Review of Revit 2010

[esmecollins]

Hi guys

I'm on my Part 1 Placement in Brazil, and currently working on a research project about Building Information Modelling (BIM). Focusing on the main softwares including Revit 2010, ArchiCAD 13 and Bentley v8i.

I need to analyse each software in terms of its;
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ease of Use
Affordability
Market Use
Databank capabilities

It's been difficult to find unbiased reviews so thought it'd be best to ask existing users of these programs in various forums, so please give me your opinions!

Cheers

[dhurtubise]

Doubt you will find any non-biased information on an Autodesk sponsored forum for Revit ;-)

[nsinha73]

There's an Architect a block away from us, they use Bentley, they say they don't like it. Too complicated.
We use Revit. I like it and love it....fairly easy to learn and gives great results.
ArchiCAD.....used older version long time ago....liked it too, but I don't thing it is "Live Referencing" Unlike Revit.
dhurtubise is right....This is autodesks turf you are aking this question in :-D
So you should already know my answer.

[esmecollins]

Thanks nsinha
yeah I realise I've posted in a autodesk forum so Revit is obviously going to be the preferred choice from the majority of people here. But I'd still like the opnions of Revit users good and bad espescially if they use other BIM software and so are able to compare like you!

[Tyler A]

I think biased opinions can be useful. Why should I choose Revit? You guys should know better than anyone what is wrong with these other BIM products.

[BDR_Architect]

Our firm used Bentley Architecture for a very long time but there were a lot of things lacking. Say for instance... Dynamic Views which you can now do in V8i but it took way too long for Bentley to figure it out. Each release has very limited improvements and it's overall more difficult for some to grasp.

Revit.. is SO much easier to use. Yes, there are a lot of quirks and the complete overhaul of the UI in 2010 seriously screwed up our workflow but we're back on track and we feel it's still much better than Bentley Architecture.

Stairs and railings are messed up in both Revit AND BA. I'm not sure about ArchiCAD though.

Overall, Revit is the way to go. Definitely.

[greg.mcdowell]

I took one look at the UI for ArchiCAD and was scared off. No doubt I could learn it but could my colleagues? Doubtfully very well, they have trouble with AutoCAD sometimes and would, frankly, prefer to work in SketchUp 24-7.

[m20roxxers]

I think ArchiCAD and Revit had very similar UI's till the latest version. A design bar, options bar toolbars and a project browser.

ArchiCAD still is the same and Revit has changed, sure the options are different but 2009 and previous the general UI is almost identical. I think that was one thing I did notice between the two when I first opened revit, it was only when I started using the tools did the differences appear.

I think a major difference is the relationships Revit has between objects.
If you create a rectangle of walls in Revit.
Add a slab
Add a Roof

then move a wall and see what happens.

Now try the same thing in ArchiCAD.
Big difference

The other is content creation, while revit may not be easy for very complex components at least all I need is some basic math and modelling skills. Having to learn a coding language really held back ArchiCAD and still does.