Technology preview of eTransmit for Revit now available

[scott-sheppard-autodesk]

There is a new technology preview on Autodesk Labs. It is called eTransmit for Revit. You should try it and let us know if this does the trick or not.

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/revit_etransmit/

[Anonymous]

Initial thoughts, needs:

• Delete Sheets & Delete Views apart from levels (& maybe sections, elevations) for “Model”, not documentation, sharing. I want a BIM for design collaboration but do not want the entire documentation set its generating.
• Provision to add Transmittal Text (as the AutoCAD Etransmit allows). Eg I have a networked based text file with standard notes, transfer conditions, contacts & file/format info. AutoCAD etransmit automatically appends this to the project/file info it creates for the transmission
• Integrate with Project Nitrous/Bluestreak, Dropbox, Skydrive, iCloud for file sharing as you wont be emailing Revit files

[emarcus]

Thanks much for the feedback!   Right now, eTransmit for Revit is able to process the files without actually loading them into Revit.  If we did start deleting views or otherwise changing the contents of the model then creating the transmittal would become a lot slower.  What kind of performance would you be looking for in processing the files (and what are your typical model sizes)?

Once the technology preview has been out for a few weeks we're planning to release a survey to understand what is and isn't working for you guys.  We'll definitely do our best to include all of the suggestions we get in that process.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Initial thoughts, needs:

• Delete Sheets & Delete Views apart from levels (& maybe sections, elevations) for “Model”, not documentation, sharing. I want a BIM for design collaboration but do not want the entire documentation set its generating.
• Provision to add Transmittal Text (as the AutoCAD Etransmit allows). Eg I have a networked based text file with standard notes, transfer conditions, contacts & file/format info. AutoCAD etransmit automatically appends this to the project/file info it creates for the transmission
• Integrate with Project Nitrous/Bluestreak, Dropbox, Skydrive, iCloud for file sharing as you wont be emailing Revit files

---

[david_ivey]

Nice, simple, and very effective so far.  Some things I'd like to see:

• Ability to eTransmit models while projects are open (like the central file while a local is open, or another project)
• Add the option to include the Shared Parameters, Export Layers, and other txt files associated with the model
• The ability to add files not connected to the project (images, Office docs, etc...)
• Ability to ZIP the file
• Ability to strip out linked files you do not want to include

[Anonymous]

Scott,

glad to see stuff like this happening. Honestly, if some of this Labs stuff (eTransmit, Neon) sees the light of broad release day, Labs is going to be the new ExpressTools in my mind. 

Some thoughts...

1: The name! You can't have a Revit addon named after an AutoCAD tool! Ack! In all seriousness, I see where it came from, but it Revit use I expect I would use this 100 times more often as a project milestone archive tool, than to create something that I am "transmitting" anywhere. In the Revit world I just have no need to do that very often. 100% of process transmittals are single model files.

So to my mind, an name that relates to Archive, which is really what you are doing, makes a lot more sense. And the one occation I can see sending all the attached stuff too is a final deliverable to the client, which is a transmittal of the final archive of the project.

2: Installs. I think Labs needs to talk to the Revit team a bit, and understand some of the install tools that Revit uses. Because what I REALLY want to do with this is put the plugin on the netwrok, and have a manifest on each machine point at the shared Plugins folder. Dealing with MSI based installs for every user is a mess, and gets worse as firms get larger. I would love to see the Labs stuff work better with Revit in this regard, rather than taking the usual Microsoft approach of MSI files for install.

Beyond that, I will be testing this for project milestone archives, and post back with specific comments for that use case. I hope it works as well as I imagine it could, because we spend a lot of time archiving and still getting it wrong. A time saving, automated approach to that would be hugely bennificial.

Thanks!

Gordon

[Anonymous]

I'm usually at the recieving end for models but know one of the pains senders have is removing 'sensitive" content. We do interior fitout so really only need the model. The "drawings" if needed could be issued in a controlled format like DWF.

