My 3Dconnexion Setup Review

This is a review of the 3Dconnexion devices I bought recently, The CadMouse Pad, CadMouse Pro Wireless, Keyboard Pro with Numpad, and SpaceMouse Enterprise. Let's start small with the CadMouse Pad.

3Dconnexion CadMouse Pad Review

The 3Dconnexion CadMouse Pad is a purpose-built mouse surface aimed at CAD, engineering, architecture, and design professionals who want smoother, more predictable cursor control than a generic desk surface or low-cost mouse pad can provide. It is designed as a companion to 3Dconnexion’s CadMouse line, but its core benefits—consistent tracking, low-friction movement, and a stable base—can apply to other high-quality professional mice as well.

Design and Build Quality

The pad uses a three-layer construction: a micro-textured top surface for precise movement, a rigid middle layer for flatness and stability, and a non-slip silicone base to keep the pad from shifting during use. This gives it a more engineered feel than a soft fabric mouse pad. The result is a firm, uniform surface that should appeal to users who work long hours in CAD or 3D modeling environments where small cursor movements matter. I will note that, while engineered not to slip on the surface with its third layer, mine still slips on my desk.

Surface Feel and Tracking

The defining feature is the low-friction, micro-textured coating. 3Dconnexion describes the surface as optimized for its mouse sensors and for use with CadMouse PTFE feet. In practical terms, that means the pad is intended to provide a balanced glide: smooth enough for broad multi-monitor movement, but controlled enough for accurate cursor placement in detailed CAD work. I can attest that this is the case.

Free SVS Smart Vision Suite: A Productivity and Model-Quality Toolkit

Summary

SVS Smart Vision Suite is a free productivity and model-quality toolkit for Autodesk Revit developed by SVS Team. According to its Autodesk Marketplace listing, it is intended to bring common project setup, sheet creation, parameter exchange, model-health review, and grid-dimensioning workflows together under one consistent SVS ribbon for Revit 2022 through Revit 2027.

Primary Purpose

The add-in is designed to streamline repetitive Revit production and coordination tasks that are commonly performed by BIM coordinators, model managers, and project teams. Instead of focusing on a single task, Smart Vision Suite combines several utilities into one toolkit: project setup automation, batch sheet creation, sheet renumbering, parameter export/import, model health reporting, and automated grid dimensioning.

One-Click Project Setup

One of the suite’s central tools is One-Click Project Setup. It can apply Architecture, MEP, Coordination, or saved setup profiles for project information, worksets, levels, views, and sheets. The tool is described as opening with a safe Empty profile, with no default rows and every creation option disabled, which helps prevent unintended project changes. Users can preview changes before applying them, making the workflow more controlled and suitable for real project startup conditions.

Free SVS Accessibility Checker: Review Modeled Accessibility Conditions

Summary

SVS Accessibility Checker is a free standalone Autodesk Revit add-in developed by SVS Team for reviewing modeled accessibility conditions inside Revit. It is aimed primarily at UAE accessibility design review and uses selectable municipality or authority profiles, linked-model scanning, editable TXT rule files, focused navigation, and CSV/HTML reporting to help project teams identify potential accessibility issues during design coordination.

Primary Purpose

The add-in is designed as a model-based accessibility review assistant rather than a legal compliance or permit approval tool. Its purpose is to help users check whether modeled conditions appear to align with selected accessibility requirements, based on the available Revit geometry, family parameters, adopted rule profile, and project-specific rule settings.

Key Accessibility Checks

• Door clear-width and threshold checks.
• Door maneuvering-clearance screening.
• Corridor width and pinch-point checks.
• Turning-circle checks for accessible maneuvering space.
• Ramp slope and ramp clear-width checks.
• Room-to-room accessible-route connectivity review.

Rule Profiles and Regional Focus

The tool includes built-in profiles for Abu Dhabi DMT Sahel 2025 for new and existing assets, Dubai Municipality 2025, RAK Municipality 2026, and legacy Abu Dhabi 2013. Other municipality entries are identified as coordination baselines that require authority confirmation, which is important because they should not be treated as automatically approved interpretations.

SVS Exporter: A Revit Productivity Suite and Export Utility

Summary

A Revit productivity suite for batch exports, schedule Excel workflows, site/model data management, and common BIM documentation tasks.

