Podium add-in for AutoCAD
Overview
Getting Started
Podium allows export of model to AutoCAD for downstream authoring.
Note that the current export is tested on AutoCAD 2026 and might not work with earlier versions of AutoCAD.
Setup
- Download the Podium for AutoCAD add in here
- When the Podium Add-in is successfully installed, three essential files are placed in the following location on your system:
%APPDATA%\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\Podium
Understanding the purpose of these files can help with troubleshooting and verifying a successful installation:
File NamePurpose and Functionality
Podium_AutoCAD.dllThis is the core file of the add-in. It contains all the necessary logic, features, and functionality for connecting Podium models with AutoCAD.Podium_AddIn_Loader.lspThis is the automatic loader file. Its purpose is to ensure that the Podium AutoCAD Add-in is automatically loaded and accessible within the AutoCAD interface every time you launch the application.RestSharp.dllThis is a helper library required for the add-in to function correctly. It supports the internal communication and data handling processes used by the Podium_AutoCAD.dll.Installation Steps
- Download Podium AutoCAD Add-in from our website.
- Run the
podium-autocad-plugin-v….msifile.
- Confirm that you would like to progress with the installation.
- Apply the default installation location by clicking ‘Next’.
- Start the installation by clicking ‘Next’. If a security window appears, confirm that you would like to continue with the installation.
- Close the installation window.
Loading the Add-in
After installing the Podium Add-in, it does not get loaded straight away in AutoCAD. One additional step is required. Please do the following.
- Launch AutoCAD.
- Open a drawing.
- Execute the command
APPLOAD, which will open a modal to load/unload applications.
- Click on the ‘Contents’ button for the ‘Startup Suite’.
- Select ‘Add’, browse to ‘C:\Users\…\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\Podium’ and select
Podium_AddIn_Loader.lsp.
- Close the modals.
- Fully close AutoCAD and start it again.
- The first time of launching the newly installed Podium Add-In, a security warning will appear, asking if you would like to load it. Please click ‘Always Load’, to avoid having to do this every time.
- You should now see the Podium panel in your Ribbon, giving you access to it’s commands.
Updating the Add-in
As Podium's features evolve, we will release updated versions of the AutoCAD Add-in to improve functionality and performance. To ensure a clean installation and avoid conflicts, the update process requires you to remove the existing version first:
- Uninstall the Current Version:
- Open Windows Settings.
- Navigate to Apps (or Apps & features / Installed apps).
- Search for "Podium".
- Select the existing Podium Add-in and choose Uninstall.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the removal.
- Download the New Version:
- Access the latest installer file from our official website.
- Install the Update:
- Launch the new installer file and follow the setup instructions.
After installing the update and launching AutoCAD, the add-in should load automatically. However, you may encounter a security warning related to the new files:
- If an AutoCAD security warning appears concerning the Podium Add-in, please confirm that you would always like to load the add-in.
- Selecting this option ensures the updated functionality is available every time you open AutoCAD without further prompts.
Podium Commands
Accessing Podium Web-Services
The Podium AutoCAD add-in offers various tools, which can be triggered via the Podium ribbon panel or as a console command. Before walking through the commands, let’s spend a moment on reviewing the general concept, as illustrated below.
Podium is a cloud-based application and your project data is stored in your organisations secure Podium environment. In order to perform automation tasks in AutoCAD, the application requires access to your Podium scenario data. The first step is to authenticate yourself to get access to your Podium web-service. The second step is to pull your selected scenario data into local memory, so it can be accessed without having to connect and read the data from the web-service for every command.
Login & Pull Data
Command: PODIUM_LOGINLogin to Podium in order to select one of your project scenarios and get it’s data loaded into memory, to be available for subsequent tools (see concept).
Login
In order to interact with the Podium platform, you need to establish access and authenticate yourself using your credentials. Enter your organisation’s Podium URL, your Podium username and Podium password. Tick the ‘Remember Me’ box before proceeding if you like your credentials the be remembered by the add-in, to avoid having to enter them every time. When doing so, your encrypted credentials get stored/loaded locally. Please contact your Podium administrator or support team if you can’t establish a connection.
