Revit Add-Ons: January 2019

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Free Quantity Take-Off for bimsync

From the BIM 42 blog:

By Simon Moreau
Jan 26, 2019

To spread usage of building models, it is important to provide easy to use interfaces to extract data from these models. Being able to see a model and interact with it is a good first step. The next one is obliviously being able to extract quantities from this model.

My first attempt at creating a quantity take-off system for bimsync assumed that all the models I wanted to analyse will follow the same structure. This was necessary to be able to create a first dashboard and then keep meaningful results in this dashboard as the model evolved. But a lot of models I receive don’t follow a rigorous enough structure to be able to extract them through a Power BI dashboard.

I wanted to be able to analyse less structured models. So, I needed something different than my previous dashboard-based solution.

I looked for inspiration in many quantity take-off systems from various software packages. I took notice of the one from of Solibri, which I found quite good. I also drew inspiration from the pivot table systems available in Excel and Power BI. The main idea was to replicate the principle of the pivot table on a building model.

With these ideas in mind, I drew a few sketches to refine my solution and find the user interface I was looking for:

Free Dynamo Scripts – Copy and/or Clear Panels ID Values

From the StrucSoft Solutions website:

Copy and/or clear panels ID Values

Strengthen the relationship between MWF panels and their Revit® elements.

Copy and/or Clear Panels ID Values Dynamo scripts is brought to you by StrucSoft Solutions. They're free.

There's more information available on the StrucSoft Solutions website »

Related

Product Roundup – Add-ins from StrucSoft Solutions, Including Some Free

Free Webinar Jan 30 – How to Become a BIM Manager Superstar with Ideate Software

From the registration website:

How to Become a BIM Manager Superstar with Ideate Software and Laura Kay Smith

Wed, Jan 30, 2019 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM GMT

Join this webinar to learn from Laura Kay Smith - BIM Manager Lead at SNC-Lavalin and an Ideate Software super-user - how to excel in the world of BIM and become great at what you do. During this event, she will share valuable advice from her professional experience and rich knowledge of our software tools and will be accompanied by our Technical Evangelist Richard Taylor who will be the webinar's host.

Monday, January 28, 2019

Introducing Design Automation Tutorial: AutoCAD, Inventor & Revit Engines

From the Autodesk Forge blog:

By Augusto Goncalves and Madhukar Moogala

January 28, 2019

Design Automation v3 went to Public Beta last month with AutoCAD, Inventor and 3dsMax, today also including Revit engine.

Now we're glad to include it on the Learn Forge tutorial, available in .NET. Everything with 5 steps under Modify your models section:

Create a server
Basic app UI
Prepare a plugin
Define an activity
Execute workitem

From the Autodesk Forge blog:

By Mikako Harada and Augusto Goncalves

January 28, 2019

The long-awaited Design Automation for Revit (aka Revit IO) has finally arrived!

Today we’re announcing the availability of Design Automation for Revit as a pubic beta. Using Design Automation, you can create, edit, and extract data from Revit models without a local Revit install. Because Design Automation is a cloud service, you can use it to create cloud-native applications that work with Revit data. Examples of ways you can use this API include: creating models automatically by entering parameters, validating specified design criteria and generating reports, and automatically modifying the model. It is also possible to extract model data not accessible with the Forge Model Derivative API.

From the Autodesk App Store:

ELEMENT ID
This small, but useful, the application allows users to use, within a shared parameter or project parameter, the element ID information. This allows the user to create quantification tables with this information and be able to export it for later control and monitoring.

HOW TO USE?
The user can choose the parameter where he wants to save the item ID information.

The parameter can be a shared parameter or an existing project parameter.

After the user executes the application, he can verify that each element has the ID of the element within the parameter selected by the user.

This option allows the user to have this information within the quantification tables.

Longtime readers might remember that, several years ago, we launched a couple of sister sites to Revit Add-ons, AutoCAD Add-ons and Civil 3D Add-ons. They weren't active very long as I was overwhelmed with working full time and trying to maintain three blogs.

Flash forward to now and I'm not working as much, and have some help too, and I'm happy to announce that we've relaunched AutoCAD Add-ons (dwgaddons.com). There we'll cover add-ins for AutoCAD and its vertical applications, including:

AutoCAD Architecture
AutoCAD Electrical
AutoCAD Mechanical
AutoCAD MEP
AutoCAD Plant 3D
Autodesk Advance Steel (relocated from Revit Add-ons)
Autodesk Civil 3D

We'll also cover associated products, such as, because of its relationship to Civil 3D, Infraworks.

