Orkestra Review: Distributing Tools—Dynamo or Grasshopper Graphs or OkPy Add-ins

Editor's Note: This is a sister article to OkPy Review: Create Fully Functional Revit Add-ins with Zero Coding, with Examples!

Orkestra can be used for a couple different things. One is developing Revit add-ins with OkPy, which we've already covered. The second is distributing customizations in a managed way, whether they are OkPy-authored add-ins or Dynamo or Grasshopper graphs. 

The first step is publishing. If it's an OkPy add-in, you'll need both OkPy Pro and Orkestra subscriptions. For Dynamo and Grasshopper, an Orkestra subscription will suffice. For our example, we're going to work with the Color Warnings add-in from our OkPy review.

From the OkPy for Revit window, with the OkPy file loaded, click the Publish button:

The Publish to Orkestra window opens. There's some work to be done in this dialog: there's the Description, which is also the tooltip in Revit, the Body, which is the text for a wiki entry (this is what the user will see if they click on More Info in the tooltip), and Keywords:

Revision Manager Pro: Make Revision Administration Faster and More Consistent

Executive Summary

Revision Manager Pro is a free Revit productivity and QA/QC add-in from Penguin Tools designed to simplify revision creation, editing, sheet assignment, removal, and reporting. It organizes the work into two main stages: first managing the project’s revision records, and then applying selected revisions to filtered groups of sheets. Its strongest value is scale: operations that normally require repeated dialog navigation and sheet-by-sheet checking can be carried out across hundreds of sheets through a reviewable interface.

Core Capabilities

• Two-step interface: Separates revision definition and maintenance from revision-to-sheet assignment, making the workflow easier to understand and audit.
• Revision creation: Creates new project revisions and supports quick templates for recurring descriptions such as Tender, Construction, or other office-standard issue stages.
• Description history: Reuses standard or previously entered descriptions to reduce retyping and improve consistency.
• Bulk editing: Updates descriptions or dates for multiple revision records at the same time.
• Bulk sheet assignment: Applies a selected revision to large numbers of sheets with a single action.
• Smart sheet filtering: Narrows the sheet list by sheet sets, disciplines, issued status, the presence of revision clouds, or particular revisions.
• Regular-expression search: Supports advanced pattern searches for both revisions and sheets, enabling precise matching of sheet numbers, names, prefixes, or other naming conventions.
• Date-format builder: Provides a visual drag-and-drop method for constructing revision date formats that align with office or client standards.
• Undo Last Set: Reverses the most recent revision-assignment operation, providing a safeguard against accidental bulk changes.
• Revision-log management: Removes revisions from selected sheets or deletes them more broadly from the project when appropriate.
• Excel matrix export: Produces a project revision matrix for external reporting, transmittal preparation, audit records, or coordination.

Opening Handing: Calculate, Review, and Record Door and Window Handing at Scale

Executive Summary

Opening Handing is a Revit automation and QA/QC add-in from Penguin Tools for calculating, reviewing, and recording door and window handing. It analyzes opening geometry, swing direction, wall insertion orientation, and adjacent room context to determine standard architectural handing values such as Left Hand (LH), Right Hand (RH), Left Hand Reverse (LHR), and Right Hand Reverse (RHR). The calculated result can then be mapped to a chosen Revit parameter for schedules, door and window data, hardware coordination, and model checking. Its primary value is replacing repetitive visual interpretation and manual parameter entry with a consistent, reviewable process.

Core Capabilities

• Automated handing calculation: Determines LH, RH, LHR, and RHR classifications from the modeled orientation and swing behavior of an opening.
• Inward/outward interpretation: Can identify whether an opening swings inward or outward, adding useful directional context beyond a simple left/right result.
• Geometry-based analysis: Evaluates swing geometry, insertion vectors, wall orientation, mirrored state, and room-bounding relationships rather than relying only on family names.
• Flexible parameter mapping: Writes calculated codes to existing shared parameters, project parameters, or custom instance/type parameters instead of forcing a single proprietary field.
• From Room/To Room context: Uses spatial relationships to interpret the transition direction between rooms or between interior and exterior space.
• Batch audit dashboard: Presents calculated results in a table for review before model parameters are updated.
• Flipped-opening detection: Identifies mirrored or flipped doors and windows that may create hardware, scheduling, or documentation discrepancies.
• Multi-category support: The Marketplace description identifies Doors, Windows, Curtain Wall Doors, and custom nested opening families as supported targets.
• Custom handing attributes: Penguin Tools describes an interface that lets users assign or configure handing attributes for door and window types.

Revit Add-ons Advertising Sale: Save 35% and Get 3 Months Free!

Free Model Upgrader Pro: Process Interdependent Model Sets Systematically

Executive Summary

Model Upgrader Pro is a free, high-performance Revit add-in from Penguin Tools that automates the migration of project models and family libraries to a newer Revit release. It is aimed primarily at BIM managers, project leads, and architecture/engineering teams responsible for annual software-version transitions. The tool scans folders recursively, identifies file versions and linked-model relationships, opens and upgrades files in memory, and can apply worksharing and cleanup options without filling the active Revit session with view tabs. Its central value is the ability to process interdependent model sets systematically rather than requiring users to open, dismiss prompts, save, and close every file manually.

Core Capabilities

• Batch upgrading: Processes multiple Revit project files and family-library files in one run, reducing repetitive open-and-save work.
• Recursive folder scanning: Searches selected directories and their subfolders, reports file counts, and detects source Revit versions before processing.
• Linked-model inspection: Reads Revit Transmission Data to identify nested links inside parent models and add linked files to the upgrade queue.
• Dependency-aware processing: Helps preserve coordinated model sets by discovering linked content rather than treating each parent model in isolation.
• Duplicate sublink protection: Deduplicates repeated linked-model references so the same file is not unnecessarily processed more than once.
• In-memory operation: Opens and upgrades files without drawing their view canvases or populating the normal document-tab interface.
• Audit on open: Can invoke Revit’s internal audit process while opening files to identify and attempt correction of database inconsistencies.
• Worksharing handling: Provides options to detach worksets and re-establish upgraded workshared files as central models.
• Backup cleanup: Can remove redundant _backup directories created during processing to reduce storage clutter.

