Tutorial 25: AI Takeoff

Blueprints in, shop drawings out — upload a scanned blueprint set to cv-web, let AI Takeoff derive a structured tilt-up panel project, then review and correct what it found before you trust it.

Every other lesson in this curriculum starts from a panel you draw. This one starts a step earlier — from the drawings you already have. AI Takeoff is the input side of cv-web: you upload an architectural + structural blueprint set, and the engine derives a complete tilt-up shop-drawing set from the elevations, joints, and dimension strings already on your prints — panels you can then open in the cv-web editor, correct, and hand downstream to Panel Set Analytics.

This is a preview feature — real, working software, but gated: you reach it through a pilot enrollment, not a public button, and the upload flow is still being finalized. This lesson is honest about that. It walks the workflow as designed, flags where access depends on your pilot status, and keeps the steps conceptual where the exact upload UI is still landing — it promises no click that is not yet in your browser.

Preview feature — pilot / entitlement gated

AI Takeoff is listed as a Preview capability on the feature comparison: working today, behind a pilot or entitlement gate. The product page at /takeoff is live and shows the status “Preview — pilot enrollment open”; the upload / status flow is being wired up and opens to pilot participants. You get in by emailing to enroll (Step 1), not by finding a public upload page. Treat every result as a draft to review, never as a certified deliverable — the engine derives panels from your drawings, it does not calculate or certify engineering values.

Note

This lesson also exists in the browser. Work it in ConstructiVision on the web — same steps, same values, so you can follow either and end up with the same panel.

Watch this lesson

Transcript (19 captions)

0:01 — Tutorial 25 — AI Takeoff: blueprints in, shop drawings out.

0:04 — AI Takeoff lives in cv-web at /takeoff — nothing to install.

0:08 — The status badge is honest: this is a Preview capability, open by pilot enrollment.

0:14 — Everywhere else in this curriculum you start from a blank panel. Here you start from prints.

0:19 — Three moves — worth reading before you hand over a set.

0:23 — 1 — Upload the set: architectural elevations plus structural plans, as PDF.

0:29 — Multi-file sets, cover sheets and index pages are handled for you.

0:32 — 2 — Panels are derived: the engine reads joints, elevation datums and dimension strings.

0:38 — Same derivation logic ConstructiVision applies to native shop drawings.

0:41 — Note what this does NOT claim: it derives geometry from what is drawn. It does not calculate or certify engineering values.

0:48 — 3 — You get a ConstructiVision project back: a native shop-drawing set.

0:53 — Open it in the cv-web editor, or send it on to Panel Set Analytics.

0:58 — Blueprints and shop drawings are different documents — this is the bridge between them.

1:03 — If Panel Set Analytics tells you an upload 'looks like a blueprint set', that is the door into this lesson.

1:10 — Availability — and how to get in.

1:12 — Enrollment is by email. That is what grants the upload flow to your account.

1:18 — Once a takeoff returns a project, review it panel by panel. An AI takeoff is a draft — you are the one who knows what the drawings meant.

1:28 — Blueprints in. Shop drawings out.

1:30 — Next: Tutorial 26 — Crane Pick & Brace Simulation.

Tip

The written steps below are the authoritative version — they are kept current continuously, while videos are re-recorded in batches. Companion video versions lists which build each video was recorded against.

What you will build

Starting from a blueprint set instead of a blank panel:

  • an understanding of what a blueprint set is (architectural elevations + structural plans, as PDF) versus the native shop-drawing set ConstructiVision reads elsewhere in this curriculum;

  • a pilot-enrolled cv-web session with AI Takeoff reachable from your account;

  • a submitted takeoff — a blueprint set handed to the engine, which derives panels from the joints, elevation datums, and dimension strings on the prints;

  • a ConstructiVision project returned from the takeoff and opened in the cv-web editor, followed by the habit that matters most here — a review-and-correct pass over the derived panels before the project is used for anything.

Before you start

  • Pilot access. AI Takeoff is not on by default. If you have not already enrolled, do it first: from /takeoff, use Email us about the pilot (or write chad@simplestruct.com). The rest of this lesson assumes your account can reach the takeoff flow.

  • A SimpleStruct account, signed in. Takeoff jobs are tied to your organization, so you must be signed in at simplestruct.com. If you do not have an account yet, Create your account walks through it — note the account must use a company email address (public providers like gmail.com are refused).

  • A blueprint set to convert. Architectural elevations and structural plans as PDF — multi-file sets, cover sheets, and index pages are handled for you. A scanned as-built set works; the clearer the elevations and dimension strings, the more the engine can derive.

  • A browser with internet access. There is nothing to install — AI Takeoff runs entirely in cv-web.