Our logo is by our good friend, the incomparable Juan Osborne.

The Week That Was in Revit Add-ons for Jan 21-27, 2019

Revit

New

From the Autodesk App Store, we posted about AmbiensVR, the free Find / Replace Parameter Text, and the free Match Offset, for setting height/Offset of elements to match others in any view.

Updated

From the App Store, we posted about the free Microdesk Accelerator v2.0, which includes several new tools for MEP.

From around the Internet, we posted about Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2019 Update 1, which delivers more automation, BIMcollab BCF Managers v5 r3, the free BIMcollab ZOOM 2.1, and RevitLookup v2019.0.0.6, which now snoops edges, faces and links.

The week of January 17, 2019 was a very quiet one for Revit-related add-ins on the Autodesk App Store. While three new add-ins were published, only two were updated.

New

Match Offset
Matches the offset of several elements with respect to the first one | Free
☆☆☆☆☆ (0 reviews)
About This Version: Version 1.0, 1/24/2019 – Initial Release.

AmbiensVR
AmbiensVR turns your BIM projects into VR projects | Free
☆☆☆☆☆ (0 reviews)
About This Version: Version 0.9.0, 1/14/2019 – First Release.

From the Autodesk App Store:

About This Version

Version 2.0.0, 1/25/2019 – Version 2.0 adds several new tools for aligning branches, rotating fittings, disconnecting and deleting systems. We've also added support for multiple languages.

Description

This toolkit has two sets of tools. Drafting and Parameters.

Drafting is a set of tools that will empower any MEP drafter to do all their drawings from a 3D view. This keeps them in the know about potential coordination issues, stopping any clashes before they even happen.

Parameter tools help you stay in touch with your parameters, automatically summing any numeric parameter value, as well as quickly and easily adding parameters to families that appear in a schedule.

From the registration website:

Topic
Unleashing the FULL Power of AVAIL's FREE Version

Description
Got 15-minutes? Join us to learn about a new change that now allows free AVAIL users to share their content. We’ll demonstrate how easy it can be to collaborate. Get colleagues on board and try out content sharing with your team to get the full AVAIL experience.

As a registered AVAIL user we want you to be the first to learn about our new features — particularly the ability to now share your content with other free AVAIL users in your plan. Get colleagues on board, watch our short demo, and try out content sharing with your team.

Time
Feb 1, 2019 1:30 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada), 6:30 PM in Greenwich Mean Time

Friday, January 25, 2019

Auto Elevation Dynamo Script

From the EvolveLAB website:

Auto Elevation

The days of excessively clicking to create elevations are over! This script allows you to elevate numerous rooms at the same time. Track which rooms have already been documented and move onto a more important task, like refilling your coffee.

This download includes:

Dynamo 2.0 File
Embedded Python code
Instructional Content

From the BIMcollab website:

NEW in BCF Managers 5 r3

Multi-edit
Moving 100 issues to a new milestone? Assigning a group of issues to a new team member? Multi-edit allows you to select and update multiple issues at once.

Significantly faster in Revit
Revit users will experience a drastic improvement in speed when switching between issues in a complex model.

More data from Navisworks
Specific meta data can now be added to issue descriptions and comments (e.g. clash status, clash point, assigned to, approval data and more).

Auto assign team members
When importing issues from Navisworks into BIMcollab, team members can now be automatically assigned for a more efficient workflow

From the registration website:

The one-click 3D communication tool

Wed, Jan 30, 2019 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM GMT

What it's About?

Kubity PRO — 1-Year Subscription is a simple plugin that takes your SketchUp models and Revit projects from the desktop to any device without compromising the original file. Kubity automatically syncs 3D models to your phone or tablet in a single click. Imagine exploring a model onsite with push-button augmented reality, walking through a space with clients in next-gen immersive 1:1 VR, or pulling a model out of your pocket to present in big screen style in seconds.

The webinar is free and will last about one hour, including the Q&A session.

Who should attend?

Architects. Engineers. Designers. Dreamers. Anyone who uses 3D and is looking for cutting-edge communication tools and affordable AR/VR solutions.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Free BIMcollab ZOOM 2.1

From the BIMcollab website:

BIMcollab ZOOM 2.1

The powerful IFC viewer is now even smarter

The preferred IFC viewer

Thousands of users are using BIMcollab ZOOM to quickly view BIM models without the need for heavy and expensive BIM software. In ZOOM they can explore a single BIM model, combine different models in overall views and visually validate IFC data.