Free Color Tabs Pro: Includes User-Defined Rules-Based Processing

Executive Summary

Color Tabs Pro is a free Revit productivity add-in that visually organizes open document and view tabs. It automatically applies color and styling according to the source document, view type, file category, or user-defined rules. Its purpose is to reduce navigation errors in busy Revit sessions, particularly when users have many views open across multiple projects and family files. Instead of relying only on truncated tab names, users gain an immediate visual cue indicating which document or view category each tab belongs to.

Core Capabilities

• Unique color per document: Automatically assigns a distinct color from a curated palette to each open project, allowing all views from the same model to be recognized instantly.
• Color by view type: Uses different colors for functional view categories such as Sheets, Floor Plans, 3D Views, and Schedules.
• Single-color mode: Applies a consistent color to a selected document category—for example, displaying all Revit family documents in green.
• Separate project and family behavior: Allows .rvt and .rfa documents to use different coloring modes and styles.
• Multiple visual styles: Offers Solid Fill, Striped, Top Bar, and Border treatments, enabling users to balance visibility against interface intensity.
• Custom rules engine: Supports “If/Then” overrides based on Project Number, File Name, or Project Name. A high-priority project can therefore receive a specific color and style regardless of the general settings.
• Rule precedence: Custom rules override the broader project or family configuration, making exceptions predictable.
• Native-theme integration: Overrides Revit’s normal tab appearance while preserving the active-tab selection theme, helping the current tab remain identifiable.
• Background operation: Runs silently after configuration; users return to the settings dashboard from the Penguin Tools ribbon when changes are needed.

Free Bulk Rename Pro: Clean Up Model Naming Conventions at Scale

Executive Summary

Bulk Rename Pro is a Revit productivity add-in from Penguin Tools designed to standardize and clean up model naming conventions at scale. Rather than editing names one item at a time, users can assemble rename rules, preview the proposed results, and apply consistent changes across multiple categories. The Autodesk Marketplace listing positions it for BIM managers, architects, and engineers who need faster naming cleanup, repeatable standards, and fewer manual errors.

Core Capabilities

• Live before-and-after preview: Displays existing and proposed names in a sortable, filterable table so users can inspect results before committing changes.
• Case conversion: Converts names to uppercase, lowercase, Title Case, Sentence case, camelCase, or PascalCase.
• Find and replace: Replaces literal text and supports regular expressions for advanced pattern matching, extraction, and restructuring.
• Prefix and suffix rules: Adds project, discipline, package, status, or revision identifiers to many names in one operation.
• Trimming and insertion: Removes leading or trailing characters and whitespace, or inserts text at a specified character position.
• Symbol and spacing cleanup: Resolves double spaces, substitutes spaces with underscores or hyphens, and removes unwanted non-alphanumeric characters.
• Multi-category processing: The Marketplace listing identifies Views, Sheets, View Templates, Schedules, Levels, Grids, and Worksets as supported rename targets.
• Usage analytics: Tracks model updates and estimated time savings over time.

Typical Workflow

1. Select the Revit category or categories to be renamed.
2. Filter or sort the item list to isolate the intended scope.
3. Build one or more naming operations, such as case conversion, find-and-replace, prefixing, suffixing, trimming, character insertion, or regex-based transformation.
4. Review the live old-name/new-name preview and check for unintended results or potential naming conflicts.
5. Apply the changes to the model, then validate affected views, sheets, levels, grids, templates, schedules, and worksets against the project naming standard.

Free Auto Sync Pro: Automatic Sync, Relinquish, Link Reloading, Idle Exit, Compact & Backup Cleanup

Executive summary

Auto Sync Pro is a free Penguin Tools add-in designed to automate routine Revit file-management tasks in the background. Its central function is timed or idle-triggered saving and Synchronize with Central, but the documented toolset also includes automatic relinquishment, Revit-link reloading, scheduled or inactivity-based exit, compact-on-sync, backup cleanup, a live status dashboard, and a persistent activity log. The product is aimed at workshared teams that want to reduce forgotten synchronizations, stale links, retained ownership, oversized files, and Revit sessions left running after hours.

Core automation tasks

• Synchronize or save: Automatically performs Synchronize with Central for workshared projects or saves non-workshared/local files at configured intervals. The vendor describes smart logic that skips models with no changes.
• Relinquish ownership: Releases borrowed elements and worksets so other team members are less likely to encounter editing bottlenecks.
• Reload linked documents: Refreshes Revit links automatically to bring current discipline data into the host model.
• Auto-exit: Closes Revit safely after a specified idle period or at a scheduled time, helping release workstation and license resources.
• Compact on sync: Uses Revit’s compact option during synchronization to reduce file bloat and support model maintenance.
• Backup cleanup: Removes older numbered backup files to manage storage consumed by local or server-side backup folders.
• Activity logging: Keeps a persistent record of background events and task completion for review and troubleshooting.

Scheduling and operating modes

• Continuous mode: Runs enabled tasks at clock-based intervals. Public product descriptions identify common synchronization intervals of 15, 30, and 60 minutes.
• Idle mode: Waits until Revit has been inactive for a user-defined duration, reducing the chance that automation interrupts active modeling.
• Time boundaries: Restricts background operations to configured start and end times, such as normal office hours.
• Scheduled exit: Supports a set closing time in addition to inactivity-based exit.
• Global activation: A master toggle enables or suspends the entire automation system; disabled tasks do not run.