Overview

SVS Exporter is a productivity add-in for Autodesk Revit developed by SVS Team. It is designed to automate repeated documentation and model-management workflows, especially the kinds of export, schedule, parameter, and coordination tasks that can consume significant project production time. The Autodesk Marketplace listing describes it as a toolset for exporting sheets, schedules, site data, model formats, and managing common BIM tasks.

Unlike a single-purpose exporter, SVS Exporter combines several practical utilities in one ribbon-based Revit interface. Its published feature set includes PDF and DWG sheet/view export, schedule export and import through Excel, schedule template creation and syncing, parameter copying, site-coordinate tools, model export options, style transfer, level reassignment, family orientation, grid/link/CAD reference controls, license activation, update notices, and an in-app user guide.

Primary Purpose

The primary purpose of SVS Exporter is to reduce repetitive manual production work in Revit. BIM teams often spend time exporting sheets, creating DWG deliverables, pushing schedules into Excel, reimporting updated data, cleaning CAD references, adjusting element levels, and preparing model exports. SVS Exporter gathers these recurring tasks into a set of focused commands so teams can work faster and more consistently.

For architects, engineers, BIM coordinators, and documentation teams, the add-in functions as a practical production assistant rather than a design-authoring platform. It helps standardize export workflows, streamline schedule data exchange, and simplify common Revit model-management operations.

BIMS: A Broad Revit Productivity and Automation Suite

Summary

A multi-purpose Revit productivity suite for automating structural, architectural, MEP, parameter, geometry, and documentation workflows.

Overview

BIMS is a productivity suite for Autodesk Revit designed to automate repetitive modeling, quantification, detailing, data management, and exchange tasks. Unlike a narrow single-command add-in, BIMS bundles more than 30 specialized tools across general BIM production, structural workflows, geometry utilities, formwork, plastering, reinforcement, sanitary installations, DWG import, DWG sheet export, and Navisworks preparation.

Based on current online information, BIMS is positioned for structural, architectural, MEP, and BIM coordination teams that need to reduce time spent on element-by-element manual work. Its commands are designed to operate on multi-element selections, so tasks that would normally require repeated modeling, parameter editing, exporting, or quantity extraction can be completed in larger batches.

Primary Purpose

The primary purpose of BIMS is to speed up high-volume Revit production tasks while keeping results as editable native Revit elements whenever possible. This is important because many BIM workflows involve repetitive operations such as assigning nearest grids, copying parameter values, creating formwork surfaces, generating plastering quantities, placing reinforcement, exporting sheets, or preparing geometry for coordination. BIMS attempts to reduce these manual steps while preserving data that can be scheduled, tagged, reviewed, and modified inside Revit.

For BIM managers and production teams, the add-in is best understood as a workflow accelerator rather than a design-authoring replacement. It automates common tasks, proposes results for review, and helps teams produce quantities and documentation faster, but professional judgment and discipline-specific review remain necessary.

Orkestra: An Automation Deployment and Governance Platform

Summary

A Revit-integrated automation deployment platform for managing, securing, and scaling Dynamo, Grasshopper, and OkPy tools across AEC teams.

Overview

Orkestra is an AEC automation platform with a dedicated Revit add-in that brings firmwide script and tool deployment directly into the Revit interface. Rather than functioning as a single-purpose modeling utility, Orkestra acts as an automation management layer: it helps teams organize, distribute, document, secure, and run DynamoBIM, Grasshopper, and OkPy tools from a controlled library.

Based on current online information, Orkestra is positioned for firms that have already invested in visual programming or custom automation and now need a scalable way to deliver those tools to production users. The Revit add-in is especially relevant for BIM managers, computational designers, design technologists, and application engineers who need to make automation accessible without requiring every user to open, understand, or maintain the underlying scripts.

Primary Purpose

The primary purpose of Orkestra for Revit is to replace informal script-sharing workflows with a managed automation environment. In many firms, Dynamo graphs and custom tools are stored in shared folders, passed around through Teams or email, or maintained locally by individual power users. Orkestra addresses that problem by giving teams a central interface for hosting tools, controlling access, organizing versions, and presenting approved automations through user-friendly Revit ribbons and panels.

For Revit users, this means Dynamo-based workflows can behave more like standard add-ins: they can appear on the ribbon, launch from curated tool buttons, use preset inputs, and operate without exposing users to the complexity of the underlying graph. For administrators, it provides a way to standardize tools, reduce dependency on local file paths, and improve governance around automation.

Free Eazy Struct: Coordination Accelerator for Concrete-Heavy Architectural/Structural Workflows

Summary

A coordination-focused Revit add-in for detecting concrete model mismatches, managing openings, and improving architect-structure communication.

