10 good reasons to switch to RevitMEP 2010

[neuok]

I have 2 questions. How many people are switching to Revit MEP2010 from MEP2009 and what reasons did you switch? I am trying to find 10 good reasons to help persuade the Architect and the Structrual consulants switch to 2010.

[Andrew.Bagnall]

As a starter for you

1. Heating and Cooling loads - the psychometric data provided in the 2010 heat load analysis feature eclipses anything provided in 2009. In my opinion this is the first release which is useable for this purpose for anything other than preliminary ballpark heat load assessments.

2. The user interface - it has its critics, but I for one find it has vastly improved my productivity, and at the moment I'm still working on both 2010 and 2009 and its a killer going back to 2009!


They are the two main improvements, there are other more subtle ones though.

[Chad Smith]

neuok, I don't think it will matter how many good reasons that you have to upgrade your Revit MEP, if the architects and structural consultants don't have a good reason, then the chances of you convincing them to upgrade will be very small.
The consultants (Architecture, Structural and MEP) each have their own software evaluations and costings to take into consideration. This will either be a majority rules outcome, or driven solely by the architect. As you are MEP, you really are at the mercy of the two services that preceed you.

[m20roxxers]

I say upgrade anyway. No need to wait on their account. Besides unless they need the model for other then collaboration I can't see the issue, it's their loss if they don't want to upgrade, though i can't see what structural wouldn't either as there is some pretty cool stuff in 2010. Plus are they going to pay you extra for the lost time you will create by using the older version??

If collaboration is the only issue, alot of the previous IFC issues have been cleared up so I say export out load into 2009 and send on the file. If they want your drawings then just use the freeze command and pass them on. or send them a DWG file. You can always update their files for your own co-ordination so unless there is some other major reason why they need your file.

The reality is eventually their going to have to upgrade or stay on 2009 forever. The Ribbon isn't going anywhere and if everyone is going to wait till the perfect Revit version comes out then goodluck.

In agreement with Andrew, gbxml export now makes it alot easier to export out to analytical packages, ontop of this I find the productivity in modifcation and creation of larger systems so much faster it's not funny, especially on 64bit.

[Chad Smith]

The question should probably be asked; Are they refusing to upgrade their Revit in general to 2010, or the project that you are currently working on?
If it's just the project, then depending on what stage it is at, there are good reasons to not upgrade and see it out in the 2009 version.

[gary.ross.145907]

Hi All,

What a great thread idea!

Rather than give the standard answers here, I'm going to wait and see whats put up, and then comment if needs be!

All this feedback is great stuff! - keep it up.

Cheers!

Gary

[neuok]

As a starter for you

1. Heating and Cooling loads - the psychometric data provided in the 2010 heat load analysis feature eclipses anything provided in 2009. In my opinion this is the first release which is useable for this purpose for anything other than preliminary ballpark heat load assessments.

2. The user interface - it has its critics, but I for one find it has vastly improved my productivity, and at the moment I'm still working on both 2010 and 2009 and its a killer going back to 2009!


They are the two main improvements, there are other more subtle ones though.

These are some good reasons, can anyone else think of some more? The Architect and Structural are interested in using the newer version if I can give them some good reasons to change.

P.S. Thanks for your responses so far.

[Jrobker]

If you want to know what specific features, than you need to read the press release. What it all comes down to is this is where it's headed. You can stay with 2009 and prolong the switch as long as you can control, sooner or later you have to make the jump. Revit MEP 2009 is vanilla, MEP 2010 is vanilla with a little sprinkle of chocolate on top. You're getting pretty much the same thing your used to, you might might as well do it now.

[Andrew.Bagnall]

The question I would be asking is "Why on earth would anyone NOT want to upgrade?".

Assuming they are on subscription, then its not going to cost anything to upgrade, the project should easily upgrade to 2010 from 2009 (rarely have I had any issues in doing this). And as a few people have mentioned - its not a question of IF you upgrade but WHEN, particularly right now when Revit is improving exponentially with every release and update.

[Chad Smith]

The question I would be asking is "Why on earth would anyone NOT want to upgrade?".

If you have a browse through the Revit Platform forum, you will find that users are finding 2010 reduces their productivity, with very little benefits from new features.
When to finally upgrade is a matter of when the new features outway any productivity decreases you may experience. It's foolish to think that just because it's a new release, that it will be better without any prior investigation. In my 8 years of using Revit, in my opinion 2010 is certainly the most insignificant release to date.

As for full version upgrading, it really depends on the size of the project and how far through it you are. If you are still modelling then sure, there are typically no issues. But if you are documenting, then for a medium to large size project, I like the 30% rule. If you are 30% or more through the documenting stage, then you would be best not to upgrade. Having said that, there is nothing stopping you from giving it a go, and if it upgrades without error then great.

But, and this is a big but, if you manage to upgrade your project just fine but run into unexpected issues in the new version that weren't in the old version, then you are stuck without a downgrade path, unless you can find a solution in the new version. On a project in which you are making some headway through documentation and with more time critical milestones, issues are not what you need. Is the use of insignificant new features worth the risk of unexpected behaviours or issues?