AVAware introduces a new tool that will revolutionize the way manufacturers, specification writers, and distributors share information with architects
In recent years, AVAware has received a growing number of inquiries from distributors wanting to streamline the way information is exchanged with the architects they work with. Project revisions and changes to specifications are regular occurrences in commercial architecture - often daily ones in the case of larger and more complex jobs.
The ability to seamlessly exchange data directly between AVAproject and software platforms used by the architects would have a number of important benefits: distributors would have accurate data, free from any possibility of entry errors in the take-off process. Missing openings and erroneous counts would be eliminated, and distributors' openings schedules would always be in sync with those of the architects.
For the architects, the benefits are even greater. It would no longer be necessary to create and constantly update separate openings schedules to procure accurate estimates. They would no longer need to track changes to their design models and remember to communicate them to the distributors. Architects would have access to complete and concise information on each opening, the related hardware and all the products details available for each. Perhaps most importantly, they would now have access to an accurate "as delivered" schedule of all the openings and hardware provided for a job.
It was with these goals in mind, that AVAware set about to design the ultimate tool for connecting distributers of architectural openings and hardware with the architects. Given the most popular software platform used by architects throughout the world today is clearly AutodeskRevit, AVAware designed this new tool to reside alongside the Revit desktop.
The AVAware Plugin forAutodeskRevit is installed as an "Add-in" to the Revit software and is accessible directly from the desktop.
Door object "properties" within Revit, such as size and handing information, are extracted automatically from the architectural model along with any additional details the architect wishes to share.
It's important to note that at no time is the Revit model itself or its object properties modified in any way, nor is the model itself ever copied or shared. Only the information an architect wishes to send to the distributor is ever gathered.
The extracted data is contained in a single file that can be easily sent to distributor or estimator. Once received, the data harvested from the Revit model can be brought directly into an AVAproject Openings Schedule.
Fundamental openings information such as "openings numbers", "nominal widths & heights", "handing", etc., are mapped directly into the corresponding columns in the AVAproject schedule. Additional details are accessible as "external" columns and are shown with a different background color for the convenience of the estimators and detailers. (below)
Once the estimator has filled in the appropriate details, their additions can then be sent back to the architects using the same convenient single file. The architect would then have access to all the information relating to a given opening simply by clicking on that opening within Revit. Detailed listings of attached hardware, door and frame elevations and specifications taken directly from the AVAproject openings schedule are displayed in the AVAware Plugin's companion window. (below)
Even manufacturer provided catalog cuts can be displayed by clicking on a specific piece of hardware in the AVAware Plugin. The same distributor-selected catalog cuts that would normally appear in the Project Submittal can be conveniently displayed.
Once again, it's important to mention that the Revit model itself is never modified. The openings data displayed by the AVAware Plugin resides in its own data file and is completely external to the Revit model.
The AVAware Plugin forAutodeskRevit will revolutionize the way manufacturers, specification writers, distributors and architects are able to share accurate and up-to-date information on architectural projects.
AVAware Technologies would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of:
Retrolock
Los Angeles, California
dormakaba Canada
Cambridge, Ontario
Their many years of industry experience provided insights and feedback that were invaluable to our development team. We are grateful for their assistance in creating a truly innovative, and much needed tool for the architectural openings industry.
Autodesk and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries.
The newest edition of AVAproject for 2019 is now in general release
The primary focus of this release is connectivity and shared resources; both within an organization and amongst outside colleagues. There have been several major feature additions to the product, as well as a number of improvements designed to enhance the estimating and detailing processes.
Connectivity and Resource Sharing
Support for virtual environments such as RDS has been added to AVAproject. A new cloud-based licensing model allows remote users to access the software on virtual desktops hosted on remote servers. Administrators are able to manage AVAproject users via the familiar web-based AVAware client portal.
Resource sharing within an organization begins with the new 'Shared D8 & D10 User Hardware' catalogs. Now available in addition to the standard 'User Hardware' catalogs, the "shared" catalogs are designed to be deployed to all users company-wide. Through the use of the we-based account manager, select users can be assigned the task of maintaining the shared catalogs before deploying them to the rest of the company.
AVAproject 2019 also features support for the newly released AVAware Plugin forAutodeskRevit. This innovative new tool allows AVAproject users to exchange information directly with architects and other Revit users. Estimators and detailers can import information extracted directly from Revit models, and send back detailed information about each opening and its hardware.
