Product Review – BIMsmith Forge, for Creating Revit Wall, Floor and Ceiling System Families

BIMsmith is the free online service from Anguleris for creating wall, floor and ceiling system family assemblies.

After seeing BIMsmith at RTC 2016 NA, I thought it was high time I signed up for the service, and started creating content with it. I'm pleased to write that the experience was painless and yielded better than expected results.

Here's the process I went through.

On the BIMsmith landing page, there was a convenient link to signing up for free.

Registering required a modest amount of information. I appreciated that a phone number and address weren't required.

After submitting my information, the system immediately sent me a confirmation email. I clicked on the included link to complete my registration, and was taken to the My BIMsmith section of the site, and an introductory video began playing.

It's from My BIMsmith that assemblies can be created, and it's here that I discovered BIMsmith's plans to soon add roof assemblies to the service!

Unifi Version 2.0.4 Release – It's About Scalability

It's been a while since we caught up with the good folks at UnifiLabs and, with a rapid release cadence, they've been busy – this is their fourth release so far this year, and we're told they have even more exiting things coming soon, including additional Revit integration with more Revit element types, so stay tuned!

From the UnifiLabs website...

It’s release time again at UNIFI!  We are excited to showcase the newest features to the platform that make it even easier to manage your BIM content!  Please take a minute to review what’s new in UNIFI 2.0.4 below.  But first, we’ll take this opportunity to mention a few other important updates:

Webinar: Gain Control Over Your BIM Content

Please join us Wednesday, September 7th at 10amPT / 1pmET) to hear from directly from the UNIFI team how these new features in Version 2.0.4 allow greater control of your growing BIM content library.  *Spoiler alert: we will also be unveiling some of our recent work in the Web Portal! Register for the webinar HERE – an on-demand recording will be available for those unable to attend the live webinar, but you need to register.

There's more information on this webinar below.

Twitter Support Handle:

UNIFI now has a support Twitter handle @UNIFIsupport.  We will use this account to post links to webinars, helpful tips and tricks, announce service maintenance and respond to product or support questions.  We invite you to follow us there as well as our main @UNIFILabs account for service updates and announcements.

Ideas Portal:

We want to thank all of you who geek out with us on the Idea Portal!  We love the feedback and are listening to every vote, comment and idea.  We evaluate every bit of it in our decision making process.  The 2.0.4 release feature additions fulfills 7 submitted ideas and 73 total votes!New

Features/Enhancements:

• *Support for Revit 2017 files.  Don’t worry, we already upgraded all your content for you so you don’t have to wait for content upgrades when you insert files! Our Cloud generated over a million upgrades in less than 3 days!
• *Added the ability to rename elements. 
• Feature-Rename1   Feature-Rename2
• *[UC-86, UC-172] 2.0.4 now shows the full filenames as element titles, rather than scrubbed text (2.0.3 showed titles without special characters). Also, search results and File Details pages now indicate Revit ‘Family’ as a separate field where it was previously included in element titles. Other field names have been renamed to be more consistent throughout the UI.
• *[UC-207] The search results and File Details pages now include the following fields: Family, Rating, Last Modified, Date Modified.
• *[UC-163] The User Management page now includes columns for ‘Company Administrator’ and ‘Date Created’. The Library Management page now includes a ‘Date Created’ column.
• *[UC-74] Library reports now include more fields and are consistently named with other fields.
• *[UC-58] Email addresses throughout UNIFI appear as clickable links.
• [UC-165] UNIFI updates now occur more seamlessly. The new .MSI updater completely removes old versions and reports the current version in the Add/Remove Programs dialog.

Free ASSA ABLOY Openings Studio – Web-Based Creation of Custom Doors, Frames, and Door Hardware Objects

From the ASSA ABLOY website...

ASSA ABLOY Openings Studio™, designed exclusively for architects, contractors, distribution, and end user facility owners working in a 3D Building Information Model (BIM) environment.

ASSA ABLOY Openings Studio™ Professional Version (PRO) is our full-featured, password protected suite of BIM software tools for creating and visualizing 3D doors, frames, and hardware objects and modifying their associated parameters for use in design, construction, and facility management.

