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Revit is driving me mental

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Message 1 of 5
NigelParsons4560
464 Views, 4 Replies

Revit is driving me mental

Ive been using AutoCAD since 1986.

 

Revit is driving me insane.  Training, videos, and online tutorials work fine in a "canned demo' situation, but I can never get the software to work for a real life application.

 

It is Friday.  I've spent 5 days trying to draw up an existing house that would have taken me 4-5 hours on AutoCAD.

 

I've spent $5000 on this software, plus annual subscriptions to 2016 paid in advance.

 

This week has cost me another $4000 in wasted time.

 

Why is this bloody software so difficult to use?

 

Why can't I just add a few lines to a door to show a window?

 

Why do my walls keep moving?  I draw a room 2400x3600.  An hour later it is 2407.3x3608.1  Why?  Why? Why?

 

Do you think my client cares?  Does my bank care? Does the tax department care?  No frelling way!

 

I have never been so pissed off in my life.  With the economic downturn I can no longer afford the luxury of an assistant to do all my drawing.

 

Screw it!

4 REPLIES 4
Message 2 of 5

How much of your investment was for training with a good instructor?


Alfredo Medina _________________________________________________________________ ______
Licensed Architect (Florida) | Freelance Instructor | Autodesk Expert Elite (on Revit) | Profile on Linkedin
Message 3 of 5

Hello Alfredo,

 

I attended a 3 day group class run by an authorised autodesk training centre.

 

I was told that the best training is one on one, in my office, working on a real project.  I must admit that I have never followed through because in the real world there are numerous interuptions to a regular work day.  Nonetheless, I'll try to organise something.

 

Good advice.

Message 4 of 5

OP as for wall lengths moving, there is a way to lock down the dimensions associated with them so they don't move. A lot of Revit functions require you to put aside notions of AutoCAD functions, since absolutely everything can be tracked (and charted), and a lot of it is parametric -- that is, doors and windows will cut openings in the wall they are "hosted" in, and can reposition themselves to center in a room for example, when the room is enlarged.

 

IMHO the best thing to do is to take a project you have already done (or one with no time constraints and which you are not charging for) and do it in your spare time. You can go through the basics of creating your own objects (and/or finding them on the web), titleblocks etc. You can try, and fail, and find the solutions, and triumph all without trying to meet a deadline. Then your second project might be a real one, in which you'll be glad you solved some of your earliest issues. Each subsequent project builds on the previous ones, and adds to your knowledge and experience.

 

The good news is that some of Revit does indeed function similar to AutoCAD. Annotations are one example. Another is the Family Editor, for creating families (Revit's version of dynamic blocks). Look for the guide to families (free on this website) -- it'll help you immensely and you may even start having fun. Good luck!

If by some odd chance my nattering was useful -- that's great, glad to help. But if it actually solved your issue, then please mark my solution as accepted 🙂
Message 5 of 5

Hi Bob,

 

I have managed to calm down over the last day or so.  You know, I was pulling my hair out trying to work out how to lock the walls.  Today (Saturday) I had a colleague come in to help me.  First thing she asked was why I didn't pin them.  Of course, the **** pin command is smack bang in the middle of the ribbon, isn't it!  That solved that.  I've also learned to use dimensions to lock one end of a wall so that when I change its length it grows at the right end.

 

My problem is this: I'm a sole practicing architect.  I do a variety of projects, most of them are from Concept Design to hand-over to client.  The actual drawing process is a small part of my business.  I can go months between drawing projects.  That coupled with my 27 years of AutoCAD experience (which I consider a hinderance when using Revit) means that I soon forget the Revit way.

 

When I have bigger projects running I get a drafty in to do my drawing.  That takes the pressure off.

 

I like your idea of working on a project without time and budget constraints in my spare time.  I'm going to do that soon.  I do actually like that which I have the ability to do in Revit.  I find that Youtube videos are particularly helpful as I get to see how others use the functionality of Revit to achieve their goals.

 

Don't worry ... I haven't reached for the noose just yet ... 🙂

 

Cheers

 

Nigel

 

 

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