Enhanced Catalog Features
Door and Frame catalogs now support automatic selection and inclusion of manufacturer provided catalog cuts. Building on the popular 'attachments' offered in many catalogs, catalog cuts can now be automatically selected by AVAproject and added to the submittal package alongside those for the hardware products.
The AVAproject Profile Editor has been enhanced to support even more specialized frame profile types. Specifically, those profiles that require the specific placement of doors and glass can now be previewed and modified from within the Profile Editor.
The newest version of AVAproject contains numerous additional features designed to accelerate the work flow and enhance the user experience. The complete list is available for review in the 'Release Notes', available in the software's online help or on the 'Product Updates' page on the AVAware website.
AVAproject 2019 is now being rolled out for general release. AVAproject users will be automatically notified when the new version is available for download through the 'AVAwire Flash' service.
Door and Frame catalogs can now auto-select manufacturer cuts for inclusion in the Submittal Package
Of the many powerful presentation features offered by AVAproject, one of the most popular is undoubtedly the automated catalog cut selection for architectural hardware products. Manufacturer-provided catalog cuts are curated by the AVAware Catalog Development team and relevant pages are associated with the related products in the catalogs. When a submittal package is created in AVAproject, the catalog cuts relating to hardware products used in a given project are automatically collated and added to the document.
Not only does this process save countless hours of time gathering and appending cut sheets to a submittal, but AVAproject offers a number of additional benefits. Multiple extracts from individual manufacturers are organized into a logical sequence, while sheets are rendered from their vector-based source files in order to perfectly preserve their original quality.
Cut sheets can also be rescaled to fit within a page border, with optional data block and page number, to make them perfectly consistent with the rest of the submittal document and individually labels each sheet with the distributor's name and logo.
The page numbers assigned to catalog cut pages can be automatically added as references to Hardware Schedules
Until now, catalog cuts were exclusively a feature of Division-8 and Division-10 architectural hardware products. Companion images for door and frame catalogs were facilitated through the AVAproject 'Attachments' feature.
AVAproject 2019 now features catalog cuts for door and frames; the functionality of which is a combination of the hardware catalog cuts and the door & frame attachments.
Like the hardware catalog cuts, manufacturer-provided cuts sheets are curated by the catalog development team and are automatically added to the end the of the submittal document as required. As with the 'attachments', the selection process can be driven based on any products and/or options selected from within the catalog.
The result is a submittal package containing only the most relevant cut sheets pertaining to the given project, organized by manufacturer and appended to the document.
Cut sheets will be added to existing door & frame catalog as they are updated by the various manufacturers, and based on the availability of related cut sheets.
A simple yet effective tool offered in AVAproject can save hours in the estimating and detailing processes.
AVAproject provides a variety of effective tools to accelerate the takeoff process and make the task of estimating accurate and efficient. As with any tool, AVAproject truly shines when users take full advantages of the powerful features offered in the software. One such feature is the ability to easily split and combine Openings Schedule rows that contain identical openings.
When preparing an estimate, the initial takeoff typically contains only information that affects the overall cost of a given opening. Estimators will usually omit information that isn't pertinent to the price. Details such as 'handing' and 'locations' are normally left for the detailing stage, after a job is awarded.
Opening quantities can be entered using either of two columns on the Openings Schedule; directly into the 'Qty' column, or in associated 'Opening Numbers' column.
When opening numbers are provided, estimators may choose to enter them in order to ensure an accurate overall opening count. In AVAproject, opening numbers can be entered individually, in the form of a comma-separated list, or as a range.
When a list of opening numbers is provided, AVAproject automatically counts the number of individual openings and fill in the value in the 'Qty' column.
When a job is awarded, the time comes to detail the individual openings. It now becomes necessary to fill in the specific aspects of each one.
When the particulars for a one or more openings grouped in a single row are different, they can be easily separated or "split" by highlighting the row, right-clicking on the row header and selecting 'Split Individual Openings' from the context menu. Each opening is now given its own line in the Openings Schedule.
When rows containing opening number lists or ranges are 'split', each individual row is assigned a unique opening number from the list or range provided.
Schedule rows that were previously split into individual openings, can just as easily be re-combined. Simply highlight the desired rows, right click on the row headers and select 'Combine Identical Openings' from the context menu.
Combining rows is useful when entering details that are common to a large number of openings and can save a great detail of time completing a project.
The 'splitting' and 'combining' of openings is especially useful when used in combination with the sorting features offered the opening schedule. Once openings are split apart, they can be sorted based on any one or group of attributes and detailed in groups instead of individually.
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