• Web-based configuration engine instantly produces hundreds of “complete openings”, including curtain panel and custom frame/light applications, with schedulable associated parameters for downloading to libraries and projects.
• Create parametric, intelligent door families “on the fly” for libraries or projects; customconfigurable to various levels of detail. 
• View 3D doors, with hardware, in the exclusive PRO visualizer panel; complete with interactive building view of project openings and floor plans. 
• Access an extensive, non-proprietary product database with manufacturer list pricing to guide budgetary decisions and alternate comparisons. 
• Download CSI 3-part formatted door and hardware specification sections complete with manufacturer basis-of-design products matching the 3D opening models. 
• Link-out to product collateral information including PDF catalog and technical data sheets, sustainability facts, warranties and maintenance instructions, wiring diagrams, and more. 
• Improve communication through the integrated RFI system and automated change management; showing modifications by author with dates and timestamps. 
• Training and technical support provided by your Openings Studio professional consultant team or on-demand through FAQ webpage and instructional videos.: 

Purge Filters Add-in

From the Autodesk App Store...

The tool is designed to purge unneeded filters from Autodesk® Revit® model.

This is very useful when submitting files to client. The files will only include needed filters.



About This Version
Version 1.0.0, 8/16/2016
Initial Release

The Purge Filters add-in is brought to you by BIM SOFT SOLUTIONS. It's priced at 2.50 USD.

There's more information available on the Autodesk App Store.

Fisa Family Browser 2016

From the Autodesk App Store...

Fisa Family browser allows you to manage, find and insert your Autodesk® Revit® families.

The major features of Fisa Family Browser include:

• A dockable panel with the ability to change its position: tabbed, floating… its works the same way as Revit Project Browser.
• Load and insert families by drag and drop.
• Fully customizable.
• Powerful search engine to find family by RFA name, display name, tags…
• Ability to add your favorite tabs to classify and quickly find Revit Families.

About This Version
Version 1.0.0.0, 8/11/2016
First version

The Fisa Family Browser is brought to you by FAUCONNET Ingénierie SAS (FISA). It's priced beginning at 16.00 USD/month.

There's more information available on the Autodesk App Store.

Similar: other family browsers

SimLab Collada Exporter

From the Autodesk App Store...

The plugin enables the user to export Autodesk® Revit® files directly from inside Revit as Collada files. 

When installing the plugin the user will automatically get a 21-day trial. During that time the plugin will have all the features of the professional plugin.

About This Version
Version 6.0.0, 8/10/2016
Initial Version.

The SimLab Collada Exporter is brought to you by Simulation Lab Software. It's priced beginning at 99.00 USD.

There's more information available on the Autodesk App Store.

Free SimLab Composer Integration Add-in

From the Autodesk App Store...

The plugin enables the user to transfer and link Autodesk® Revit® files directly from inside Revit to SimLab Composer.

Linked files can be updated from Revit and their changes will be reflected on SimLab Composer.

About This Version
Version 6.0.0, 8/10/2016
Initial Version.

The free SimLab Composer Integration add-in is brought to you by Simulation Lab Software.

There's more information available on the Autodesk App Store.

Dynamo Version 1.1 Released

From the Dynamo blog...

By ZACH KRON

Greetings Dynamo Community,

We are pleased to announced the latest release of Dynamo for Revit and Dynamo Studio.  This incremental release features a truckload of bug fixes, a few new features, and some “experimental” tools.  A little something for everyone we hope.

Release 1.1 represents the first update release since we moved to “semantic versioning”, wherein we have defined a stable API to preserve forwards and backwards compatibility within major releases.  What does this mean in human words?  It means that your 1.0 packages and graphs will move smoothly to 1.1, and that graphs made in 1.1 will also open and work in 1.0.

While maintaining this stability does slow down development a little, we think it is is well worth the effort to maintain the integrity of work that is being contributed all the time via the package manager.  It hopefully will also encourage everyone to move up to the latest and greatest builds without fear of having to rebuild files, as well as being able to communicate with those who have not yet moved forwards

And speaking of the Package Manager, between 1.0 and 1.1, the PM passed a quarter million served!

Thanks so much to our stellar community, the generosity you’ve shown in your contributions, and your trust and feedback when receiving these little gems.  The Package Manager has become such a central part of many Dynamo user’s workflows, and we are actively working on enhancements to both the back end infrastructure as well as the user interface.  Stay tuned on this topic.

What’s new in 1.1

T-Splines (Experimental)

T-Splines modelling technology is now exposed in Dynamo to enable new organic and free form geometry creation tools. There are approximately 150 new nodes that are a subset of the existing geometry library. The new functionality offers a wide range of capabilities to create and edit T-Spline surfaces and also conversion to and from NURBS and meshes. Whether you are into organic or more orthogonal geometry, T-splines offers a tremendously powerful set of tools for understanding topological relationship and surface continuity issues.  This will be the subject of follow-up documentation and discussion, keep an eye on this site for more details.

