Thinking of cheating on my AutoCAD with that hot new Revit program.

Well, I just got the new local community college class listings and I'm pretty sure I'm going to take an intro to Revit class. It's been quite a while since I've taken any classes, but I think it's time to jump on the train before I become a dinosaur, no more relavant than an old school pencil pusher. I switched from vanilla AutoCAD to AutoCAD Architecture almost a year ago and I love it, but I've also become very aware of it's 3D limitations.

I know it's been talked about many times, but, just for an update:

1) How many of you have made the switch now, and are you happy you did?

2) How important do you feel that it is to know Revit to be valuable in the work force?

3) Do you feel that Revit will become, and continue to be the industry standard over Autocad Architecture, Archicad, Microstation & Bentley Architecture etc.?

For around $100 and two nights a week, for one semester, I feel like I can take a big step in having a more secure employment outlook for the future.

AutoCAD, I will always treasure the times we've had together, but I'm just not sure if it's working out any more.

It certainly won't hurt to take the classes. There are lots of folks that use it. I have Revit 2009 but I actually don't sell any Revit work. I bought it because I had several customers inquire about it, then when I did and let them know the usual response was "well, we're not ready to make the switch yet, we were just trying to see where everybody else was".

I do use it quite a bit however to generate floor plans and elevations that I then export to Autocad. It is great for that. So far though, none of my clients are using it yet. They will eventually though. Having skills in both will definitely be a plus.

A lot of that is the general perspective in your area. I live near, and work in the Kitchener/Waterloo area (the home of Research in Motion) and larger companies are all very up to date. Essentially any company here that does any architectual work at all has Revit, but it will be different in other locations. Even my dads company (a food processing plant) has revit for their architectual work.

Yeah, I think at this point I know what I should do - I'm just trying to work up the motivation to learn the new program. I'm actually pretty excited about it except for the time commitment and the moments of frustration I will certainly feel when I first try to actually use it to do construction documents.

None of my current work associates are using Revit as their primary design program - AutoCAD is still the standard, but my feeling is that in a stronger economy more companies would have already switched to Revit, so if I'm prepared when the industry really starts ratcheting up again, then I will be ahead of the game.

My biggest client is a dinosaur of a company, if not the biggest, it's one of the top 3 in their business in the world. They are still using Autocad 2008. They have a small team of Revit folks that will supply you with stuff if you insist, but they won't accept any drawings drawn in Revit from architects or contractors. In fact, I have to save down to 2004 for them if I do shop drawings because they have some ancient proprietary software that harvests info from attributes for bill of material purposes. This stuff will not read a drawing newer than the 2004 format.

I recently enrolled in the same community college that I have my CAD degree from. I'm about to finish this week with the class and I love Revit for the time savings compared to AutoCAD by hand. I've had some discussions with a friend that uses AutoCAD Architecture and they sound similar in what they do.

Some things in Revit will absolutely **** me off because I know I can draw 2D work faster in AutoCAD. Granted some of my learning curve had to do with me breaking the 10yr + AutoCAD habit.

Now that I am about to finish the class, I absolutely will not go back to Revit for architecture work. The guy I have moonlighted forced me to use Revit early on in the semester when I was just "showing it off" to him (lol). Since then, I have drawn 5 plans in Revit only and one of them I have completed as a full set to the city. The other 4 are basic models for preliminary purposes.

The class I took was basic architecture but with Revit. I didn't need the architecture part but I wanted to learn Revit, so I used my full time job education reimbursement to pay for the class for me. We basically taught ourselves using this book: http://www.amazon.com/Residential-Design-Using-Autodesk-Architecture/dp/1585036803. The book wasn't too bad, some of the ways it was written will throw you for a loop but overall it's a decent teaching book. We only watched a video or two.

My full time job uses AutoCAD and some proprietary 3D software to build wall panels & trusses. We are slowly moving to BIM but more of less leaning towards Tekla for structural purposes. I wanted to learn Revit to stay ahead of the drafting software curve and to help out my moonlighting job. I'm seeing more and more jobs requiring Revit skills.

[quote name=emwhite;442877

Some things in Revit will absolutely **** me off because I know I can draw 2D work faster in AutoCAD. Granted some of my learning curve had to do with me breaking the 10yr + AutoCAD habit.

Now that I am about to finish the class' date=' I absolutely will not go back to Revit for architecture work. The guy I have moonlighted forced me to use Revit early on in the semester when I was just "showing it off" to him (lol). Since then, I have drawn 5 plans in Revit only and one of them I have completed as a full set to the city. The other 4 are basic models for preliminary purposes.

[/quote]

Speaking from my own experience, I'd say that the more experience and time you have in using Autocad, the harder it is to learn Revit. You will expect it to do certain things, and behave in certain ways, and it doesn't. Autocad will get in the way, here. Commands that have the same name don't quite work the way you think they are going to, and that adds to the frustration. If you can switch Autocad off in your mind, you'll have a better time of it. I've been using it since release 10 and it's nearly impossible to switch it off. I catch myself trying to zoom in Word and Excel with a window and stuff like that. The silly way Adobe X pans and zooms is drives me nuts, because I will hit the wheel button to pan and that turns that dynamic thing on that goes exactly opposite direction of where I want to go.

