ways within Ideate Explorer are:1. Searching for symbols = Within Ideate Explorer CAD Imports category I look for DWG files that repeat multiple times with symbol name at the end.

2. Search for Line Styles – Within Ideate Explorer I look at the Lines > detail Lines category looking for CAD Layers names like DEFPOINTS etc.

Ideate Explorer can quickly find elements in the model like imported CAD Files.  Ideate Explorer has a Show Elements tool which when selected will zoom to the item in Revit that you’ve.  This is similar to the “Highlight in Model” function in Revit schedules.  Users can access the Show Elements several different way.  My favorite method is as follows:

• Select an element in the Results window  

• Select the Show Elements (Zoom to Selected) button from the Top right of the Results window.

Happy searching! If you would like to make suggestions on what you would like to see in future releases of Ideate Explorer for Revit send us your ideas.

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Eugene . O’Day, IX
AEC Application Specialist
Eugene A. O’Day, IX, with more than 25 years of architectural and mechanical experience, offers a trained focus on all things Revit and BIM. Teaching is a passion of his. Eugene has been an instructor in undergraduate degree programs, has traveled worldwide teaching Autodesk solutions to major corporations, has taught at accredited ATCs throughout the Northwestern region, and is a frequent and popular instructor, speaker, and presenter for AUGI® CAD Camps, Revit – and related product user groups. He has also been a trusted public school district advisor on new drafting instructor hires. At Ideate, Eugene provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD. Eugene is also a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional.

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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. 

9.16.13::Ideate Software 101:
Revit Project Management with Ideate BIMLink

9.17.13::Revit 201:
Documenting your project in Revit MEP

9.19.13::Infrastructure 201:
Analysis for Master Planning

9.20.13::Revit 201:
Revit MEP and Low Voltage Systems MEP

9.23.13::Revit 201:
Conceptual Design

9.30.13::Ideate Software 201:
Ideate BIMLink for RMEP 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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Revit Best Practices, from the Factory

Autodesk recently updated their Revit Model Performance Technical Note for version 2014. This document contains a wealth of information related to optimizing Revit files and is highly recommended for all BIM Managers who are using Revit.

Here’s just one example, that can be found under the “Revit Model Optimization and Best Practices” section.

Ideate Explorer for Revit can be used to find Arrays and other problem areas, as shown.

Use Ideate Explorer to select all your Arrays at once and then use the ungroup option as recommended by Autodesk for improved performance. You can find “Revit 2014 Model Performance Technical Note” and other Revit-related white papers on our website.

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc.

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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. 

8.26.13::Revit 201:
Revit MEP and Low Voltage Systems MEP

9.5.13::Civil 3D 201:
Section Sheets Code Set Styles

9.9.13::ISW 101:
Revit Auditing with Ideate Explorer for Revit

9.10.13::Revit 201:
Residential Construction in Revit Architecture

8.19.13::ISW 101:
Ideate BIMLink for RMEP Projects

9.11.13::ISW 101:
Revit Project Management with Ideate BIMLink

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

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. 

8.12.13::ISW 101:
Revit Auditing with Ideate Explorer for Revit

8.13.13::Revit 201:
View Properties:Controlling Visibility

8.15.13::Civil 3D 201:
Object & Label Styles

8.19.13::Civil 3D 201:
Working with ReCap

8.19.13::ISW 101:
Ideate BIMLink for RMEP Projects

8.20.13::Revit 201:
Impression in 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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Autodesk Exchange Apps!

In a recent class here at our Ideate Seattle office, one of our customers had requested a custom code that adds drawing tabs to their AutoCAD application. They had created this in the past to show drawing tabs at the top of the AutoCAD drawing window so their users would have an easier time switching from file to file with multiple drawings open.
 
What many AutoCAD users may not know, or simply may not have taken advantage of, is that the Autodesk Exchange site (built-in to AutoCAD programs) has both free and paid Apps for many of the features that users have been requesting. These add-ons are not part of the out-of-box applications, but can be easily installed onto existing products on your workstation.
 