Responses;

If we did start deleting views or otherwise changing the contents of the model then creating the transmittal would become a lot slower.

Performance isnt probably an issue as people are doing this manually anyway. It would be good to have "Transmittal Profiles", like AutoCAD etransmit, where you can save an issue state (like strip sheets or not). Full transmit would be more like the current function, model transmit would cut down to model (not document based) transfer.

What kind of performance would you be looking for in processing the files (and what are your typical model sizes)?

The files we get are pretty small, for 10,000m² store say 100mb max, esp with all the "fluff" like embedded renders etc removed

[Anonymous]

Unike some 🙂 I'm not adverse to the eTransmit name Autocad origins but wonder if slightly misleading in Revit context. It is almost certain the resulting package will be far beyond most email limits so unless you integrate with file sharing sevices there will be no "transmit".

Perhaps "Archive" or "Package" is a better term?

[Richard_Taylor]

Thanks for your comments.  I welcome all suggestions for a new name!

Richard Taylor

Revit Platform Feature Product Manager

[david_ivey]

Here are a few words that seem to fit the intended use.  Any could use some combination of e, model, or Revit in the name as well.

• Package or Packager
• Archive or Archiver
• Suitcase
• Share
• Bundle or Bundler

I kind of like Revit Packager or Revit ePackage

I agree with most though, that eTransmit is a bit of a misnomer, and something new for Revit is in order.

[Anonymous]

Fantastic! Just what the doctor ordered!

One suggestion, it also needs to include texture images from custom materials too.

[Anonymous]

Are there plans to support more of the characters in the folder names such as "&"?

Thank you

[scott-sheppard-autodesk]

A new version, version 1.1, is now available.

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/revit_etransmit/

This new version has several fixes but I do not see improved special character support listed as one of them. Thanks for the suggestion for a future update.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Initial thoughts, needs:

• Delete Sheets & Delete Views apart from levels (& maybe sections, elevations) for “Model”, not documentation, sharing. I want a BIM for design collaboration but do not want the entire documentation set its generating.....

---

Yes please!

This looks like it has the potential to be a very useful utility.  However we really want a quick way to:

• strip out views
• strip out sheets
• purge unused elements and families

 Ideally all as tickbox options.

AEC (UK) BIM Standard for Revit (based on the British Standard BS 1192:2007 Collaborative production of architectural, engineering and construction information - Code of practice) are that for BIM exchange views and sheets should be stripped out.  To do this manually means deleting views one by one, with warning dialogs each time, which is totally impractical.

[Richard_Taylor]

Hello,

Thanks for the supporting information about deleting views and sheets.  We are evaluating requests for possible future enhancements, and I appreciate the feedback.

Richard Taylor

Autodesk

Revit Platform Feature Product Manager

[Anonymous]

I've been kicking the tires a bit this morning and have some initial thoughts/comments

The first time attempting to "Browse Revit Server" it times out with error:

eTransmit encountered an error while trying to contact the server"

Clicking "OK" 3-4 times brings up the Revit Server UI.

It would be nice to have a visual distinction between folders and models. (not terribly important but would add to the UX)

It would be great to include the shared parameter file as well.

Here's my workflow and what i've seen...

Inspecting model. Please Wait..

This gives an error msg but still creates the rvt

This transmittal package was created using eTransmit for Revit Technology Preview version 1.1.
It is recommended that you open the files using Revit 2012 Web Update 1 or later, which resolves some issues with opening transmitted files.
For more information about eTransmit for Revit see http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/revit_etransmit/.

Transmittal Report:

Created by eTransmit for Revit Wednesday, December 21, 2011 12:35:57 PM

Model:

   This is a transmittal based on Empty Test Project 1.rvt.

Files:

   Empty Test Project 1.rvt

Root Model:

   Empty Test Project 1.rvt

The following files could not be checked for links:

   Empty Test Project 1.rvt

It would be very nice if the generated model was a truly detached model and had no connection back to the RServer.

