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How on earth is a program (Revit) that has been going for DECADES now function like this!!

If I have a project with so many views and sections and, all I want, is to see what is in these views. Whenever I click on any view in project browser, it opens a new tab that looks as if it is a new file!!! Insane!

AutoCAD works in a way that files' tabs are viewed on top and then you have subview, layouts that exit under that same "head" file tab and they exist on the bottom of the screen. (very smart and smooth) 

Check the attached photos so you understand the point. 

When working with complex projects (on Revit) the users ends up getting FURIOUS and HATE the program (which is my case now).

Please consider making progress in this applicaiton!

It feels like AutoCAD developers and Revit developers live on two different planets!

@sampie @TheMattatonAP @mhiserZFHXS @wr.marshall @kimberly_fuhrman-jones 

5 Comments
TheMattatonAP
Advocate

Not sure why I was tagged for this post, but since I was...

First, I have 1000 gripes about Revit. Feels like I find a new issue or annoying element to it daily. So I'm no fanboy and will throw it under the bus in a heartbeat and back up to run over it again. Some of the junk we have to put up with on this outrageously priced software is ridiculous. Still no decent text editor after all this time, really? So yeah, it's FAR from perfect.

 

I, too, came from AutoCAD to Revit. It was insanely frustrating at first. It's a completely different program with a completely different approach. We also have to remember that Autodesk acquired Revit. Revit didn't begin development alongside AutoCAD and was started by a very different group of developers. Of course they aren't the same. There has been some minor course direction changes where you can see the two have begun to steer toward a common point, but they are many, many miles from meeting. Likely never will, as the philosophies behind the two programs are different and probably shouldn't align as this would alienate a lot of users and use-cases on either side.

 

Now, to your point about files and tabs...

AutoCAD is more file-based (always has been, going back decades - many files for ONE project), whereas Revit is completely PROJECT-based (in some edge cases, you may end up with multiple project files for large projects - like a couple buildings on a single site, but 98% of the time, it will be ONE file for ONE project).

Solely in terms of UI, at the very top of the Revit screen is the file name (which is a project). Below that, at the top of the workspace are the various views you may have open from the project. So, the placement is different, but it's still a file at the top and views below.
My way of working in AutoCAD, I would never have mixed "views" within a file. That is to say, I could have many views of floor plans within a file, but I wouldn't have floor plans, elevations, and sections all within one file. So the tabs across the bottom would only be different views of the floor plans, probably with different layers turned off/on, etc.

 

In Revit, you just don't work that way. The Project Browser is where ALL the views live. All the views are in one file (project).

 

At the end of the day, again, the two programs and their approach to designing a building (and project organization) are just coming from two different directions. To change one to match the other will always throw a lot of great features out the window.

 

Heck, if where the file name and views are located in the UI is your biggest gripe, count yourself fortunate! 😄

 

I feel your pain, my friend.  I may not completely agree with you on this one UI difference, but I totally empathize with your frustration.

mhiserZFHXS
Advisor

There have been numerous ideas posted to the idea board to improve the organization of Revit. Its a common complaint and you're not wrong that its frustrating.

 

However, as mentioned above, Revit and AutoCAD are two completely different programs. It will greatly benefit you to stop trying to find 1 to 1 comparisons between them. There is plenty to be frustrated about without that stuff being on your mind 😅

Ric_Weber
Collaborator

As the two previous commentors have stated Revit is not AutoCAD and you will get a lot of pushback if you want the two to act and work the same.  I have issues with Revit the same as most users; I'm a Certified Revit Professional even, but to be angry about the tabs??  No, we were happy to get them when we did.  When I have to work in AutoCAD, I cuss about needing to look up and down and have to think about where things are.  To me, Revit is the easier app to work in, not the other way around.  I like to say, "I have forgotten more about AutoCAD than I ever knew, and I knew a lot."  

 

However, I will say that I do see some merit in your idea, but I think it would work best to have the two rows of tabs both at the top.  Top row is the file, second row is the views and would change depending upon which file tab is selected.  This way Revit users will still have their views at the top like we're used to.  This idea could actually negate the idea  for the colored tabs.  Or best yet, combining the two ideas would be really ideal!!

ks2_wmb
Advocate

I open each file in a separate window.  The current system works fine for me and I don't want more of my screen space devoted to window management.

 

Web browsers used to have a "collapse tab bar when only one tab is open" policy.  I wouldn't want an entire tab bar for separating files unless that tab bar auto-collapses when not in use.

 

I am personally on team "color code tabs to indicate which tab belongs to which file".  This is one of the top voted ideas, so I'm surprised you haven't seen it already:  https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/categorize-tabbed-views/idi-p/8023716

khalidM6RSF
Explorer

@ks2_wmb I have seen this idea "color code tabs to indicate which tab belongs to which file" and I use Pyrevit to solve this. 

But why not combine the two and make the software User freindly! just as @Ric_Weber mentioned

 

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