One of these features just happens to be Drawing Tabs. 
 
Here are a few more Apps that may be of interest:

SketchUp Import (.SKP) Files
 
QR Codes (Converts text to a QR code in your drawing)
 
Screenshots (Adds a plug-in to take quick and easy screenshots of your drawing file)

DWG Compare (compares two versions of a file to display differences in the drawing area)

If you’ve never used Autodesk Exchange you can sign-in directly through the application using the blue and grey “X” in the upper right. Once you’re logged in, pick a product and you’ll be able to search through the available apps. The price ranges depend on who created the App and what it can do. Many of them are free, including the five mentioned above.

Sign-in directly from AutoCAD and other Autodesk Products

Autodesk Exchange also includes Apps for additional Autodesk products. In fact, we at Ideate have two of our own programs available through Autodesk Exchange. If you’re a Revit user, look for Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Revit. 

If you’re considering some custom code to add a feature or function to your application, check out the Autodesk Exchange site first. Chances are there may be someone out there who’s already done the work for you!

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Matt Miyamoto, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Matt is a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Hawaii. Matt obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has 7 years of private sector design experience which he applies in his role as an application specialist with Ideate, Inc. His project experience includes residential and commercial site development, private and public sewer, water and drainage systems, harbors improvements, and roadway improvements. While in Hawaii, Matt was involved in multidisciplinary projects for City and County agencies, State Departments, the Army COE and private developers. @MattM_PE

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Ideate, Inc. Earns Autodesk Fabrication Specialization

San Francisco, CA, 1/24/2013 – Ideate, Inc., (ideateinc.com), an Autodesk Gold Value Added Reseller, today announced that it has earned the new Fabrication Specialization designation for value added resellers from Autodesk, Inc., a world leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. As an Autodesk Specialized Partner, Ideate has shown that it has made a significant investment in its people, that the company has a solid business plan specific to its specialization areas, has customer references, and that it provides a high level of expertise, experience and support to customers. Ideate offices including San Francisco and Sacramento, CA, Portland, OR and Seattle, WA have achieved the Fabrication Specialization. 

Autodesk Partner Specializations enable value added resellers to highlight and brand their expertise in delivering services in key industry areas. By completing the required curriculum and training, as well as meeting required levels of service and standards set by Autodesk, Ideate demonstrates through its strong customer service and support in sales what it means to be a trusted adviser to Autodesk customers throughout the world. 

“Fabrication applications encompass a wide array of powerful and integrated tools for estimating, cost analysis, detailing and fabrication,” says John Souza, Director of Sales, Ideate, Inc. “Achieving the Fabrication Specialization is a new opportunity for us at Ideate to demonstrate our commitment to our customers’ success. This specialization supports our customers’ need to improve design workflows, facilitate stakeholder collaboration and enhance productivity throughout a project’s lifecycle.” 

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 a leading 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. 

Autodesk and ATC 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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Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 User Survey Winners

Congratulations to our Ideate Explorer for Revit Survey Winners:

• Anders Alverfeldt of Yellow AB in Sweden
• Jeremy McMartin of Kirkor Architects
  and Planners in Canada
• Shawn Harriman of Roebbelen Construction
  in the United States
• Clark Morgan of WG Clark Construction
  in the United States

The above winners received a $50 Apple gift card for completing our 2012 Ideate Explorer for Revit user survey. Each person who completed the survey was entered into a random drawing to win.

We take your input very seriously - You ask, we listen. Our newest release of Ideate BIMLink will ship soon and contains all three of our top user survey requests from the 2012 Ideate BIMLink survey. See the Sneak Peek before it ships!

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New Point Release for Ideate Software 2013 Now Available

The Ideate Software team has released version 2013.1 for both Ideate BIMLink and Ideate Explorer for Autodesk Revit. The point release, for use with Autodesk Revit 2013, has minor installation changes that improve network installations (including Citrix deployments) and enhancements that allow the standalone installation to be accessed by all users. This point release should be implemented only if you are having installation concerns. Contact support@ideateinc.com if you need installation assistance.

