Let me sell you on Revit 2011

[Wes Macaulay]

A lot of people sit back and watch new users bleed themselves to death on new releases, especially when software is gaining some maturity, as Revit had. I think there's a lot of people out there who skipped 2010 (unnecessarily, in my opinion, but whatever), but in this thread, let's talk about the good reasons to move to 2011.

These are the ones that my office is liking best:

Graphics performance. I'm a bleating sheep when it comes to this item. We all spend a lot of time hauling our eyes around our projects, and when I can haul a little faster, my life is a lot better. Revit's workflow is really jarring: you go from the smooth groove of drawing and modeling to digging into three levels of dialogs. So I need all the groove I can get. Factory take note on the jarring part. Those dialogs kill our groove.

New display styles. Realistic is awesome - since you'll never be able to create a rendered flythrough in Revit before Jesus returns, you can opt for the plan B of shadows + ambient occlusion + realistic display mode. This is a huge win

Tagging linked stuff. There's a wishlist item that I get to cross off. Huzzah!

Modeless Properties. Hate the screen-space it eats up, but love the reduced clicks.

Improved performance all round. They've worked to make more tasks multi-processor capable, or faster in general.

Improved DLM: the leprechaun is far less drunk in 2011, and the Factory UI team has made leprechaun behaviour less DUI-like. Essentially tools have been swapped left to right on the Ribbon, so modify tools are on the left and drawing tools on the right of the Ribbon. It means a lot less jumpiness on the Ribbon and much improved usability.

If you're on 2010 or 2009, the question is no longer if you should upgrade, but when. Maybe after the first SP comes out :-P

Kudos to the Factory for another great release! And thanks for the efforts during the beta cycle and for listening to our feedback. :beer:

So we've got the bug thread -- let's give a little love back in this one ;-) What are y'all loving about 2011?

[dzatto]

A lot of people sit back and watch new users bleed themselves to death on new releases, especially when software is gaining some maturity, as Revit had. I think there's a lot of people out there who skipped 2010 (unnecessarily, in my opinion, but whatever), but in this thread, let's talk about the good reasons to move to 2011.

These are the ones that my office is liking best:

Graphics performance. I'm a bleating sheep when it comes to this item. We all spend a lot of time hauling our eyes around our projects, and when I can haul a little faster, my life is a lot better. Revit's workflow is really jarring: you go from the smooth groove of drawing and modeling to digging into three levels of dialogs. So I need all the groove I can get. Factory take note on the jarring part. Those dialogs kill our groove.

New display styles. Realistic is awesome - since you'll never be able to create a rendered flythrough in Revit before Jesus returns, you can opt for the plan B of shadows + ambient occlusion + realistic display mode. This is a huge win

Tagging linked stuff. There's a wishlist item that I get to cross off. Huzzah!

Modeless Properties. Hate the screen-space it eats up, but love the reduced clicks.

Improved performance all round. They've worked to make more tasks multi-processor capable, or faster in general.

Improved DLM: the leprechaun is far less drunk in 2011, and the Factory UI team has made leprechaun behaviour less DUI-like. Essentially tools have been swapped left to right on the Ribbon, so modify tools are on the left and drawing tools on the right of the Ribbon. It means a lot less jumpiness on the Ribbon and much improved usability.

If you're on 2010 or 2009, the question is no longer if you should upgrade, but when. Maybe after the first SP comes out :-P

Kudos to the Factory for another great release! And thanks for the efforts during the beta cycle and for listening to our feedback. :beer:

So we've got the bug thread -- let's give a little love back in this one ;-) What are y'all loving about 2011?
That it's not AutoCad! :lol:
Just kidding, I'll miss some parts of ACA. I was surprised that there was no realistic view in Revit until 2011, so that's a plus.

Resizeable dialogue boxes!!! Why did Revit not have this until now??

Properties palette. Again, coming from years of ACA it seems Revit would have that by now. Glad to see it in 2011.

[ws]

2011 just feels good somehow - lots of nice things which you have listed, but the overall feel is positive and after the depression brought on by 2010 it is nice to get back that good feeling when you open the program in the morning and start working :)

[Scott D Davis]

Loving that I can finally tell customers that they can make their own elevation tags!

[aaronrumple]

Loving that I can finally tell customers that they can make their own elevation tags!

Woo! Hoo!
...no more complaints from me.

[Paul Monsef]

It's soooooooooo much faster.

I'm currently working on a 218 unit, 100k sf hotel and in 2010 is was gettin to be a HOG on my:
Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon Processors X5365 - 3.00GHz
16 GB DDR2 ECC SDRAM 667MHz
768MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX 4600
running Windows XP 64-bit

But now in 2011 it rawks.