Now even smarter

With the ZOOM 2.1 Release, the experience gets even better. Quick Search makes you filter models any way you want. Quantity Count performs the counting of elements with similar properties in the models for you. And the new mulit-edit function allows modification of multiple issues at once.

From the Autodesk App Store:

Features

Find and Replace text in text-based instance parameters (shared parameters/project parameters).
Show elements in the model
Similar to Autodesk® AutoCAD® Find&Replace
The supported parameter type is Text Parameters (takes any alphanumeric value)ex: “Comments, Room Name, Room Number, Level Name, Grid Name, Panel Name, Circuit Number, Sheet Name, Sheet Number, etc.”
Searches all elements of a specified category, or searches user selected elements in the model (same category or not)
Text Notes aren’t included
Type parameters aren’t included.

From the Autodesk App Store:

Imagine turning 3D models into VR scenes, and imagine doing it in less than 5 minutes. Unbelievable isn't it? Now it's all possible with AmbiensVR, the innovative tool that allows you to transform a static model into an interactive experience in real time and available on all platforms, web included.

Install AVR Plugin, push the AVR button and wait less than five minutes for the magic to happen!

Once your 3D model is VR-ready, you will be able to add any interaction you may need.

CANVAS EDITOR
AmbiensVR provides specific tools to edit your model, choosing interactive items such as sliding doors, opening doors, switching-material furniture.

Download CANVAS here www.ambiensvr.com/en/

Review – Invisibility Advisor, Part of the CTC BIM Project Suite

From the BIM Chapters blog:

By Dan Stine
Thursday, January 25, 2018

Invisibility Advisor - A New CTC BIM Project Suite Tool

I got a brief demo today of the now available new Invisibility Advisor by CTC Software.

I just give installed the update and give it a quick spin, here are my results...

I opened the furniture plan and the main floor plan views. Let's see if it can do a simple one; select the chair in the view I can see it, and then select the view it is hidden in...

Good job... as seen in the next image, the Revit Category is turned off. Now I have...
Fix and Show options to facilitate changes.

Free Webinar Jan 30 – UNIFI: Industry Insights on Securing Budget for a Content Management Solution

From the registration website:

Join us Wednesday, January 30 at 11 am PST for our Industry Insights Episode 5 Webinar

Are you having a hard time getting budget approval for content library management software?

Join us to learn how our guest speakers successfully secured budget.

We are thrilled to have Clay Starr, Director of Engineering Applications at Arcadis and Glen Hines, Director of Building Information Modeling Systems at Prologis join us to share their personal strategies and experiences in navigating the path to budget.

In our candid interview, our guests will discuss exactly what they did to secure budget and team buy-in for a BIM content management software at their respective firms.

Free Match Offset – Set Height/Offset of Elements to Match Others in Any View

From the Autodesk App Store:

Match Offset is a free Autodesk® Revit® application that enables its users to set their modeled objects to the same height/offset with respect to each other, without the need for sections or 3D views.

This tool supports any Revit element and works in all view types: floor plans, sections, 3D views, elevations...

It gives its users a choice between matching the bottom offsets of the selected elements, their tops, or their centers.

It proves to be useful in all disciplines especially during the coordination phase of projects a saves a tremendous amount of time by reducing the required number of sections and section boxes.

GIF Animation for people with restricted access to YouTube

RevitLookup v2019.0.0.6 – Snoops Edges, Faces and Links

From the The Building Coder blog:

By Jeremy Tammik
January 18, 2019

Before leaving for the weekend, let me highlight some recent additions to RevitLookup by Håvard Leding of Symetri.

I added and tested the new commands in RevitLookup release 2019.0.0.6.

Below is the description and some additional background information in Håvard's own words.

Many thanks to Håvard for implementing and sharing this!

Three New RevitLookup Commands

This is perhaps something of interest to someone.

Three very simple additions:

Read more on the The Building Coder blog »

RevitLookup is brought to you by Jeremy Tammik and friends. It's free and open source.

This add-in is compatible with Revit 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.

