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Forums >> Workflow & Implementation >> Training >> **ATTENTION ALL REVIT GURUS** - Teaching Revit
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Joined: Fri, Nov 18, 2005
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To All Revit Gurus, I have been using Revit for 5 years now and a new firm I am at is having me teach and implement Revit company wide, Architecture and MEP. I have never taught Revit in a classroom environment before; I was looking for any last minute advice or comments from all you Revit Gurus out there on teaching Revit. Thanks!
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Brandon Pike | Owner/BIM Specialist 
cad.web.print website: http://www.thinkdesign-studios.com blog: http://www.bimtionary.blogspot.com/ |
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I've taught revit to arch. college students as a teaching assistant and to colleagues at firms, and in both cases the best way is to have them do the tutorials, and then be there to answer questions as they delve in to working on projects. at the firm i'm at now, we had the option to send people to classes to learn or learn by trial and error. since we're so busy, we chose the second option, and it has worked out very well. i should add that those working in a firm are tremendously easier to teach than students!! you can do the tutorials in about a day or two and learn the rest just by doing it, consulting revit help (or revitcity!), or asking for help from others in the firm. i would say another big help is an introduction lecture explaining the concept of bim and the big difference between cad and bim. people who have been using cad for years seem to take awhile to adjust to using a program that is entity-based instead of line-based. hope this helps somewhat.
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i should also add that if you have to do classes, try to do them so that all that attend have computers with revit open in front of them. at another firm, we had a revit rep. come in to teach lessons and none of us had computers with us during the classes. the rep. have us lots of info but by the time we needed that info in practice, we'd forgotten what he said during the class and had to call him to explain again. he also basically followed the tutorials, so if you don't have to do the classes it would be easier to have everyone do the tutorials on their own. when we polled the students i taught over the years, everyone seemed to like the "learn by doing" method over being talked at in a classroom setting.
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If you have been using Revit for that long you will do fine. What I did was create my training outlines to pass out in class and crated my own model to use. I wouldn't recommend using the tutorials as they can be very confusing at times and don't always explain things very well. I will usually start off with going through the UI and explain what the project browser is and how it works, explain working with tool bars and how it's different from CAD, explain the design bar and how to use it. Show them the view bar and how it works and affects your drawing as well as the status bar as it is good to know and watch the status bar so you can see what you are selecting. Explain the menus and what some of the menu items are and then spend quite a while in the settings menu. The reason is if they haven't worked in Revit it will be hard for many CAD users to understand how Revit is controlling lines weights, "layers" and things like that. I feel it's a good idea to get them to understand the basic concepts of how Revit works before they actually get to using it. The next thing I do is get into the basic commands like offset, copy align and what not. The way I do this is I have them work only with the line command. No point in having them draw walls as it will only distract them and encourage them to get a head of themselves. Take them through all of the toolbar commands so you can explain what each options and what it does. The reason I do it this way is again, to make the end user comfortable with Revit, how to navigate inside it and where to access the options and commands that they need. Once they are comfortable with the very basics, then it's time to move on to the basics of modeling. From here I take a look at what type of user I am teaching. Every type of user doesn't need to know the same type of information. Drafters won't need the focus on the massing side of things as much as designers and things like that. I would be glad to send you some outlines that I have or if you would like any help, just let me know. HTH, Brett Goodchild brettgoodchild@gmail.com
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Thank you very much for your informational and useful responses. I have been creating outlines based on a curriculum put together by a local reseller here in MN and personal experiences with training. They seem to go very well along with what Brett had described. I was thinking about a hybrid of Meggyjeans and Brett's methodologies. I am having them start with a few select tutorials  a chapter or two) showing them fundamentals of the program. I then will hold a week classroom environment training sessions where all students will have their PCs with Revit installed on their machines. Where I will go through the outline I have been putting together. I do agree with Brett that the tutorials can be a bit confusing at times; expecially to the beginner user. I feel from my experiences I can better describe and paraphrase the tutorials into a format that can be better understood by the students.