Although I deselected "Linked Revit Models" the progrss bar indicates "Saving linked file...."

Errors out..

Unable to transmit <filename>

Please see the generated report for more details.

No report is created (that I can see)

It seems like a great tool and hope it gets developed further!

Michael Coviello

[emarcus]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I've been kicking the tires a bit this morning and have some initial thoughts/comments

The first time attempting to "Browse Revit Server" it times out with error:

eTransmit encountered an error while trying to contact the server"

Clicking "OK" 3-4 times brings up the Revit Server UI.

It would be nice to have a visual distinction between folders and models. (not terribly important but would add to the UX)

It would be great to include the shared parameter file as well.

Here's my workflow and what i've seen...

Inspecting model. Please Wait..

This gives an error msg but still creates the rvt

This transmittal package was created using eTransmit for Revit Technology Preview version 1.1.
It is recommended that you open the files using Revit 2012 Web Update 1 or later, which resolves some issues with opening transmitted files.
For more information about eTransmit for Revit see http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/revit_etransmit/.

Transmittal Report:

Created by eTransmit for Revit Wednesday, December 21, 2011 12:35:57 PM

Model:

   This is a transmittal based on Empty Test Project 1.rvt.

Files:

   Empty Test Project 1.rvt

Root Model:

   Empty Test Project 1.rvt

The following files could not be checked for links:

   Empty Test Project 1.rvt

It would be very nice if the generated model was a truly detached model and had no connection back to the RServer.

Although I deselected "Linked Revit Models" the progrss bar indicates "Saving linked file...."

Errors out..

Unable to transmit <filename>

Please see the generated report for more details.

No report is created (that I can see)

It seems like a great tool and hope it gets developed further!

Michael Coviello

---

Hi Michael,

The report you pasted in (the transmittal report) is the report it's referring to.

It looks like a bug that we're producing an error message in the transmittal report when you unchecked include Revit links.  I'll be sure that gets passed on.  The rvt file is a Revit 2012 file, right, and not from an older release?

What are you seeing that makes you think the generated model is not fully detached?

Thanks for taking the time to write!

[Anonymous]

The models were not 2012.  I've tested w/2012 and it's much better of course.

I can see that it forces detached and prompts for the new central location.

some suggestions (my .02 )

Can the directory structure be maintained in the transmitted location?

Can the Saved Path and Path Type reflect a true Relative location rather than Absolute?

..\..\.. in the Saved Path Name and Path Type Relative.

This would allow maximum portability on other servers/archiving etc.

[bthompson]

I agree with others that this could be a cool tool with a few added features.

• The ability to control the destination folder name.  We have standards for how these folders need to be named, and it is an extra step to get rename them after the export.
• Zip (as mentioned by others). If all of the features below can be incorporated, going directly to a zip file instead of a folder would save a bunch of time.  And like above we need control over the file name created for the Zip file.
• Delete Sheets and Views option (as mentioned by others). I agree with others that if this is slow it is no big deal since we do it manually now anyway.
• Purge (as mentioned by others).  This should be done as the last step of course.
• Select which links to include one-by-one. Most of the time we will be doing this to send the file to our consultants, and we will also have our consultants file linked in. No need to process and send our consultants their file back to them.
• Remove Raster images.  These can add significant size to the file, but are not useful to the consultants, removing and purging out the raster images (if any) will reduce the transmitted file size.

I look forward to future versions.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Revit models that are linked to the host model, and ""all models linked into those files are repathed and copied to the save location.""

AS POSTED THIS "" Ability to strip out linked files you do not want to include"" we need more control on the tree of linked files please.

[4PArchitect]

Scott -

Is the eTransmit (or whatever you're calling it today) available for Revit 2014 yet? Or does the 2013 version still work with 2014?

Thanks,

Curt