[wmullett]

My IT still doesn't have the disk we asked for so I can't play with 11 yet but tagging linked files is a big plus and if Revit3D.com is right and MEP can copy/monitor architecturally placed lighting and plumbing fixtures and connect to them - G R E A T!

[twiceroadsfool]

I adore the LITTLE things that shipped with 2011.

Grab a tool THEN an object (move, copy, array) (lets me pick the tool OR the object first, depending what the mouse is closer to)

Right click > repeat last command

Modeless Properties box is ALMOST perfect. (When hitting edit type puts the type props in the same palette so i dont have to jump halfway across the monitor, itll BE perfect. But i love love love it the way it is now). (i cant even mention how many less clicks this makes everything)

Realistic view: Awesome. (Except for cardboard trees...)

Speed enhancements: amazing.

CHANGES TO FORM EDITING: heaven sent. I knew the 2010 iteration was a step in teh right direction, but jesus they were a pain in the *** to use. Dissolve, Edit profile (regardless of creation) are fantastic.

Reporting parameters: Theyre not there yet. I mean, they do a little, but the POTENTIAL is there to do a TON. But ill take it nonetheless.

Overall, my favorite release since i got on Revit in 8.1.

[cliff collins]

All of the above. Much applause.

Love the new graphics features, plus the "no more 4 core limit on rendering"
and "add a background image" in rendering.

Workset control across links in huge. So is ( limited ) tagging across links.

Ribbon improvements are very nice.

Best release since beginning with Revit version 1.

cheers

[AP23]

The best feature hasn't been mentioned yet and that's the adaptive component. And offcourse the divided surface with intersects. Although the last feature, if I'm not mistaken, existed in 2010 Alpha version already.

[Henry D]

Compared to other releases this board has been very quiet ...that's a very positive sign since posting is typically about problems.

The transition from 2010 to 2011 has been the smoothest ever. I usually wait a while before I upgrade my projects. This time I took one quick spin through 2011 and had a real good feeling about it's stability. So I upgraded in the middle of a deadline without skipping a beat.

[davidcobi]

A very stable release with a long list of worthwhile improvements. I was reluctant to upgrade our office to 2010, not so with 2011. Very nicely done.

[eegbertson]

Woo! Hoo!
...no more complaints from me.

In some part elevation tags was done with you in mind. While you mention the complaints they tapered off for several releases which I interpreted as resignation. It made me sad as complaints can be interpreted as passion. Anyways..I'll send you a commemorative mug when I get them made. I have the exact date the code was live.

[trombe]

In some part elevation tags was done with you in mind. While you mention the complaints they tapered off for several releases which I interpreted as resignation. It made me sad as complaints can be interpreted as passion. Anyways..I'll send you a commemorative mug when I get them made. I have the exact date the code was live.

Well then eegbertson,
perhaps I can offer more good news on this particular occasion.
Glad to see that Aaron is enjoying the fruits of some of his labours.

I got it on the 15th late at night and have had about 14 hours odd using it on 2 upgraded projects. I think it is still a bit early to rave after the terrible problems during the early and mid parts of 2009 with Revit 2010 however, that said............
At this early stage, I am really positive about Revit 2011 because:

It seems I am now able to get clean PDF writes out of Revit 2011 and my PDF Factory Pro virtual pdf writer which has been a significant issue for me with Revit 2010 and I am very very happy to see this.

I like the persistent properties dialogue where it is now located, and immediately find it comfortable to hit "PP" to dismiss and regain the dialogue and so access the things I want and I like the way the little EDIT TYPE button in the top RH corner of that dialogue is positioned and shaped and find it easy to use immediately.

I like that way that the sun path is now interactive and find this set up a strong improvement over what what was there. I use the sun path and shadow tool set in every project and for planning / consent aspects as in NZ we are faced with reasonably strict ordinance regarding sunlight recession planes, bulk and location issues etc. therefore, the sunlight tools are actually a critical tool set for me and this implementation is a good step up so thanks for that. I am finding this is also now already very familiar because I also use Luxology modo 401 which has got not only real time render preview but real time / interactive material editing, texture editing and real time / interactive lighting positioning and lighting colours, colour filtering , so the Revit improvement is welcomed again.

I am not fussed on Consistent Colours so far but the Realistic looks like it might be entertaining now and again.

I appreciate the work and the permission or whatever, to improve the rendering aspects as we have all bemoaned this aspect. the "new" functions were mostly present in Accurender really however lets not dwell on that..this is a lot better than Revit 2010 although I have only had about 3 hours to look around and have a play I like the possibilities so well done for this.

I am pleased to see critical improvements in the Ribbon !! thank god for that !
However, I immediately realised the value of the shortcut to Paste Aligned - Current View because this new location does not suit me for sure.

I might not have this right and have not checked in 2010, however, it seems like there is now a notable increase in the opportunities for further keyboard shortcuts and this is great.

