Steel Detailing, AS or Revit

[Anonymous]

I did a search for a similar topic but couldnt find anything so hoping sombody can help me.

In my job as a draughtsman i do a lot of steel frame buildings (GA's/elevations and sometimes connection details, though we do not do fabrication drawings) and we are looking for modernise from AutoCAD to a 3D program. Our current options are Revit and AS and my exposure to both is minimal at the moment.

My question is for these type of drawings which program would be more efficient. I know that Revit has a steel connection add in so what could AS give me that Revit doesnt? From what i have read AS is very good at fabrication drawings but as i said we dont do these, is it overkill? The chances are i am going to have to learn Revit anyway for other drawings, so would it be a waste to learn AS?

Apologies for all the questions!

[ElrinaM · Accepted solution]

Hi There

The quick answer is that you would probably use both.

Advance steel can do both GA's and detail/fabrication drawings. The advantage here is that the drawings are generated automatically according to preset (customizable) templates. Another big advantage is that the learning curve for Advance Steel will be very shallow as you already know AutoCAD. The disadvantage is that it includes only limited concrete functionality. So if you include more than basic concrete structures in your designs, you might want to look toward Revit.

You are correct to say that there is a very good link between Revit and Advance Steel. Just remember that Revit only has about 120 connections to use where Advance Steel has over 300.

Revit is very easy to customize as it is not as database driven as Advance Steel. You have more flexibility as to what type of structures you can design (concrete and steel). If you work together with Architects and MEP designers, Revit is a must, especially if they also use it.

A suggested workflow if this is the case, would be to get the Revit models from these disciplines, and then if steel detailed drawings are required, take your model to Advance steel. There you can add the connections, and do the details, but keep the rest of the model in Revit to do the GA's

I hope this gives you a better idea...

Kind Regards,

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply, i suppose the only way to really know is to test them both out.

[Anonymous]

Steel frames used in building houses are using the same framing techniques by that of wood-framed buildings. Many people are now opting to use steel frames for their building. This move is fueled by the increase of costs for lumber and the need to conserve the resources for timber products. 

[EddieSaez]

There are Revit add-on packages specifically for frame design one where starting to use is MWF (Structsoft)

[EddieSaez]

Things to consider is what level of automation do you want from the CAD application.
Some users like to dimension/annotate their drawings in a specific manner, Revit will allow you to do this from the start as you'll be putting the drawing together.

Advance Steel on the other hand will dimension and annotate (to a certain extent) the drawings (which are DWG) and linked to the 3D model, these drawings can be converted to pure AutoCAD but you would loose the link to the model, meaning any changes would be a manual process.

Hope this along with the other comments help.