Revitize - Another Revit Blog

Copy Spreadsheet cells from Excel / LibreOffice / Open Office to Autodesk Revit Schedules

2021-03-21T01:43:00.006-05:00

Copy Spreadsheet

If you want to copy data from Microsoft Excel (or Open Office or Libre Office spreadsheet) into Autodesk Revit schedules.
Since, the Revit schedule is made of elements within Revit, copying and pasting data from any other spreadsheet is not allowed. In order to alleviate this issue, we have coded the Copy Spreadsheet for Revit utility. We are in the process of updating this utility for all Revit versions.

Trial Version

The trial versions that work with older versions of Revit is available here. Trial versions are for evaluation purposes only. You should not use this for commercial purposes. This evaluation version is restricted to copying only (3x3) 9 cells at a time.

Fully Functional Commercial Version

The full version allows copying of unlimited number of cells. Currently we have versions till Revit 2015.
You can buy the fully functioning version by:
1. Registering here.
2. Paying here.

Copy Spreadsheet for Revit 2015 - version

2014-08-28T10:50:00.002-05:00

It has been another year, another Revit version and another release. We have released the most awaited 2015 version of our "Copy Spreadsheet for Revit"
If you want to copy data from Microsoft Excel (or Open Office or Libre Office spreadsheet) into Revit schedules.
Since, the Revit schedule is made of elements within Revit, copying and pasting data from any other spreadsheet is not allowed. In order to alleviate this issue, we have coded the Copy Spreadsheet for Revit utility. This does just
We have updated the popular copy spreadsheet for Revit utility for the 2014 version. The trial version is available here. The trial version is limited to copying only 3x3=9 cells at a time.
You can buy the fully functioning utility from here.
The full version allows copying of unlimited number of cells.

Copy Spreadsheet for Revit 2014 - released!

2013-05-01T03:39:00.000-05:00

Revit Schedule is quirky. It is fantastic in many aspects, but lacks in one specific simple manipulation.
For eg., if you maintain a set of data in Microsoft Excel (or Open Office or Libre Office spreadsheet) and want to copy and paste it into a Revit schedule, it is not possible.
Since, the Revit schedule is made of elements within Revit, copying and pasting data from any other spreadsheet is not allowed. In order to alleviate this issue, we have coded the Copy Spreadsheet for Revit utility. This just does that!
We have updated the popular copy spreadsheet for Revit utility for the 2014 version. The trial version is available here. The trial version is limited to copying only 3x3=9 cells at a time.
You can buy the fully functioning utility from here.
The full version allows copying of unlimited number of cells.

Autodesk Revit 2014 version released

2013-04-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

Autodesk has released the 2014 version of its products recently. Hats off to the Autodesk team for their continual development of the software.
You can download a trial version of Revit here:
http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-revit-family/free-trial
The trial is valid for 30 days and is a fully functional copy.
If you are a student, you can also download a fully functional 3 year license. (however, any print taken from the software taken from the Educational version, will have a Educational version text border. This border happens even if you link a RVT file made with the educational version inside a RVT file made with a commercial license software and print from the commercial license software!)

Removing Educational version trace in AutoCAD

2013-02-25T20:43:00.003-06:00

We had a problem with AutoCAD last week. One of the surveyors had sent us a drawing showing the change in site extents. This person didnt have a proper AutoCAD license and used an educational version. When we tried to insert this small site boundary change into our legal version of the DWG, we got a warning indicating that inserting that object will bring in:

Educational version banner all around the sheet for all prints.
While opening our file, AutoCAD will warn that we are opening a file created by an educational version.
Any other file that references our file will also carry this educational version tag!!!

I think, AutoCAD may rethink this system. Because of somebody else's problem, we had an issue to be resolved. We could force the surveyor to use the legal version (which we did) however, the amount of time lost in asking the surveyor to send the DWG again from a legal version of the software was a week.

Alternatively, one could "save as" the file created using educational version in the legal version as DXF file and then open it back in AutoCAD, the warning and the tag go away.

BIM Coordinator for AutoCAD Civil 3D / Revit

2012-06-07T20:23:00.004-05:00

The nice guys at the Autodesk Labs have come up with another interesting app. This one is called the Bim Coordinator for Civil 3d and Revit. It is a technology preview and free!
This utility helps to coordinate the UCS / origin points between a Civil 3D drawing and Revit. The reference point between these two softwares is automatically coordinated. Very nice.
The current version is release for 2012 Civil 3D and Revit flavours. You can download and try it here.

Autodesk Exchange Apps for Revit

2012-05-06T19:36:00.000-05:00

Here is another fantastic development from Autodesk. This is touted as one of the new things for Revit 2013. However, it has been available for AutoCAD in the 2012 version itself.
Anyway, Similar to the appstore, this website has some small utilities that aid Revit. Some of them are free. It is worth while to check once in a while. Here is the link:
http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/2013/en/Home/Index
If you are a developed you can visit here to read the guidelines to publish your own app!