Since its early days I should not be so cavalier about this however, after 14 hours odd without a crash or video freeze / re-draw and using the latest Quadro driver that is supposedly a certified one from NVidia (191.66), I am fairly pleased except that in Realistic view mode, with shadows on my workstation is a little hesitant with a 50Mb file.
I expect to normally work in HL and SD anyway and only use Realistic for pre-render presentation for throw away imagery.

So after much teeth gnashing about not being advised its coming by the manufacturer and having to rely upon AUGI and resellers, and after the disappointments of Revit 2010, 2011 looks like a very very good release so man, thanks, good job.

trombe

[Alex Page]

Hey Trombe - notice that Indigo renderer have a Revit Plugin almost realised in beta form? Looks like you can "Indigo Render" WITHIN Revit

[trombe]

Hey Trombe - notice that Indigo renderer have a Revit Plugin almost realised in beta form? Looks like you can "Indigo Render" WITHIN Revit

Yo Alex,
I am waiting for a beta copy, however I understand Revigo will be for 2010 until they can get it coded up for 2011.....are you up to rugwell next week ..assume you got the mail..see the demo ? I would be really be happy to support a local if it flys however, am pretty happy with modo now despite 2011 having a few new tools, it is understandably light years from a standalone engine.
trombe

[barrie.sharp]

I started rendering yesterday and I was shocked by the speed improvement!!! It just spat a high quality render at me using 8 cores, I'm so happy I might just sing. It's smooth and I have to say that the consistant colours will come in handy - it makes me crazy when I add a 3D interior view and someone asks "why are the walls different colours?" Arrrrrgh, it's shading!!!! So now I can present an image with flat colours.

Any manuals for the extensions though? Want to know how the road and terrain tool works.

[patricks]

Any manuals for the extensions though? Want to know how the road and terrain tool works.

I heard that's just a plugin for Civil 3D interoperability or something like that. No actual functionality added to Revit Architecture. :(

[Les Therrien]

Wes great thread to start!

I agree with a lot that's been written.
I myself have not upgraded since the introduction of the ribbon and the ousting of the Accurender engine.
There was too much freaking out here, problems, etc... that I just couldn't chance a massive time loss of any sort.

With 2011, everything seems more positive so I've actually set time aside to get familiar with it, experiment, and deciding where to go next.

So far I'm very pleased with a lot of what I see and feel pretty confident that I can go in the water a little deeper. I can't wait to be using it 100%

[peakprecisiondesign]

Trombe,
I initially liked the keyboard shortcuts dialog box, but an now having a heck of a time getting my shortcuts working properly.

[jcoe]

Nobody has mentioned the placeholder sheets for the drawing index and then the ability to convert to a sheet - awesome!

And what about the Select all instances>in current view - sweet!

There still is no irregular boundary for the callout tool, but I'll take it.

[trombe]

yo peak,
sorry to hear that...What is not working for you ?.what things are bothering you?

The only one for me is "PP" because I am left handed but use the keyboard RH so I have to reach across the board to get to P...so intend to try and change that this weekend to be "AA" (ha haa, short for access ability (to change information).

I would also add that I like the small changes to (eg) the Family Type dialogue in the family Editor so that now the place, where you associate the parameter with - such as Materials and Finishes is not hidden away on the RH side of the Modify / Add/ Remove sub dialogue, but in a "same as the fields above for Parameter Name, Type and Class drop down field", which makes it just that little bit cleaner, and easier to use because it is now right under the other fields you need to work with - a good revision factory thank you. There are others in there too aren't there guys and gals.....

trombe

[Scott D Davis]

What about when you add parameters in a family, the category list automatically changes? Make a length parameter and it shows under dimensions by default.

[Wes Macaulay]

Oh yeah Scott -- them's are good ones 8)

Also, it's great what was done with the QAT -- it's way more usable now

[AP23]

Well, I must agree with everyone that this is probably the best release so far. However, i do need to be critical and say that the modeling tools are still not up to par. They have made creating mass more easy, but you still can't create a fully organic model. You can't make a closed loop with splines, and adding profiles and edges are still a huge problem. I hope they fix this in the next release.

[zenomail105021]

Finally got to Revit Architecture 2011 this weekend. My impression is that there has been a bit of a philosophical sea change i.e. much more orientation to user convenience and ergonomic considerations. I see thoughtfullness in the programming with these in mind. The work goes on but perhaps the factory has pushed itself through the dark, melancholy days (years) and into the light. Vitruvius, I think, would have approved as he saw the right philosophy as the foundation of right archtitecture. Kudos and looking forward to more of this sort of good work.

