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What are the negatives to Revit?

106 REPLIES 106
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Message 1 of 107
Anonymous
862 Views, 106 Replies

What are the negatives to Revit?


There have been many comparison threads about ADT
vs. Revit.  I know all that and I am not looking for that here. 

 

What I am looking for is
pitfalls one should look out for, or at least consider
before one moves a large company (70+ users) in three offices from ADT to
Revit.

 

Are there any you can think of, from those of you
who have already made the switch?


--
*<] 🙂 }

 

CAD Systems Manager
Autodesk Architectural Desktop Certified
Expert
106 REPLIES 106
Message 61 of 107
JeffreyMcGrew
in reply to: Anonymous

oh, two more pitfalls about moving to Revit:

Revit can require better hardware. I've worked, on Revit, in places with poor networks, or poor client computers, and it can be very painful. To the point where those places wound up trading up. If you're assuming that you'll roll out Revit on two-to-three year old hardware, half a gig, bad video card, and use it on a 10-base-T network... well... you'll be able to get started, but you'll feel some pain. You'll want at least a gig of ram for each machine, and 100-base-T network. Big projects are gonna take two gigs of Ram.

The other thing is that good training materials, books, classes, and such can be hard to find. There are some out there, but most were created by folks that have never used Revit in a production environment to deliver a real Project. So while the quality of the training, courseware, and classes can be very very good, they can also at times be lacking some of the real-world experience you'll be looking for in how one actually puts a Revit Project together. It's not uncommon to hear from firms that switch that they feel they quickly overtake their local reseller in terms of Revit knowledge, and have to look elsewhere for higher-level support. But in the last year, this has gotten better (thankfully) and if you're lucky enough to be near a good Revit reseller or local consultant it will go a long ways to help out...
Message 62 of 107
JeffreyMcGrew
in reply to: Anonymous

Oh wait, one more. You've got three offices. Do you "insource" much, where folks in one office will be borrowed by another in the short-term to work on a Project?

Because Revit puts everything into one File, having multiple people in multiple offices working on it at the same time either requires carefully checking out worksets, or breaking the Project up into separate files ala x-refing, or a nice fat VPN system.

We're testing some Riverbed stuffs, and while it's definitely not cheap, it rocks the house, and could make all these issues moot.

Just wanted to bring it up, for it's something you'll want to think about. Coordinating work between multiple offices is an issue with ADT too, mind you, but with Revit it gets a little more complex and demanding on the network....
Message 63 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

For this point I feel pretty good actually.

We are going to synchronize all of our offices using DFS.

This will keep all three offices synchronous in real-time.

Worksets will be a new thing for sure, and my PM's and Leads will have to
manage that.
--
*<] 🙂 }

CAD Systems Manager
Autodesk Architectural Desktop Certified Expert



wrote in message news:5109849@discussion.autodesk.com...
Oh wait, one more. You've got three offices. Do you "insource" much, where
folks in one office will be borrowed by another in the short-term to work on
a Project?

Because Revit puts everything into one File, having multiple people in
multiple offices working on it at the same time either requires carefully
checking out worksets, or breaking the Project up into separate files ala
x-refing, or a nice fat VPN system.

We're testing some Riverbed stuffs, and while it's definitely not cheap, it
rocks the house, and could make all these issues moot.

Just wanted to bring it up, for it's something you'll want to think about.
Coordinating work between multiple offices is an issue with ADT too, mind
you, but with Revit it gets a little more complex and demanding on the
network....
Message 64 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:37:41 +0000, Santa CAD wrote:

>We are going to synchronize all of our offices using DFS.

Interesting. Have you run any tests on DFS to see how it will work on a sample
project?

Matt
mstachoni@comcast.net
mstachoni@bhhtait.com
Message 65 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

revit, the 'other' tool?



--
Princess Jamie,

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
- Anais Nin

"Turbo" wrote in message news:5109834@discussion.autodesk.com...
funny that you mention that. There is a certain feeling of not wanting to
use Revit because it would mean joining with the "others". It adds a
dimension to the marketing strategy that has been missed by Autodesk.

