InEight Model Integration

InEight Estimate and InEight Model integrate to support the estimate takeoff quantities from your 3D model using Estimate’s Model Connector functions. In Model, you can sum object quantities using Data Transformation Operations (DTOs) and sync them with Estimate.

For more information about Model integration with lEstimate, see Model-Estimate overview in Model.

Requirements

The following items are required for the integration of Estimate and Model:

Estimate in the cloud or Estimate on-premise version 2023.0 or later.
The Estimate add-in for Model Client Plug-ins must be installed.
InEight Model must be installed.
One instance of Model and one instance of Estimate must be open on the same computer.
Applicable Estimate and Model permissions.

Estimate and Model integration using Model Connector

In Estimate, there are functions in the main ribbon of the CBS in the More Actions > Model Connector that integrate with Model.

The Model Connector functions are described in the following table:

Function	Description
Select in Model	When you select a cost item, the linked Model objects are selected in Model.
Frame Selected	When you select a cost item, the linked Model objects are framed in the Model viewer.
Sync Model Quantities	After you execute a DTO to sum quantities in Model, you can then sync Model quantities into Estimate.
Send Selected CBS to Model	When you select a child item in the CBS structure, then the parent hierarchy with that selected child will be pushed to Model. When you push a parent CBS item, then the parent and all children are pushed to Model.

Send Selected CBS to Model

You can use Estimate’s user-defined fields 11-15 to label the cost items that you want to integrate with Model, and then filter those cost items that align with your model to relate them to the model objects in Model. You can select cost items at the parent or child level. The labeled cost items sync to Selector and Action tabs in Model’s DTO panel. For more information about user-defined fields, see User-defined fields.

After selecting the cost items in the Model Connector section, click Send the selected CBS to Model in the Model Connector. The CBS structure of the selected cost item or parent cost item is sent to your model DTO panel.

On the DTO tab, the CBS hierarchy is converted into DTO Groups and DTOs. All parent levels of the hierarchal tree create DTO Groups with the child levels of the tree creating DTOs .

An example of the CONCRETE parent cost item sent from Estimate is shown below.

Summing quantities using a parent cost item

When a parent cost item is sent from Estimate to Model, the parent cost item becomes a DTO group in Model. To estimate at a parent level, you must enter the Tag Name and Value field information in User Defined 12 and 13 fields in Estimate at the parent level, and then send the parent cost item to Model.

In the DTO panel, the DTO tab shows the tree structure with the parent cost item as a DTO group and as a DTO, and child cost items as DTOs.

You can use the DTO Test function to quantify your cost items and view the updated quantities based on your model. When you are ready to run the the DTO, click Run selected to execute the DTO to sum quantities in Model.

You can run multiple DTOs at one time, the DTOs run sequentially.

Sync Model Quantities

After executing the DTO to sum quantities, in Estimate, you can use the Sync Model Quantities function in the Model Connector section to view and sync the summed-up cost item quantities to Estimate.

Click Sync Model Quantities to view the summed-up quantities in the Sync Model Quantities window. You can also view the quantity deltas to compare them to your current quantities in Estimate.

Select the cost items you want to sync, and then click Accept to sync to Estimate.

Select in Model and Frame Selected options

In Model Connector, you can select the Select in Model and Frame Selected options, which allows you to select a cost item in Estimate and interact with the model objects linked to the selected cost item in Model.

For more information about Estimate and Model integration, see Model and Estimate integration using the Model Connector.

User-defined fields

You can use Estimate’s user-defined fields (UDFs) 11-15 to label cost items that you want to integrate with Model. UDFs allow you to filter cost items that align with your model and integrate the data into the DTO panel in Model. You can select cost items at the parent or child level to sync to Model.

The table shows the UDF integration to Model:

Function	Description
User Defined 11	Actions tab - Populates the Tag Name in the Quantity Type sum property.
User Defined 12	Selection tab - Populates the Tag/OP Name field in the first rule.
User Defined 13	Selection tab - Populates the Value field of UDF 12 Tag/OP Name in the first rule.
User Defined 14	Selection tab - Populates the Tag/OP Name field in the second rule.
User Defined 15	Selection tab - Populates the Value field of UDF 14 Tag/OP Name in the second rule.