Ideate Explorer – 2013.1 Download
Ideate BIMLink – 2013.1 Download

Note: Ideate Software is available for network use. The network version can utilize your existing FlexLM setup and support virtualized environments such as Remote Desktop and Citrix. For questions or pricing information contact ideatesoftware@ideateinc.com

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Case of the Phantom Keynote

With apologies to Donald J. Sobol (R.I.P.)

Monday evening, Chief Brown took his seat at the dinner table. He stared off into space. Encyclopedia knew what that meant. He had a Revit riddle he could not solve.

“The Mountain View School Project has a keynote in the legend that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the project,” Chief Brown said. “The case is a puzzle.”

“Tell Leroy about it, dear,” Mrs. Brown urged. “He’s never failed you.” Chief Brown nodded. He took a small notebook from the breast pocket of his uniform. Using his notes, he went over the mystery for Encyclopedia.

“Shortly after the last save to central,” Chief Brown said, “a mysterious keynote popped up in the keynote legend.”

“Is that a big deal?” Mrs. Brown asked.

“It is for Mr. Crabapple, the spec writer,” Chief Brown answered. He looked back at his notes and continued. “Mrs. Corbu, the BIM Manager, searched the entire sheet for the keynote but could not find it anywhere.”

“Did she try Reveal Hidden Elements?” Mrs. Brown asked.

“She did,” Chief Brown said. “She also checked all the tabs on the Visibility Graphics dialog and when she came up empty she contacted us.”

“Aren’t there any other clues?” Mrs. Brown inquired. Mrs. Brown glanced at Encyclopedia as if expecting him to speak. The boy detective was ready to ask his one question. Usually he needed to ask only one question to solve a case at the dinner table.

“Does the phantom keynote have a specific number or text value?” asked Encyclopedia?

“Why, it does happen to say ‘TEMPORARY PROTECTIVE WALL COVER,’ why do you ask?” said Chief Brown.

Encyclopedia whipped out his laptop and queried the RVT file with Ideate Explorer. “I know exactly where that keynote is lurking, and I know why it’s been hiding.”

HOW DID HE KNOW?

(see video to solve his crime)

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Disassemble with Care: Assemblies in Revit 2012 - Known Issue

Autodesk has identified a known issue that an Assembly created in Revit 2012 that has also been tagged will cause a “serious error” if a Disassembly is attempted. We ran into this issue recently with a customer. Here are the steps to resolve this issue in Revit 2012:

1. Find and delete all Assembly Tags. If you know the name of the tag, find it in the Project Browser, under Families>Annotation Symbols, and right-click to Select All Instances. If you have more than one type of Assembly Tag you’ll need to repeat this step for each Tag family. 

2. Select the Assemblies. You can find the Assemblies within your Project Browser towards the bottom, after the Revit Links section. For each Assembly “type” listed you can right-click, select all instances and then use the Disassemble button (on the Modify|Assemblies tab). It’s recommended that you have some other View, such as a Floor Plan View current during this part of the process because the Disassemble button doesn’t appear if you have an Assembly-related view current. If you have more than one Assembly type created you will need to repeat this step for each Type. 

2a. If you own Ideate Explorer for Revit you can short-cut steps #1 and #2 above. Ideate Explorer greatly simplifies this type of task by allowing all instances to be selected at once even if the types are different. See video.

 

NOTE: This problem does not exist within Revit 2013 products. 
 

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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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Who Moved My Duplex?

One of the benefits of Building Information Modeling is the automatic coordination associated with having a single element being represented throughout the project documentation in many ways. A duplex outlet, for example, can display itself as a 2D symbol while in Plan View, a 2D cover plate within Elevation View, and as a load component within an Electrical Panel Schedule, and as part of a Quantity Takeoff Schedule for Electrical Devices. Any change to this single element is managed properly within each of these “views.”  The challenge, of course, is remembering that this is true! 