It's available on GitHub and on the Lookup Builds website* »

* Brought to you by Peter Hirn of Build Informed GmbH

Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2019 Update 1: Delivering More Automation

From the Revit blog:

Dan Peticila
January 15, 2019

It’s mid-winter in the northern hemisphere, and now is the best time to release some new tools for the projects waiting to be built in the spring. As a famous quote states: “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” And for everyone living on the other half of the planet, please be assured we are doing our best to constantly deliver exciting features across all seasons, like our quarterly Revit releases. With that said, here is a new update for the structural precast extension.

The Autodesk Structural Precast Extension for Revit 2019 Update 1 comes with new features for customers working on precast and cast-in-place concrete projects. One of the goals of this release is to enhance connectivity to the fabrication processes, which is why we’re proud to release the Extended CAM Export and the Unitechnik UXML 7.0 CAM Export. This update of the application is available via the Autodesk Desktop App. It is important to note that it works on top of Revit 2019.2, released on January 16, 2019.

From the registration website:

Topic
Request Hour - A Topic (or three) of Your Choice!

Description
Let us know what you want us to talk about....anything from best practices to tips and tricks to AVAIL vision and roadmap.

Time
Jan 30, 2019 1:30 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Monday, January 21, 2019

A First Look at BIM 360 Cloud Models Inside Revit 2019.2

From the CADD Microsystems website:

By Jason Kunkel
January 21, 2019

Revit 2019.2 just dropped this past week, and while yes, the zooming in and out of schedules is really really great, I find myself very excited about the additional functionality added for BIM 360 users.

Revit Files In BIM 360 – Just Plain Files and Design Collaboration

Previously, you had two ways to put your Revit model into BIM 360:

You could just “upload” it like any other file, but that required you to download the file locally if you wanted to do work on it.
You could use BIM 360 Design (which is a FANTASTIC feature, by the way) and use the BIM 360 servers to host your cloud based workshared model, essentially leveraging BIM 360 as your file server in the cloud when you needed multiple firms and users in different offices to access it.

New Cloud Models in BIM 360

Revit 2019.2 has added a new way to put your Revit file in the cloud: something they are calling “Cloud Models“. Simple, straight to the point.

Read more on the CADD Microsystems website »

Revit 2019.2 Includes New Features for Collaborating with BIM 360 and Civil 3D

From the Revit blog:

Revit 2019.2 new features connect data, cloud, and customers

Sylvia Knauer
January 16, 2019

Written by: Harlan Brumm, Sasha Crotty, Ian Molloy, Pawel Piechnik

The Revit product team is very excited to announce the release of Revit 2019.2 — the latest version of Revit — to current subscribers.

Before we dive into Revit 2019.2 new features, here’s some background on how we determine what to include in each new release. We capture user feedback and requests via the interactive Revit Ideas page and maintain a public Revit Road Map that outlines the direction of Revit software development in three areas:

Create: Creating models that capture design intent at a high degree of accuracy and detail is central to why you use Revit. Our goal is to help you create project data in all phases while engaging in a delightful, intuitive, and contextual experience.
Optimize: Because you’re always striving to create better designs using the best possible tools, software development works to support both. We’re working on features and functionality that enable you to analyze, simulate, and iterate and pick the best design options. We’re optimizing software performance to help you work more productively and automate routine tasks so you can focus on the design.
Connect: With more multi-disciplinary collaboration and detailed design engineering done up front, we’re considering how you integrate teams and products. We support multidisciplinary project teams and tools that connect design to fabrication for structural steel and precast and that connect MEP modeling to fabrication.

So what are the Revit 2019.2 new features?

The Revit 2019.2 update reflects how Revit has evolved to more tightly connect you with your data and with others via the cloud and Autodesk BIM 360. We feel strongly that the future of design is inextricably connected to having BIM information in a data-centric cloud environment. With Autodesk BIM 360—a single platform that connects all project members and phases from design, to fabrication and pre-construction—project teams can access the right information at the right time. The direction of Revit development is to allow as many people as possible to participate in the BIM process and to improve your workflow and experience.

From the Autodesk Knowledge Center:

Site Collaboration with Revit, Civil 3D & BIM 360

Annie Phan
Nov 29, 2018

Site Collaboration is a Revit 2019.1 new feature that introduces unprecedented interoperability between Revit and Civil 3D. New workflows will help both save time and improve accuracy when you are transferring site information and project location data between project teams. You can easily link topography from Civil 3D into Revit using Autodesk Desktop Connector and BIM 360 Docs and will also be able to interact with this topography in Revit with surface hosting, tagging and scheduling. Civil 3D is included in the Autodesk Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Collection, which is great way to access Revit along with other essential tools at a great value.