Free Section Box Pro: Expands the Native Section-Box Workflow

Executive summary

Section Box Pro is a free Revit add-in from Penguin Tools that expands the native section-box workflow for rapid 3D isolation, detailing, coordination, and documentation. Instead of manually creating a 3D view, enabling its section box, dragging six faces, orienting the camera, and renaming the result, users can select model elements and generate a tightly cropped, predictably named 3D view. Its principal differentiators are independent directional buffers, alignment to selected geometry, linked-model support, preset camera orientations, batch creation of one view per element, and automated view naming.

Core capabilities

• Instant cropped 3D views: Creates and activates a new 3D view whose section box is calculated from the selected element or elements.
• Six-direction buffer control: Allows separate offsets for top, bottom, left, right, front, and back, supporting asymmetric working space rather than a single uniform margin.
• Quick presets: Vendor documentation identifies Tight (150 mm), Context (500 mm), and Clash (0 mm) presets for common inspection and detailing conditions.
• Automatic alignment: Can align the section box to the primary rotation of selected walls, columns, or structural framing rather than leaving it aligned only to project north.
• Linked-model selection: Supports elements in linked Revit models and transforms their coordinates into the host model for correct box placement.
• Camera orientation: Offers standard isometric, top, bottom, front, back, left, and right orthographic viewpoints.
• Scope-box synchronization: Can match the active section-box extents to a project scope box.
• Batch view creation: Generates separate cropped 3D views for multiple selected objects, such as doors, columns, or equipment.
• Smart naming: Builds descriptive names from category, type, and mark while handling duplicate names to reduce generic “3D View” and “Copy 1” clutter.
• Element isolation: Can isolate the selected object in the generated view.
• Section-box visibility: Provides a quick show/hide control for the section-box cage, useful for screenshots and presentation exports.

OkPy Review: Create Fully Functional Revit Add-ins with Zero Coding, with Examples!

Recently we posted about OkPy and its parent, the Orkestra add-in. I've been using OkPy for several days and have created a few add-ins with it, with zero coding. (I haven't even so much as looked at code.) Here I'll detail my add-ins and the prompts I used to create them. It's a good cross section, from a simple scripting task to a model scanner to interactive element selection, with some snazzy dialog box design and Excel interoperability thrown in for good measure.

A little about my programming background: I have about 30 years of development experience, though it has been almost exclusively with Bentley products, especially MicroStation (I know, boo, hiss!), and primarily with Visual Basic. A few months ago, I tried to create a Revit add-in the traditional way, with C#, but you need to configure Visual Studio to work with Revit and I couldn't find a modern reference for how to do that, so I didn't even get out of the starting block.

First, let's cover an add-in I named Hammer Sync. I wanted a tool that would sync, reload selected links, and sync again. Something I could kickoff and walk away from. This process is handy before exporting CAD files to make sure everything's up to date.

I used the following prompt to create the add-in:

Create a new project named Hammer Sync. In a dialog box, list "Synchronize Now", then all the Revit links in the active file in alphabetical order, and "Synchronize Now" again. To the left of each list item, place an icon appropriate for the task, synchronize for each Synchronize Now and reload for each link. To the far left of each list item, place a checkbox. At the bottom left of the dialog, place "Check None" and "Check All" buttons. If all checkboxes are ticked, lock the Check All button. If some checkboxes are unticked, unlock the Check All button. If no checkboxes are ticked, lock the Check None button. If some checkboxes are ticked, unlock the Check None button. If the user clicks Check None, untick all the checkboxes. If the user clicks Check All, tick all the checkboxes. To the right of the list, place an image of a steaming cup of coffee. At the bottom right of the dialog, place "Apply" and "Cancel" buttons. When the user clicks Apply, if the first Synchronize Now list item is checked, synchronize the model. Then, reload each link that is checked in list order. Finally, if the second Synchronize Now is checked, synchronize the model again. To the right of the list, when a list item is being processed, show a clock icon. When a list item is done processing, display a checkmark.

Now, to be fair, it took me four prompts to get this all included, which was fortuitous because that's the number of free prompts OkPy gives you per day. But my first prompt did the lion's share of the work. The others were just interface tweaks.

Let's see how OkPy works...

You open the OkPy agent through the Orkestra tab:

Free CA Bulk Exporter: PDF and DWG Batch Export

Executive summary

CA Bulk Exporter is a free Revit productivity add-in developed by CA Tools to consolidate repetitive drawing-issue work into one batch process. It can export multiple sheets to PDF, DWG, or both; apply model-based DWG export setups; automate deliverable naming; and report progress and exceptions. The Autodesk App Store listing positions it as a one-screen issue-production utility for Revit.

Core capabilities

• Batch output: Exports any number of selected sheets to PDF, DWG, or both in one run, replacing repeated use of Revit’s Print and Export dialogs.
• PDF packaging: Creates one PDF per sheet or a single combined PDF for the selected package.
• Standards-based DWG output: Reads named DWG Export Setups stored in the active model, preserving established layer mappings, units, and other office export standards.
• Flexible naming: Builds filenames from sheet number, sheet name, revision, project fields, and configurable text or separators.
• Sheet-set support: Loads existing Revit sheet sets for rapid reuse of predefined issue packages.
• Selection tools: Displays sheet number, name, current revision, and sheet set; supports filtering, sorting, individual selection, and bulk selection.
• Run visibility: Provides a live progress log and a completion summary identifying successful exports and skipped items.
• Remembered settings: Retains the previous selection and output configuration to speed recurring issues.

