[Troy DeGroot]

great conversation here and lots of valuable points. My perspective of course is different as I train departments and whole companies, just happens to be a lot of them. 😜

I always strive to learn the entire workflow regardless of software or paper. I look for where they start, where they want to finish and what obsticales are in the way. Then I show them all the possiblities and pay attention to what sticks. What do they ask questions about, what makes them suddenly sit up in their chair and pay closer attention.

In reality, what I’m doing is trying to inspire them to design their own workflow based on whats possible. Once I get them thinking it through, they ask better questions and uncover more possiblities.

I read in a book once, no mater what the training or meeting is about, always be the person who follows comments or questions with “Yes and”. Always think bigger.

[Troy DeGroot]

You could use the volume tool to draw the shape, then use the Depth parameter on the Measurement Panel to provide the height of the column. Workflows are different for everyone, does that seem like it would work?

[Troy DeGroot]

YES, happy Thanksgiving USA users. Regardless of where you live and log in from, I’m thankful for each of you and what you add to this community. I couldn’t do it without you and the value you each bring.

I brag on you all in every class I teach. I appreciate your willingness to help answer questions, pose valuable questions, and most of all the friendly nature of the community as we all learn together.

You’re all rockstars in my book!

[Troy DeGroot]

I’m having the same issue. I built a bunch of custom tools to match up with a custom Excel workbook, made all the links and saved them. When I copy the template Excel file into a new folder, link it to a new drawing, and perform my markups, the quantities don’t link. I’m not sure what I’m missing.

[Troy DeGroot]

Weird, I was going to ask if it came from Revit, but you answered that one. So it must have to do with his printing if it does happen for anyone else, yet everyone has the same issue with his files in Bluebeam. I’ve had to reinstall mine recently because of some weird bugs, but I’m still in Revu 20.

[Troy DeGroot]

Is it the same as setting your default viewer, only in the browser settings? If you’re storing everything in SharePoint the path would be different for the location of the file forcing it to use a browser default program….. Just thinking out loud. I almost moved on when you said “for those smarter than me”, but I thought maybe there was a chance I was at your level. 🤣

[Troy DeGroot]

Try disabling your line weights. That will help Dynamic Phil find the correct boarder line.

[Troy DeGroot]

I’m not sure it was helpful, but I sent you some information.

[Troy DeGroot]

I always go to the Manage Profile window and copy/paste the location. I’m in there so much I actually create a shortcut to the default folder on my desktop.

For me, I create a folder for each customer within the default folder. This way ALL the custom profiles I build along with all the custom toolsets are not mixed and matched within the default folder. Not sure if that works for your team or not, just how I organize.

[Troy DeGroot]

This is fantastic @Don Walke. I’ve always loved learning different applications for simple tools or features. Thanks for sharing!

[Troy DeGroot]

Great discussion as always. Just like all the others have said, hatch patterns, shifting the hatch pattern, and formulas all don’t do what we’re trying to do. Creating a scalable grid markup like @Vince says is the only workaround I can think of as well. When I build custom tools for customers, I typically build a formula for the total tile based on square feet or meters, building a waste factor for the waste.

I wish Bluebeam would display a hatch centroid we could move within the shape! But if they built that we would be begging for a tool to automatically count the tiles too. 🤣

[Troy DeGroot]

@David Cutler your boss may not want anything to do with it, but I bet he has no problem shifting more and more work your way. The accuracy and efficiency say enough. Not to mention the ease of updates when change orders come through.

[Troy DeGroot]

I like the idea of a count tool with a “depth”. When I suggested the area tool I was thinking you would keep the original shape as the tool and not have to draw a new one every time. If you use the count tool you can create a better symbol with the shape of the member, or just a circle with WF or HSS inside. I would still use the “Depth” parameter for the height just because other markups have a height & width which are actually the length & width of the markup. I wouldn’t want to have the Height column turned on and confuse everything… Just thinking out loud.

[Troy DeGroot]

Could you use a script to delete all the other tools and profiles from the default location? This way, only your profile would be listed to pick from.

[Troy DeGroot]

I’ve always liked Quantity Link when it’s appropriate, which is not all the time. Even I’m growing tired of the inconsistent functionality. Sometimes the links work, sometimes not. And there doesn’t seem to be a consistent reason either way. Frustrating when teaching and doing presentations. It’s powerful though, so I keep trying.