From the BIM 360 website:

The convenience of your Windows desktop with the flexibility of the cloud.

Connect your Windows desktop with your BIM 360 Docs account.

With the Desktop Connector, you can connect your desktop environment with your BIM 360 Docs account.

View and open files
Upload and download documents
Edit and delete files
Create project folders

The Week That Was in Revit Add-ons for Jan 14-20, 2019

Revit

New

From the Autodesk App Store, we posted about Palette, which enables custom palettes for families and view templates.

From around the Internet, we posted about CL3VER Cloud, for photorealistic rendering in a Web browser, the free OneFilter, for quickly finding and filtering Revit families, and the free POLOPLAST Product Line Placer, for designing sanitary systems with accurate and localized POLOPLAST specific content.

Updated

From the App Store, we posted about Docuflow v2.7.

For additional App Store updates not mentioned here, see our latest roundup.

From around the Internet, we posted about AVAIL Desktop v3.10.1, Browser for Revit v4.1 & Stream v1.4.1, pyRevit v4.6.10, 4.6.11 & Upcoming pyRevitLabs Merge, pyRevit v4.6.12 & CLI 0.6.0, and UNIFI CORE v3.2, which enables support for materials and fill patterns.

The week of January 14, 2019 was an especially slow one for Revit-related add-ins on the Autodesk App Store. One new add-in was published and five were updated.

New

Palette
Autodesk® AutoCAD® like palette for Autodesk® Revit® families | USD 4.99
☆☆☆☆☆ (0 reviews)
About This Version: Version 1.0.0, 1/15/2019 – First version

Updated

AUGmentecture
AUGmentecture is a service helping you to view 3D models on a mobile device. With the help of this plugin, you can upload your 3D models and floor plans directly from Revit® to your AUG account | Free
★★★★★ (8 reviews)
About This Version: Version 3.0.9, 1/18/2019 – Bug fix.

From the Autodesk App Store:

About This Version

Version 2.7, 1/17/2019

The advanced filename rules for PDF and DWG can now also combine sheet shared parameters tags for even more flexibility.
Added compatibility for the latest PDF printer to ensure that the PDF orientation always matches the Revit sheet.
Fix error when the default print range was set to something else than sheets in the Print Dialog would prevent Docuflow to print.

Description

Publish all your documents in one operation.
Now it's easy to get high-quality PDF, DWG, IFC and drawing list from the same tool. Just select your sheets and you are good to go. Docuflow makes your drawing issues quick and simple.

Intelligent
Docuflow detects sheet sizes and orientation and takes care of all the complicated stuff. All your documents are exported in 1 operation exactly like the sheets in Revit. You no longer to spend time doing the manual selection of sheets, matching paper sizes or orientation and separating print jobs.

From GitHub:

pyRevit 4.6.12 (CLI 0.6.0)

Jan 19, 2019

pyRevit 4.6.12 is out. Download the installer from here

Merged pyRevitLabs into pyRevit repo under dev
Resolved #478 #482
Added import schedule from CSV tool
Tested compatibility with Revit 2019.2

As always, each new pyRevit version also includes the pyRevit CLI [Command Line Interface] updates which for this release is CLI v0.6.0. Installer is provided on the same path.

There's more information available on GitHub.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

CL3VER Cloud – Photorealistic Rendering in a Browser

From the CL3VER website:

CL3VER CLOUD POWERED BY NVIDIA RTX!

PHOTOREALISTIC RAY-TRACING 3D ENGINE TO VISUALIZE REAL-TIME 3D PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS AND 3D CONFIGURATORS IN THE BROWSER

About this Site

This site was created in April 2011 as a central resource for free and commercial add-in applications for the Autodesk Revit family of products.

If you've created add-ins that aren't listed on the site, or if you otherwise know of some, please let us know.

If you've had positive or negative experience with listed add-ins, please leave feedback in the comments for the article where the add-ins are discussed.

Revit Add-ons is not a piracy site, and we condemn all forms of software piracy. Any piracy or attempted piracy that we become aware of through our site will be reported as appropriate.

Logo and header mosaic artwork by Juan Osborne. Other original artwork by Dragan Vukićević,

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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Monday, January 28, 2019

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Friday, January 25, 2019

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Monday, January 21, 2019

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Saturday, January 19, 2019