The ‘Get Podium.io !’ button takes you to our Podium website, if you would like to get in touch with our team.
Select Project Scenario and Pull Data
Once you logged into Podium successfully via the AutoCAD add-in, a list of your Podium projects get presented. Select a project you would like to import data from, click ‘Open’ and select the scenario you would like to work with. Finalise the command by selecting the relevant scenario and click ‘Pull Podium Data’, which will read the corresponding scenario data from the Podium web-service before storing it in your local memory, to be available for subsequent commands (see concept).
Select Project Scenario and Pull Data
Once you logged into Podium successfully via the AutoCAD add-in, a list of your Podium projects get presented. Select a project you would like to import data from, click ‘Open’ and select the scenario you would like to work with. Finalise the command by selecting the relevant scenario and click ‘Pull Podium Data’, which will read the corresponding scenario data from the Podium web-service before storing it in your local memory, to be available for subsequent commands (see concept).
Please note that for large scenarios with multiple buildings this can be a long running process. You will see the following messages.
Sending request to API...
Podium Site/Building Model Data retrieved successfully
Podium Model ID set successfully: modelIDPlease note that you only see Podium projects that you own. These are either projects that you created or projects you have been added to as an owner. If you need to access data from a project your colleague created, please ask them to go to ‘Project Settings\Members’ in Podium and to add you as an owner.
Review Podium Model ID
Command: DWGPROPSUsing the command
DWGPROPS you can validate the success of setting a Podium model ID, as it gets added to your drawing in form of a custom property.
Pull Data using Model ID
Command: PODIUM_SET_MODEL_IDThis command enables you to set a Podium model ID directly and read it’s data from the Podium web-service, as a prerequisite for subsequent commands (see concept). When you open an AutoCAD drawing in which you used Podium tools before, this commands checks if the
podium_modelId custom property exists and carries a value, and if that is the case sets it as default. This enables you to reload the model data from web-service, without having to select the project and scenario via the login command first.Once you trigger the command, you get asked to enter a Podium model ID. The value will be set by default, if the drawing you are in carries the custom property already.
Enter Podium Model ID <modelID>:If a valid model ID has been entered, and your credentials are valid, the tool contacts the Podium web-service in order to retrieve and store the model data in local memory, to be available for subsequent commands. Please note that this can be a long running process for large scenarios.
Model ID Selected: modelID
Podium Model ID set successfully: modelID
Podium Model Data retrieved successfullyIf you don’t know the model ID of your scenario or if you are having trouble connecting, please use the Login command instead.
Creating AutoCAD Entities from Podium Data
Create All
Command: PODIUM_GENERATE_ALL_ELEMENTS
This command reads the geometric elements of your set Podium scenario data and creates these as 3D Solids or Polylines in your drawing. Elements of all domains get created. Please note that depending on the size of your set scenario, this can be a long running process.Layer Management
The created elements get automatically assigned to designated layers with the prefix ‘Podium’, followed by their domain (nature) and type. For example a ‘Rack Space’ element gets assigned to layer
Podium_services_rackSpace.
Avoiding Duplicates
Every AutoCAD entity that gets automatically created from the Podium data gets XData properties assigned. These properties can be reviewed via the Get Local Properties command. One property that gets stored is the Podium
elementId. When running the creation command, all elementId’s of existing entities in your drawing get read and when looping through your set scenario data, the tool only creates new AutoCAD elements if they don’t already exist in your drawing. Besides avoiding duplicated elements, you can delete elements in your drawing and simply run the create command again to get them back.Validation Message
After successful execution of the command, you get a confirmation in your AutoCAD console of how many elements got created. Zoom to your drawing extents to see all created elements, as those might be outside of your current view state.
