Best Of

I'm almost 4 years into it and still learning.
You can do quite a lot with the UI, but it gets even more powerful when you start to learn the M code

Hoping to do this in a presentation at Unbound 😎

Nice job, @Doug McLean! This is impressive. Way over my head but I know this is a popular topic and I've heard BUG members talk about this before, too!

When our foremen or project managers begin planning the electrical install, they will start with marking up the single-line diagram. I have been helping to make a company standard profile designed specifically for this part of the takeoff, and within it is a tool chest streamlined for the task. The key tool to this operation is a custom grouped markup for identifying the Run ID, Conduit type, Circuit info, and more.

It is composed of a text box, ellipse, and polyline, with the text box as the top element of the group.

The text box is considered the "Run ID", and so by having it as the top of the group the Run ID can be editied by double-clicking the group or by making the change in the comments property in the Properties Panel or in the Markups List.

As you'll see, there is currently no length. To get that property, they will use customized color-coded polylength measurement tools. On the permit drawings, they will place markups to indicate the first means of disconnect for each conduit run, and then draw a proposed path to follow for the install, using the polylength tool appropriate for that run. Then, the tag used in the single-line is copied to the install drawing and the two markups are grouped together. This grouping sequence gives us a markup length (in decimal feet) to begin the initial conduit order. Added length is an estimated amount used to account for the wire needed to terminate the wires. Model length is manually assigned once a true-tape measurement is made in the field. This is what is used for ordering wire harnesses.

Now, we can export the markups to Excel where all these custom columns are put to great use in creating panel schedules, wire orders, and more.

So, that's my humble little conduit tag. The one shown is the EMT tag. PVC, RMC, IMC, FMC, and FNC are color coded for quick identification. These are actually the old look. I'm working on making them easier to see both on screen and printed, while also making the colors more distinct. Here's a quick look at how things are at the moment with the tool chests discussed. This particular setup is for branch conduit drawings, using a slightly different Profile. The feeders discussed above have similar options but the Layer is Feeder Conduit instead.

Did you check out my video above?
Using Power Query turns your markups into a powerhouse.

You got me interested in learning more about Power Query, so I did a search for "Bluebeam Power Query" and your videos with the guys from Morning Coffee Revu popped right up. I'm watching the first one as I'm typing this. Thanks for the info, Doug.

PS - I thought your name seemed familiar. Aren't you pretty active on the MCR webinars? I've been to about a dozen of them, and I think I remember seeing you participating in them.