Overview

Eazy Struct is an Autodesk Revit add-in designed to improve coordination between architectural and structural models, with a particular emphasis on concrete elements and opening coordination. The tool focuses on identifying mismatches between linked models, helping teams resolve issues directly inside Revit instead of relying on external clash-detection workflows or manual model review.

Based on available online information, Eazy Struct is positioned as a practical coordination utility for BIM coordinators, structural engineers, architects, and MEP teams who need to reduce field surprises, improve accountability, and speed up issue resolution during design coordination.

Primary Purpose

The main purpose of Eazy Struct is to automate concrete coordination checks between architectural and structural Revit models. Instead of asking users to visually compare walls, floors, beams, columns, openings, and related linked-model elements, the add-in calculates conflicts, classifies coordination conditions, and gives users tools to navigate directly to the affected geometry.

In practice, the add-in attempts to close one of the common gaps in Revit coordination: the difference between model ownership and physical constructability. Architectural, structural, and MEP teams can each model elements correctly within their own discipline, but coordination issues still occur when the linked models do not align. Eazy Struct provides a Revit-native workflow for detecting and communicating those issues.

My 3Dconnexion Setup

I received a package from 3Dconnexion yesterday. I pretty much ordered one of everything, a Keyboard Pro with Numpad, a CadMouse, and a SpaceMouse Enterprise (and I already had a CadMouse Pad). 

I had a SpaceMouse Pro previously, and wrote a review of it, but I sold it when I wasn't working for an extended period. I also previously had a CadMouse, which I also reviewed, but it went belly up awhile back.

I only recently became aware of the Keyboard PRO, and wanted one, so I bit the bullet and bought it. I had a mouse I liked, but right now, when you buy a Keyboard Pro Kit, which includes the Numpad, you effectively get a CadMouse at a deep discount. The kit costs $139. The SpaceMouse Enterprise cost an additional $399, but it's a beaut.

My 3Dconnexion setup

I'll write a review on what it's like to have all these devices once I'm used to using all of them together. Right now, my experience isn't entirely positive, but that may change with use. I still have a lot of things to figure out, and I've got to train my offhand. So, more to come in perhaps a month or so. 

In the meantime, you can check out 3Dconnexion's offerings at https://3dconnexion.com/.

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Autotag: Automated MEP Tagging

Summary

Autotag by Bimrock AI is a Revit-native add-in designed to automate MEP tagging and annotation workflows in Autodesk Revit. Its primary purpose is to replace repetitive, manual tag placement with reusable, rule-based tagging profiles that can be applied across views, sheets, levels, disciplines, and documentation sets. The add-in focuses on ducts, pipes, cable trays, conduits, electrical equipment, and other MEP-related elements, while also noting support for some general architectural elements.

Purpose and Core Value

The add-in addresses one of the most time-consuming production tasks in Revit MEP documentation: placing, moving, aligning, and cleaning up tags by hand. In dense mechanical, electrical, and plumbing views, teams may need to tag hundreds or thousands of elements, then adjust leaders and elbows to avoid overlapping annotation. Autotag is intended to reduce that manual effort, improve consistency, and help teams produce cleaner documentation with fewer redlines.

Workflow 

Autotag uses a profile-based workflow. Users create a tagging profile by selecting the Revit categories to tag, choosing the appropriate tag families, defining filtering criteria, and setting placement and orientation rules. These profiles function like annotation-focused standards that can be reused across views, sheets, or projects. Once a profile is applied, Autotag places tags automatically, attempts to avoid overlaps, and gives users post-placement tools for bulk editing, leader organization, and elbow alignment.

Free Cupix Reality Importer: Import Standard Point Cloud Files Directly into Revit

Summary

Cupix Reality Importer is a free Autodesk Revit plug-in developed by Cupix Inc. that allows users to import standard point cloud files directly into Revit. It is designed to simplify scan-to-BIM workflows by removing the need to convert point cloud data into Autodesk ReCap format before bringing it into a Revit project.

Purpose and Design Intent

The main purpose of Cupix Reality Importer is to make reality-capture data easier to use inside Revit. Native Revit workflows typically rely on indexed point cloud files created through Autodesk ReCap, which can add extra conversion steps to a scan-to-BIM process. Cupix Reality Importer addresses this by supporting direct import of several standard or Cupix-specific point cloud formats, helping users move reality-capture data into Revit more quickly.