What's Hot in Revit Add-ons for July 2016

We're trying something a little different here on Revit Add-ons with What's Hot this month. In the chart below, we're including all posts, including our popular roundups and the like, though only posts related to individual products will receive snippets in the article below. I'll simply link to them at the bottom of this post.

Two posts were clear winners last month, the first one on the self-explanatory Sheet Duplicator and the other on the new Autodesk Live Viewer, for exploring interactive visualizations.

Next came a cluster of aggregation type articles, including two about RTC 2016 NA, the first about a session your humble author presented there, Essential Revit Add-ons, and the other a recap of the event, From an Add-ons Perspective. In between these two fell a couple of other posts, the first being one of the weekly roundups of New and Updated Revit Add-ins on the Autodesk App Store, this one for the Week of June 26, 2016, and the other the previous monthly What's Hot in Revit Add-ons article, for June 2016.

Lastly, several other posts were clustered closely together, including one about the BIMWERX Delta Tools, for comparing differences in iterations of models, a companion piece to the previously mentioned Autodesk LIVE Viewer, this one about the Autodesk LIVE Subscription Service itself, NuPAutoNum, for the automatic renumbering of elements, BIM Assure, the new cloud-based, collaborative model checker, and, lastly, COLORIZER, for coloring individual or categories of elements.

Note: All descriptions are those of the product vendors/developers.

Free Sheet Duplicator Add-in

Create 100 sheets or more in the matter of seconds. Import sheet names and sheet numbers using Excel and get sorting options of sheets when creating new sheets.

Read the full story about the free Sheet Duplicator add-in here.

Autodesk® LIVE Viewer – Step Inside Your Design

Use the Autodesk LIVE Viewer to open and explore interactive visualizations created in Autodesk LIVE, a subscription service used by architects to make Revit files interactive.

Read the full story about the Autodesk LIVE Viewer add-in here.

Revizto Version 4.1 Released

From the Revizto website...

We are excited to announce that the new Revizto 4.1 has been released today!

The official release takes place globally and is announced at the Revit Technology Conference (RTC) North America 2016 which kicks off today in Scottsdale Arizona with our proud sponsoring.

Available immediately to our users, this version brings more stability and significant improvements to all Revizto components to make the overall experience better!

So what’s new in Version 4.1:

• Revizto Add-in for Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD:
• Improved mixed export from Revit and Navisworks
• Ability to select the view for Export Scheduler
• Resolved the problem for models located far away from zero coordinate
• Revizto Viewer:
• Slightly reworked interface. Editor can now be launched from the Viewer’s Edit > Materials and Lighting
• Ability to zoom on an issue screenshot
• Added Undo/Redo for markups
• Issue pins can be seen in 3D
• Installer:
• Silent/network installation options added
• All Revizto products:
• Stability improvements and bug fixes

We hope you’re excited about these updates and invite you to try the new version right away!

UPDATE TO REVIZTO 4.1

Revizto is brought to you by Vizerra. It's priced beginning at 650.00 USD per month for a "20 Collaborator" package.

There's more information available on the Revizto blog.

Credit: Luke Johnson's 
What Revit Wants blog

Roundup – For the Week of August 7, 2016, New and Updated Revit Add-ins on the Autodesk App Store (Updated)

The week of August 7th saw the debut of 2 new Revit add-ins on the Autodesk App Store, one for calculating building life-cycle assessment and other metrics, One Click LCA, and the other for the updating of Revit family parameters from exported AutoCAD DWG files, Family/DWG Exporter Importer.

Several other add-ins were updated, including ElumTools, which received a major update.

Updated 9/1/2016 to include FISA Family Browser 2016.

Updated 9/24/2016 to include SimLab Composer Integration.

NEW

One Click LCA
One Click LCA™ calculates the carbon footprint, Life-Cycle Assessment and other metrics for your building project automatically and delivers the LCA credits for LEED v4, BREEAM and other purposes | Trial
About This Version: Version 1.0.1, 8/12/2016 – Initial release.

Fisa Family Browser 2017
Customizable Autodesk® Revit® families Browser that allows you to manage, find and insert your Revit families | USD 15.00/M
About this version: Version 1.0.0.0, 8/11/2016 – First version

SimLab Composer Integration
Transfer and Link Autodesk® Revit® files to SimLab Composer | Free

About This Version: Version 6.0.0, 8/10/2016 – Initial Version.

Family/DWG Exporter Importer Trial version
Automatic exporting of Autodesk® Revit® families in the DWG format. Importing and updating of Revit families from the DWG format | Trial
About This Version: Version 1.0.0, 8/4/2016 – First version of the app.

