revit vs adt vs 2d acad

[Anonymous]

Most of our work (say 85%) is 2d space planning - we have a complete set of
architectural lisp that works extremely well with our layer system (AIA
short form) - walls, doors, schedules to excel, 1000+ block library part of
the menu system, almost everything we could ask for. The whole thing is
very lean and mean and enables us to go from concept to working drawings
very quickly.

I'm hearing a lot of hoopla about revit, as well as adt. I'm also hearing
rumblings of revit being the ultimate winner for architects. Can anyone who
has experience in these give me an insight as to whether they represent a
clear advantage for us to, shall we say toss out the baby and the bath
water, and switch?

I'm also concerned about compatibility issues with consultants - I mean
we've had as many as 12 consultants on one project using our drawings as the
basis.
I don't think adt would be a problem - but what about revit?


Jamie Duncan

"Maybe the Hokey Pokey is REALLY what's it all about"

[Anonymous]

Jamie,

I've been using Revit for a couple of months now pretty seriously. I'm
working on a 55-60K SF school project, a 10K church project and a variety of
other little test projects. I really like and enjoy using it. It is pretty
comprehensive in it's features and capabilities. I was able to layout an
entire floor plan (55-60k proj), make adjustments (with PM looking over my
shoulder), generate an overhead 3d view, place a room summary and gross
building sf report on a sheet in 5 hours, one afternoon prior to a meeting.
The next morning I added all the bldg exterior elevations to a sheet and
create enlarged plan views and elevations of several key areas before lunch.
So in a day, I had a fairly large addition pretty well blocked out.
Certainly possible to some extent in ADT, except that the PM was changing
stuff the whole time I was cranking the first afternoon. By the way this
project started out in Microstation and when I realized I only had a day
bailed out....and into Revit.

On the otherhand I've also liked working with ADT and look forward to seeing
and using ADT 2004.

The logical question is, are all your needs met with ADT? If you have few
"wishes" then you probably don't "need" to make a change right? On the
other hand if ADT leaves you "wishing" for things that ADT 2004 don't
promise to resolve then you might want to look at Revit in depth to see how
well it will serve you.

I'd like to think that Revit and ADT will continue on "indefinitely". It's
not out of the question, there is a huge user base of folks who rely heavily
on AutoCAD to get work done. ADT is a "next" step thing for them. Revit is
a "leap" for them. Revit offers the "buzzword" parametric relationships
that you can't get in ADT. These relationships can prove very satisfying
doing space planning not to mention other things. I love Revit's approach
to architectural work and it is refreshingly free of layers and variables to
remember. Naturally the rumor mill will have you believe that Revit and ADT
will merge into something ala Inventor/Mech Desktop, but then that's just
rambling. Want to know more real info, I guess we'd have to apply for work
at Autodesk or be married to someone who works there huh?

Consultant compatibility is not as divisive an issue as it might seem.
Consider that using ADT requires you or your consultant to jump through some
hoops and create a system to stay well coordinated. That is still the case
for Revit use, though it does a pretty good job of creating dwg/dgn files.
Setting up a plan view of a project for Mechanical backgrounds is pretty
easy, you can preset objects to arrive on specific layers and screen them at
the same time. The result is a 2d plan background that the consultant
really only needs to reference in...(same can be accomplished in either
system, it's just pretty darn easy using Revit)

In the meantime, request a Revit CD, it's free and there are good demo
videos and of course the software is the full working app minus
Printing/Saving/Export till you pays yer money. My reseller says you can
still trade an ADT license for Revit for $250ish...so it's "cheap" to be
bold and dynamic, same fee to go back... There I've said plenty....happy
research!

Steve

"Jamie Duncan" wrote in message
news:691C788D1DA5FBC189AF8CD59236583D@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Most of our work (say 85%) is 2d space planning - we have a complete set
of
> architectural lisp that works extremely well with our layer system (AIA
> short form) - walls, doors, schedules to excel, 1000+ block library part
of
> the menu system, almost everything we could ask for. The whole thing is
> very lean and mean and enables us to go from concept to working drawings
> very quickly.
>
> I'm hearing a lot of hoopla about revit, as well as adt. I'm also hearing
> rumblings of revit being the ultimate winner for architects. Can anyone
who
> has experience in these give me an insight as to whether they represent a
> clear advantage for us to, shall we say toss out the baby and the bath
> water, and switch?
>
> I'm also concerned about compatibility issues with consultants - I mean
> we've had as many as 12 consultants on one project using our drawings as
the
> basis.
> I don't think adt would be a problem - but what about revit?
>
>
> Jamie Duncan
>
> "Maybe the Hokey Pokey is REALLY what's it all about"
>
>