--- AutoCAD Geometry Creation Finished ---
Successfully created 12345 entities.Problem Solving
Please note that this command reads Podium model from your local memory (see concept). If you see this message
No Podium data detected. Set Model ID first. no Podium model data could be found in your local memory and you should load it first via Pull Data Model ID or Login & Pull Data.Create Spatial
Command: PODIUM_GENERATE_SPATIAL_ELEMENTS
This command reads the geometric elements belonging to the domain/nature spatial of your set Podium scenario data and creates these as 3D Solids in your drawing. Please note that depending on the size of your set scenario, this can be a long running process.Layer Management
The created elements get automatically assigned to designated layers with the prefix ‘Podium’, followed by their domain (nature) and type. For example a ‘Room’ element gets assigned to layer
Podium_spatial_Room.
Avoiding Duplicates
Every AutoCAD entity that gets automatically created from the Podium data gets XData properties assigned. These properties can be reviewed via the Get Local Properties command. One property that gets stored is the Podium
elementId. When running the creation command, all elementId’s of existing entities in your drawing get read and when looping through your set scenario data, the tool only creates new AutoCAD elements if they don’t already exist in your drawing. Besides avoiding duplicated elements, you can delete elements in your drawing and simply run the create command again to get them back.Validation Message
After successful execution of the command, you get a confirmation in your AutoCAD console of how many elements got created. Zoom to your drawing extents to see all created elements, as those might be outside of your current view state.
--- AutoCAD Geometry Creation Finished ---
Successfully created 12345 entities.Problem Solving
Please note that this command reads Podium model from your local memory (see concept). If you see this message
No Podium data detected. Set Model ID first. no Podium model data could be found in your local memory and you should load it first via Pull Data Model ID or Login & Pull Data.Create Structure
Command: PODIUM_GENERATE_STRUCTURAL_ELEMENTS
This command reads the geometric elements belonging to the domain/nature structural of your set Podium scenario data and creates these as 3D Solids in your drawing. Please note that depending on the size of your set scenario, this can be a long running process.Layer Management
The created elements get automatically assigned to designated layers with the prefix ‘Podium’, followed by their domain (nature) and type. For example a ‘Beam’ element gets assigned to layer
Podium_structural_beam.
Avoiding Duplicates
Every AutoCAD entity that gets automatically created from the Podium data gets XData properties assigned. These properties can be reviewed via the Get Local Properties command. One property that gets stored is the Podium
elementId. When running the creation command, all elementId’s of existing entities in your drawing get read and when looping through your set scenario data, the tool only creates new AutoCAD elements if they don’t already exist in your drawing. Besides avoiding duplicated elements, you can delete elements in your drawing and simply run the create command again to get them back.Validation Message
After successful execution of the command, you get a confirmation in your AutoCAD console of how many elements got created. Zoom to your drawing extents to see all created elements, as those might be outside of your current view state.
--- AutoCAD Geometry Creation Finished ---
Successfully created 12345 entities.Problem Solving
Please note that this command reads Podium model from your local memory (see concept). If you see this message
No Podium data detected. Set Model ID first. no Podium model data could be found in your local memory and you should load it first via Pull Data Model ID or Login & Pull Data.If you run the command and the message
No drawable elements found appears, this means that you set scenario doesn’t contain any elements of the domain structural. Please review your scenario in Podium.Create Services
Command: PODIUM_GENERATE_SERVICES_ELEMENTS
This command reads the geometric elements belonging to the domain/nature services of your set Podium scenario data and creates these as 3D Solids in your drawing. Please note that depending on the size of your set scenario, this can be a long running process.Layer Management
The created elements get automatically assigned to designated layers with the prefix ‘Podium’, followed by their domain (nature) and type. For example a ‘Equipment’ element gets assigned to layer
Podium_services_equipment.
Avoiding Duplicates
Every AutoCAD entity that gets automatically created from the Podium data gets XData properties assigned. These properties can be reviewed via the Get Local Properties command. One property that gets stored is the Podium
elementId. When running the creation command, all elementId’s of existing entities in your drawing get read and when looping through your set scenario data, the tool only creates new AutoCAD elements if they don’t already exist in your drawing. Besides avoiding duplicated elements, you can delete elements in your drawing and simply run the create command again to get them back.Validation Message
After successful execution of the command, you get a confirmation in your AutoCAD console of how many elements got created. Zoom to your drawing extents to see all created elements, as those might be outside of your current view state.