Autodesk Revit 2013

2012-04-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

Autodesk has released their 2013 version of software last week. Interesting point to note is that Autodesk has released a new software - Autodesk Revit 2013 - which includes ALL the funtionality of Revit Architecture, Revit MEP and Revit Structure.
Revit is also available as stand alone product per field (Architecture, MEP, etc.)

The pricing for all these software very twisted. As per the link above, all the standalone Revit versions cost around $5,500. However, by paying another $1000, one can get all flavours of AutoCAD + all flavours of Revit + 3DS Max Design.
The combo version that includes all flavours of revit will be very useful for BIM managers while trouble shooting. Well done Autodesk! (I guess, this has been a long time request from the users!)

Copy cells from Spreadsheet to Revit Schedule 2013

2012-04-05T22:28:00.002-05:00

We are very happy to announce that our popular utility "Copy Spreadsheet to Revit" has been released for Autodesk Revit 2013. This version works only for Revit versions of 2013, but for all flavors of revit, vis a vis, Architecture, MEP, Structure and Suite. This version works in both the 32 bit and 64 bit version of Windows.
The trial version can be downloaded from here but it copies only a maximum of (3 x 3) 9 cells at a time. You can buy the full version (which does not have any restrictions on the number of copied cells) here.

Etransmit for Revit

2012-02-15T04:18:00.000-06:00

Autodesk had an in-built nice command called 'Etransmit' for AutoCAD. Using that command was the only correct method to transmit / send files to consultants and clients.
It might be heartening to know that Autodesk is working on a similar command / utility for Revit too. Their etransmit technology preview can be viewed / downloaded here.
However, it works ONLY with Revit 2012 versions. You need to have an autodesk user id (free) to download the utility.
The best part is that it collects all the DWG / RVT files that are linked into the Revit file. It does away with all the error messages we used to get when we COPY the Revit Central File using Windows explorer, etc. You can download the preview for free until June 30th.

Payment options for Copy Spreadsheet utility for Revit

2012-01-26T00:08:00.000-06:00

We are very happy to announce that we have incorporated payment services to buy the fully functional Copy Spreadsheet utility for Revit versions 2010, 2011 and 2012 and the "Where is my command in Revit 2010?" in our website. The paid version does NOT have any restriction on the number of cells being copied at a time. You can pay for the licensed version here.
The utility does NOT come with any support and is sold "as is" with no warranty. Please check the evaluation version first before paying.
Cost: The pricing is based on the size of the firm, rather than the number of installed machines. The idea is that bigger firms can afford to pay a little bit more.

$2 : Firm with One or two employees
$10 : Firm with less than 10 employees
$25 : Firm with less than 50 employees
$50 : Firm with more than 50 employees

Please add $2 per order towards payment service fees and handling.

Version: Please check the correct version before you buy. The utility does NOT work in different Revit version. Since, this is a digital purchase, we cannot refund the payment, if you select the wrong version of the product.
License: After confirming the payment, we will send you the licensed copy of the utility by email in 48 hours. The licensed copy will show the name of your firm, location and the license type (number of employees).

Draftsight - An alternative to AutoCAD

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

It has been more than a year since Dassault Systemes (the makers of CATIA) have released their 2D CAD software, Draftsight. Their website says that the software is FREE for individuals as a standalone license. (Email activation necessary).
This software is ALMOST same as Autocad. (2008 version) and supports PGP, Plot configurations, etc. Very easy to use. You can download the software here.
This software is highly recommended.
Here are some screen shots:

Copy from Excel to a Revit Schedule 2012 64 bit

2012-01-11T04:17:00.002-06:00

After such a long time (sorry), I updated the script to copy data from excel spreadsheet to Revit Schedule. The updated script is available at:
http://bim.nichitecture.com/copyexcel.html
The evaluation version can be downloaded from the above link. The evaluation version has a limit of 25 cells that can be copied into Revit at a time. You can buy the utility with no restriction in the number of cells to copy (at the bottom of this post!)
The software currently supports 64 bit and 32bit windows environment for:

Revit Architecture 2009
Revit Architecture 2010
Revit Architecture 2011
Revit Architecture 2012
Revit Structure 2009
Revit Structure 2010
Revit Structure 2011
Revit Structure 2012
Revit MEP 2009
Revit MEP 2010
Revit MEP 2011
Revit MEP 2012

The cost of the licensed version of the software:
Single license cost is $2;
Site license cost for a firm with less than 10 employees is $10;
Site license cost for a firm with less than 50 employees is $25;
Site license cost for a firm with more than 50 employees is $50;

I copy and paste from my previous post:
The script works with both Microsoft Excel and Open Office.org Calc.
The script copies a bunch of cells (rows x columns) and pastes them into a revit schedule (contiguous rows x columns).

