Forums >> Community >> The Studio >> Revit Dissertation Assistance Required URGENTLY

Allan1983a

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Joined: Mon, Jun 2, 2008
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I am hoping to get personal analysis of Revit i.e. What you believe Revits definition would be, what are its good points, where does it fall down, how has it improved your day to day working and how it can be improved in the future to further assist the construction industry & why you consider some companies have still not adopted Revit.

Basically as in depth as you can make it I would appreciate!

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thetabest

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Joined: Tue, Mar 15, 2011
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Can't go into much depth, but it has sped up the accessibility of information, ie.- square footages are current and up to date, vs. CAD when P-Lines would have to be created and adjusted to obtain the areas...  Your drawings are coordinated, you don't get lost details, if a detail moves to a new sheet, all references adjust with it. 

Downsides, extreme front end setup required.  Moving into Revit is a great, but big step, and it requires a lot of front end development of standards, content, and even just setting up your lineweights, processes, etc.  Couple this with there being fewer users capable of using Revit vs the vast years in experience with CAD and you can see why companies are slow to jump ship.  I typically consider the first 2-3 projects in Revit to be washes, i.e.- don't expect them to be faster, as all the little workarounds, etc. will have to be discovered, documented, etc. but once past that point, the return on investment starts to show itself.

Consider in CAD, you can do most anything faster, tools are more refined, plus users are more familiar with CAD, thus you can do a project in CAD faster and easier than Revit.  IF you don't have any changes.  Once you start changing the design, then Revit starts to catch up and surpass CAD.  Also you have to use Revit for all its worth, if you are using it just to model in 3D, then use CAD, its faster for most people, its toolsets are more mature and refined, and you have a larger population able to work within it.  Revit is for beyond just the 3D, its all about the information.  If you start using material takeoffs, and schedules, along with other tools, then you will start to find Revit invaluable.

Once you have a template setup, etc. Then revit projects start to take shape faster than CAD, partly because you can create a "cartoon" drawing set really quickly, and don't have to worry about xrefs, and setup of a new sheet, etc.  In Revit, you create the views, create the sheets, drop the views on the sheet, adjust the detail numbers, the sheet number, and anywhere in the project, the view references (callouts, section markers, etc.) automatically adjust to the new sheet number/detail number... Much faster than CAD.

All in All, I'm for the transition to Revit, I just like to remind those on the fence, that it is a big investment, one of worth, just don't be surprised at the upfront overhead costs you will have to eat before starting to bring in the bacon.

Many firms offset this cost by trying to develop the standards, etc. While running a project, which is a great way to offset that cost, but beware that this sometimes results in difficulties meeting deadlines, as sometimes what seemed a good way to do something, turns to to have unforseen flaws, and then you have to develop the infamous work around.  Revit is to me, a big work around, in other words, there are many things it can't do (i.e.- electrical riser diagrams), you can draft your single line riser diagrams, but you lose any "smart" connection to your design, so you have to create a work around, or solution for how to approach said problem.

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Trent Best

Best Systems

the.tabest@gmail.com

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itsmyalterego

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Joined: Thu, May 28, 2009
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Sounds like a paper!  I can't write too much, but:

Some companies haven't adopted revit because it's comfortable to stay in AutoCAD, and there never feels like a good time to lose productivity and -learn- something new. Also;

Often, the higher-ups aren't tech-savvy enough to make informed decisions, and defer to people involved in the day-to-day drafting, who would certainly not want to admit they're outdated.  These people will grasp at fading reasons why revit isn't a good drafting program. 

The main power of revit is seeing conflicts, in my mind.  Modeling more than would only show on sheets brings problems to our attention that otherwise might be missed, resulting in construction delays, change orders, and lawsuits. Common in CAD... where everything has to be visualized in the mind if its not already drawn... "how the *^$* does that.. I... what?"  Then switching back and forth between sections, plans, and details looking for clarification on stuff nobody bothered to draw because they didn't understand it either... ...it's so much easier when you can throw it into a 3D view and just LOOK at the confusing areas and grasp their geometry, their conflicts, in a second.  Seeing ducts hitting beams, beams going through doors...

Another amazing power is the flexibility that remains in the model into late stages of design.  All views being a perspective on the same live model makes changes a breeze, and their fallout quite manageable.  Design doesn't fall by the wayside in favor of avoiding the hassle of updating all cad bases. 

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mbsteve

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Joined: Fri, Sep 22, 2006
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I agree with both previous papers, the real advantage of the software over CAD (2D) is as mentioned above detection of conflicts and when detailing having the pieces in there actual position instead of the make believe position one might imagine. Being able to make changes quickly and all views are updated immediatle is really helpful. Sheet detail call outs being correct, which is always a pain at the end of a workset in CAD, to go back and fix all the bubbles etc. to get it correct, very time consuming and it is usually right at the end of the project working drawings. Now is the time to be working on learning something new, as we all know the work load has slowed quite a bit. Steep learning curve is true, but I would not go back.

PS, I started with Pencil and Vellum, good to be able to change.

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thetabest

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Joined: Tue, Mar 15, 2011
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You are no offense, a dinosaur! (mbsteve) And yet an impressive one.  I've known many who were also old timers and they didn't fair so well on Revit.  I applaud you for your attitude, and your perseverence.  End result, and in summation, it is worth switching over to Revit, But go into it knowing that things will be done differently, workflows change a bit also, just be sure that you guys don't bite off more than you can chew, if you ever need help, there are lots of people like me who provide our services... Just find a Revit consultant, or even your Autodesk resailer typically has a training team.. (expensive usually).

GL

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Trent Best

Best Systems

the.tabest@gmail.com

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itsmyalterego

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I'm young -- 26 -- and some of my earliest memories are of the smell of ammonia and the glow of ultraviolet light from the blue line machine.  Also, autocad, on DOS.  Grew up in an architectural office. 

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vector23

Joined: Sun, Apr 23, 2006
265 Posts

i began my study of architecture six years ago.. six months after that

i started looking for a computer program that i could use to create

architecture with..

it took me six months to settle on revit.. i've been learning revit for

five years.. i didn't pay any attention to anyone's opinion of any software..

the new ADT 2004 was the first program i started looking at because

it was the most popular.. i quickly realized that ADT was only an

enhanced version of AutoCAD to be used for architecture but not a true

virtual construction program like archicad or even chief architect.. there

was a nice program for residential- made in finland called "vertex BD"-

and i was messing with that for a couple of months but there was nearly

no training material for it and it cost $10,000.. i then turned to chief architect-

and although it is new and modern- i discovered it was not a true virtual

construction program- and it didn't seem professional to me- (although

it is)..

the last program i looked at was revit version 8 that i downloaded

the trial of.. it looked really good to me- it looked professional but

it also looked like a chinese puzzle from hell.. but still i knew that

was the program i was looking for.. i bought a student version of

revit 8 and i have never looked back..

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vector23

Joined: Sun, Apr 23, 2006
265 Posts

"I'm young -- 26"

are you kidding me- that's OLD..

and you better stop sniffing that ammonia- it's not good for you..

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