One of the simplest strategies for dealing with this issue is to work in a split view. The image below shows the same three duplexes in both plan and section views. Working in plan view only may cause us to miss the GFCI that’s at the wrong height, while working only in Section may cause us to assume that two of the duplexes are placed too close together.

Using the Revit Filter tool can help us make sure that changes are only being made to Electrical Fixture Objects, but often that level of information is not sufficient to ensure that we’re making the right changes to the right fixtures.

With Ideate Explorer for Revit, the same selection set can be reviewed with a much finer level of precision.  We can view the selection by Category and realize there is a GFCI involved…

…OR we can review the selection set by Space and realize that we are only interested in the duplexes that are located within the hallway (WF51).

Working in a 3D world can bring amazing efficiencies to your engineering or architectural projects. Make sure that your team has the right tools to make the best decisions so that no one ends up asking “Who moved my duplex?”

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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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Working with Saved Selection Sets in Revit 2013

Have you worked on a project in Revit and gone through the trouble of selecting a number of elements to be modified, then realized that you needed some additional information, or needed to check on something else before you modified the elements? Did you then clear the selection, checked on the information or reference, then went back and re-selected the same elements previously so that NOW you could modify it? 

New to Revit 2013, you have the ability to save any selection of elements that you have selected, and recall those selections at any point. 

In order to Save Selection Sets you must first select the elements that will be within the selection. Standard selection methods apply, [Cntrl] + Pick, Drag the cursor for Window and Crossing selections, or use Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013.

Once the elements have been selected, in the Modify| Xxxx tab, under the Selection panel, you can select the Save tool to create a Saved Selection. Enter a name for the desired selection. Later this selection set can be recalled at any time by accessing the Manage tab, and under the Selection panel selecting the Load tool. This will display the Retrieve Filters dialog where your saved selections can be recalled, selecting the elements within the filter. 

As the Load button is placed in the Manage tab, I have found it advantageous for it to be placed in my Quick Access toolbar for quick retrieval of my saved selections. This has been something needed for quite some time and I am very excited to take advantage of selection sets that I create in my models. 

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Ron Palma
AEC Solutions Application Specialist
Ron has 23+ years of experience in the AEC industry as a designer, lead project designer, trainer and CAD manager. His instructional background includes Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College, and a U.S. Army certified instructor. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

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Locating Views that are assigned to a Sheet in Revit

Have you ever activated a view on a sheet to make some quick changes or adjustments? Have you later needed to find out the name of the view on the sheet so that you can simply work on the actual view and not have to work on the view through the sheet? Here are some quick ways of finding out the name of a view placed on a sheet:

1. While the view is active, turn on the crop boundary. Hover the cursor over the boundary to read the tooltip and status bar. This will tell you what the view name is.
2. In the Project Browser under the Sheets category, expand the [+] beside the Sheet name and a list of the views assigned to the sheet will be displayed.
3. My favorite option, especially if you have a number of views on a sheet such as a detail sheet is to use the Ideate Explorer for Revit. With this method, look at the Visible in Active View option. This will display a Viewports Result, expand the Viewports until you can see a list of views.

Now here is where using Ideate Explorer is cool. The other methods list out the views, so now you have the view names narrowed down, but you have to figure out which view you actually need. With the Ideate Explorer, you can select the view name, which will highlight the view on the sheet. With this method you get a visual of which view you are trying to find with the name listed in Ideate Explorer.

You can download Ideate Explorer by visiting the Ideate Explorer website.

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Ron Palma
AEC Solutions Application Specialist
Ron has 23+ years of experience in the AEC industry as a designer, lead project designer, trainer and CAD manager. His instructional background includes Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College, and a U.S. Army certified instructor. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

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Working with Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013

With the new release of Revit 2013, Ideate has been right there updating its software too. The new Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 can be used to browse through elements in the entire project, in the active view, or through the current selection, to select individual elements, elements by type, or family. Additionally, a search window can be used to find elements in your project that contain specific text in their name.