--- AutoCAD Geometry Creation Finished ---
Successfully created 12345 entities.Problem Solving
Please note that this command reads Podium model from your local memory (see concept). If you see this message
No Podium data detected. Set Model ID first. no Podium model data could be found in your local memory and you should load it first via Pull Data Model ID or Login & Pull Data.If you run the command and the message
No drawable elements found appears, this means that you set scenario doesn’t contain any elements of the domain services. Please review your scenario in Podium.Reading Element Properties
Get Local Properties
Command: PODIUM_READ_XDATAWhen AutoCAD entities get created using the add-in, basic properties of elements get mapped into the entities. The reason for that is to be able to identify elements and reference them back to the Podium model data.
The command enables you to check the Podium data stored in a single selected AutoCAD element. The result gets written into the Auto console. Below you can see an example of a selected pile element.
-- XData for Entity ID: 8C1 ---
PODIUM_DATA
elementId: 4375929a-0599-48f2-ac7c-5b4743ee050a
type: pile
nature: structural
name: BP-211
productVariant: PL-RC-BP-C32-D600-1001
ACAD_STEPID
1624
--- End XData ---Get Podium Properties
Command: PODIUM_GET_PROPERTIESWhen scenarios get solved in Podium, the generated elements carry a lot of rich data. This command enables you to access all of the
dynamicFacets, metrics and facets parameters of a selected single or multiple elements. These properties are not stored in the AutoCAD entities. Instead the command reads the elementId from the entities local properties, looks for a match in the Podium model data that sits in the local memory and if found, surfaces the result (refer to this concept).
Creating 2D Documentation
Create Plan
Command: PODIUM_CREATE_PLANOne main purpose of the Podium AutoCAD add-in is to enable you to create 2D documentation for the scenario you created in Podium. Once you created the geometry in AutoCAD, the create plan tool accelerates this process. Once triggered you get asked to
Pick point for cutting plane: and Pick insertion point for plan:. This is best done in an isometric view, which lets you pick the right location for your horizontal cut.
You could create a 2D section using standard AutoCAD commands. However, when doing so, there is no direct link to the rich element data stored in Podium. Like the 3D Solids, the polylines and hatches that make up the 2D plan, carry
elementId’s, which enable you to use the Get Podium Properties tool on them.Currently this tool only offers horizontal cuts (plans), please use standard AutoCAD commands to create sections and elevations.
When generating a 2D plan with this too, an algorithm checks which AutoCAD entities get cut by the defined cut plane. Entities that are cut, get shown as a closed polyline and receive an automatically added hatch with the same colour as the AutoCAD entity. In addition to that, elements that are within a downward projected range of two meters, get shown as closed polylines (without hatch).
The AutoCAD polylines and hatches, forming the generated 2D plans, get automatically assigned to specific layers. These layers have the prefix
2D_ followed by the layer of it’s corresponding 3D object. For example, a rack-space in a data centre has the layer Podium_services_rackSpace assigned. It’s corresponding 2D geometry in a plan will be on the layer 2D_Podium_services_rackSpace. This gives you control over which elements you would like to include in your documentation.Please note that when creating 2D plans from the 3D model, elements that are on hidden layers don’t get included. This also provides you with an additional level of control when it comes to content creation.
Add Label
Command: PODIUM_ADD_ANNOTATIONAdding labels to 2D plans can be a time intensive process of manually referencing data and placing text elements. Software like Revit makes this process much easier, as elements seen in 2D views are linked to their 3D entities and their data can be extracted and placed via automation. The Podium add-in brings some of this philosophy into AutoCAD, as the polylines and hatches in 2D plans know which Podium element they represent. The ‘add label’ tool let’s you select one or all entities in your 2D plan and it will lookup the corresponding element data and place them into the centre of each object. The algorithm only does this for hatch entities, which represent elements that have been cut by the defined cut plane. Elements that are in the projected range, don’t receive a label.
Please find some examples of these automatically applied labels below, for different building typologies and different domains. Depending on the element type, the label receives additional information. For example a
Pod in data centres displays it’s ITLoad value. Whereas an apartmentConfiguration shows the unitName and IPMS1 value.