I don't know how many times I've caught myself thinking "Why on earth did you buy this piece of.....software?" while drawing something in Revit. But, I have to admit, it's growing on me. At first, there were times I'd go draw something in Autocad just so I could see what it was going to look like. That way when I finally got it in Revit, I'd know if it was right or not. The other day, I realized I was doing just the opposite. I was trying to draw an elevation that had a funky roofline and I actually drew it in revit quicker. I bought a Kindle book and downloaded the PC Kindle software so that I could have one on one monitor and the other on the other monitor, and that really helped me get through it. The book I used was "Introducing Revit Architecture 2009".

Hang in there and you'll get it, just pretend that you don't know anything about Autocad while you are trying to use Revit. It will help.

Speaking from my own experience' date=' I'd say that the more experience and time you have in using Autocad, the harder it is to learn Revit. You will expect it to do certain things, and behave in certain ways, and it doesn't. Autocad will get in the way, here. Commands that have the same name don't quite work the way you think they are going to, and that adds to the frustration. If you can switch Autocad off in your mind, you'll have a better time of it. I've been using it since release 10 and it's nearly impossible to switch it off. I catch myself trying to zoom in Word and Excel with a window and stuff like that. The silly way Adobe X pans and zooms is drives me nuts, because I will hit the wheel button to pan and that turns that dynamic thing on that goes exactly opposite direction of where I want to go.

 

I don't know how many times I've caught myself thinking "Why on earth did you buy this piece of.....software?" while drawing something in Revit. But, I have to admit, it's growing on me. At first, there were times I'd go draw something in Autocad just so I could see what it was going to look like. That way when I finally got it in Revit, I'd know if it was right or not. The other day, I realized I was doing just the opposite. I was trying to draw an elevation that had a funky roofline and I actually drew it in revit quicker. I bought a Kindle book and downloaded the PC Kindle software so that I could have one on one monitor and the other on the other monitor, and that really helped me get through it. The book I used was "Introducing Revit Architecture 2009".

 

Hang in there and you'll get it, just pretend that you don't know anything about Autocad while you are trying to use Revit. It will help.[/quote']

 

Yea, I know and use like 5 different drawing programs on a daily basis; which makes it even harder...lol. AutoCAD, Revit and a few other proprietary programs I use damn near daily. My biggest stumbling block on all of them was switching off the AutoCAD mentality.

 

Now that I've pretty much gotten used to Revit, it's a no brainer to draw in it. Sometimes I will catch myself trying to input things like AutoCAD but those times are getting fewer and fewer in between.

 

I've been using AutoCAD since 2000i. My old high school drafting teachers were too lazy to learn AutoCAD, so we learned on Generic CAD via DOS....

I know what you guys mean about being TOO used to AutoCAD. I try to use AutoCAD commands in other (non-drawing) programs, and a few years ago I took a Pro-Engineer class and it was really tough to not think in terms of AutoCAD commands. I do think that AutoCAD Architecture is a good solution for someone who doesn't want to switch to Revit. It doesn't give the full connection between everything like Revit does, and I'm finding myself exploding things as I get into construction drawings because it's just easier to do the line work than make the 3D model perfect. Maybe that ability to escape from being tied down to modeling can be seen as a strength of AutoCAD over Revit, I don't know yet. I'm hoping that Revit is good enough, and easy enough that making the model perfect doesn't hinder overall productivity. On the same note I have never used the actual model in AutoCAD Architecture to actually be my elevations - I create a 2D elevation from the model, which saves a lot of time usually, and then do the rest of the elevations in 2D. Anyone here actually use the 3D AutoCAD model as your final elevations?

I know what you guys mean about being TOO used to AutoCAD. I try to use AutoCAD commands in other (non-drawing) programs, and a few years ago I took a Pro-Engineer class and it was really tough to not think in terms of AutoCAD commands. I do think that AutoCAD Architecture is a good solution for someone who doesn't want to switch to Revit. It doesn't give the full connection between everything like Revit does, and I'm finding myself exploding things as I get into construction drawings because it's just easier to do the line work than make the 3D model perfect. Maybe that ability to escape from being tied down to modeling can be seen as a strength of AutoCAD over Revit, I don't know yet. I'm hoping that Revit is good enough, and easy enough that making the model perfect doesn't hinder overall productivity. On the same note I have never used the actual model in AutoCAD Architecture to actually be my elevations - I create a 2D elevation from the model, which saves a lot of time usually, and then do the rest of the elevations in 2D. Anyone here actually use the 3D AutoCAD model as your final elevations?

There is no EXPLODE command in Revit...well not for the model. At least not what I have found or want to know about...lol.

