Video library
Learn Map Metra, step by step
Short tutorials grouped by series. Search for a tool or task to find the video, and jump straight to the chapter that covers it.
Getting started
Start here: a guided tour of a whole job, from the first project to the finished tender.
- Part 1
Getting started: projects, AI connectors and measuring
Set up a new project, connect Map Metra to Claude or ChatGPT through the MCP connector, and see how quantities are measured.
- Part 2
From quantities to tender
Turn measured quantities into a priced estimate, a construction program and a finished tender, with the summary and business view along the way.
Plans & Takeoffs
Set up your PDF plans, measure, organise and calculate quantities, including civil works.
- Part 1
Set up your plans for takeoff
Upload your drawings, organise the plan list, set the scale, rotate sheets and get around the drawing before you measure.
- Part 2
Measuring tools
The main takeoff tools: Dimension, Linear, Area and Count, plus Walls, Set Length, Roof and Cubic, with Snap and Ortho for accuracy.
- Part 3
Organising and editing takeoffs
Group takeoffs into categories, sort them, add to or continue a takeoff, subtract areas and edit markup.
- Part 4
Auto count, wall and room takeoff
Count repeated symbols by example and pick up walls and rooms directly on CAD-generated drawings, then check them in 3D.
- Part 5
Civil takeoff: chainage, levels and cut and fill
Measure road and civil works from PDF plans: set out a chainage, read existing and design levels, and calculate cut and fill volumes.
- Part 6
Compare revisions, copy and lock takeoffs
Work across a full drawing set: compare two revisions with Overlay, copy takeoffs to other pages, lock finished work and check totals in the Takeoff Summary.
Bill of Quantities
Turn takeoffs into a Bill of Quantities, then organise, import and export it.
- Part 1
From takeoff to Bill of Quantities
See how every measured quantity flows into the Bill of Quantities with its category, page and description, ready to review and price.
- Part 2
Organise, import and export the BOQ
Keep a large Bill of Quantities organised, add manual lines, import a schedule of quantities from a spreadsheet, and export the finished BOQ.
Work Breakdown Structure
Build the activity tree and link every activity to its measured quantity.
- Part 1
Building the WBS and assigning quantities
Build the activity tree for a job and link every activity to its measured takeoff quantity, so the Estimate starts from live quantities.
RateBuild
Build and keep your unit rates: the rate library, rate breakdowns, productivity and shared resources.
- Part 1
The rate library
Set up a construction unit rate library in Map Metra RateBuild: trade categories, rate codes, search and organising your estimating rates in one place.
- Part 2
Building a unit rate
Build a construction unit rate from scratch: labour, equipment and materials line by line, with formula pricing and wastage, using floor tiling at $143.76 per square metre as the worked example.
- Part 3
Productivity and shared resources
Work out construction rates from labour productivity, plant costing and material supply prices, and keep them as shared resources that update every rate that uses them.
- Part 4
Importing and using rates
Import construction rates from a spreadsheet, split supply and fix prices into labour and materials, and price an estimate line with a built-up rate in Map Metra.
Estimate
Layout, quantities and rates, formulas, mark-up and sell price, sheets and export.
- Part 1
Estimate layout
Find your way around the Estimate: sheets, categories, sub-totals, level guides, detail levels, columns and clarifications.
- Part 2
Quantities and rates
Bring measured quantities into the estimate and price every line: rate types, waste, cost codes and Lump Sum, Provisional or PC cost types.
- Part 3
Formulas and tools
Work faster in a large estimate with cell formulas, the formula bar, the calculator, Find and Replace, the View menu and keyboard shortcuts.
- Part 4
Mark-up and sell price
Turn each line's cost into a sell price: labour and material split, contingency, mark-up, preliminaries, tax, totals and the movable total line.
- Part 5
Sheets, revisions and export
Work with several estimate sheets, save a new revision before big changes, import a priced schedule and export to Excel, CSV or PDF.
Program
Gantt programmes, calendars, critical path and export.
- Part 1
Setting up the programme
Set up a construction programme in Map Metra: import activities from the WBS, set the project start, and add tasks and milestones in the task sheet and Gantt chart.
- Part 2
Durations and linking activities
Set activity durations and link a construction programme with finish to start, start to start, lag and lead dependencies, by typing, dragging on the Gantt chart, or linking in sequence.
- Part 3
Constraints, float and the critical path
Understand the critical path and float in a construction programme, pin start dates, set deadlines, and filter the Gantt chart to the critical activities in Map Metra.
- Part 4
Calendars and working time
Set a construction programme calendar: public holidays, half days, recurring weekly rules and a six day working week per activity, and see the finish date move.
Demos
Claude doing real takeoffs, estimates and quotes inside Map Metra.
- Demo 1
Electrical takeoff to quote in 23 minutes
An electrical job taken from PDF plans to a priced quote in 23 minutes, with Claude doing the work through the Map Metra connector.
- Demo 2
Claude does construction takeoffs and estimates
See Claude work inside Map Metra through the MCP connector: reading plans, measuring takeoffs and building the estimate, with every number saved in your project.
- Demo 3
Takeoff, BOQ and tender in 60 seconds
A one-minute look at a whole job run by Claude through the Map Metra connector: plans calibrated, quantities measured, the BOQ priced, the programme laid out and the tender drafted.
Coming soon
New episodes are added to the library as they are published.