Typical workflow

1. Select content: Open the exporter, review the model’s sheet list, search or filter the list, load a saved sheet set if appropriate, and select the required deliverables.
2. Choose formats: Enable PDF, DWG, or both. For DWG, select a named export setup already stored in the model.
3. Configure output: Choose the destination folder, optional format-specific subfolders, PDF options, DWG scope, and the filename rule.
4. Control conflicts: Decide whether existing files should be skipped, overwritten, or given an automatic suffix.
5. Run and review: Start the unattended batch, monitor the live log, and use the final summary to check exported and skipped items.

OkPy: An AI-Assisted Python Development Environment for Revit

Executive Overview

OkPy is an automation-development environment and AI-assisted tool builder that runs inside Autodesk Revit through the Orkestra add-in. It is designed to let AEC professionals create working Revit utilities—including their user interfaces and back-end logic—without building and packaging a conventional compiled add-in from scratch. Users can write tools directly, ask the OkPy Agent to generate them from plain-language requirements, test them against a Revit model, save them as portable OkPy files, and deploy approved tools locally or through Orkestra.

OkPy is broader than a fixed collection of commands. It combines three related offerings: a development environment for custom automation; an AI Agent that generates and revises tools; and a public library of ready-made Revit utilities. Orkestra supplies the host integration, ribbon access, tool distribution, analytics, permissions, and enterprise deployment layer. This makes OkPy most comparable to a low-code development platform, scripting environment, and AI coding assistant combined—not to a single-purpose Revit plug-in.

The product's key promise is to shorten the path from an automation idea to a repeatable, deployable Revit command. Its key risk is equally important: generated or user-written code can modify live project data at scale. Successful adoption therefore depends on testing, code review, release control, model backups, and clear separation between experimental and production tools.

Product Architecture

OkPy Editor

The full editor is aimed at tool creators. It combines a code editor, automatically generated input controls, a debugging console, result handling, and tool metadata in one environment. Current Revit documentation begins new tools in C#, while OkPy's broader documentation and history also describe Python and CPython-based development. Existing scripts may therefore require interpreter-specific review when moving between Revit generations.

OkPy Agent

The Agent provides a simplified conversational workflow. A user describes the Revit task, desired controls, and output; the Agent asks clarifying questions when needed, drafts the code and interface, and presents the result for testing. Published examples include a modeless Door Summary dashboard and a grid-renumbering utility. The generated result is a deterministic tool that can be saved and rerun, rather than a one-time chat response.

Orkestra Integration

OkPy ships with Orkestra and opens from the Orkestra ribbon tab in Revit. Orkestra can organize OkPy, Dynamo, and Grasshopper automations, place approved commands on Revit ribbons through Quick Access, distribute content across a firm, manage environments, and provide analytics. Local OkPy creation can be used independently, while organization-wide cloud deployment and management depend on Orkestra services and plan entitlements.

SWAPP.AI: An Operational Intelligence Layer for Architecture

Executive Overview

SWAPP.AI is an enterprise architecture-production platform that applies firm-specific artificial intelligence directly inside Autodesk Revit and Graphisoft Archicad. Its Revit experience is centered on an agentic assistant called Frank, which can read and write the live BIM model rather than merely answer questions or generate instructions. SWAPP positions the system as an operational intelligence layer: it executes documentation, modeling, annotation, coordination, and quality-control work using the firm's established standards and prior production decisions.

The platform's principal value is large-scale construction-document automation. Published capabilities include creating and organizing views and sheets, placing dimensions, tags, and callouts, generating schedules, modeling walls, doors, fixtures, finishes, and worksets, detecting collisions and annotation conflicts, checking accessibility conditions, and validating a model or drawing set against firm rules. SWAPP states that its automation can address up to 80% of repetitive documentation tasks, although actual scope and savings vary by project, onboarding, and encoded standards.

SWAPP is not a conventional self-service Autodesk Marketplace utility with a fixed command list. Deployment begins with a vendor-led onboarding engagement, the workflows are configured to the architecture firm's methods, and commercial access is sold through custom, credit-based pricing. The most accurate description is therefore a managed AI production system integrated with Revit, with human approval and auditability built into its execution model.

Frank: The AI Architect Inside Revit

Live-Model Execution

Frank operates in the active Revit environment and is described as reading and modifying the live model without creating a disconnected export or copy. Users can trigger work conversationally or launch configured skills and scripts. Frank proposes an operation, the user reviews or previews it, and execution occurs only after approval. This human-in-the-loop pattern is important because the system is acting on liability-bearing project data rather than producing advisory text.

Published Revit Capabilities

• Agentic modeling: Creates or adjusts walls, doors, fixtures, finishes, and worksets, including building-scale 2D-to-3D workflows.
• Dimensions and annotations: Places exterior and interior dimension strings, tags, room tags, callouts, and other annotations according to firm rules.
• Views and sheets: Generates views, establishes sheets, and organizes documentation sets.
• Model and set QA: Checks content against encoded standards, flags discrepancies, and can propose corrections.
• Collision and graphic cleanup: Detects model conflicts and overlapping annotations, then resolves approved issues in Revit.
• Accessibility review: Identifies certain ADA-related conditions and proposes model changes.
• Reusable automation: Prompts and successful procedures can be saved as repeatable skills or scripts, turning one-off instructions into standardized firm tools.
• Traceability: SWAPP states that actions are reversible and recorded in an audit trail.

Skema: A Web-Based Generative-Design and BIM-Automation Platform

Executive Overview

Skema is a web-based generative-design and BIM-automation platform for architecture and AEC teams. Its Revit add-in is the interoperability layer that connects a firm’s existing BIM knowledge to Skema and returns developed designs to Revit. The workflow is unusual among generative tools because it begins with proven Revit content—such as repeatable units, assemblies, families, parameters, and office standards—rather than producing disconnected conceptual geometry that must later be rebuilt.

