Revit Vs. Inventor design methods?

[alh-telesis]

So as a Mechanical Engineer, Inventor tube jockey, I have no idea how to design ANYTHING in Revit. I barely knew it was an Autodesk product. So when the boss asked about the software, I got nothin'.

Our company is looking to hire another Inventor person and the best looking resume has Revit listed.

The questions are for those of you who can design in both software packages.

- Can a person familiar with Revit step into Inventor and understand ...

   - Parametric design methods?

   - Best Practices for 3D modeling?

   - Creation of a typical 3 view dimensioned drawing?

Thanks in advance for making me look good to the boss.

[alh-telesis]

So as a Mechanical Engineer, Inventor tube jockey, I have no idea how to design ANYTHING in Revit. I barely knew it was an Autodesk product. So when the boss asked about the software, I got nothin'.

Our company is looking to hire another Inventor person and the best looking resume has Revit listed.

The questions are for those of you who can design in both software packages.

- Can a person familiar with Revit step into Inventor and understand ...

   - Parametric design methods?

   - Best Practices for 3D modeling?

   - Creation of a typical 3 view dimensioned drawing?

Thanks in advance for making me look good to the boss.

[Lance127]

Your biggest hurdle with a Revit jockey won't be the button pushing in Inventor, it will be the lack of understanding Mechanical design process and by extension the Inventor work process. Yeah Revit is a 3D parametric modeling program but it is significantly different in process from Inventor, there is a lot less "tweaking/messing" with the components and final product in Revit, though that all depends on what type of arch. jobs they worked on.

Probobly will have no idea about sheet metal, tooling, frame gen, tube & pipe, molds, etc.

So;

Parametric - Sure (at least in theroy)

Best Practices - The theroy sure but best practices for your particular work flow will need to be taught.

3 View Dwg - From a straight Arch perspective, no it just isn't something that comes up. But a good drafter will understand it.

All in my opinion of course, and yes I have Revit and Arch experiance. Also these are very broad generalizations the particular individual may be a perfect fit from day one.

[Lance127]

Your biggest hurdle with a Revit jockey won't be the button pushing in Inventor, it will be the lack of understanding Mechanical design process and by extension the Inventor work process. Yeah Revit is a 3D parametric modeling program but it is significantly different in process from Inventor, there is a lot less "tweaking/messing" with the components and final product in Revit, though that all depends on what type of arch. jobs they worked on.

Probobly will have no idea about sheet metal, tooling, frame gen, tube & pipe, molds, etc.

So;

Parametric - Sure (at least in theroy)

Best Practices - The theroy sure but best practices for your particular work flow will need to be taught.

3 View Dwg - From a straight Arch perspective, no it just isn't something that comes up. But a good drafter will understand it.

All in my opinion of course, and yes I have Revit and Arch experiance. Also these are very broad generalizations the particular individual may be a perfect fit from day one.

[mflayler]

You are looking at two DIFFERENT worlds here.  There are similarities in that both software programs are parametric and design intelligent, but Revit is designed for Construction prints and usually not as detail oriented as a more Mechanical fabrication software like Inventor.  This user if you brought them on would need an Introduction to Inventor class by your VAR or Professional Services company to get up to speed.  Or you will have to train him on the differences.

To your line items...

Yes

Different in Inventor than Revit

Revit does this, but its probably not the same as you create.  In ARCH you are doing more secitons and plan views.  You need to take a hard look at their background.

Now if you are getting an AutoCAD MEP / Revit MEP user out of this, then you will probably be better off.  They are usually more Mechanical than they are Architectural.

[mflayler]

You are looking at two DIFFERENT worlds here.  There are similarities in that both software programs are parametric and design intelligent, but Revit is designed for Construction prints and usually not as detail oriented as a more Mechanical fabrication software like Inventor.  This user if you brought them on would need an Introduction to Inventor class by your VAR or Professional Services company to get up to speed.  Or you will have to train him on the differences.

To your line items...

Yes

Different in Inventor than Revit

Revit does this, but its probably not the same as you create.  In ARCH you are doing more secitons and plan views.  You need to take a hard look at their background.