Supported File Formats

The Autodesk Marketplace listing states that the add-in supports PLY, XYZ, E57, and CPC files. CPC is Cupix’s own Cupix Point Cloud format. The plug-in imports coordinate data and color attributes when those attributes are present in the source file, helping preserve the visual and spatial usefulness of the point cloud inside Revit.

CupixWorks Alignment Data

Starting with version 1.1.1, Cupix Reality Importer supports optional automated point cloud positioning through CupixWorks alignment data. This alignment data is provided as a JSON file exported from CupixWorks. When the JSON alignment file is selected during import, the point cloud can be placed at the exact position aligned with the BIM model, eliminating the need for manual placement in many cases.

If alignment data is not provided, the point cloud is imported with its origin positioned at Revit’s internal origin. In that situation, users may need to reposition or align the point cloud manually using standard Revit tools. The alignment-data workflow is therefore most valuable when point clouds are exported from a CupixWorks project that has already been aligned to a BIM file.

Typical Workflow

A typical workflow begins in CupixWorks, where users process or manage reality-capture data and export a point cloud file. If the project includes BIM alignment, users can also export the Cupix Alignment Data JSON file. In Revit, users install the appropriate Reality Importer version, open the target Revit project, run the import command, select the point cloud file, optionally select the alignment JSON file, and import the data into the model environment.

Product Roundup: IB-BIM

From the Autodesk Design and Make Marketplace:

About

Independent Revit Add-in Developer specializing in productivity tools for BIM workflows.

Creating innovative solutions to enhance Revit user experience and streamline design processes.

Editor's Note: Ratings are static and accurate at press time. For up-to-date ratings, visit the Autodesk Design and Make Marketplace.

Get Linked IDs

Extract element IDs and properties from linked Autodesk® Revit® files.

Export to Excel with Category, Family, Type, Link File, Level, Workset, and Mark details. | Free

★★★★★ (1 review)

ScheduleLink

Export and import Autodesk® Revit® schedules to Excel. Edit parameters in Excel and update your model instantly. | Free

No ratings yet

Visibility Manager: Manage View Filters and V/G Overrides Across Views, View Templates, and Projects

Summary

Visibility Manager is a professional Autodesk Revit add-in developed by IB-BIM / Itzik Bejarano for managing view filters and Visibility/Graphics overrides across Revit views, view templates, and projects. It is designed to reduce the manual effort required to copy, remove, export, and import view-filter settings and category-based V/G overrides, especially in large models with many views, templates, disciplines, and documentation standards.

Purpose and Design Intent

The add-in addresses a common Revit production challenge: keeping visibility settings consistent across many views and templates. Native Revit tools can manage filters and V/G overrides, but applying the same settings repeatedly across many targets can be slow and error-prone. Visibility Manager provides a structured interface for bulk operations, allowing BIM teams to standardize project appearance, streamline coordination views, and manage template-driven graphics more efficiently.

Core Workflow

Visibility Manager works from the currently active Revit view. Users launch the tool from the IB-BIM ribbon tab or the Add-Ins tab, choose whether to work in Filters Mode or V/G Overrides Mode, select source settings from the current view, and then choose target views or target templates. The tool is organized around three main areas: the current source view, target views, and target templates. This layout makes it clear where settings are coming from and where they will be applied.

Dual Operation Modes

Filters Mode

Filters Mode allows users to copy or remove Revit view filters in bulk. The add-in preserves filter settings, rules, criteria, conditions, parameters, graphic overrides, and complex logic so that filters can be replicated accurately from a source view to multiple views or templates. This is useful for coordination filters, discipline filters, phasing filters, system-color filters, issue-review filters, and other office-standard graphics.

Type Manager Pro: Batch Rename Revit Types

Summary

Type Manager Pro is a commercial Autodesk Revit add-in developed by IB-BIM Tools / Itzik Bejarano for batch renaming Revit types. Unlike family-data management tools that focus on Type Catalogs or Lookup Tables, this add-in is centered on the practical day-to-day task of renaming existing Revit element types inside a project with controlled preview, validation, Excel export/import, and undo support.

Purpose and Design Intent

The add-in is designed to help BIM managers, coordinators, and Revit power users rename many Revit types quickly while avoiding common naming mistakes. Revit type names are often managed manually across walls, doors, windows, furniture, equipment, annotation objects, and other model or documentation categories. Type Manager Pro provides a dedicated interface where users can select a category, filter available types, preview proposed changes, validate results, and execute all approved renames in a single Revit transaction.