Through the add-in, teams organize Revit model groups as reusable catalog units, validate and upload them to a cloud Design Catalog, update or remove catalog content, and synchronize Skema-generated layouts back into Revit as native BIM. The broader Skema application then lets designers compose and morph those units within new footprints, compare alternatives using live project metrics, and progress from early feasibility toward a detailed model.

The key distinction is that Skema is not simply a ribbon utility running entirely inside Revit. The add-in handles catalog creation and BIM exchange; option generation, catalog configuration, and metric-driven design occur primarily in Skema’s cloud workspace.

Primary Roles of the Revit Add-in

1. Create and Maintain Design Catalogs

The catalog side of the add-in converts selected Revit model groups into reusable design units. A unit may represent an apartment, hotel room, patient room, classroom module, office neighborhood, building core, façade bay, or another repeatable assembly. The upload preserves the BIM information associated with the group so the component can be stretched, morphed, arranged, and later reconstructed as Revit content.

2. Validate Revit Content Before Upload

The plug-in identifies units, compares them with the cloud catalog, and reports validation or synchronization status. Teams can add new units, remove obsolete ones, or re-upload only units that have changed. Unchanged catalog content remains intact, reducing unnecessary replacement.

3. Synchronize Skema Designs into Revit

After a design is developed in the web application, the add-in translates the layout into a Revit project. Published material describes native walls, floors, roofs, families, rooms, parameters, materials, and other BIM components rather than a flattened or reference-only import. The objective is to continue development and documentation without remodeling the concept from scratch.

ELLAH-M: A Structural-Production Toolkit

Executive Overview

ELLAH-M is a Revit productivity add-in developed specifically for structural engineers and BIM teams. Its currently published core automates structural-column numbering, foundation and pile numbering, and two-way Excel exchange. Broader tools presented on the developer’s website extend the concept toward project setup, view and sheet creation, opening and recess modeling, and future automated pile layout.

The add-in’s central design idea is continuity across the structural workflow: marks assigned to columns can drive the identification of supporting pile caps and individual piles; selected model data can move to Excel for coordination and return to the correct Revit elements; and office standards can be reused to establish views and sheets in new projects. This makes ELLAH-M less of a general-purpose utility collection and more of a structural-production toolkit centered on numbering, information consistency, and drawing setup.

Product-status distinction: Autodesk Marketplace currently presents column numbering, foundation and pile numbering, and Excel export/import as the principal released capabilities. The developer’s version 1.3.1 website also advertises Project Setup and FastVoid as available in the trial, while some page sections still label FastVoid and automated pile layout as in development. Teams should therefore confirm the exact feature set in the installed Marketplace build before relying on website previews.

Structural Column Numbering

ELLAH-M scans structural columns, sorts them according to the chosen project logic, and writes sequential identifiers directly to Revit’s native Mark parameter. The tool is intended to replace manual renumbering across multiple levels while preserving a predictable relationship between vertically aligned structural members.

Published Capabilities

• Multi-level numbering: Columns can be numbered across the full project rather than one level at a time.
• Existing-mark continuity: The Marketplace states that the tool can continue from existing manual numbering without overwriting intentional marks.
• Preview before commit: Proposed changes can be reviewed before values are written to the model.
• Native undo: Changes support Revit’s standard Ctrl+Z undo workflow.
• Structural-category targeting: The tool is described as operating on structural columns, limiting accidental edits to unrelated architectural columns or other categories.
• Flexible scope: Developer material describes full-project, single-floor, selected-range, and manual numbering modes.
• Snake Path: A newer interactive method lets the user move the cursor over columns in the desired sequence without clicking every element. Published controls indicate Space can skip a number and Ctrl can finish the path.
• Output choice: Developer demonstration material states that Snake Path can write the sequence to Mark or Comments while maintaining vertical numbering continuity across floors.

Product Roundup: DesignLab

From the Autodesk Design and Make Marketplace:

About

Professional Revit plugins for architects, BIM engineers, and designers.

Products by DesignLab

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

AutoJoin Manager

Join and unjoin Autodesk® Revit® elements across multiple categories in a user-defined priority order. | $15

No ratings yet

Beam Finish Generator

Automatically generate finish walls and ceilings around structural beams in Autodesk® Revit® — select beams, choose a type, and create all finish elements in one click. | $15

No ratings yet

Advertisement

Beam Finish Generator: Automatically Create Finish Walls and Ceilings Around Structural Beams

Executive Overview

Beam Finish Generator is a focused Revit productivity add-in developed by DesignLab for automatically creating finish walls and ceilings around structural beams. Its purpose is to eliminate the repetitive process of modeling beam encasement or finish surfaces one beam at a time. The user selects one or more structural beams, chooses an existing Revit wall or ceiling type, and runs one of two commands: Side Walls or Lower Ceiling.

The add-in creates native Revit wall and ceiling elements rather than symbolic graphics. Because the results use project types already available in the model, they can participate in normal documentation, scheduling, material definition, visibility control, and downstream editing. The tool is best understood as a geometry-generation utility: it accelerates finish creation around modeled beams, but it does not design assemblies, determine required fire protection, or verify constructability.

Core Commands and Workflow

Side Walls

The Side Walls command generates four finish walls for each selected structural beam: two walls along the beam’s long sides and two walls closing the ends. The generated walls are offset by half the selected wall type’s thickness so their finish faces align around the beam rather than placing their centerlines directly on its edges. Vertically, the walls are aligned to the beam’s bottom face.

A typical workflow is to select any number of beams, launch Side Walls from the dedicated Beam Finish ribbon tab, choose a wall type available in the active project, and confirm the operation. The add-in then creates the finish walls for every selected beam in one batch. This can replace four manual wall placements—and their associated offsets and height adjustments—for each beam.

Lower Ceiling

The Lower Ceiling command creates one ceiling beneath each selected beam. The ceiling footprint is generated to match the beam’s plan footprint, and its elevation is aligned with the beam’s bottom face. The user selects the beams, chooses an existing project ceiling type, and runs the command for the complete selection.