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Brandon Pike | Owner/BIM Specialist
cad.web.print website: http://www.thinkdesign-studios.com blog: http://www.bimtionary.blogspot.com/ |
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Hello Bm3875, . Teaching a group of people to use revit in an organized manor is a fairly big undertaking if you want it to be a susccess. Knowing how to use revit accounts for about 50% of your success possibility. . There are many outlines floating around out there that you can use. I have been teaching revit / cad for 20+ years and have witnessed the software changes and various training materials used. I have repeated the classes so many times that about 5 years ago I decided to just start recording it all in a professional format. . While you walk around the training room helping people with their labs etc. you will start to find it very draining. Especially when you start to see yourself constantly repeating the same rules. Over and over. It becomes tiring and tedious and the next thing you know you just want to get back to your desk and do your own work. If you plan to do this by creating your own outline, materials and lab exercises you have a big job ahead of you. . You have to maintain control of the room, keep it interesting and make progress or you will loose the room. . I have developed a series of revit training videos titled 'REVIT House Kit' available on DVD. The series uses a pre-determined set of house plans to teach all the fundamental lessons. You may find the investment well worth your while. I have listed the lessons for this series below. By adopting these videos for your class as your road map it will remove a great deal of the pressure and allow you to get back to teaching. When I teach a revit class I give everyone these videos 2-4 weeks before I even arrive. When I walk in the door they are all ready and raring to go with all the basics covered. Then we go through each lesson and it moves along at a good pace as we fill in al lthe gaps. People can watch and re-watch the videos as many times as required with no burden to the instructor. . I have posted a great 7 part video training series here at revitcity for your advanced users at the link nelow: . . REVIT House Kit Video Series (approx. 17 hours of live demonstration) Lesson 1: Introduction Part 1 Lesson 2: Introduction Part 2 Lesson 3: Introduction Part 3 Lesson 4: Foundation Walls and Footing Lesson 5: Basement Slab and Walls Lesson 6: Main Floor and Exterior Walls Lesson 7: Main Floor Partitions Lesson 8: 2nd Floor and Exterior Walls Lesson 9: Exterior Wall Cleanup Lesson 10: 2nd Floor Partitions Lesson 11: Upper Roofs Lesson 12: Lower Roofs Lesson 13: Deck, Porch and Steps Lesson 14: Miscellaneous Lesson 15: Room Separators Lesson 16: Rooms and Room Tags Lesson 17: Area Plans and Schedules Lesson 18: Fascia and Roof Gutters Lesson 19: Porch Posts and Beam Lesson 20: Basement Stairs Lesson 21: Main Floor Stairs Lesson 22: Remove the Sketch Markers Lesson 23: Doors Lesson 24: Use Glass Material and Add Skylight Lesson 25: Windows Lesson 26: Batten Board Introduction Lesson 27: Batten Board Placement Lesson 28: Basement Windows Lesson 29: Ceilings Lesson 30: Posts and Footing Pads Lesson 31: Railings Lesson 32: Kitchen Casework Lesson 33: Kitchen Island Lesson 34: Bathroom Casework Lesson 35: Plumbing Fixtures Lesson 36: Property Lines and Topo Lesson 37: Structural Framing Symbols Part 1 Lesson 38: Structural Framing Symbols Part 2 Lesson 39: Main and 2nd Floor Structural Lesson 40: Basement Structural Lesson 41: Basement Structural Labels Lesson 42: Dimension Main Floor Plan Lesson 43: Dimension 2nd Floor Plan Lesson 44: Dimension Foundation Plan Lesson 45: Annotating the Site Plan Lesson 46: Introduction to Tagging Lesson 47: Door Tags and Schedule Lesson 48: Window Tags and Schedule Lesson 49: Detailing Section 1 Part 1 Lesson 50: Detailing Section 1 Part 2 Lesson 51: Detailing Section 2 Part 1 Lesson 52: Detailing Section 2 Part 2 Lesson 53: Annotate the Elevations Lesson 54: Annotate Section 1 Lesson 55: Annotate Section 2 Lesson 56: Electrical Plan Preparation Lesson 57: Electrical Lighting Lesson 58: Electrical Light Switches Lesson 59: Electrical Wiring Lesson 60: Electrical Power Lesson 61: Schedules Lesson 62: Site Pad for the House Lesson 63: Site Pad for Window Wells Lesson 64: Trees Shrubs and Entourage Lesson 65: Rendering the Model Lesson 66: Cameras and More Rendering Lesson 67: Kitchen Rendering Lesson 68: Printing
