The Newforma Add-in for Autodesk Revit

We admit it: We’re fired up to see the excitement caused by the announcement of our new product, the Newforma Add-in for Autodesk Revit.

The Newforma Add-in for Autodesk Revit adds a toolbar to the Revit ribbon menu that provides access to key functions connecting Newforma Project Center to Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, Autodesk® Revit® Structure and Autodesk® Revit® MEP.

Two bloggers have voiced their anticipation of the product. (Its release will coincide with that of Newforma Project Center Eighth Edition, coming in the second quarter of the year.)

The first blog post we spotted is from Clark Morgan’s “NavisWorks and Design Technologies,” a blog for the discussion of NavisWorks and collaborative technologies used in the world of BIM.

Clark is the BIM integration manager for Newforma customer BergerABAM.

Following Clark’s blog post was a mention in Steve Stafford's “Revit OpEd” blog.

Steve consults in Revit training and implementation as the CEO of AEC Advantage, Inc.

Thanks to Clark and Steve for the shout-outs!

Why it’s exciting

The Newforma Add-in for Revit connects Newforma software for project information management – PIM – with Autodesk software for building information modeling – BIM.

Why is such a connection important? Because it provides a superior method to manage the information inside the model, while also unlocking it from the model for use by the broader project team to drive adjacent or downstream processes.

For example, space planning staff can develop room programs using spreadsheets that are tied to elements in the model without having to interrupt Revit modeling staff. And everyone else on the team can tap this rich spatial data through the Spatial Index in Newforma Project Center for use with punch list, action items and more.

Another example concerns document control and revision management: Using the Newforma Add-in for Revit, sheet information and PDFs published from Revit can be linked to the new Document Control activity center to render order from the chaotic flood of drawing deliverables on a typical project. If you’ve ever wondered who got what version of a sheet, when, and how, the Document Control activity center has you covered.

Sort, filter and search through thousands of elements from multiple models without using Revit

Newforma Chief Product Officer Allen Preger has been exploring the possibilities of syncing WHOLE building models with Newforma’s new Building Information Management activity center. He synced the MEP, structural and architectural models of a project. Allen says it took about 15 seconds, but then he could sort, filter and search through 17,000+ elements from three models – from within Newforma Project Center!

Allen could also add and edit properties associated with any of these elements and sync them back into the model.

The screen shot below shows a grouped view, with a piece of equipment highlighted that has an Action Item and Supporting Document related to it:

Want to see for yourself? We’ve produced three animated overviews of what you can accomplish using the Newforma Add-in for Revit in regards to the management of sheets, spaces and related items. Select one or all of the videos from the Newforma Add-in for Autodesk Revit overview page.