The command is intended for soffit-like or encasement conditions where the underside finish follows the beam footprint. It can be used independently from Side Walls, allowing a team to generate only vertical finish faces, only the lower horizontal finish, or both.

AutoJoin Manager: Automates Revit’s Join Geometry and Unjoin Geometry Workflows

Executive Overview

AutoJoin Manager is a professional productivity add-in developed by DesignLab for Autodesk Revit. It automates Revit’s Join Geometry and Unjoin Geometry workflows across multiple element categories and gives users explicit control over cutting priority. Instead of joining intersecting elements one pair at a time—and then correcting join order where the wrong element cuts—the user creates an ordered list of categories, optionally narrows each category to chosen element types, and runs the operation across the model in one batch.

The add-in is primarily a model-cleanup and standards-enforcement utility. It is intended for architectural and structural teams that repeatedly coordinate walls, floors, columns, framing, ceilings, foundations, and other joinable categories. Its main advantage is not merely speed; it makes join precedence repeatable. A saved rule set can express a firm or project convention for which categories should cut others, reducing inconsistent results created by manual selection order.

How the Workflow Operates

1. Build the category list. Add the Revit categories that should participate in the operation. Published examples include structural columns, structural framing, walls, floors, ceilings, foundations, and other categories that Revit permits to be joined.
2. Set the cutting hierarchy. Arrange the categories in priority order. The category in the first row has the highest priority and is intended to act as the cutting element when it is joined to categories listed below it.
3. Refine by type when necessary. Any category row can be restricted to selected element types rather than applying to every type in that category. This allows different treatment for items such as particular wall, floor, framing, or column types.
4. Run Join or Unjoin. One command processes the configured categories in batch rather than requiring individual element-pair selections.
5. Monitor progress. A progress window reports processing status and percentage completion while Revit evaluates the model.
6. Review the outcome. A results report separates successful operations, skipped pairs, and failures, including reasons where available.
7. Reuse the setup. The priority list is automatically retained between sessions, avoiding repeated configuration when Revit or a project is reopened.

Core Capabilities

Priority-Controlled Join Geometry

Revit’s native join result can depend on the category combination and join order. AutoJoin Manager formalizes that behavior through an ordered hierarchy. If a project standard requires structural framing to cut walls, or columns to take precedence over floors, the hierarchy provides a repeatable rule rather than relying on each modeler to select the correct element first.

BIM-IT Pipe: Practical Automation for Piping Workflows

Executive Overview

BIM-IT Pipe is a specialized Autodesk Revit add-in developed by BIM-IT for plumbing and piping modelers, MEP engineers, BIM technicians, and coordinators. Rather than attempting full system design or automated routing, it concentrates on recurring production tasks that routinely consume time in detailed modeling and shop-drawing workflows: tagging pipe banks, matching elevations, maintaining spacing and clearance, splitting branches, aligning sections, isolating systems, and applying or displaying insulation. The tools operate on native Revit pipes, annotations, views, and insulation, so their results remain part of the model and documentation set.

The product’s core value proposition is practical automation. Each command addresses a narrow operation that can otherwise require repeated selection, measurement, movement, alignment, visibility adjustment, or annotation cleanup. This makes the add-in most relevant after basic systems and routes have been established, when a team is refining geometry, coordinating congested pipe runs, and preparing readable plans and sections.

Annotation and Documentation Tools

Pipe Size Tag

Adds a pipe-size tag above a selected spot elevation in the current view. The user chooses the pipe-tag type and can adjust offsets. Placement is calculated from the spot-elevation text position, reducing manual alignment. Developer guidance states that the spot-elevation text should be horizontal and its text location set in line with the leader. If the selected tag family wraps its label onto two lines, the computed label height can create excessive spacing; enlarging the label in the tag family and reloading it is the recommended correction.

Tag Pipe Bank

Adds size tags for multiple pipes associated with a selected spot elevation. Tags are stacked vertically in the order the pipes are selected, with configurable offsets and a reverse-order option. This is especially useful for congested parallel services where conventional individual tagging takes time and produces inconsistent arrangement.

Align Section

Aligns a section view to a selected pipe or model line and centers the section on that reference. The command helps a modeler orient working sections to sloped, angled, or otherwise inconvenient pipe runs before making detailed adjustments or preparing shop drawings.

Electrical Panels Manager

Executive Overview

Electrical Panels Manager (EPM), published by BIM_OS, is an add-in for Autodesk Revit aimed at electrical engineers, BIM engineers, coordinators, and model authors. It centralizes electrical-panel data editing, automates recurring panel naming and rating tasks, sizes feeder cables using IEC-based methods, performs voltage-drop and short-circuit studies, and exports engineering reports without requiring the user to leave Revit. The add-in is designed to replace repetitive schedule reading and parameter entry with a single interface that reads model data, calculates results, and writes approved values back to Revit.

Panel Discovery and Data Management

• Automatic panel discovery: Current product descriptions state that EPM can detect panels in the active 2D or 3D view and can switch to whole-project scanning, reducing the need for manual selection.
• Centralized property editing: The interface exposes critical properties such as panel name, location, mains or bus rating, circuit-breaker rating, short-circuit rating, enclosure type, number of slots or maximum breakers, and comments.
• Direct model updates: EPM reads Revit’s electrical parameters and writes edits back to the panel elements in a single transaction.
• Batch processing: Multi-panel selection supports consistent edits and calculations over several panels rather than one element at a time.
• Panel visualization: A Show Panel function highlights or isolates the selected panel in an appropriate view, helping users locate equipment while reviewing tabular information.
• Standardized naming: Auto-naming uses user-defined prefixes, reference codes, separators, start indices, and increments. Panels can be grouped by level, zone, or location reference to align identifiers with project conventions.

