[David Cutler]

Would it work @tabz-nixonkingspan-com to bring all of the files into a Studio Project? Doing so may take some re-training of your end users, but it could work as a way of collecting everything into one central location that can be shared. Others in the group are more familiar with this process.

Re-reading your post a further thought on my previous comment about asking for unlocked copies of the files would be to work this into your qualifications for your services. Be upfront with your needs in your quotes/contract language. Something along the lines of “Customer will provide all required documentation in unrestricted PDF format for incorporation into final project records.” might do the trick. As Civil Site Contractors we include language in our proposal that requires the Customer to provide a CAD file for us to build our survey model from. This saves us a tremendous amount of time and cost when developing our survey models.

[David Cutler]

At this point I don’t see Revit or 3D PDF’s on the horizon here.

I’ve had this discussion in the past with IT folks at my previous employers. Waiting for your computer to “catch up” with what you are asking it to do is a complete waste of time. If the controls on our excavator responded as slow as our office equipment we would have mechanics all over the machine until they were able to restore the responsiveness, yet at those same companies they have dozens of people working on computers that they wait on all day!

Ultimately it is a question of return on investment. Don’t need to have the estimators in Ferraris if they can win work in a Ford. But then again, how much more work could they win???? 😎

[David Cutler]

I know @mechave and Jason speak very highly of their Bim Box machines @Doug McLean , but I don’t know that they work them as hard as some of the folks on here would. I had a call with my ATG rep and a couple of their Bim Box product specialists yesterday. I’m sure I’d love having the Ferrari of computers, but at the end of the day is it worth the extra $$$ over a tried and true F-150?

[David Cutler]

Good point @Vince ! Your spreadsheets and Power Queries would bring my computer to its knees!

[David Cutler]

Welcome home @troy-degroot !

Glad to hear that you and the family had an amazing trip. Looking forward to reading your post.

[David Cutler]

@mechave does ATG have an pull with Bluebeam on getting these type of issues moved up on the “to do” list of fixes?

[David Cutler]

The frustration is real @Vince ! Definitely keeping our operation on 20.2.70 until I’ve heard from you that they have addressed this in 21.XX.

[David Cutler]

That’s one of the things that keeps things interesting @Bruce_218 – not everyone uses all of the same features. Revu 21 may work perfect for you and your team while driving @Vince crazy with glitches.

Please keep us posted on how the upgrade goes for you and your team.

[David Cutler]

Some of the other issues were dropping layer assignments in custom tools – but this was an issue in 20.85 I believe, and it continued into 21. Does this sound right @Vince ?

[David Cutler]

Replying to bring this to the front for @bruce-a

I think there may be other threads too…

[David Cutler]

It’s not just in the UK @Vince ! While the solution would have to involve everyone on the design team the Owner of the project would ultimately have to be the lead on such an effort as they control the purse strings and the standards. Once an owner (or their designated manager) rejects a few submissions due to the naming convention not being followed the various parties might start paying attention.

[David Cutler]

I don’t disagree @isaac-harned – at the same time with some of the workflows that folks like @Vince , @lizlarsen , @Doug McLean and yourself (among others) come up with you run the risk of the developers (Bluebeam/Microsoft/Revit/Etc.) saying “Huh, never thought someone would try that.” 😎

[David Cutler]

Saw your post on LinkedIn @Vince

We have become so dependent upon these software packages that it is crippling when these types of things happen. No fun for sure!

[David Cutler]

Glad to hear that @Vince !

Now you will need to start a couple of new posts sharing what you are learning… 🙂

[David Cutler]

Never hurts to reach out and get “on the list” @isaac-harned even if it takes them a bit to get to looking into the issue. It would be somewhat satisfying if the issue ended up being a “them” issue rather than a “you” issue…