Jack
Message 66 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

To me the Revit group is kind of like the creepy Others on Lost....(the TV
show). Probably not available in Canada which is good for Canadians.

Jack




"PJ" wrote in message
news:5110209@discussion.autodesk.com...
revit, the 'other' tool?
Message 67 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Not as yet, but it is my plan to do that. My IT guy has some experience
with it and says that it will be real-time synchronicity. Coupling that
with our resellers expertise with Revit and ADT, he thinks it should work.

We are pricing up two-terabyte servers all around as well as the few sundry
other things. It doesn't look too bad - probably only $20K or so for this
wish list.

(The firm's partners are terrific when it comes to buying tech. I have a
budget which is the envy of a number of firms I can think of, but then we
have the business to warrant the expense too.)

Do you have any pointers for us? Have you experience with DFS?


"Matt Stachoni" wrote in message
news:5110192@discussion.autodesk.com...
On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:37:41 +0000, Santa CAD wrote:

>We are going to synchronize all of our offices using DFS.

Interesting. Have you run any tests on DFS to see how it will work on a
sample
project?

Matt
mstachoni@comcast.net
mstachoni@bhhtait.com
Message 68 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

it's all here. actually the inuit get the best tv in the world... they can access far more satellites...
and when it's 60 below you want good tv...

I don't watch the lost, is it a rality show if some kind?

I'm more of an american idol girl myself..



--
Princess Jamie,

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
- Anais Nin

"Turbo" wrote in message news:5110332@discussion.autodesk.com...
To me the Revit group is kind of like the creepy Others on Lost....(the TV
show). Probably not available in Canada which is good for Canadians.

Jack




"PJ" wrote in message
news:5110209@discussion.autodesk.com...
revit, the 'other' tool?
Message 69 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Lost is a stupid show about these people who's airplance exploded, and they
ended up lost on an unknown island somewhere.

What is particularly annoying is the constant replays of whole shows, and
replays of the character's past lives....not as in one was the pharoah of
Egypt, but lives before the crash.

It is pretty good science fiction except it is two new shows and then a few
weeks of repeats. Over and Over.

Jack


"PJ" wrote in message
news:5111038@discussion.autodesk.com...
it's all here. actually the inuit get the best tv in the world... they can
access far more satellites...
and when it's 60 below you want good tv...

I don't watch the lost, is it a rality show if some kind?

I'm more of an american idol girl myself..



--
Princess Jamie,

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
- Anais Nin

"Turbo" wrote in message
news:5110332@discussion.autodesk.com...
To me the Revit group is kind of like the creepy Others on Lost....(the TV
show). Probably not available in Canada which is good for Canadians.

Jack




"PJ" wrote in message
news:5110209@discussion.autodesk.com...
revit, the 'other' tool?
Message 70 of 107
rkparchitecture
in reply to: Anonymous

Would you provide a sample set of Revit construction docs on this forum?
Message 71 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

>There is a certain feeling of not wanting to use Revit because it would
>mean joining with the "others".

Doesn't that strike you as just a bit silly? I'm going to choose the tool
that is the best fit for our needs. Currently for us that tool is ADT. But
there is no way I'm going to rule out Revit because it would mean joining
the "others".
--
Bobby C. Jones
http://www.acadx.com
Message 72 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

A few questions regarding Revit:

How do you handle the site work? Assuming the Civil engineer gives you 2D
DWG files, is there an xref mechanism? What about in the elevation and
section views on an uneven site? Do you recreate it in Revit yourself?
Message 73 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

🙂

I just started a new project using Revit 8.1, it is a custom house @Vermont
on the woods, I am planning to use/put as much the features that comes or
can be done with Revit.

