BIM Library Manager Program

[tc3dcad60731]

Anybody interested....... Follow the link and look at this program. Tell me what you think and if you would be interested in a 3rd party app like this or if you think something like should be added by ADSK in Revit as it is now.

http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/building-information-modeling/product/bim-library-manager/?nid=3489

[rjcrowther]

I think it would be nice if Revit had something better than it currently system.

Although its a distant memory now, I seem to remember ADT2005 had some sort of system to organise library parts so this idea is not alien to ADSK.

I wouldn't like to see us get this in place of better modelling or drafting tools.

[tc3dcad60731]

Yes, the first thought that came to my mind was something of suped up DesignCenter :-)

[rjcrowther]

Yes, the first thought that came to my mind was something of suped up DesignCenter :-)

Ahhhh, thats the name of the thing I was thinking of. Yes, exactly that concept here as well.

[clog boy]

c'mon what are we talking about, even (or especially) Arkey has a component galery rather than a type selector.

[patricks]

Tectonic is another program out there for that purpose. Our office has a license, but I haven't really had a chance to look into it much.

[tc3dcad60731]

c'mon what are we talking about, even (or especially) Arkey has a component galery rather than a type selector.

Several years ago ADSK came up with this idea for common component / detail / etc repository so that you could place your library of most used block etc in it and see what they looked like before placing them. You could then scale etc as you placed in the drawing. Revit lacks this overall library feel that you see in the link that I provided. Personally I think that it should be part of the package.......if a 3rd party has done this then it will more and likely never be a part of the base program unless we pay for it.

I like it and it one step closer to the "wizard" that I have been asking for 2 years atleast.

By the way.... and totally off topic.... but then I did start this thread.... What ever happened to the Revit Customer Council???????

[jeffh]

Several years ago ADSK came up with this idea for common component / detail / etc repository so that you could place your library of most used block etc in it and see what they looked like before placing them. You could then scale etc as you placed in the drawing. Revit lacks this overall library feel that you see in the link that I provided. Personally I think that it should be part of the package.......if a 3rd party has done this then it will more and likely never be a part of the base program unless we pay for it.

I like it and it one step closer to the "wizard" that I have been asking for 2 years atleast.

You can use a Windows explorer window set to show "thumbnails" then you can drag and drop content to a Revit project. Not exactly as refined of an interface as the content manager was but it work very similiar. Especially if you have dual monitors. You can keep an explorer window open on one monitor to your library location and the other monitor run your Revit app.

[Brandon_Pike]

What about BIM Content Manager by Digital Building Solutions

http://www.digitalbuildingsolutions.com/

[Chirag Mistry]

Autodesk has something similar for their web based content
http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/contentsearch2/

I wish they make it available with revit to search for user content.

[DoTheBIM]

Tectonic is another program out there for that purpose. Our office has a license, but I haven't really had a chance to look into it much.
The link provided by tc3dcad is Tectonic's software. Reed acquired Tectonic not more than a few months ago.

I have a prior version of this on my machine and I have to take the time to get the update as mine is quite dated... I'm thinking it's 9 months or so old and I have an email invite to get updated. I haven't got much of a chance to use it as content creation has consumed more of my focus than anything currently. After that is mostly done I will likely get into the use of this product more heavily. If anyone has any questions on it, I'll see what I can do.

[mbalsom]

Have a look at this one. Very tidy,compact and powerful. I like the way you can edit catalogues on the fly. Also other useful features. At the moment they have dropped the $$$ for this software.

http://www.familit.com/

[dhurtubise]

http://www.raizlabs.com/software/thumbnailexplorer/Default.asp

Did i mention 10$, like in 10 dollars?

[jsteinhauer]

Maybe I'm missing something, but does any of this software allow a content manager to control the parameters in a family universally? Adding, subtracting or changing from a "Family" to a "Shared" parameter and back again? I would love to be able to browse to a folder and see if all of the .rfa's have the same settings. Might help with my scheduling issues.

Thanks,

Jeff S.

[DoTheBIM]

Maybe I'm missing something, but does any of this software allow a content manager to control the parameters in a family universally? Adding, subtracting or changing from a "Family" to a "Shared" parameter and back again? I would love to be able to browse to a folder and see if all of the .rfa's have the same settings. Might help with my scheduling issues.

Thanks,

Jeff S.
Nope and Nope. Nice idea, but none of it is a "family editor" so to speak that I'm aware of.

[jsteinhauer]

Nope and Nope. Nice idea, but none of it is a "family editor" so to speak that I'm aware of.

Well, if I can't truly manage my families, then I don't see much of a point to this software. When I can tweak families universally, then I'll be happy. Kind of that "God Complex" I have to deal with. Does anyone know if there is a program out there that can do what I'm looking for? Peer into a family to list the parameters & settings, and then be able to futz with them?

[DoTheBIM]

I personally haven't seen such an animal. This link gets about as close as I've seen.
http://www.familit.com/download/ob_screenshots.pdf
But it seems to be limited to managing just families in a single project rather than your overall (God like) family library and project library. I'd like such a program as well, but that may be a bit off in the future. Especially since my understanding is that the API has some limitations yet regarding this subject. If your just looking to manage families in that fashion on a project by project basis, the http://www.familit.com/ might be your ticket.

[tc3dcad60731]

That is exactly what I have been asking for! A family wizard of sorts that lets you see what you have to choose from according to category like in the link that I provided BUT will allow you to change things like mullions, color, slider, pocket, etc on the fly and then insert at your location.

[pdavis]

http://www.raizlabs.com/software/thumbnailexplorer/Default.asp

Did i mention 10$, like in 10 dollars?

I agree with Daniel that the thumbnail viewer from Raizlabs is an excellent product. We use Thumbnail Explorer for all users and BIM Content Manager for our BIM Managers.

BIM Content Manager is a great product, but the cost is rather expensive. For the cost of (1) BIM Content Manager, we purchased (35) Thumbnail viewers.

[mbalsom]

http://www.raizlabs.com/software/thumbnailexplorer/Default.asp

Did i mention 10$, like in 10 dollars?

I do agree $10 is great price but this program doesn't handle catalogues,whereas programs like http://www.familit.com/ do very well. The UI in http://www.familit.com/ make editing and updating of catalogues very easy.