Tip

Not sure whether you have blueprints or shop drawings? Blueprints are the architect’s / engineer’s design set. Shop drawings are the fabrication set — sheets with panel marks and elevation dimensions, the kind Panel Set Analytics reads directly. AI Takeoff is the bridge from the first to the second: if Analytics tells you your upload “looks like a blueprint set,” that is the door into this lesson.

Lesson

Step 1 — Enroll in the pilot and open AI Takeoff

Sign in at simplestruct.com, then open the AI Takeoff page at /takeoff. You will see the tagline “Blueprints in. Shop drawings out.” and the status “Preview — pilot enrollment open.” When signed in, the page confirms your identity — “You’re signed in as you@yourcompany.com” — and notes that jobs will be tied to your organization automatically.

If you have not enrolled yet, use Email us about the pilot on that page. Enrollment is how the upload flow is granted to your account while the feature is in preview; once you are in, the upload step below becomes available to you.

Step 2 — Understand what the engine will do (before you upload)

The page lays out the flow in three moves worth reading before you hand over a set:

  1. Upload your blueprint set — architectural elevations plus structural plans, as PDF.

  2. Panels get derived from the drawings — the engine reads joints, elevation datums, and dimension strings to break the building envelope into panels, using the same derivation logic ConstructiVision applies to native shop drawings.

  3. Get a ConstructiVision project back — the derived shop-drawing set, ready to open in the cv-web editor or send to Panel Set Analytics.

Note what step 2 does not claim: it derives geometry from what is drawn; it does not compute or certify engineering values. That is why the review pass below is not optional.

Step 3 — Submit your blueprint set

With the upload flow open to your pilot account, submit the set:

  1. Provide your blueprint PDFs to the takeoff upload — the multi-file architectural + structural set. Cover sheets and index pages do not need to be stripped out first.

  2. Confirm the set is yours to submit and start the job. Because the exact upload and progress controls are still being finalized in preview, follow the on-page prompts as they appear rather than a fixed sequence of clicks — this lesson deliberately does not invent buttons that may change before the flow ships.

Note

Arrived here from Panel Set Analytics? If you uploaded a set there and it was flagged as a blueprint set, the interstitial offers Convert with AI Takeoff and carries your context across. Continuing from that button lands you in this same submit step — you do not start over.

Step 4 — Let the takeoff run, then open the project in cv-web

The engine works through the set page by page, deriving the panel breakdown. A takeoff is heavier than a panel-set analysis, so give it time; the page reports progress as it goes. When it finishes, it returns a ConstructiVision project — a native shop-drawing set built from your blueprints.

Open that project in the cv-web editor. You now have panels where an hour ago you had only prints: each derived panel carries the geometry, features, and connections the engine read off your elevations and plans. To put it in your team’s shared library, it imports like any other project — see Work with cloud projects.

Check your result

Tip

There is no automated checker for this lesson, and there should not be — an AI takeoff is a draft, and the whole point of this step is that a person reviews it. The engine is good at reading what is drawn; you are the one who knows what the drawings meant. Do not skip this pass, and do not treat the derived project as final until you have made it.

Work through the derived project panel by panel and confirm, correcting as you go:

  • Panel breakdown — the joints the engine found match the real panel joints. A missed or extra joint changes panel count and widths; fix the split where the blueprint intended it.

  • Elevations and datums — panel heights and elevation datums read correctly off the elevation sheets. Elevation datums are exactly the kind of value worth double-checking against the print.

  • Openings and connections — windows, doors, and connections landed where the drawings show them, at the right sizes. Add anything the derivation missed and remove anything it invented.

  • Marks and identity — panel marks read from the sheets are the marks you expect.

Only after this review is the project trustworthy. Where a derived value looks off, correct it in the cv-web editor — the derived project is a starting point you own, not a verdict you accept. When it is clean, hand it to Panel Set Analytics to see where each panel sits against ranges observed across the corpus.

If the takeoff comes back thin — few panels derived, or a set it could not read — that is expected preview behavior on hard or low-quality scans; clearer elevations and dimension strings give the engine more to work with. The pilot team (chad@simplestruct.com) wants to hear about those sets.

Where next

  • The web side in full: Using cv-web — the browser companion, cloud projects, and account tools that hold the project this lesson produced.

  • Read the derived panels statistically: Analyze panel sets — upload the corrected set and see each panel’s placement against the corpus.

  • The reverse trip: Tutorial 16: From CAD to cv-web — this lesson brings blueprints into structured panels; Tutorial 16 carries a finished panel out of AutoCAD into cv-web.

  • What preview features cost: Membership & Tokens — how membership and tokens apply to cv-web’s AI features, and what stays free.

  • Trouble signing in or reaching the pilot: Troubleshooting → cv-web (simplestruct.com).