Building Information Modeling ("BIM") was a concept was first envisioned in the 1970's, and evolved over the next two decades through a series of industry papers and early software initiatives. It wasn't until Autodesk, Inc. published a white paper in 2002 that BIM truly achieved the momentum it required to become the industry standard it is today.
It's not surprising therefore that an industry pioneer would create the most widely adopted architectural design package to embrace the benefits of this emergent standard - Autodesk Revit.
This powerful software tool is used by countless architects, engineers and designers throughout the industry and the models created in it are the source for the critical information required by another industry leading software package AVAproject to estimate and detail complex projects.
The process of extracting data from a Revit model is facilitated through the use of the AVAware Plugin, a software module that installs as a companion or "Add-in" to Revit.
Accessible via the "Add-ins" menu within Revit, the AVAware Plugin appears as a separate "floating" window, that despite being independent will interact with and respond to object selections made within the Revit model.
The AVAware Plugin enables two-way communication between Revit and AVAproject users. Each time a door object is selected in Revit, the corresponding data from AVAproject is displayed in the companion window.
Revit users have access to hardware and opening information, catalog cuts, as well as door and frame elevations generated from AVAproject.
Object properties can be extracted from the Revit model and sent directly to estimators and detailers using AVAproject.
It's important to note that at no time does the AVAware Plugin alter or modify the contents of the model itself. Specification data or "parameters" are copied from architectural component "objects" within the model and communicated to AVAproject users via an entirely separate file.
