Wow.  I haven't updated this is so long I forgot my password.  Sorry about the long lag time, but both work and my personal life have been extremely busy.

On the MNRUG front, our next meeting is April 27th on a Thursday night at the Eden Prairie Campus of Hennepin Technical.  Maps, details and the like will come out in an email next week.

On the Revit front, my brother Jeff and I had a web conference and demonstration of getting data from Revit to Timberline's estimating package via schedule exports and Excel macros.  It is possible, but not a real elegant solution and Jeff and I were not all that impressed.  Jeff by the way sells and trains in Timberline products for Software Consultants on of the two Timberline re-sellers here in the Twin Cities.  The Timberline link on www.reviteer.com will take you to his website.

A better option for getting Revit data to Timberline has come to our attention though.  The company called is called Innovaya  http://www.innovaya.com/ and the owner is a authorized Autodesk and Sage developer. (Sage is the company that owns Timberline).  There is a great article on AEC Bytes that should be read if you are interested in this kind of use of Revit:

http://www.aecbytes.com/buildingthefuture/2006/VisualEstimating.html

As Jeff and I have discussed through the years, most people on both the architectural and building sides of the business fail to realize that estimating is more than just raw quantities multiplied out and added up.  If it were that simple many people would be out of a job.  Quanities are a good start to an estimate, but most estimates developed within Timberline are assembly based not simple raw quantity's of something.  Many items may make up an assembly and they may come from different sources.  Architects may consider a walltype of 3-5/8" metal studs with 1 layer of 5/8" GWB an assembly but the contractor uses that walls area plus twice its LF for top and bottom track, a waste factor for the GWB, a factor for how much joint compound, seam tape, outside corners and screws to use as their wall assembly.

It looks like Innovaya has solved this problem by developing a Revit API that takes the Revit model out to another file format for "visual estimating"  I think they are on the right track and Jeff has ordered their demo CD and will be talking to them at the Sage Conference in Nashville in early May he is attending.  Hopefully this solution is as good as it looks because it is what is needed to give an added boost to Revit's use in the industry.  When the contractors of the world have a choice of working with a Revit enabled firm who is willing to work with them on estimating or someone using 2D CAD I can guarantee they will choose the Revit firm.  We already see it happening at Jafvert Mueller.

That's all for now.  I will be back posting with more regularity now that I have some free time again.

Tom

 

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