Thank you. That’s really a question of the visual search “sensitivity” settings. Some PDF’s are highly pixelated, some are cleaner, or have small symbol variations, etc. When doing the search you can adjust using the slider bar under the search button to make the system more/less sensitive to adjust for an individual file. You can also enable/disable color detection so Rev will count only red X symbols and ignore all blue X symbols, and so on.
Thank for the video it is great! I only have one pressing concern about the program. What us the search for symbols tool reliability? If you pause the video on minute 9.50 we can actually see that it misses one of the symbols right next to it in the Office Room. Thank you in advance for the Response!
Thanks Steve! While the search function isn’t perfect, it does work 95% of the time and it can be tweaked to get better results. However, you should always do a quick visual review.
Love your videos on BlueBeam Revu tricks. They have been a ton of help. Have you ever experienced the dynamic fill tool not reading the line weights on any PDF document? I have tried messing with the sensitivity as well as disabling the line weight to no avail. Would love any advice you may have. I have Revu 21 complete if that helps, Thanks!
Thanks Hannah. Yes - the Dynamic Fill tool usually marks to the center of a linear object. Not really an issue for lines, but thicker poly-objects can throw it off. You can adjust by drawing a rectangle inside those areas and flattening to avoid that or you can use the DF Boundary tool to stop it at the edge of the thicker line. HTH
I tried electrical estimating with bluebeam. It’s not that great. Can u tell me what can i do to make it better? I used a pdf file of the building plan. Do u think using autocadd version of the file will give better results?
Hi Raghul. BB Revu works well for most electrical work. It does quantity takeoff quickly for symbols (outlets, switches, etc.) along with linear takeoff for conduits and wire, plus it has a lot of functionality for custom content. The key though is you need to be comfortable with the tools, or have someone show you how to use them for that type of work. We actually have a Bluebeam for Electrical class that we offer (www.zentekconsultants.net/bluebeam-revu-courses). What specific takeoff processes are you trying to handle?
Not directly - the counts are separate by sheets as a default. You can use the command, then select another sheet to get same properties but they’ll still be distinct groups: one per sheet. In the end it’s not a big deal as the TOTALS features will count similar object Subject/Label across multiple sheets.
I wonder if you can count an amount per mark, for example if I have a certain amount of shear studs per beam for decking, each amount of shear studs changes per beam like (30) or (24) every time I check a beam for the amount of shear studs. Can I put an arbitrary amount for every mark I make on the plan labeled 'shear studs'? Thanks.
That’s not really handled by the COUNT tool - that’s for counting specific instances of each symbol. This can be done thru the Markups List > Custom Columns tool though. We do a lot of work here at ZenTek, customizing Bluebeam tools/columns to client’s specific needs. Reach out to us if you need help with setting this up! zentekconsultants.net
Great video, much appreciated! Do you know how to do area-counts too, like if you have measured different rooms/areas and want to put the total area/some areas in a legend? Im new to Bluebeam and its one of the programs we´re using in my office (learning every day).
Yes, we can show you all that and more in our training classes. Feel free to check out our online Bluebeam courses at www.zentekconsultants.net/bluebeam-revu-courses.
Create the room area as you need then select all the rooms that you want the show in the legend. right click and select legend from the menu. very important to label each room separately in the label tab.
@@lucio20006 Separate View Ports under measure? Label each view port accordingly? or Perhaps you can just create a custom column with a dropdown to select the room each item is in?
Is it possible to set Macros in extreme, I want to be able to individually auto search for preset text and symbols, and then apply the corresponding counts to them all in a single click. the current script is so limited to what it can do. It would speed up an entire process, and give more time to check for errors and quality mistakes when preparing a set of prints for a customer.
Hi Adrian, Thanks for your question. Sorry to say that eXtreme doesn’t really have any scripting functionality that allows for pre-defined items or searching. It’s focused on file open/access and executing standard commands at this point.
Is BB Revu linked up with labor hours, associated with MCAA? For example 1" diameter copper pipe has a MCAA rate .10 per foot at 20'-0=2hrs install time. Also, what about hangers and supports-can these be set up automatically to be included with the pipe footage as you do your take off?
Those items aren’t part of the “out-of-the-box” installation for Revu but they can be built as custom columns. You can take the length of the pipe run and divide by the support spacing and you can multiply the length by a selected -or typed- MCAA factor. If you’re not sure how to do that, ZenTek can help. We custom configure Revu for clients as a service. You can reach out directly to Rocco Parisi - sale@zentekconsultants.net if you need help. Thanks.
@@ZenTekConsultants that sounds good. I like the idea of it being flexible and it works well with PDF files too. I can download Blue beam to my computer and work offline if need be, right? At work we use Trimble AutoBid program, it's really elaborate and I couldn't use it for side work. I am exploring the idea of doing freelance process mechanical (semi-conductor industry), HVAC, and plumbing estimates and I need something I can custom build it to fit my needs. Thanks for the quick response.