Automated Ratings and Connected-Load Workflow

The Auto Calculate or Auto Assign workflow reads connected loads from Revit and uses them to propose mains and circuit-breaker ratings. Marketplace material describes an 80% design-current rule associated with IEC 60364-4-43. This can accelerate initial sizing and improve consistency across a large panel population, but the quality of the result depends on accurate Revit circuiting, load classifications, demand assumptions, supply-system data, and parameter mapping. Calculated ratings should therefore be treated as engineering outputs requiring review rather than unquestioned metadata updates.

Free Bimroom: Thousands of High-Quality BIM Objects w/Seamless Drag-and-Drop Integration

Overview

bimroom is a free Windows add-in from Bimform AG that embeds the bimroom cloud library inside Autodesk Revit. Its primary purpose is to reduce the time designers spend leaving Revit, searching manufacturer websites, downloading family files, organizing local folders, loading content, and later replacing temporary objects. Users can search, filter, preview, place, find, and replace BIM objects from within the Revit workflow. The library combines generic objects for early design with quality-controlled manufacturer objects for later specification, making the add-in both a content-delivery platform and an object-management utility.

Typical Revit Workflow

1. Open bimroom inside Revit. The integrated interface provides access to the online catalog without requiring a separate download-and-load sequence.
2. Search and refine. Locate content by keyword, then narrow results with filters and facets. Preview information before committing an object to the project.
3. Place content. Drag an object into the model; the add-in handles content delivery into Revit, avoiding manual file browsing and family loading.
4. Develop from generic to specified. Use uniform generic objects during concept and design development, then replace them with manufacturer-specific products when selections are made.
5. Manage existing instances. Use Find Similar to identify related content and Replace One or Replace Many to update selected or repeated objects across the project.

Library and Content Strategy

• Broad catalog: bimroom promotes access to thousands of generic and manufacturer BIM objects spanning multiple building-product categories.
• Uniform structure: The platform emphasizes consistent parameter naming and data formatting so objects are easier to search, compare, filter, schedule, and exchange.
• Parametric behavior: Premium objects are described as fully parametric and dimensionally accurate, supporting adjustment within the limits built into each family.
• Model efficiency: bimroom states that its content is modeled cleanly, without redundant geometry, to reduce unnecessary model weight and performance problems.
• Product information: Objects are intended to include the data required for specification and project use, helping reduce later enrichment or placeholder replacement.
• Continuously expanding content: New generic and manufacturer objects are added over time, so search results and product availability can change.

Got a Free Add-in? Get a Free Ad!

Do you have a free add-in? Wouldn't you like to advertise it for free? On Revit Add-ons, publishers of free add-ins can get a free Saver Sidebar ad. Simply save your artwork in a 16:9 aspect ratio and email it to us, along with the web address you’d like it linked to. For image format, PNG is great for still images, GIF for animated.

Have multiple free add-ins? Send us artwork for each and we’ll set your ad space to rotate on page load. Or you could do something similar with an animated GIF.

Need professional artwork? We’ve got a great, inexpensive referral for you! Just ask...

It’s all a part of the service here at Revit Add-ons!

Advertisement

Free Drafted: AI House Generator—Five Complete Editable Model Alternatives w/Documentation “in 45 Seconds”

Overview

Drafted is a free, cloud-assisted Revit add-in for early-stage residential planning. It converts a structured design brief—primarily a room list, optional footprint, and generation settings—into five alternative house-plan concepts in roughly 45 seconds. Unlike an image generator, it returns native, editable Revit geometry, including walls, floors, roofs, doors, windows, and rooms. Its purpose is to accelerate schematic exploration and give designers several BIM-ready starting points rather than produce construction-ready documentation.

How the Revit Workflow Operates

1. Define the boundary. Use Draw Shape to trace a footprint, or omit the footprint and allow Drafted to establish the overall form.
2. Build the program. Add the required spaces, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living areas, garage, and porches.
3. Generate alternatives. Submit the inputs through the Drafted ribbon. Processing occurs on Drafted’s servers and requires an internet connection.
4. Compare five schemes. Each generation round places five alternatives on the Revit canvas for side-by-side review.
5. Iterate. Revise the footprint, room list, or settings and generate another set if the initial options are unsuitable.
6. Develop the selected option. Continue editing the chosen native Revit elements using normal modeling, coordination, and documentation practices.

Generated Content and Deliverables

• Native model elements: Editable Revit walls, floors, roofs, doors, windows, and rooms rather than a flattened image or imported underlay.
• Multiple design options: Five distinct floor-plan concepts per generation round, supporting rapid comparison of adjacency, circulation, footprint efficiency, and program fit.
• Basic project views and documentation: Each option is reported to include square footage, room count, a 3D view, elevations, area plans, and sheets.
• Account synchronization: Generated work also syncs with the user’s Drafted account at Drafted.ai.
• Continued editability: Teams can adjust the generated geometry, replace content with office-standard families and types, and carry the preferred concept into conventional Revit design development.

Product Roundup: Revix

From the Autodesk Design and Make Marketplace:

About

Revix is a software development company focused on creating intelligent automation solutions for Autodesk Revit and BIM workflows.

Our mission is to help structural engineers, architects, and BIM specialists save time by automating repetitive tasks, reducing manual work, and improving project accuracy.

We develop professional Revit add-ins that simplify documentation, dimensioning, tagging, model management, and other workflow-intensive processes. Every Revix tool is designed with a focus on speed, reliability, and ease of use, enabling teams to work more efficiently and concentrate on engineering rather than repetitive drafting tasks.

At Revix, we believe that automation is the future of BIM, and our goal is to provide practical tools that deliver measurable productivity gains for Revit users worldwide.