Edited on: Sat, Oct 4, 2008 at 11:43:42 AM
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Hello BM3875, Although I'm no guru in Revit, I'd like to think I'm close to it. What I have learned from the cadclips website is truely amazing. I started my business with a huge contract so I HAD to learn Revit FAST! Thanks to Daryl, I could just look up a topic and boom, there was a mini video on exactly what I wanted to learn to do. So, if you're trying to maximize your time and get down to producing drawings, help you team by getting Daryl's videos. They are SOO worth it and VERY economical! (He doesn't know me and I'm not being paid for this BTW, just wanted you to have the BEST info)
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I've been using revit for 7+ years now and have been teaching staff informally in the 2 offices I've worked in for most of those. This year I've started teaching actual formal classes externally. What I've learnt so far is, repetition is important! You can be up front demonstrating how to do something very very slowly in your own eyes so everyone can do it with you, but if you do a walk around you'll usually find a lot of people lagging a long way behind. As such its best to run through quickly as an overview first of what you are trying to achieve and then start again from scratch, much slower with everyone going through with you. It can also help to stop, and ask the audience what you should be doing next. Those quick to grasp the concepts will enjoy answering the questions and you then have a good understanding that people are learning! This way people can get a better grasp of what they are trying to achieve and don't fall behind as easily. Just some hints! Most importantly make sure they put their new found knowledge to use immediately otherwise its lost...
Edited on: Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 9:39:58 PM
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Chris.
Co-Founder | BIM Consultant | Software Designer B. Arch)
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Hi, I'm converting a firm to Revit with 110+ individuals in three offices. I've found that classroom instruction works for the basics. The tutorials work when the individual is self-motivated to learn and not when they are using company time to experiment blindly. The CBT Computer Based Training likewise work when people have a drive to learn the software and if not they will be bored stiff, and when they come up with questions they will find themselves confused. My company has been attempting to switch for 2+ years and just recently made the decision to hire an in-house consultant (myself). - M.
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Michael Bergin Intern Architect / BIM Specialist CMSS Architects, PC Virginia Beach, Washington DC, Richmond |
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Here is a hard proven fact I know all to well over many years of teaching CAD for resellers and being self employed as a consulting. . The motivation MUST MUST be driven from the top down. Meaning the Partners, Associates, Senior staff and production managers have to push it and fully support it. If it is left up to the local users and CAD managers alone to progress your chances of success are very dim. . The partners must use the 2x4 approach (WACK ! ). Otherwise you may find yourself just going through the motions and dancing to the music and in the end you'll end up back to using xref's and dare I say . . . . layers.. . esh . Generally the drafting production managers just want prints and they want them yesterday. They have no time or interest in change. They only want drawings. I have witnessed so much internal counter productive side lining from production managers it never ceases to amaze me. Even after the large finacial investment. (can you get it done by monday if you just use autocad . . . ) . The drive for change MUST stem from the top down and it must be focused on the future and not on Monday morning deadlines. . Start a small (real) pilot project and carry it through to the end. Don't give up. Never ever give up. If you need resolving proof just look at all the images in the gallery on this site ! That's where you are headed. . I'm not just talking management support. I'm talking management 100% buy in and top down 2x4 motivation. . From the desk of dgcad.
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