You will love Revit for the elevations. As you draw the model, the elevations are drawn. The same thing for kitchen & bathroom elevations. The elevations and sections have saved me hours of time with that alone. Added the fact that if you change something, that change is reflected automatically in every page for you! So no forgetting to change a window height in the elevation or something little like that.

Of course you can always add 2D line work (Detail work in Revit as it's called). Now the complete set of plans (I fibbed about it being completely drawn in Revit) I drew, I had xreferenced a couple of AutoCAD drawings to save me some time because I originally didn't know how to draw those details. Now that I have almost completed my training, all of my sections and plot plan from now on will be completed in Revit.

BIM is the future of drafting! Everyone is moving to it now a days in one form or another.

I do think that AutoCAD Architecture is a good solution for someone who doesn't want to switch to Revit.

I don't agree with this statement since AutoCAD Architecture stole all of its intuitive interface from Revit. To me, if you're going to make the leap from 2D AutoCAD into the 3D/BIM realm for Architectural purposes, I would bypass AutoCAD Architecture altogether. I work for a highly respectable architectural firm and they are Revit only. This is becoming more and more true with a lot of companies. The normal AutoCAD things we do here outside of Revit surely doesn't require AutoCAD Architecture at all.

I think Architecture is just a bandaid for firms that don't want to make the investment in to 3D/BIM. It's hard to break people from their habits in getting them to swap over.

I agree, em.

Well, switching from regular AutoCAD to "Architecture" has been good for me, but I don't doubt that if I had the ability to make a quick and easy switch to Revit that it would have been better.

It does seem like Revit has secured itself as the future leader (or at least industry standard) in the field of architecture over all other programs. I'm looking forward to learning it.

Well, switching from regular AutoCAD to "Architecture" has been good for me, but I don't doubt that if I had the ability to make a quick and easy switch to Revit that it would have been better.

 

It does seem like Revit has secured itself as the future leader (or at least industry standard) in the field of architecture over all other programs. I'm looking forward to learning it.

It seems to be the standard. Not sure if that has anything to do with Autodesk's name being in front of it...kind of like AutoCAD is the standard.

Revit is great. To make your life easier, forget your AutoCAD habits before you even open the software...it will make learning a lot EASIER.

Well, switching from regular AutoCAD to "Architecture" has been good for me, but I don't doubt that if I had the ability to make a quick and easy switch to Revit that it would have been better.

Now granted, I cannot say at all that my time spent with AutoCAD MEP wasn't at all worth it - it was. Simply put, I just took the "long road" to eventually come back around to realizing that I should have been using Revit MEP all along. So I could have had 5+ years of constant experience with Revit MEP along with Templates, Families, and everything in between. Instead, I have a ton of Tempaltes, Blocks, and everything in between for AutoCAD MEP and I'm now starting to finally get things set up for Revit MEP but the road is long (albiet light at the end of the tunnel).

This is why when Revit is questioned with an AutoCAD "vertical product" I will always direct the individual towards Revit.

It does seem like Revit has secured itself as the future leader (or at least industry standard) in the field of architecture over all other programs. I'm looking forward to learning it.

This has been a great informative post.

I am making the switch to Revit, some day reeeeal soon.

I believe that Revit will be the format for the future, I was speaking to an Architect just last week.

He has been using Archicad for the past 8 years and told me he is making the switch, His reason was

that virtually everybody he knows in his field uses it because all their clients are asking for it.

I am a big coward, I just keep putting it off cos AutoCad is faster for me, I think.

I just need to bite the bullet and dive in, just like I did with AutoCad when I threw the Rotring in the dart board.

Can anybody out there just give me a little push.

D

Well don't put off AutoCAD just yet. It is still way faster for "jumping in" and simply drafting. Revit cannot compete at all if you just want to "draw" something. Revit is to only be used with purpose, not for "general designing". That's not what Revit is intended for at all. If you choose to use Revit, it's either all the way or nothing at all, honestly. And remember, Revit is still a maturing program. You will face obstacles and you will have to stride over hurdles along the way. It's just the way it is unless you work for a firm that has someone very experienced with Revit that can really teach you things.

Well don't put off AutoCAD just yet. It is still way faster for "jumping in" and simply drafting. Revit cannot compete at all if you just want to "draw" something. Revit is to only be used with purpose, not for "general designing". That's not what Revit is intended for at all. If you choose to use Revit, it's either all the way or nothing at all, honestly. And remember, Revit is still a maturing program. You will face obstacles and you will have to stride over hurdles along the way. It's just the way it is unless you work for a firm that has someone very experienced with Revit that can really teach you things.

And to add to this, you will run across clients that can't use a Revit drawing. A lot of the older, more set in their ways companies will want the dwg format. Their money is just as good as anybody else's, so don't limit yourself to just Revit clients. You never know, what looks like the hottest thing going today can be tomorrow's dead end.

Well that's part's easy. File > Export > DWG.