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

DimGen

Auto-dimension and tag columns, structural framing, floors, and foundations in Autodesk® Revit®. Full linked model & rotated element support. | Free

★★★★★ (8 reviews)

SheetEX

Batch-export Autodesk® Revit® sheets to PDF, DWG, DWF, IFC, NWC, and images with custom naming rules, organized folders, DWG merge, and OLE image-binding tools. | Free

★★★★★ (2 reviews)

Advertisement

Free DimGen: Intelligent Annotation Tools for Structural Workflows

Summary

DimGen is an Autodesk Revit add-in published by Revix on the Autodesk Design and Make Marketplace. Public descriptions position it as an intelligent automation tool for structural engineers, BIM modelers, architects, and draftsmen who need to automate repetitive structural dimensioning and tagging tasks in Revit.

Primary Purpose

The add-in is designed to reduce the manual effort required to dimension structural drawings. Instead of placing repeated strings of dimensions and tags by hand, users can run task-specific tools that identify structural elements, relate them to grids or axes, and generate dimensions and related annotation automatically in the active Revit view.

Core Dimensioning Capabilities

• Automatic column and grid/axis dimensioning in the active view.
• Dimensioning for floors, slabs, isolated foundations, and continuous foundations.
• Support for walls, foundations, axes, and linked models.
• Smart offset controls for dimension-line placement.
• Automatic column tagging as part of the column-and-axis workflow.
• Detailed summary reports after running supported tools.

Linked Model and Rotated Element Support

One of the notable claims on the Autodesk Marketplace is support for full linked models and rotated elements. This matters in structural BIM workflows because grids, columns, foundations, and slabs often need to be coordinated against linked architectural or structural models, and not all building geometry is aligned to the project’s primary orthogonal grid. Support for linked and rotated conditions can make automated dimensioning more useful on real projects where geometry is not perfectly simple.

Revit Add-ons Has Competition: Introducing RVT Plugins

So, somebody's stealing food from our babies' mouths... 😉

RVT Plugins is a competing site that bills itself as "your guide to the best Revit add-ins." We thought, perhaps, that the site was started during one of our fallow periods to fill the resulting void. However, the site was apparently established in 2018, while Revit Add-ons was in full swing, so we're not sure what the impetus was. (Revit Add-ons was itself established in 2011, and we made 500 posts in 2018.)

What's the difference? At first blush, RVT Plugins seems to have more product reviews, a lot more. However, upon closer inspection, these are generic enough that they could have been AI generated. Microsoft Copilot will do it for you from available standard Internet sources, just build "format as a review" into the prompt. While we don't have the time it takes to do many reviews here on Revit Add-ons, our reviews are strictly hands-on, and therefore, we hope, worth your time.

We will give props to RVT Plugins for using a very modern blog template, though I think we'll keep our more traditional blog roll format. While our host Blogger is the venerated grandaddy of blog hosting sites, RVT Plugins may be using a more modern hosting service, like Wix. If we were starting today, that's probably what we'd do. 😏 (We hope Blogger doesn't see this...)

Free SheetEX: Batch Export to Popular Formats, Plus DWG Merge & Image Binding

Summary

SheetEX is a free Autodesk Revit add-in presented in public internet sources as a sheet and view export utility. It is focused on speeding up drawing-package output by supporting batch export to common deliverable formats, custom naming and folder organization, and advanced DWG workflows such as merging multiple sheets into one DWG and binding image references directly into DWG files.

Primary Purpose

The add-in is designed to reduce the time and manual effort required to export Revit sheets and views for issue packages, coordination deliverables, consultant exchange, and archive sets. It targets workflows where users need repeatable export settings, organized output folders, and reliable naming conventions instead of manually exporting sheets one by one or renaming files after export.

Supported Export Formats

• PDF exports for drawing issue sets.
• DWG exports for CAD coordination and consultant exchange.
• DWF exports for review workflows.
• IFC exports for openBIM coordination.
• NWC exports for Navisworks-based coordination.
• Image exports such as JPG or PNG, depending on workflow requirements.

DWG Merging and Image Binding

One of SheetEX’s most distinctive reported features is the ability to export separate sheets or merge multiple Revit sheets into a single DWG file. Public descriptions also highlight the ability to bind JPG and PNG images directly into DWG files, creating self-contained DWG deliverables without broken external image references. This is useful when Revit sheets contain raster logos, images, consultant backgrounds, title-block graphics, or other linked image content that must remain visible when the DWG is opened outside Revit.

Draftmate: AI for Sketch or CAD Plan to Revit Model

Editor's Note: whenever I check Linkedin, which is several times a day, there are new posts about AI and Revit (or related product) modeling. It's impossible to keep up. Ironically, almost all of these modeling examples are of recreating existing buildings or details. Draftmate stands out as an AI tool tailored for converting sketches or CAD plans into new design BIM models. Read on for details.

Summary

Civly Draftmate AI, based on information available from its website, is best understood as an AI-powered BIM drafting and coordination platform. Civly positions the product around moving from sketches, CAD files, or early design intent into editable, coordinated BIM outputs while keeping human professionals in control of approvals.

Primary Product Positioning

Civly describes itself as a BIM drafting and coordination platform for engineering teams. Its public messaging emphasizes moving from drafting to designing, creating one source of truth, and helping architecture, structure, MEP, engineering calculations, and local compliance checks stay coordinated within a shared BIM baseline.

Relationship to Revit

The civly.dev website describes a workflow that creates full editable, compliant BIM models from CAD, Rhino, sketches, or CAD plans.

Core Capabilities

• Transforms sketches and plans into structured model proposals.
• Supports discipline drafting across architecture, structure, and MEP.
• Keeps proposed outputs reviewable, traceable, and editable.
• Provides plain-language rationale for human-in-the-loop approvals.
• Produces editable output that project teams can continue developing.