Bill Maddox

[Rick Moore]

The Export dialog is now re-sizable, yay

[s_depc]

Finally got to Revit Architecture 2011 this weekend. My impression is that there has been a bit of a philosophical sea change i.e. much more orientation to user convenience and ergonomic considerations. I see thoughtfullness in the programming with these in mind. The work goes on but perhaps the factory has pushed itself through the dark, melancholy days (years) and into the light. Vitruvius, I think, would have approved as he saw the right philosophy as the foundation of right archtitecture. Kudos and looking forward to more of this sort of good work.

Bill Maddox

Maybe Autodesk now have an expert industry user helping/telling them what they need to do to improve it...or how it can be implemented in the right way. Having a programmer implement a tool in a way that is easy for them to program instead of easy for the user has been the critical point for a lot of programs not only Autodesk products.

[mbalsom]

Just a small one that seems to be getting overlooked.Temporary dimensions now have a memory.Select an object / relocate temp . dimension. When you select that object again, temp .dimension will be right where you left it. Might be a small one but is a huge bonus to me.

[dzatto]

Just a small one that seems to be getting overlooked.Temporary dimensions now have a memory.Select an object / relocate temp . dimension. When you select that object again, temp .dimension will be right where you left it. Might be a small one but is a huge bonus to me.
Yep,and now you can also set the size for you temp dims. I don't think you could do that before 2011.

[sfaust]

Yep,and now you can also set the size for you temp dims. I don't think you could do that before 2011.

You could, but not nearly as easily. There was an ini switch in at least 2010, and maybe even 2009 (don't remember). It worked but required manually going into the ini and modifying, which makes it inaccessible for the average user. Now it's right on the options, much better :)

[jcoe]

Just discovered this - Nice!

[narlee]

Fabulous release. As I mentioned elsewhere (as I abandoned Revit 2010), it took them two releases, but it was worth it. They tried to tackle too much in 2010, I guess.

[josh.made4worship]

It's soooooooooo much faster.

I'm currently working on a 218 unit, 100k sf hotel and in 2010 is was gettin to be a HOG on my:
Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon Processors X5365 - 3.00GHz
16 GB DDR2 ECC SDRAM 667MHz
768MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX 4600
running Windows XP 64-bit

But now in 2011 it rawks.

Yeah, I agree...similiar specs in my machine, and we have a (4) 10+ story building renovation development that totlaed about 350 MB between 5 files and it runs so much faster on 2011!

[John K.]

Wes, you are the proverbial wind beneath my wings -- at least for today for this thread. Really missing the simple things in life e.g., just hitting a pull down menu and seeing an <underscore'> beneath each accelerator-key *letter*. Is there a way to see that again on my ribbon display among the various verbiage? I'm apparently to out of it to even effectively use <<F1>> at the moment.

Thanks in advance, -- jk

PS: I know this isn't the correct thread to add my question if I truly couldn't live w/out a quick answer. Just needed to send "big ups/props" to Wes for posting same...

[Wes Macaulay]

In some part elevation tags was done with you in mind. While you mention the complaints they tapered off for several releases which I interpreted as resignation. It made me sad as complaints can be interpreted as passion. Anyways..I'll send you a commemorative mug when I get them made. I have the exact date the code was live.
Oooh. I'd also like one of those - nothing like having

"Trapelo Code Branch 20091012_1014 pre-alpha"

on your mug ;-)

[Wes Macaulay]

Wes, you are the proverbial wind beneath my wings -- at least for today for this thread. Really missing the simple things in life e.g., just hitting a pull down menu and seeing an <underscore'> beneath each accelerator-key *letter*. Is there a way to see that again on my ribbon display among the various verbiage? I'm apparently to out of it to even effectively use <<F1>> at the moment.
I don't think the Alt-letter keyboard shortcuts are going to be useful - ever. You can thank the Ribbon for that. But you can shortcut anything else, now -- type KS and go to town 8)

[John K.]

I don't think the Alt-letter keyboard shortcuts are going to be useful - ever. You can thank the Ribbon for that. But you can shortcut anything else, now -- type KS and go to town 8)

Hmm. Since you put it that way -- and on 2nd thought... -- that's been true for some time. So I guess it's not really a catastrophic loss. *Anywho*, sounds good & thanks as always for such quick responses. -- jk

[dfriesen]

Corrected the Convert Linework tool results.

In 2010, when the the tool was introduced, when you converted linework from Detail to Model or vice-versa, you were no longer able to Tab-select a whole string of lines - it seemed they were no longer connected, even though the ends were coincident. That behaviour has now been corrected, and you can select an entire string.

Thanks Factory!

[John K.]

Corrected the Convert Linework tool results.
/snippy/ That behaviour has now been corrected, and you can select an entire string. /snippy/ Thanks Factory!

That's *huge*. Thanx 4 the heads-up! -- jk

PS: Upgrading to 2011 *THIS WEEK!* Woot!