@@2011italianoboy Yes, Bluebeam will work offline or online and it can be customized pretty easily to your specific needs. We can sell you the software, train you on it, and configure it for you - and/or any combination of those you feel you need! Just reach out to Rocco.
More recent versions may have a magnifying glass icon. If you don’t see either, you can right-click on any of the side icons > SHOW > SEARCH and it should appear. HTH
What happens when Bluebeam doubles the counts in a pdf, or for exp If I Have types B & B-EM and When I look for just type B it picks up everything with B. Anyway to make the search more specific?
In terms of text based searching, it’s self-filtering, i.e. if you type “B” and search it will show both B & B-E valus. If you type “B-“ then you get only the B-E values. In smbol searches, you can turn on the “Sarch for Fine Detail” checkbox and that will look more carefully at the items in the rectangle you select, potentially eliminating duplicates. You can also try selecting a rectangle with only the “B-E” valus showing.
@@ZenTekConsultants thank you so MUCH! I'm trying to get my company to look into this. I'm an electrician and very new to tablets, right now were viewing our plans on pdf viewer but we can't really do much but look at it
@@johncunanan4486 You are very welcome! We can provide a demonstration for your firm and answer any more questions you many have offline - contact Rocco Parisi @ 866-824-4459 or rocco.parisi@zentekconsultants.net to set something up.
Hi Tyrone, All the basic “Count” features are basic Bluebeam commands. The custom symbols used from the Tool Sets are part of our ZenTek Revu Tools, which we created and sell for different types of work. We also regularly build custom tool sets, specifically for clients, if that’s something you need. To take a look at the ZenTek Revu Tools, visit our website at www.zentekconsultants.net/zentek-revu-tools-overview. If you're interested in discussing custom tool sets, contact us at 866-824-4459. Thank you.
Great video tutorial, would be fantastic to have a BB 2019 version of the same now the dashboards changed :)
Thank you for this video!
@6:41 approximately if you want to get straight to the point.
Well done. Did Bluebeam miss count? At time 9:52, there's a ceiling light that is not included in the count...
Thank you. That’s really a question of the visual search “sensitivity” settings. Some PDF’s are highly pixelated, some are cleaner, or have small symbol variations, etc. When doing the search you can adjust using the slider bar under the search button to make the system more/less sensitive to adjust for an individual file. You can also enable/disable color detection so Rev will count only red X symbols and ignore all blue X symbols, and so on.
how do you manually add the items that get missed by the visual search to the same cluster/group of results?
You can right click on one of your existing counts and click on “Resume” from the drop down menu. This allows you to manually count the objects.
Thank for the video it is great! I only have one pressing concern about the program. What us the search for symbols tool reliability? If you pause the video on minute 9.50 we can actually see that it misses one of the symbols right next to it in the Office Room. Thank you in advance for the Response!
Thanks Steve! While the search function isn’t perfect, it does work 95% of the time and it can be tweaked to get better results. However, you should always do a quick visual review.
Love your videos on BlueBeam Revu tricks. They have been a ton of help. Have you ever experienced the dynamic fill tool not reading the line weights on any PDF document? I have tried messing with the sensitivity as well as disabling the line weight to no avail. Would love any advice you may have. I have Revu 21 complete if that helps, Thanks!
Thanks Hannah. Yes - the Dynamic Fill tool usually marks to the center of a linear object. Not really an issue for lines, but thicker poly-objects can throw it off. You can adjust by drawing a rectangle inside those areas and flattening to avoid that or you can use the DF Boundary tool to stop it at the edge of the thicker line. HTH
@@ZenTekConsultants Thank you!
I tried electrical estimating with bluebeam. It’s not that great. Can u tell me what can i do to make it better? I used a pdf file of the building plan. Do u think using autocadd version of the file will give better results?
Hi Raghul. BB Revu works well for most electrical work. It does quantity takeoff quickly for symbols (outlets, switches, etc.) along with linear takeoff for conduits and wire, plus it has a lot of functionality for custom content. The key though is you need to be comfortable with the tools, or have someone show you how to use them for that type of work. We actually have a Bluebeam for Electrical class that we offer (www.zentekconsultants.net/bluebeam-revu-courses). What specific takeoff processes are you trying to handle?
I just tried the visual search count feature and it’s been an absolute failure every time. It’s not reliable therefore unusable.
is there any way to continue the count on following pages?
Not directly - the counts are separate by sheets as a default. You can use the command, then select another sheet to get same properties but they’ll still be distinct groups: one per sheet. In the end it’s not a big deal as the TOTALS features will count similar object Subject/Label across multiple sheets.
I wonder if you can count an amount per mark, for example if I have a certain amount of shear studs per beam for decking, each amount of shear studs changes per beam like (30) or (24) every time I check a beam for the amount of shear studs. Can I put an arbitrary amount for every mark I make on the plan labeled 'shear studs'? Thanks.