Once I get into that, I will see what you mean.... :-0)

Coming from AutoCAD, is a totally different environment... for example,
waiting everytime you load/or/launch the software... 5-8-10 seconds...
anyway I can live with that, now going into placing the walls, doors and
windows, piece of cake, then... place the grids... hmmmm it does a
continuous numeric values, [I know it must be some setting a neophite like
me on Revit requires to setup], The ZOOMing features are not state of the
art or friendly..... and the orbit no good.

Just to start, even with that I like it.... have not found yet a way to
select more than one wall and being able to change the height globally...

--
http://www.geometricad.com



Rick Moore
A few questions regarding Revit:

How do you handle the site work? Assuming the Civil engineer gives you 2D
DWG files, is there an xref mechanism? What about in the elevation and
section views on an uneven site? Do you recreate it in Revit yourself?
Message 74 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous


hehe, Its not ADT.


style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">


There have been many comparison threads about ADT
vs. Revit.  I know all that and I am not looking for that here. 

 

What I am looking for is
pitfalls one should look out for, or at least
consider before one moves a large company (70+ users) in three offices
from ADT to Revit.

 

Are there any you can think of, from those of you
who have already made the switch?


--
*<] 🙂 }

 

CAD Systems Manager
Autodesk Architectural Desktop Certified
Expert
Message 75 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

"Silly" is a good word for it.

"Bobby C. Jones" wrote in message
news:5111449@discussion.autodesk.com...
>There is a certain feeling of not wanting to use Revit because it would
>mean joining with the "others".

Doesn't that strike you as just a bit silly? I'm going to choose the tool
that is the best fit for our needs. Currently for us that tool is ADT. But
there is no way I'm going to rule out Revit because it would mean joining
the "others".
--
Bobby C. Jones
http://www.acadx.com
Message 76 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

I believe when Revit users talk about putting building together in Revit
they mean actually modeling everything and not drawing. In my opinion ADT is
also moving in that direction. If you see last few versions 2004 to 06 lot
has been added in ADT to bring it closer to Revit. I am a long AutoCAD
(r9-14) and ADT (1-2006) user. I am just getting my feet wet with Revit 8.1.

What I see is ADT will come closer to Revit in model approach but it will be
little complex as ADT does everything on top of base AutoCAD. There will be
offices, users and project that will continue to use ADT because it is
based on AutoCAD. Others will move to Revit as they would like to use
different approach.

Just my thoughts....
"Turbo" wrote in message
news:5108188@discussion.autodesk.com...
Very good commentary. Thanks.

By the way, can you expand for me why one has to "know how a building goes
together" in Revit, but not in ADT? I have never understood what the heck
Revit people are talking about. Does Revit have some kind of built in code
that understands whatever they are talking about?

If they are talking about creating a wall on one sheet and a different wall
at the same place or an impossible joining condition to another wall or
condition, or changing a detail on one sheet, but not making the correction
all the way through the project sheets, I can understand that Revit is a one
file approach so that the change is more or less if not completely
automatic, but there are good and bad practices of draftsmen too, and Revit
is simply making it possible for more and more incompetent draftsmen to keep
their jobs. If that is what they are talking about.

I am like you. I am very uncomfortable using Revit, although I know that if
I use it every day for a month I will probably become comfortable. I don't
like it. I don't think I need to defend my feelings with a list of reasons
why. All that happens if I do that is I get back a list of why I am wrong,
but that doesn't change my basic dislike of the process of drawing in Revit.

I agree with you that Revit has been disruptive to the flow of making a
decision on product selection, but at the same time, I see that Revit, being
a different way of doing things, and starting fresh, provided ADT designers
with an ability to compare the two and see that they were able to stretch
ADT beyond where they believed it could go. The condition of ADT 2006 and
2007 is a light year beyond where we were with ADT 1.0. The fact is, I like
what I see in ADT now, and I am in wonder about where all of this will be in
5 or 10 years.

Thanks again. We, you and I have been here commenting since ADT first came
about. I liked ADT then, even though it was a nightmare sometimes. Now it
mostly works, and is even fun to use sometimes.