Core Workflow

Users open a Revit project, go to the IB-BIM Tools ribbon tab, launch Type Manager Pro, and choose a category from the dropdown list. The tool displays all types in that category with selection checkboxes and a live preview column. Users can select individual types or all visible types, apply a renaming operation, review the preview results, and then execute the valid changes. The execute button changes color to communicate status: gray when no items are selected, green when valid renames are ready, and red when all selected items contain errors.

Rename Operations

• Prefix: Adds text before the current type name.
• Suffix: Adds text after the current type name.
• Find/Replace: Replaces matching text inside type names.
• Wildcard support: Supports wildcard patterns such as asterisks and question marks in find-and-replace operations.
• Search filtering: Allows users to filter the displayed type list before selecting and renaming items.
• Live preview: Shows proposed new names before changes are applied, with valid changes and errors visually distinguished.

Free ScheduleLink: Round-Trip Element Information Between Schedules & Excel

Summary

ScheduleLink is a free Autodesk Revit add-in from IB-BIM that creates a round-trip connection between Revit schedules and Microsoft Excel. It allows users to export Revit schedules to professionally formatted Excel workbooks, edit schedule values in Excel, and import the changes back into Revit so that the underlying Revit elements are updated directly.

Purpose and Design Intent

The add-in is designed for Revit users who prefer to review, edit, and coordinate schedule data in Excel while still keeping the Revit model as the source of truth. Instead of manually changing many parameter values inside Revit schedules, users can use Excel’s familiar editing environment for bulk changes, then use ScheduleLink to validate and synchronize those edits back to model elements.

Core Workflow

ScheduleLink works through a simple export-edit-import process. Users launch the tool from an open Revit project, choose any schedule from the project list, preview the schedule parameters with color-coded editability indicators, export the schedule to Excel, make edits in the workbook, and then import the modified file back into Revit. During import, the add-in checks the workbook, applies only changed values, and provides a detailed results summary.

Key Features

• Exports Revit schedules to Excel with a WYSIWYG approach so the workbook reflects the schedule’s sorting, grouping, filters, and column order.
• Allows users to pick from all schedules in the current project without opening the schedule view first.
• Includes fast dynamic search for locating schedules by name.
• Displays a parameter preview with color-coded columns that indicate editable, type, calculated, and read-only fields.
• Imports modified Excel data back into Revit and updates only values that changed.
• Uses smart pre-checks to detect whether the Excel file contains changes before beginning import.
• Provides project validation to help prevent importing data into the wrong Revit project.
• Includes detailed import progress, error reporting, and copy-to-clipboard results.
• Supports full undo behavior by applying imports in a single Revit transaction.
• Includes right-to-left language support for Hebrew, Arabic, and other RTL languages.

Free Get Linked IDs: Get Element IDs for Linked Elements & Export Them to Excel

Summary

Get Linked IDs is a free Autodesk Revit add-in from IB-BIM that extracts element IDs and related properties from linked Revit models. The tool is aimed at users who work with complex multi-discipline linked models and need a fast way to identify, copy, document, and export information about elements that exist in linked files rather than in the active host model.

Purpose and Design Intent

The main purpose of Get Linked IDs is to make linked-model coordination easier. In Revit, identifying an element in a linked architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, or plumbing model can be more cumbersome than identifying elements in the current file. This add-in simplifies that task by letting users select elements from linked Revit files, view their IDs in a results window, copy those IDs, and export a more complete data set to Excel.

Core Workflow

The workflow is intentionally simple: the user launches the command, selects one or more elements from any linked Revit file, reviews the collected element IDs in a styled dialog, and then either copies the IDs to the clipboard or exports the selected element information to Excel. Version 1.1.0 also includes an Export & Open option, allowing users to save the Excel file and open it directly from the add-in.

Key Features

• Select multiple elements from linked Revit files.
• Display all selected linked element IDs in an organized results window.
• Copy all collected IDs to the clipboard with one click.
• Export selected linked-element data to Excel.
• Include detailed information such as Element ID, Category, Family, Type Name, Link File Name, Level, Workset, Phase, and Mark.
• Use Export & Open to save and open the Excel output directly.
• Use safe file export logic intended to handle locked files more reliably.
• Create Excel files with color-coded headers, auto-filter, and freeze panes for easier review.
• Access the command from the IB-BIM Tools ribbon tab.