UPDATED

SOFiSTiK Reinforcement Detailing 2016
Using "SOFiSTiK Reinforcement Detailing" enables user to directly extract 2D reinforcement sheets from 3D model in Autodesk® Revit® | Trial
About This Version: Version 6.0, 8/11/2016 – Update Release 2016-6.0

GRAITEC PowerPack for Revit
GRAITEC PowerPack for Autodesk® Revit® is a powerful add-on with a wide range of tools and utilities suitable for users of all disciplines. R2 comes with suite of new tools for reinforced concrete | USD 140.00/Y

About This Version: Version 2017, 8/11/2016 – Latest release; Compliancy with all Autodesk® Revit® 2016 and 2017 platforms.

GRAITEC Advance PowerPack for Revit
GRAITEC PowerPack for Revit® is a powerful add-on with a wide range of tools and utilities suitable for Revit users of all disciplines including Architecture, Structures & MEP | Trial

About This Version: Version 2017, 8/11/2016 – Latest release; Compliancy with all Autodesk® Revit® 2016 & 2017 platforms.

Setout Point Coordinate
An application to schedule X, Y, and Z coordinates for a site, project, building or an object | Trial
About This Version: Version 2.1.0.0, 8/9/2016 – license update

ElumTools 2016
ElumTools™ is a fully integrated lighting calculation and visualization Add-in for Autodesk® Revit® | Trial
About This Version: Version 2016.6, 8/8/2016 – For release notes, see this post.

ElumTools 2015
ElumTools™ is a fully integrated lighting calculation and visualization Add-in for Autodesk® Revit® | Trial
About This Version: Version 2015.9, 8/8/2016 – For release notes, see this post.

View Duplicator
An Application to Duplicate multiple views | apply template | rename views | Trial
About This Version: Version 2.1.0.0, 8/8/2016 – License update.

Pile Coordinates
Schedule Coordinates from Autodesk® Revit® Model element Structural Column and Foundation/Pile | Trial
About This Version: Version 2.1.0.0, 8/8/2016 – update to 64 bit

Revit Add-ons is ad-supported. Please visit the site and check out the offerings of our outstanding stable of sponsors!

IdeateApps – A New Tool Suite for Revit

Ideate Software is known for their stable of outstanding Revit add-ins: Ideate BIMLink, for linking Revit with Excel, Ideate Explorer, for Revit model management, and Ideate Sticky, for connecting non-BIM data from Excel to Revit. What's been a little suprising is the lack of a tools suite. Several Autodesk resellers similar to Ideate offer tool suites for Revit, and now Ideate Software does as well – and it includes some humdinger tools!

From the Ideate Software website...

Everyday Tasks Are Easier Than Ever with IdeateApps Revit Applications

IdeateApps is a set of Revit applications designed to increase the productivity of the entire project team. Developed with specific tasks in mind, these tools address the challenges identified most often by Ideate Software customers who use Revit software every day. IdeateApps will decrease the time spent on common tasks and increase the accuracy of BIM data in a Revit model, helping to keep projects of all sizes and complexities on time and on budget.

ReNumber
Renumber elements by selection, path, or auto-update; create and save customized renumbering rules

XRay
Discover the reasons some elements are invisible and learn what to do to fix the problems

SmartDelete
Discover which elements might inadvertently be deleted before you hit the delete button

QuickSelect
Easily select elements and zoom to elements within the Revit project, template, or family file

One Click LCA (Life-Cycle Assessment)

From the Autodesk App Store...

Get your buildings Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) done in One Click! One Click LCA™ plugin delivers instant and certification- and standards-compliant LCA results from your Autodesk® Revit® models. One Click LCA™ is an easy-to-use one-button plugin that delivers an automated Life-Cycle Assessment from your Revit models.

You can use the results to improve your design as well as to earn valuable certification credits, including LEED v4's MRc1 Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction, BREEAM Mat 01 Life cycle impacts and many others. All calculations within the software are standard-based and follow a strict protocol. What used to take weeks, is now possible in less than an hour One Click LCA™.

The plugin works with structural and architectural models and is able to adapt to your material labeling practices. The cloud service to which the plugin connects detects the materials used in your model and calculates their environmental impacts automatically.

For any certification: LEED, BREEAM, DGNB, HQE and nearly 20 other systems

Works also without Revit: You can use the cloud service directly or upload data from and Excel or an IFC file

Toolkit for certification: in addition of LCA, the cloud platform also supports other materials credits as well as Life Cycle Costing and operational performance tracking.

The plugin consists of two buttons; one for doing the LCA
and another for opening online help.

The cloud service to which the plugin connects allows
choosing the targeted certification scheme in just one click.