You can use Ideate Explorer for Revit to Quickly Find and Select the Elements You Need:

• Ideate Explorer for Revit will catalog or “index” all the elements within your project, including elements not found within the Project Browser and elements that are invisible.
• Information can be organized by Category, Workset, Room, Space or Level. Use the text-based search to dig into Family Name, Type Name, Part Materials, or any Text string for even more complex searching.
• Use Ideate Explorer for Revit to open views where elements are visible.
• Use Ideate Explorer for Revit to select all or some elements based on your criteria then exit and use Revit to make the changes you need such as: delete elements, swap elements for different types, edit element properties.

With the introduction of Parts in Revit 2012, these type of elements can be divided, and their materials changed. Use Ideate Explorer for Revit to search for parts that are using a named material, so that you can make property changes.

One change that has been beneficial to me is the ability of placing the Ideate Explorer tool in the Quick Access Toolbar. To do so, right-click the Ideate Explorer tool in the Add-Ins tab, and add it to the Quick Access toolbar. This tool will now remain in the toolbar regardless of whether you close Revit, or open a new Project. So now, Ideate Explorer for Revit is right at your finger tips!

Download your free trial today.

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Ron Palma
AEC Solutions Application Specialist
Ron has 23+ years of experience in the AEC industry as a designer, lead project designer, trainer and CAD manager. His instructional background includes Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College, and a U.S. Army certified instructor. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

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Ideate, Inc. Announces Powerful Project Auditing with Ideate Explorer for Autodesk Revit 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, California – 05/02/2012 - Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer and Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry, today announced a 2013 update to Ideate Explorer for Autodesk Revit software. This new version is built for the Autodesk Revit 2013 suite of solutions and enhances the ability to search, select, and audit Revit building information models.

Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 includes new elements that directly correspond to Autodesk Revit 2013, including a number of stair elements, support for View References which permit scanning and zooming to any reference location. Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 also includes enhanced support for Parts.

“Ideate Explorer will help users more efficiently navigate entities in any BIM project, but it’s been invaluable for cleaning up and standardizing conversions from AutoCAD,” notes Ideate customer Crystal Pearson, CAD Lead at Tetra Tech. “Not only has Explorer saved us a great amount of time; it has also eliminated much of the frustration we would have experienced without it. Users of all levels will instantly see the benefits of this essential tool.”

“We recognize the importance of a timely product delivery and are pleased to be able to deliver both Ideate Explorer for Revit 2013 and Ideate BIMLink within a few days of the official Autodesk Revit product launch this year,” said Ideate Inc. president Bob Palioca.

Ideate Explorer for Revit is priced at US$399 with an upgrade from version 2012 priced at US$200. Ideate Explorer for Revit is currently available via download from www.ideateexplorer.com and from authorized Ideate reseller partners. For information on network pricing, contact explorer.sales@ideateinc.com.

Ideate Explorer for Revit works with Autodesk Revit Architecture, Autodesk Revit MEP, and Autodesk Revit Structure software in conjunction with all versions of Microsoft Excel. A no-charge 30-day trial version of Ideate Explorer software is available at www.ideateexplorer.com/free-trial/. Ideate Explorer for Revit and Ideate BIMLink will be shown at the upcoming Revit Technology Conferences (RTC); one in North America on June 28-30, 2012 and another in Australia May 24-26, 2012.

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc. is a member of the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) with 25+ years experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM).

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

Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk solutions provider, offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to AEC professionals. Established in 1992 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk’s highest levels of authorization. Ideate, Inc. operates five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATC): San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose, California; Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Ideate facilities are Autodesk Authorized Certification Centers, providing globally recognized certification courses for professionals who sell, service and support Autodesk products and solutions. For more information visit www.ideateinc.com

Autodesk, ATC, AutoCAD 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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