That’s not really handled by the COUNT tool - that’s for counting specific instances of each symbol. This can be done thru the Markups List > Custom Columns tool though. We do a lot of work here at ZenTek, customizing Bluebeam tools/columns to client’s specific needs. Reach out to us if you need help with setting this up! zentekconsultants.net
Great video, much appreciated! Do you know how to do area-counts too, like if you have measured different rooms/areas and want to put the total area/some areas in a legend? Im new to Bluebeam and its one of the programs we´re using in my office (learning every day).
Yes, we can show you all that and more in our training classes. Feel free to check out our online Bluebeam courses at www.zentekconsultants.net/bluebeam-revu-courses.
Create the room area as you need then select all the rooms that you want the show in the legend. right click and select legend from the menu. very important to label each room separately in the label tab.
@@lucio20006 Separate View Ports under measure? Label each view port accordingly? or Perhaps you can just create a custom column with a dropdown to select the room each item is in?
what type of image it uses is it pdf, png, or vector image ?
Is it possible to set Macros in extreme, I want to be able to individually auto search for preset text and symbols, and then apply the corresponding counts to them all in a single click. the current script is so limited to what it can do. It would speed up an entire process, and give more time to check for errors and quality mistakes when preparing a set of prints for a customer.
Hi Adrian, Thanks for your question. Sorry to say that eXtreme doesn’t really have any scripting functionality that allows for pre-defined items or searching. It’s focused on file open/access and executing standard commands at this point.
Is BB Revu linked up with labor hours, associated with MCAA? For example 1" diameter copper pipe has a MCAA rate .10 per foot at 20'-0=2hrs install time.
Also, what about hangers and supports-can these be set up automatically to be included with the pipe footage as you do your take off?
Those items aren’t part of the “out-of-the-box” installation for Revu but they can be built as custom columns. You can take the length of the pipe run and divide by the support spacing and you can multiply the length by a selected -or typed- MCAA factor. If you’re not sure how to do that, ZenTek can help. We custom configure Revu for clients as a service. You can reach out directly to Rocco Parisi - sale@zentekconsultants.net if you need help. Thanks.
@@ZenTekConsultants that sounds good. I like the idea of it being flexible and it works well with PDF files too. I can download Blue beam to my computer and work offline if need be, right?
At work we use Trimble AutoBid program, it's really elaborate and I couldn't use it for side work. I am exploring the idea of doing freelance process mechanical (semi-conductor industry), HVAC, and plumbing estimates and I need something I can custom build it to fit my needs. Thanks for the quick response.
@@2011italianoboy Yes, Bluebeam will work offline or online and it can be customized pretty easily to your specific needs. We can sell you the software, train you on it, and configure it for you - and/or any combination of those you feel you need! Just reach out to Rocco.
@@ZenTekConsultants thank you!
another great video. thanks Zentek.
Unsure why I don't have the little search binoculars?? or maybe they're just hiding...
More recent versions may have a magnifying glass icon. If you don’t see either, you can right-click on any of the side icons > SHOW > SEARCH and it should appear. HTH
What happens when Bluebeam doubles the counts in a pdf, or for exp If I Have types B & B-EM and When I look for just type B it picks up everything with B. Anyway to make the search more specific?
In terms of text based searching, it’s self-filtering, i.e. if you type “B” and search it will show both B & B-E valus. If you type “B-“ then you get only the B-E values. In smbol searches, you can turn on the “Sarch for Fine Detail” checkbox and that will look more carefully at the items in the rectangle you select, potentially eliminating duplicates. You can also try selecting a rectangle with only the “B-E” valus showing.
What kind of file does it need to be for this software to recognize it or does it matter? Can it be pdf?
Hi John, Bluebeam works primarily with PDF files. It’s the system’s native file format.
@@ZenTekConsultants thank you so MUCH! I'm trying to get my company to look into this. I'm an electrician and very new to tablets, right now were viewing our plans on pdf viewer but we can't really do much but look at it
@@johncunanan4486 You are very welcome! We can provide a demonstration for your firm and answer any more questions you many have offline - contact Rocco Parisi @ 866-824-4459 or rocco.parisi@zentekconsultants.net to set something up.
keep it up,,,,update more bluebeam takeoff videos for HVAC work
Are you using a plug in that is already in bluebeam or is this something ZenTek offers?
Hi Tyrone,
All the basic “Count” features are basic Bluebeam commands. The custom symbols used from the Tool Sets are part of our ZenTek Revu Tools, which we created and sell for different types of work. We also regularly build custom tool sets, specifically for clients, if that’s something you need. To take a look at the ZenTek Revu Tools, visit our website at www.zentekconsultants.net/zentek-revu-tools-overview. If you're interested in discussing custom tool sets, contact us at 866-824-4459. Thank you.