The script works well if all the fields in Revit schedule are EDITABLE. (A normal schedule has lots of ‘read-only’ fields like Family name, Area, etc where this script will fail.) The cells also need to be 'instance' driven cells (as compared to 'type' driven cells)
The script does not create blank rows for data in Revit (yet). You need to create as many rows as you might need using this button in the Revit option bar before running the script.

You can buy the utility:
1. Register here.
2. Pay here.

Autodesk University 2011

2011-11-28T21:36:00.001-06:00

That time of the year again... Autodesk University in Las Vegas is about to start. If you cannot make it to the University in Las Vegas, dont worry. Autodesk is making most of the classes available online for FREE. All you need to do is to create an Autodesk account and register for the courses here. Autodesk has made the registraton process even easier this time by allowing us to use our facebook or twitter credentials...
Awesome!
If you use Twitter profusely... you can tag Autodesk University 2011 by using #AU2011 ...

ETransmit for Revit 2012

2011-07-29T00:45:00.000-05:00

At last Autodesk has come out with an etransmit tool for Revit. In fact, they have not released it to the market, but the tool is available at the Autodesk at Autodesk Labs Utilities eTransmit for Revit. This is a free download.

The best part of the tool is that it can be used to archive a Revit project. (We used to have a long list of 'to dos' to archive a revit project along with all the DWG linked files, etc. Now this can be done in one step. Nice.

This is an add-in tool and it shows up in the ribbon for easy use. These are the things the tool does:

Copies the central file

Copies all the dependent files

Changes the path for all the dependent to be dependent paths, etc.

Works ONLY for Revit 2012!!

This free download is available only until Dec 31st 2012. Autodesk might make it a subscription update after this date! (They are just crowd sourcing the bug fixing phase!)

Definitely worth a try.

AutoCAD WS - Web and Mobile Application for AutoCAD - Autodesk

2011-06-16T23:18:00.000-05:00

It has been some time since Autodesk released their web version of AutoCAD WS.

It works amazingly, whole thing is embedded within the web browser. Autodesk also has an app for android and iphone. Unfortunately the dwg website cannot accessed using Nokia web browser (It claims that it needs Adobe Flash support, which I thought Opera mobile has....)

Basically:

1. Create an autocad ws account (existing autodesk account will do)

2. Upload your dwg file.

3. Anyone, anywhere can can access your dwg and edit (as long as you give them access rights)

The dwg files can be collaborated online simultaneously. There are a lots of youtube videos that explain the features of the website.

Ofcourse, the online autocad is NOT full fledged version of the real one. But it is useful for most of the stuff you might need to do on job site or at coordination meetings. Very nice.

Copy Cells from Excel to Revit Schedule

2011-02-22T10:54:00.001-06:00

***********
This utility has been updated for Revit 2012 and for 64bit version for 2011 Revit.
***********
I had created a script to Copy Cell values from Excel to Revit Schedule view. I updated the script for 2011. The evaluation copy of the updated script for Revit 2011 and 2012 is available at:
http://bim.nichitecture.com/copyexcel.html
I hope this is helpful.
The script works with both Microsoft Excel and Open Office.org Calc.
The script copies a bunch of cells (rows x columns) and pastes them into a revit schedule (contiguous rows x columns).

The script works well if all the fields in Revit schedule are EDITABLE. (A normal schedule has lots of ‘read-only’ fields like Family name, Area, etc where this script will fail.) The cells also need to be 'instance' driven cells (as compared to 'type' driven cells)
The script does not create blank rows for data in Revit (yet). You need to create as many rows as you might need using this button in the Revit option bar before running the script.

Project Vasari

2011-02-21T05:06:00.000-06:00

Autodesk has introduced (sometime back) a, kind of rival to Sketch up. It is free and can be downloaded from here or
http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/vasari/
Really nice program. You can keep it in your thumbdrive and take it whereever you go. It does not have to be installed like traditional apps.
Even creating a sphere or a dome is a pain in sketchup. Vasari can do it very easily. Also it has levels, from which you can get all the floor areas and can be directly imported into Revit. In fact, the file format is RVt and so can be directly OPENED in Revit. Very nice.
(I hope autodesk keeps this software FREE!!!!)

Project Photofly from Autodesk

2010-11-16T20:20:00.000-06:00

Autodesk labs has refined their interesting program Project Photofly. It is a free dowload from autodesk. Basically it creates a DWG / or FBX (can be used with Revit / 3DS Max) out of photos taken of the building using your typical digital camera.
You take a series of photos of the building from all angles and the project photofly stitches these photos to make a 3D model. Autodesk has a detailed shooting guide. I suggest you read these before starting.
Something to look for:

moving objects in photos (cars, humans etc.)
too much background or foreground disturbances

We are starting on documenting a structure in a couple of weeks and will update this post!

