Space Naming Utility for Revit 2017

Hi Autodesk Revit Team! It's me Mr. OpEd again. Imagine me with a pointy stick, I'm poking you in the eye...metaphorically...with words on a blog.

Since the AutoCAD team just made 2017 available I can infer that we'll be seeing a new release of Revit in the very near future.

Let me just go on record now.

The Space Naming Utility SHOULD be built into Revit 2017 so that it is installed automatically or better yet, it's just on the Annotation ribbon as a native feature, NOT an add-on.

I might as well let ya'll know now, and AGAIN, that it is utterly reeeeee-freeeeeekin-diculousssss if it isn't!!!!!

If the rationale for keeping it separate is that not many people use it perhaps that's because it is a separate application??!! If the ribbon UI is supposed to improve the odds of discovering features it sure would help to be ON the ribbon. Built IN.

Capisce? The berating will continue until the SNU is part of Revit. I know there are much more important things in the world to be upset about. Yet, someone must continue the fight for equal status of the SNU!

If I take a pessimistic stance, you could, at the very least, make sure it is available for download from the Exchange Apps site as soon as we can actually download and use Revit 2017. Yeah. That would be good...

Revit MEP 2014 Space Naming Utility

This is still a separate download and installation but it is available now from the subscription center.

Why should it be part of the software?

Essential Tool - It is impractical to manage the relationship between architecture and engineering models without it. Many of the other extensions that are available (2014 versions available now too) are idiosyncratic, a small percentage of users will tend to use them. I don't think this one is. The fact that several other companies offer similar solutions as add-ons suggest that this one is at least solid enough for general use.

Development Plans - The utility has gone unchanged essentially since its inception. If it has been kept separate because they are going to do something else really wonderful and make it irrelevant, they've had years to do it. Until it really is part of the next release planning, put the one that works in.

Awareness -  Many people don't know it is available, because it is hiding at the subscription center, and therefore just suffer with room/space management. Most users I meet don't have access to the subscription site let alone know of its existence. Even when it is installed it is not in an obvious place so users who haven't been told about it either stumble on to it or don't use it until someone does point it out.

Complaint Dept. - If it remains an extension because of the fear that users will complain that they've "lost" one of their extensions...well... I sure hope that's not a reason.

I say put it on the Analyze Tab with the other Space tools, call it Space/Room Matching, like this:

Just do it!

Revit Extensions for Revit 2013 Posted

The Revit Clinic mentioned today that these extensions have been posted for the latest version of Revit 2013.

• Globe Link for Autodesk Revit 2013
• Batch Print for Autodesk Revit 2013
• Worksharing Monitor for Autodesk Revit 2013
• Autodesk Revit Model Review 2013
• Autodesk Revit DB Link 2013
• Space Naming Utility for Autodesk Revit MEP 2013

I need some Ibuprofen, the Space Naming Utility is still an extension? Silliness... What is this AutoCAD's precious Express Tools all over again?? This one should have been burned into native Revit the very following release but here we are three releases later now???

Free Tools from Case Design

Just a quick one tonight, still burnt out from Autodesk University and Revit Technology Conference committee meetings.

The guys at Case Design created some free applications for Revit recently. They'd like you to know about them, as well as use them!

Just need to register (so they can spam you, teasing Don!), then you can try out their Change and Replace Line Styles, Revision Cloud Data Export to Text File and Door Mark Updater tools!

I'm bugging Don to work with him to build a cool "Where's my Stuff" tool, a clever way to track down things that go "missing in the night" since there's only something like 30+ ways that things can get "disappeared".

Oh, I'll be finishing up my last day at AU post tomorrow...I hope! ;)

Space Naming Tool - In the Box Please

Revit MEP users are hopefully aware of the available (via subscription only) tool cleverly called Space Naming Utility. I've been places though that are not and they deal with the unpleasant disconnect between Revit Architecture's Rooms and Revit MEP's Spaces, without the tool. Quite frustrating to have to coordinate these. The tool makes that process much simpler, if you know about it that is. If you didn't, now you do.

I have a simple request, let's have it "in-the-box" for the next release of Revit please? Why is an integral piece of the puzzle an "extra"?

I've been befuddled for decades now at the Express Tools part of AutoCAD. Why those weren't just rolled up into the application years ago... I've heard that people want "their" Express Tools so they've remained where they are as a "separate and special" addition so to speak.

Well I'd like no such thing, bundle-em-up! One installation please, no chasing off to subscription for more goodies. If it can't be done for this next release, at least give us a chance to deploy/install it at the same time??

Thanks!!

New Revit Utilities - PKH Lineworks

Phil DeBrandt announced at AUGI that he has made several utilities for Revit available at his web site. The utilities are branded as ReVVed.

The utilities are comprised of the following functions:

• Merge Text - merge multiple text notes into a single note.
• Change Case - changes the case of selected text notes to a user specified case.(Upper, lower, mixed)
• Upper Case - changes the case of notes to all upper case with a single click or hotkey.
• Web Link - opens a web browser to the URL stored in Revit components.
• Polyline - adjust the total length of end-to-end lines. (Like travel distances)

You can download the utilities from his site.

Avatech Utilities for Revit - Update for 2011

Avatech Solutions was the first company (that I can remember) to offer several utilities for Revit that provided missing functionality - for free too. They are busy getting the word out about their latest update for Revit 2011 products and this post is meant to help.

The Revit Kid (Jeff Pinheiro) started a contest to win a free version of their utilities. Avatech's marketing team wrote to me last week and offered to make one license of the full version of the utilities available for free to one of this blog's readers. Jeff's post went live on Saturday and when it did I thought that I'd make the license I can award available to the second place finisher in his contest. It seems a bit redundant to me to run another contest of my own.

The essence of his challenge: Explain, in a comment for the blog post, how the Avatech utilities have been a benefit to you or your firm, or perhaps how your firm will benefit from them if it doesn't use them yet. The best response/comment wins. The best is determined by readers voting for the comment they liked the most. The deadline for comments is the 30th, voting begins afterward. I'll award the license that Avatech has offered to me to the second place finisher in the contest.

If you aren't familiar with the utilities yet then you should take some time to review them. If you use Revit Architecture then the room and door numbering tools will probably be very useful. The element renumber allows you to renumber grids, levels, windows, doors and spaces.

If you use Revit MEP the new MEP Parameter tool might prove interesting. It helps you pass along parameter values for an entire duct or pipe system, like setting the insulation value. Easy to set the insulation for a pipe or a pipe fitting but you can't actually do them both at the same time when they are selected. This tool is meant to alleviate that pain.

They are still offering a free version (Lite includes: Room Renumber, Change Case, Space Update, and GridSelect.) and the utilities can be stand-alone or a named user version (shared license with a pool of named users). The full version will sell for $395 after July 31, 2010. If you'd like to get it for less you haven't got much time, you can get it for $99 until the 31st. Click HERE to download the product brochure.

[Disclosure: Avatech Solutions made one copy of the Utilities for Revit 2011 available to me for my personal use, for free, in return for posting this information.]