Now if you are getting an AutoCAD MEP / Revit MEP user out of this, then you will probably be better off.  They are usually more Mechanical than they are Architectural.

[alh-telesis]

Your Broad answers are what I was hoping for with my broad questions. Thank you.

Is Revit parametric in a similar way to Inventor?

That seems odd somehow.

[alh-telesis]

Your Broad answers are what I was hoping for with my broad questions. Thank you.

Is Revit parametric in a similar way to Inventor?

That seems odd somehow.

[mflayler]

Revit is parametric.  You can create floor levels for parmetric movement and terminiation and have family configurations of items to place into a project just to name a few.

Project, that brings up another point.  He is used to working in ONE file.  Not parts, assemblies, presentations, and IPNs.  Revit will use a single project that is usually between 50-200 MB in size on average depending on what is added to it.

[mflayler]

Revit is parametric.  You can create floor levels for parmetric movement and terminiation and have family configurations of items to place into a project just to name a few.

Project, that brings up another point.  He is used to working in ONE file.  Not parts, assemblies, presentations, and IPNs.  Revit will use a single project that is usually between 50-200 MB in size on average depending on what is added to it.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Mark's replies.  We use Revit and Inventor and a good Revit user will pick up Inventor quickly.  The workflow is different, but the concept of 3D is simiilar.  If everything was equal I would hire a Revit user before an AutoCAD user. 

Revit has parametrics, but it is lacking tools that Inventor has.  Our Revit guys will occasionaly use Inventor to figure out some complicated geometry because it has better parametrics.  Revit is also a design tool, not a fabrication tool.  The workflow of generating a model and documentint it to be made might be foreign to a Revit user.  As it has been stated before, you can teach a Revit user how to create a drawing in Inventor quickly, I would be concerned that they are doing it correctly. 

Joe Bartels

[Anonymous]

I agree with Mark's replies.  We use Revit and Inventor and a good Revit user will pick up Inventor quickly.  The workflow is different, but the concept of 3D is simiilar.  If everything was equal I would hire a Revit user before an AutoCAD user. 

Revit has parametrics, but it is lacking tools that Inventor has.  Our Revit guys will occasionaly use Inventor to figure out some complicated geometry because it has better parametrics.  Revit is also a design tool, not a fabrication tool.  The workflow of generating a model and documentint it to be made might be foreign to a Revit user.  As it has been stated before, you can teach a Revit user how to create a drawing in Inventor quickly, I would be concerned that they are doing it correctly. 

Joe Bartels

[alh-telesis]

I appreciate all the replies.

I'll mark this as solved soon, but I was hoping for more opinions.

[alh-telesis]

I appreciate all the replies.

I'll mark this as solved soon, but I was hoping for more opinions.

[Anonymous]

hello am new at inventor and i was hoping that u can help me with something, am working at a design company, we design aluminium sections for curtainwalls and cladding, doors windows everything, iam wondering if inventor can help me in that

[Anonymous]

hello am new at inventor and i was hoping that u can help me with something, am working at a design company, we design aluminium sections for curtainwalls and cladding, doors windows everything, iam wondering if inventor can help me in that

[mslosar]

I 100% fit the mold the OP is talking about.

I have a degree in architecture and used Revit before getting a job in the mechanical world using Inventor. The only difference, likely, is I had a bit of clue about Inventor before getting the job. Not much, mind you, but a bit.

While they're both parametric, they're very different in usage. You can toss Max in the list too as something that's parametric (and was so before inventor existed and before revit existed). But again, they all function very differently.

For me, the trick wasn't getting the hang of Inventor - although - there was a lot there to learn as a lot isn't explained to well in the help files or coursewaer books. Still - that's the easier part. As others noted above, the biggest challenge is learning the mechanical industry and way of doing things - it's extremely different. Still, though, you'll have someone who sees things from a different POV which can be a good thing. I can tell you it was a long time of learning things like welds and materials and our internal processes. The easiest part of it for me was inventor. You can always start up a dummy part and see what happens for example.

If you've got questions for someone who made the switch, let me know. 🙂

Mike

[mslosar]

I 100% fit the mold the OP is talking about.

