Announced earlier this week, the popular field point creation tool for CAD users, Trimble Point Creator, will receive a significant update--incorporating a plugin for Autodesk Revit.

The update, due out later this year, will allow existing users of Autodesk Revit 2012 (Architecture, MEP, and Structures versions) and popular CAD platforms such as AutoCAD®, AutoCAD® MEP®, Bricscad, and ZWcad can operate natively within the Trimble Point Creator application to create 2D and 3D points.

The point creation workflow for the Revit user today is fairly time consuming and requires an export of the Revit design file to AutoCAD--which can then be referenced in the current version of Trimble Point Creator.  Unfortunately, the Revit to AutoCAD export can exhibit scaling issues, requiring re-work on the design file in AutoCAD.

With the new version of Trimble Point Creator for CAD and Revit, all point creation can now be initiated from within Revit itself---eliminating the export to AutoCAD step entirely.

We are pretty excited about this release and expect that contractors using both Revit and Trimble construction layout solutions to rejoice as the transfer of points from the office to the field just became a whole lot easier.

To be notified when the new release of Trimble Point Creator for CAD and Revit is available, click here and complete the form.

It's that time again - we're almost ready for Beta testers for AutoBid SheetMetal 2011 v2.  We anticipate going to Beta around September 26, 2011.  Beta will conclude on October 21, 2011.

This release of AutoBid SheetMetal 2011 v2 will include the Trimble Quick Link License manager.  This new licensing manager will allow you to better administration of your QuickPen licenses.  However, you will need to have a non-production machine to do Beta testing on.

This release will include features from the last version of AutoBid Mechanical such as the ability to compare two PDF drawings and see the differences, place commands on the mouse menus, and quickly offset elevation in 1' increments.  As well as some functionality that we'll disclose next week!
Beta testers must own QuickPen AutoBid SheetMetal and be current on their Customer Care agreements.  If you are interested in participating, please contact me.

Happy Estimating!
Stacy

Trimble proudly announces the release of Vulcan 2012 v1.

This release provides each user with the following updates and enhancements:

• A change to our accessories data that converts existing accessories data items to a single list called components that can be shared by multiple connections (TDC,TDF, and Duct Mate all use the same gasket) This functionality will eliminate redundant line item reporting and reduce the likelihood of having multiple instances of the same item and reduce paper waste
  
• Components provide greater flexibility to Vulcan reporting for shop and field use
• Components have the additional capability of accumulating using spacing.  With spacing we can for the first time calculate the number of Center Clips needed per job
• Components can be marked as items to be reported on the Shipping Report.  Now items can be shipped to the field independently of the fittings they attach to, such as slip and drives, center clips, nuts and bolts      
• Components marked as items that get shipped to the field can then be tracked by the Vulcan Tracking program
• New Bulk Reporting can now calculate items by the number of units, boxes, and rolls etc.  Traditionally, Vulcan has given our customers the total footage used.  Let’s say the job needed 87’of gasket.  At this point, the end user would have to determine the number of rolls needed, and in this case, they would send out a total of 4 rolls needed to be shipped
  
• Consumption can be represented in normal units or in bulk units
• Bulk consumption will be user defined such as box, roll or case
• Bulk consumption can get rounded off to the next higher unit
• From the grid, the status of a Vulcan item can now be set to “back ordered” until the items are ready to ship
• Lead-in’s have been added to Flat Pattern Modify
• Automatic Breakup of offsets 180 & 183 may now be forced to use automatic breakup when it is not oversized
  
• In Sheet Review, a polyline can be used to produce a longitudinal Shear Cut to maximize the amount of usable scrap
• Saving blanks as DXF files from Flat Pattern Modify and Flat Pattern View
• Sheet Border Spacing can now be set independently for all four sides
• The additional option of adding “Kerf” to most fittings located on the Special Fitting Input page
• View 2 sheets at a time in Sheet Review, and be able to drag and drop a blank from one to another 
• Ability to add or delete a sheet when in sheet review
• For our Vulcan and Trimble Design Link customers, we have added the Trimble globe icon to indicate a TDL job in the tree view display
  

After several months of slowly shipping out AutoBid® Mechanical 2011 v1, we're ready to flip it over to general release and ship it to the masses. So, if you haven't received your copy yet - don't worry, it's coming soon! But, if you just can't wait, contact us and we'll send it out to you right away.

This release continues to build on our OnScreen View TakeOff - although we've added features and functionality that will benefit all of our users.

So, what's in this release? Here's a brief rundown:

• Compare background PDF drawings in OSV and see the differences
• Multiple add drop/rise function (similar to multi-branch pairs, but it will be in a rise or a drop)
• Quickly add a + / - 1 elevation change to your OnScreen View (OSV) or Graphical TakeOff (GTO)
• Duplicate an entire fitting set at one time – all labor links and material multipliers will copy with the fitting set
• Copy an area in OSV multiple times
• Calculate Coordination and Layout labor
• Add commands to the Mouse Menu
• Set a default master project
• Ability to duplicate a project (including all takeoff, calculations, and reports)
• And more!

If you have any questions or concerns about this release, please shoot me an e-mail so that I can address them.

Happy Estimating!
Stacy

Holy cow – there went summer! Sorry for my silence – it's been a very busy summer both personally & professionally. Unfortunately, the blog posts were one of the items that fell off my to do list. But, it's back to school time (my kids just started 2^nd grade) – and it's time to get back in a better routine.

So, how many of you are using AutoBid's Multi-Branch Pairs function? It's been around for a long time – but I find that many people don't use it. It's available for both AutoBid® Mechanical and AutoBid® SheetMetal – and it's available in OnScreen View (OSV) or Graphical TakeOff (GTO). Multi-Branch Pairs is a fast way to add run-outs to different pieces of equipment, floor drains, or runouts to diffusers.

Here are a few quick tips to make Multi-Branch Pairs Takeoff even faster:

1. 1. Multi-branch pairs can be used for more than just inserting a tee into the run. It can also be used to "turn the corner" and convert a hot spot into an elbow (90 or 45). To do that, you just have to click on the elbow twice
   2. Just because you are changing size doesn't mean that you have to cancel out of your Multi-Branch pair command and start over. This one is a little trickier – all you have to do is just go and click on the new size in the "Start new run or Change Dims in run" window.
   3. Newer AutoBid® Touchmenus (for the digitizer) have this command on them. If yours doesn't, you can add this to your touchmenu.
   4. You can "branch" off different systems. AutoBid® is smart enough to know which system you are branching off of – we'll change to the appropriate fittings / systems.
   5. You can still have branches with different settings from the main when using this command. Recent versions of Multi-Branch pairs have added a toggle that controls whether or not we use the settings from the main or from the Next Item Settings Window. The toggle is at the top of the "Branch from (Multi-Pairs)" window when you start the command. Having the toggle "on" will grab the settings from the main – while having the toggle off will grab it from the Next Item Settings window.

If you have any questions or comments, please add them to the Comments section of the blog. And, check back frequently for more news. We've got some exciting stuff coming up soon –including information for the next version of AutoBid® SheetMetal Estimating. You won't want to miss it!

Happy Estimating!