Does Autodesk hate architects?

[Anonymous]

Revit is often chosen as the primary documenting tool in many architectural offices and not a design tool as it’s widely acknowledged that Revit is extremely limited in dealing with complex conceptual modelling geometry. Autodesk’s attempts at introducing a dedicated conceptual modelling environment in the form of FormIt has also failed drastically as there hasn’t been a single new modelling feature or enhancements over the past two years. Apart from the splitting surfaces, Formit has even less modelling capabilities as the already crippled Revit and doesn’t have any freeform organic capabilities. Several free freeform apps are available in the Apple app store that can do more and handle very complex geometry than a dedicated conceptual tool like FormIt. Dynamo which was supposed to be the big game changer for architects using Revit, seems to head into an unexpected direction as well. While it’s evident that in almost 20 years of the existence of Revit, Autodesk hasn’t catered not once to contemporary design architects and this apparent dislike towards architects seems to impair Dynamo’s modelling development efforts as well in favor of the usual nitty gritty day to day practical enhancements, which resembles Revit’s development for the past 20 years.

One can only speculate that Autodesk hates architects or innovation in architecture in general. This was also evident at Autodesk University where not a single class was dedicated towards conceptual design in Dynamo let alone Revit. Apart of the countless classed on documentation, construction and practical uses with Dynamo and Revit, the few classes that did talk about geometry, where all focused-on Rhino/Grasshopper and getting Grasshopper geometry into Revit. As a matter of fact, there were classes where the speakers explicitly discouraged the use of Dynamo for geometry creation. How weird would it be if you would go into McDonalds and they encourage you to buy a Whopper instead of a Big Mac? How discouraging would it be if Windows or Windows products would be recommended at an Apple Event?

There is nothing wrong for using Rhino or any other modelling tools for conceptual design that suits your needs. However, it’s almost inconceivable that Autodesk which does make excellent modeling tools for the industrial, civil, automotive, gaming, mechanical industry in packages like Alias, Fusion, Inventor, Maya, doesn’t have anything for the AEC industry. Unlike Archicad that has a partnership with Mcneal, Autodesk doesn’t have relations with Mcneel yet it relies entirely on Rhino/Grasshopper for geometry creation.

[Corsten.Au · Accepted solution]

Revit is Evolutionary software so it comes with its Legacy issues...

If base of Revit is changed then it will become revolutionary and Autodesk or other company will 

name that new software something else...

As long as Drawing creation is there, Plan, Elevation , section, documentation and collaboration with other

consultant, Softwares like Revit and Autocad needs to be there.

But If you want to 3d print something, there are millions of software available..

Just to ponder upon, Best Architects till date, just think of any.... Do you think they were good at some software's ??

Its just the initial struggle to get established, then probably you can hire some Experts in latest softwares..cause

Softwares are gonna keep changing, new VR, tech, will keep changing... there is no catching up with mastering 

any software..

[barthbradley]

Does Autodesk hate architects? I don’t know, but apparently some architects hate Autodesk.

I really doubt that you’ll find solace here in a Revit Users Forum. Have you tried Burger King?

[ennujozlagam]

It makes sense. lol thanks

[ToanDN]

Not all architects design spaghetti buildings. Revit is targetting the 99%, not the 1%. If you are among the "cool" 1%, look elsewhere (Rhino and Digital Project for instances).

[Anonymous]

While it’s no secret the fact that Revit’s modelling engine is among the worst in the industry, it is understandable that Autodesk who bought Revit years ago and inherent all the goods and bad, just isn’t capable to fix the problem and to make the product better. However, as a software company that produces a full range of tools for the AEC industry I would at least expect a design tool for conceptual design to complement Revit. Autodesk owns a wide range of high end powerful modelling tools like Fusion 360, Inventor, Alias, Maya, 3ds Max. With all that knowledge and resources they can knock out easily a light weight general modeler for the AEC on a Wednesday afternoon. 

Why is this important? Within the graphic design industry, Adobe has recognised that there is no single software that can do everything and therefore have produced a suite of software including; Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign amongst others. Each software has a very clear and well defined scope. Photoshop is used for raster images, Illustrator for vector images and InDesign to compile it all together. Each software is separate but linked together in the workflow. In general, architects are accepting of this ecosystem and are agile enough to move between each platform. However, this ethos of a software ecosystem needs to be applied In Autodesk's AEC platform as well. 

This is how the current workflow looks. a young, recent graduates who are relatively computational literate, spend long hours at the office to win a competitions. These people then jump onto other projects and if the competition is awarded, a new team is put together to deliver the project. This will most likely contain more experienced architects more attune to developing and delivering the project. The Rhino model is thrown out and completely rebuilt from scratch within Revit. Sound familiar?

The problem with this approach is that it more often than not involves loosing much of the intelligence built into the original design. And since Revit is unable to accurately recreate complex geometry, the design needs to be dumbed down to comply with Revit’s limitations. This methodology couldn’t be further from what BIM set outs out to achieve. 

[Anonymous]

I do understand why Autodesk's priorities are not into enhancing and improving Revit’s modeling tools since the average US Revit users, produces off the shelf strip malls and brick colonials. At the same token, Nike produces high end tennis shoes for the 1% of pro’s that can be bought off the rack in any sport store for the 99% of average Sunday recreational athletes. Autodesk has this approach as well with all their other 3d modelling software. Movies like Avatar or Shrek can be made in 3ds max, but the vast majority of 3ds max users use it for simple renderings. So in that sense there is a strange division in philosophy within Autodesk

I always find it fascinating that contemporary architecture is called spaghetti buildings. Most buildings built today in Europe and Asia are apparently spaghetti buildings which is more than 1%. 

[RobDraw]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Most buildings built today in Europe and Asia are apparently spaghetti buildings which is more than 1%. 

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Yeah, spending R&R money for that market sounds like a good idea and a heck of a good reason to bash AutoDesk.

Good luck.

[deegoguen]

There should be a Revit support group. Or a blog. Or an asylum.

[RobDraw]

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@deegoguen wrote:

There should be a Revit support group. Or a blog. Or an asylum.

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Or tutorials for those that don't get it. Oh wait, they do.

Did you read what this guy is saying? He's making stuff up all over the place. Do you fit the criteria to be included in that kind of group?