I have a degree in architecture and used Revit before getting a job in the mechanical world using Inventor. The only difference, likely, is I had a bit of clue about Inventor before getting the job. Not much, mind you, but a bit.

While they're both parametric, they're very different in usage. You can toss Max in the list too as something that's parametric (and was so before inventor existed and before revit existed). But again, they all function very differently.

For me, the trick wasn't getting the hang of Inventor - although - there was a lot there to learn as a lot isn't explained to well in the help files or coursewaer books. Still - that's the easier part. As others noted above, the biggest challenge is learning the mechanical industry and way of doing things - it's extremely different. Still, though, you'll have someone who sees things from a different POV which can be a good thing. I can tell you it was a long time of learning things like welds and materials and our internal processes. The easiest part of it for me was inventor. You can always start up a dummy part and see what happens for example.

If you've got questions for someone who made the switch, let me know. 🙂

Mike

[AdrianMarshall1946]

This has been interesting for me to hear the transition from Revit to Inventor. We are considering going the other way Inventor > Revit. We are a fabrication workshop in New Zealand and have been using Inventor for the last 8 Years. We've got it reasonably sorted for what we do, but it lets us down when we do structural detailing and construction drawings.
I really like the way Revit handles its drawing creations and details. The way it references across the sheet set makes it a very robust way to create controllable drawings. Inventor can, and has been, doing this for us. But with large models of various equipment within a process building it takes a lot to create the drawings for our site guys.
So... my question would be... How well does Inventor and Revit really play together?
I apologise if this is the wrong thread to be chiming in on!

[AdrianMarshall1946]

This has been interesting for me to hear the transition from Revit to Inventor. We are considering going the other way Inventor > Revit. We are a fabrication workshop in New Zealand and have been using Inventor for the last 8 Years. We've got it reasonably sorted for what we do, but it lets us down when we do structural detailing and construction drawings.
I really like the way Revit handles its drawing creations and details. The way it references across the sheet set makes it a very robust way to create controllable drawings. Inventor can, and has been, doing this for us. But with large models of various equipment within a process building it takes a lot to create the drawings for our site guys.
So... my question would be... How well does Inventor and Revit really play together?
I apologise if this is the wrong thread to be chiming in on!

[Anonymous]

I hear what you are saying Adrian.

We use Inventor for design and build of Electric Substations with Structural Steel, Electric equipment, foundations, underground services, etc.  Although the file sizes can be quite large (20000+), we have figured out efficient and productive ways to produce the construction drawings we need.

I think Revit would be helpful, however, as has been discussed earlier, it has limitations on the ability to design products or digital prototyping functions like Stress Analysis or Dynamic Simulations to name two.  We now have the ability to import our Inventor model to Revit, so the General Contractors who may be using Revit for their project can import our substation AND apply any BIM related information they may require.  This "marrying" of software seems to be taking place all along the Autodesk product line.  With the launch of subscription only services, one can choose to use Revit one day and then Inventor the next, theoretically.  However, being able to move easily and productively between platforms will be easier said than done.  I have been using Inventor for 6 years now and can barely work in AutoCAD just because the basic workflow is so different.  When Autodesk coordinates workflows and tools between platforms, it will solve a lot of issues as to which software to use.

[Anonymous]

I hear what you are saying Adrian.

We use Inventor for design and build of Electric Substations with Structural Steel, Electric equipment, foundations, underground services, etc.  Although the file sizes can be quite large (20000+), we have figured out efficient and productive ways to produce the construction drawings we need.

I think Revit would be helpful, however, as has been discussed earlier, it has limitations on the ability to design products or digital prototyping functions like Stress Analysis or Dynamic Simulations to name two.  We now have the ability to import our Inventor model to Revit, so the General Contractors who may be using Revit for their project can import our substation AND apply any BIM related information they may require.  This "marrying" of software seems to be taking place all along the Autodesk product line.  With the launch of subscription only services, one can choose to use Revit one day and then Inventor the next, theoretically.  However, being able to move easily and productively between platforms will be easier said than done.  I have been using Inventor for 6 years now and can barely work in AutoCAD just because the basic workflow is so different.  When Autodesk coordinates workflows and tools between platforms, it will solve a lot of issues as to which software to use.