Teaching Revit by Day, Using Revit to Make Money by Night

[sdjordison]

First of all, I hope I'm posting this message in the correct location of this site.
I've been a member of AUGI for quite a while but haven't shared many opinions until now. There seems to be an ongoing battle of which is better: ADT or Revit. I would like to express my opinion, but let me back up first and tell you about my history of using AutoCad products.

I began using and teaching standard AutoCad when version 14 was out. It was great for it's time, however it was frustrating to complete a good set of plans without views being linked. Then ADT came out. It seemed to be a great improvement over standard AutoCad. I enjoyed the fact that 3D modeling was now a part of CAD drawing. However I was frustrated using ADT for any modeling beyond walls, doors and windows. Yes, I understand that ADT can do more than walls, doors and windows, however it was not user friendly. I continued to teach and use ADT. As a teacher, I do not make enough money to pay the monthly bills, so I have my own business designing custom homes after hours. This also keeps me up on the latest AutoCad products. A little over 2 years ago, heard the rumblings of a new kid on the block called Revit. And I must confess, initially I thought it might be an add on package to ADT. Sorry. During my research, I stumbled across an article about a firm in Ft. Collins CO. using Revit. The article mentioned about a particular Architect, Scott Brown who was using it. I teach at the Career Development Center, located in Longmont, CO., about 30 miles away from Ft. Collins. So I called Scott and made arrangements to come up and visit him. I could not believe my eyes. There really is a software that was both user friendly and made directly for the Architectural world. Within a week I bought the software for my own business and convinced the school that this was the way of the future.

I'm currently writing this letter from school. I have just finished another lesson in Revit, and watch my students as they stay focused on their assignments. Revit is so interactive and intuitive that I never have a problem getting my students to buy into it.

And there lies the key. My students have never been told that they must give up what they have been using for years, and learn something new called Revit. We use Revit for the Architectural part of the class and nothing else. Yes, at first I was worried that Revit may come and go, and I would have been the fool that lead them down the wrong path. However I'm now convinced that Revit is here to stay, and will be the software of choice.

As my students go off to college and further their education in Architecture, Revit will be with them to use as their primary tool for designing and drawing. In fact, I have already experienced some previous students coming back to visit me from college and tell me that their professors are interested in this "new thing" called Revit. And they too are beginning to use it. And many have been given the opportunity to test out of some of their Cad classes. I believe its all in education. And I'm only one of many that are teaching our future Architects to use this wonderful software.

So give the users of other applications some time to appreciate Revit. It's not easy to throw away something that you have used for years. Three days into Revit, I almost gave up and went back to ADT, glad I didn't.

[Wes Macaulay]

Revit is an unusual piece of software. It doesn't really "feel" like anything else... talking to other users, we're at a bit of a loss to describe its feel.

What tends to weird people out the most is the use of Tab - it's used heavily by Revit, more than anything else in the architectural CAD. Revit's noun-verb tools also baffle first time users for a while; most users are used to "pick the command first, then grab the object".

You're perfectly right about Revit, though: it's here to stay, and most people are really liking it who get to try it. We still see a lot of people whose dislike of Autodesk has given them a permanent chip on their shoulder; their grudges keep them from enjoying a great program.

I don't know enough about software development to comment on whether something like Revit could be developed in the open-source market; my guess is "not likely". So to ante up four large US clams for the software seems like a tough call to some... unthinkable to others, but in my mind, it's a bargain. For only a few more than AutoCAD you get real, usable building modeling.

The software is a marvel; the programmers are miracle-workers. Bugs and missing features notwithstanding (and there are very few), Autodesk made a great choice in buying Revit. I'm glad people can actually own a license in perpetuity now; the Revit paradigm was one of permanent software rental. The Revit team actively seek input from users as to how the features should work. My job is like yours: showing people how to use this great tool. I've never had a better job to do!

[Steve_Stafford]

First of all, I hope I'm posting this message in the correct location of this site.
I think this belongs in our General forum and will move it there. Yours is a great testimonial and we thank you for sharing it.

FYI...This forum (R&D Lounge) is really intended to discuss ideas and products that our members are interested in developing from a commercial angle.

[sbrown]

I'm so glad to have participated in these kids education, steering them away from evil and such, but seriously. I'm very pleased you kept with it and found the same joy and freedom I have found from the software. Now can you send us some of these students for internships in Florida or Newport Beach? Keep teaching more of them, you will be doing them a great service. I believe we are seeing the begining of a mass adoption of BIM and all the firms I talk with are looking for people who know this software.

I'd love to see some of the students work.

[rookwood]

I purchased Revit some time back (5.0) and never installed it until 7.0. I believe I am a typical AutoCAD (ADT) user and find that time, in the business world, is of the essence, and had precious little of it to devote to learning. Six weeks ago, a national client I work with needed a 3D drawing to visualize a facility on a difficult site. I located a local architect who had revit experience and hired him to do the work, while I was at his side learning.

The rest, as they say, is history. I learned AutoCAD five years ago and, as with all the software I use (Photoshop, Illustrator, ACAD, etc.), am self-taught. I read everything, work all the tutorials, etc. After installing Revit six weeks ago, I just comleted the second $2 million custom house for my son's home building business.

What would take me four weeks to do with ADT, I can now do in one week and have the added feature of 3D renderings (invaluable with home building clients). I think I can say that Revit just sold two houses for my son.

As I see it, the problem that Autodesk will have with Revit is getting people like me to take the plunge. Like me, no time for learning. If they only knew. I cannot accept the thought of going back to the druderey of 2D designing and don't get me wrong, I love what I do and have done it for over forty years. I have a long, long way to go, but where I am now is so much futher than where I was two months ago. My work has always been fun, only now it's much FUNNER.

P.S.: I did a walk through last night on a house design I was working on and saw design/construction flaws that would have gone unnoticed with ADT. How sweet and envigorating life can be. Thank you Autodesk and Revit.