We recently released Unifi Pro 3.3.0 which includes support for Autodesk 2020 software (Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil3D), the new MicroStation add-in, improvements to the installer, the ability to search Revit parameters, bug fixes, and more. We’ve shared the full release notes, so have a look if you haven’t seen them already.

For this post, we’ll focus on enhancements to our search engine, which includes one of the most frequently requested improvements: the ability to search Revit parameters.

Granular Search Options

If you’ve already upgraded to Unifi Pro 3.3.0, you may have noticed that we’ve added the ability to select which field of metadata that you would like to search (in previous versions, Unifi Pro would search through all of these fields with no way to specify which fields you would like to search).

With this enhancement, you now have more granular control over searching through file names, family type names, model categories, material classes, and/or tags. This will help your team find the specific content they’re looking for more easily.

Search Revit Parameters

In addition to the enhancements to searching through metadata, we’ve also rolled out the ability to search by Revit parameter, which can be extremely powerful for designers who are looking for content based on a specific requirement.

Let’s look at some examples of how this can be helpful.

Find all Content Based on Voltage

One example of how searching Revit parameters can be helpful, is finding equipment based on an electrical voltage requirement. In the screenshot below, you can see that a designer is searching for assets that are rated at 120 volts, simply by using an asterisk as a wildcard and searching the Revit parameter called “Voltage” with the value of “120.000 V”.

Based on that search criteria, Unifi Pro will display any Revit families where that Revit parameter is of that value, regardless of the name family name or other metadata fields.

With the ability to search through the Revit parameters, your engineers will now be able to find BIM content based on specific engineering requirements, and best of all they’ll be searching the BIM data within the objects themselves.

Search by Model Number or SKU

Another good use-case for searching by Revit parameter is searching for a specific manufacturer, model number, or SKU. In the example below, you can see that this user was able to find all Revit families where the model name is DESV and the manufacturer is Titus by searching through multiple parameters.

Prior to having the ability to search Revit parameter values, we would often recommend that admins tag BIM content with the manufacturer name and/or included manufacturer and model number information in the Revit family name or family type name.

With the new ability to search the Revit parameters themselves, you’ll no longer have that requirement.

Search By Material

The last example of how searching by Revit parameters can be useful is searching for Revit families which have a specific material applied. In the screenshot below, you can see that this user was able to find an armchair and a sofa by searching for any families which have the “Leather – Black” material applied to the “Cushion Material” Revit parameter.

Perhaps this is helpful for designers who are looking for specific Revit families that are ready for rendering or VR walk-throughs, because the search results would only include families which have this specific material applied. Again, this means that the team will no longer be required to include the term “black leather” in Revit family names, type names, or tags.

More Revit Parameter Search Options

Not only are you able to search for a Revit parameter value, you can even find content where the parameter value is not empty or empty. You can even find Revit families simply based on if the Revit parameter exists.

Go try it out!

By giving our users the ability to search by Revit parameter, we’ve enabled yet another feature that leverages BIM data on the Unifi platform and greatly improves the user experience while searching for content. If you’re already a Unifi customer, I encourage you to update Unifi Pro if you haven’t already and try out this amazing new feature. If you’re new to Unifi, you can see search Revit parameters along with dozens of others in actions with a free demo today. 

Do you have any other examples of how searching by Revit parameter can be helpful? Share your ideas in a comment below.