Jack Talsky
Message 77 of 107
JeffreyMcGrew
in reply to: Anonymous

You handle sitework by x-ref'ing in the site plan from the Civil engineer. In Revit it's called 'linking' but it's the same.

Then, if you need too, you can turn that DWG (if it's clean) into a 3D topo pretty much automatically within Revit. Kinda like the drape stuffs in other programs.

Then you can add pads, grading, paths, site work, site features, and that sort of thing, so that everything shows up in plans and sections and elevations and 3D views. If you're grading the site at all Revit can calculate preliminary cut-and-fills. Revit also understands project heights vs. true heights, so you can do point elevations super easy in any view (plans, sections, elevations) and they can report the Project height or the Survey height (in different units even, no problem, even metric).

Now, with that said, the site tools in Revit pretty much end there. Civil guys would laugh at them, and they are limited in some ways that can drive you crazy. They are pretty much just meant to make a site for a designer / Architect to put a building on, not so much for actual civil work.
Message 78 of 107
JeffreyMcGrew
in reply to: Anonymous

Pick something in the model, it becomes the center of the orbit.

Change one Grid to be 'A', and the next one you draw will auto-name itself 'B'. Revit just takes the last number or letter used and adds one to it when drawing Grids.

To pick multiple walls either use the Shift and Crtl keys to subtract or add to your selection set, or pick a bunch of stuff with a crossing window and use the selection filter (that funnel-looking thing on the options bar), or simply right-click over the top of one of your walls and pick 'select all instances' to pick ALL of those kinds of walls project-wide. Then simply go to Properties (type 'PR' or right-click) and you'll be able to edit all those walls at once.

Or just make a wall schedule. that would list all you walls, and if you group them together in the way you want, you can change that one line item and have all those walls change in return. I do this a lot for big project-wide edits, and then just throw the schedule away, for we get them for free in Revit.

Hope this helps.
Message 79 of 107
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

BTW Jack, I hope you know that I wasn't directly any silliness toward you.
I luff ya man.

I agree with your statement completely. That feeling is out there and if I
had it and wasn't fired for it, I'd fire myself.
--
Bobby C. Jones
http://www.acadx.com


"Scott Davis" wrote in message
news:5111730@discussion.autodesk.com...
"Silly" is a good word for it.

"Bobby C. Jones" wrote in message
news:5111449@discussion.autodesk.com...
>There is a certain feeling of not wanting to use Revit because it would
>mean joining with the "others".

Doesn't that strike you as just a bit silly? I'm going to choose the tool
that is the best fit for our needs. Currently for us that tool is ADT. But
there is no way I'm going to rule out Revit because it would mean joining
the "others".
--
Bobby C. Jones
http://www.acadx.com
Message 80 of 107
JeffreyMcGrew
in reply to: Anonymous

You know, at AU this last year I was very surprised to run headlong into this attitude at times. When some folks found out I was there to give two classes on Revit stuff they would instantly start with with strange bravado and attitude, saying I was one of "those guys" and then going on and on about ADT. Huh. Some of them later on, in private, would then also tell me that they were also working on something for Revit. Double huh. I mean, it very much seemed to me that the only folks still holding a grudge and being 'strange' were all the ADT guys I ran into. Everyone else seemed to be over it.

I mean, I've gotten a fair amount of flack over the last five years for simply using Revit and finding value in it and thinking it's cool. I've gotten even more flack than what's really reasonable just for being willing to state those things publicly. But to run headlong into people that still obviously have major issues with the whole thing was very strange. It's been years now. And just because I don't use ADT, and haven't found much value in it, doesn't negate what others do or find value in.

Even now, here, years later, in this newsgroup, we've still got this attitude. Why? If what you're doing is working, why are you all so insecure about it? Why do you care about the fact that some of us find value in using Revit? I don't care that y'all use ADT or AutoCAD or ArchiCAD or whatever. Just so long as I don't have to, I don't care. 😉

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