AU 2010 - Virtual Classes

2010-11-10T08:12:00.000-06:00

The Autodesk University fever has started and this year around, Autodesk is offering virtual classes for those who cannot attend the event during Nov 30th to Dec 1.
Autodesk has issued a list of classes that can be attended for free. You can pay $139 and get a premium pass. (Even this is free for subscription customers) You will have to register for both the programs here: http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=registration_landing

Recover erased data from disks

2010-11-09T04:04:00.000-06:00

This tip is not about Revit.
Sometimes we erase (and also empty 'recycle bin') data by mistake. There are lots of commercial programs available that can bring back these erased data. "PC Inspector smart recovery" is available free from download.com and can bring back data from SD cards, thumbdrives, etc. too. Very hand tool.
Recently I visited an architectural site, and even though the CEO had allowed me to photograph the building, the stupid security guard got hold of my camera and erased all the pics. Luckily I found this program and was able to unerase all the photos!

AutoCAD 2008 Scale list and copying & pasting issue

2010-10-12T06:43:00.001-05:00

This is more of an AutoCAD 2008 scale list issue. In some of our Acad 2008 files, copying and pasting even a simple line took more than 10 minutes. The copy operation was quick. But the pasting operation went on and on. This is because of a bug in Acad2008 scale list, which the service pack 1 didnt fix. If you are on subscription and you are on AutoCAD 2009 or up, you are good!
There is a scalelist popup menu in autocad (typically) at the lower right corner.
Pressing this menu button shows the scale lists used in the drawing. Typically the number of list are less and shows like this:

However, autocad 2008 tries to bring in scalelist from any xrefs / blocks imported from other drawings and over a period of time the number of scale list can reach 1000s and makes the dwg really slow. The worst offender is the paste command (because acad is looking for ways to bring in MORE scale lists!!!!) The screws up with Revit whenever such a DWG file is inserted into Revit.
The scale list of the corrupted file looks like this:

This image filled up the whole screen.
To remove all these scalelist, you can use the "-SCALELISTEDIT" command. Typing the comand without the "-" crashes AutoCAD. Using the "-" forces the command to use the command line. You can follow the command line prompts to 'reset' the scale list. You will have to keep doing this if the DWG files gets corrupted again.

Moving a set of views from one sheet to another

2010-03-18T05:58:00.000-05:00

Revit does not allow the same DWG view to be placed in more than one sheet. For this reason, when we want to move a set of views from one sheet to another, it does not let copy or cut and paste. It gives a “multiple instances of the same view in sheets not supported!”

One way to move the views, is to open the sheets category in the project browser

and just drag and drop the views to another sheet in the project browser or in the DWG area.

Referencing Detail and Referencing Sheet

2010-02-17T10:18:00.001-06:00

Some of our government clients wants us to show the referencing sheet and detail numbers in the View title like:

Revit has this nice feature too!

Basically, these parameters show the sheet number and the detail number where this particular detail is referenced. This works perfect in most of the cases. However, sometimes the detail is referenced in more than one view (and so in different sheets). This can happen because of many reasons – dependent views or ‘show in – intersecting views’ parameter, etc.

In such cases, unfortunately, there are more than one referencing sheet that refer the detail in a drawing set. It looks like Revit shows the first sheet it comes across (per alphabetical order?) in the drawing set for this referencing sheet / detail parameter. It is read only and so, we cannot change it.

The workarounds is to manipulate the referencing sheet parameter by renaming / renumbering the sheet (not good) or to hide the unwanted callout / section / view tag category in the visibility graphics (not good again). (Just hiding the unwanted view tag using the View > Hide in view > elements option does NOT work!)

I think Autodesk should make this read only parameter a drop down menu where we could choose our preferred sheet from a list of available sheets…

If you like this option, please submit a support request with Autodesk.

Export to DWG from Revit issues

2010-02-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Even though Autodesk owns both AutoCAD and Revit, it is quite ironic that the export to CAD command does not work properly. There are so many issues outlined even in 2006, and most of them are still resolved.

The most irritating is the one related to the dimensions. When I export a sheet like:

with dimensions and if I choose any option other than the “overrides BYENTITY” in the CAD Export Format dialog box:

It results in out of scale dims like:

Not good.

Page setups are not similar in Revit and AutoCAD. So those don't get transferred too.

AutoCAD has a ‘nice’ printer called ‘None’ which has all the page sizes. Revit should retain the paper size from the title block and use the None printer while exporting sheets. This will not give a ‘printer missing’ error message in AutoCAD (when the DWG file is being opened), but still give the user an option to select an appropriate printer from the user’s network to print to the correct size.