Better Training Materials

[Bill McLees]

I am very appreciative of this tutorial and of this forum in general. I can't imagine learning Revit without it, and without the help of users more advanced than I am.

Now, in addition to tackling Revit, I'm learning Sketchup. Although Sketchup is "free" in comparision to Revit, there seem to be more "vendor provided" tutorials and training by far associated with the Sketchup program. I really think it is time for Autodesk to step up and justify a $ 4000 program with training materials equal to the task. Even the subscription price per year is more than the cost of Sketchup.

For example, the family editor remains very difficult for me. The only tutorials Revit offers are introductory in nature and don't answer any of my questions. Though I'm no Frank Gehry, I do fairly complicated stuff and I still use Autocad to describe much of it because I simply don't have the time to learn how to make Revit do what I want it to do.

I fully support Revit and I'm moving more and more of my work to it. However, I'm not a newbie relative to CAD or to architecture. I'm ready for higher level training materials, help files, etc. and I don't think the members of this forum are the ones who owe it to me.

I realize this post doesn't belong in this thread. If any knows where it should go, feel free to move it. ( EDIT: Done ... Split from Parametric Arrays & Nested Families Tutorial )

Again, thanks so much for the tutorial! Please forgive my venting.

[noah]

I agree! I posted a similar vent before about how good the free sketchup videos are. Good videos should be coming from the factory (not volunteers) and they should be included with the subscription.

I really can't imagine students learning Revit at the college level with just a single text book like Cyril's. It is a great resource but it really requires a combination of training materials to get a handle on Revit (including this forum and soemthing that goes into GREAT detail with the family editor, ODBC, gbxml, rendering, etc.). Autodesk should consider how important it is to make a program easy to use first and even easier to learn as a way to encourage market growth (starting at the high school and college level).

[SkiSouth]

:grin: One of the most difficult things for me was to "unlearn" the Autocad Thinking of 20 years. When Autocad first came out - the tutorials were of the same caliber as Revit's currently, except no one really knew where AutoCAD was going.

I drew for the first six weeks with a hard copy (three binders) of all the Revit tutorials on my desk. Yes, Revit can be difficult to learn BY YOURSELF (which is what I did). I think if I had a knowledgeable dealer (oxymoron) to get some formal training it might not have been so hard.

One thing though was I was "testing" Revit. Hard to justify real training money just seeing if Revit could "make the grade" (It passed at 100 percent). The tutorials are there, but for me, they are not very clear, thus my own tutorials posted here. I will write more tutorials, as I'm sure Mr. Spot and others will, as time allows. Just post what you want (like the family editor request) I'm sure someone will step to the plate and help - I would imagine the factory is working on some better documentation too. (I really want them adding features to Revit first though..)

[Mr Spot]

I appreciate that people find the tutorials useful and agree there should be more provided by the factory. Maybe if we have some posts on what tutorials everyone would find most useful we could then compile a list of where tutorials for the requested operations can be found.

If there not available, some of us who can find the time could then create a tutorial in our spare time...?

[bowlingbrad]

How about you guys running some classes at AU?

[sbrown]

Jim Balding and Lay Chris Fox, two top AU speakers does have a book in print through Autodesk Press. http://www.delmarlearning.com/browse_product_detail.aspx?catid=11963&isbn=1401850499

Some of my co-worker "students" are using it and like the way it is put together.

I learned from just the online classes and tutorials. But do hear the cry for books more and more.

[noah]

I personally would like to see most of the tutorial efforts be put into videos. They seem to be incredibly easy to make (if you have the software to capture your screen) and they are so much easier to follow than static screen shots and abstract words on paper. Books are great but they really do require you to sit down and go line by line to learn the stuff. Where as a video can be visually absorbed. I would think they are way easier to make then a paper tutorial. For instance, I could imagine posting a request for a tutorial and someone could reply with a video (basic real time screen capture) of exactly the steps they took. I know a lot of the moderators here actually try to recreate some of the issues discussed so the only thing different would be to hit record while they figure it out. They wouldn't even need to narrate it. Later someone with the tools could add a voice over and post it to the tutorial section of this site.

If I knew Revit better and if I had the screen capture software I would volunteer to make some tutorials. Maybe in a few months I'll be fully up to speed.

[SkiSouth]

I They seem to be incredibly easy to make ....


Yes and No. The software works fine, its the brain behind the video that has a hard time with the process... :smile: :smile: - You really have to know the process before starting the capture, what you're going to show, and then, be sure the screen capture "gets" what you're trying to show - and that is a function of how many images are captured - which translates in to the size of the AVI file. Sometimes, you also would need an audio capture to really explain the process.

You add all that up and normally a decent AVI video would reach a few Megabytes in the least. Given the size limitations to files, a written PDF file explains the process (the audio part) and screen captures explain the video aspects, all within an acceptable file size.

Considering telephone interruptions, dogs barking and editing audio with video, a decent training blur takes a good effort. I think Jeffery is going to jump into the fray with this - it will be interesting to see what is offered. Check the thread here: http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=13649&highlight=video+training -

Look forward to seeing your video tutorials too.

[jbalding48677]

I personally would like to see most of the tutorial efforts be put into videos. They seem to be incredibly easy to make (if you have the software to capture your screen) and they are so much easier to follow than static screen shots and abstract words on paper. You have the right word in there "...they SEEM to be...". Like Ski says there is a lot of work to get them there, not to mention that people pay for books that at least offsets some of the effort (a very small portion I might add). A digital video can be copied from person to person... Not that you, or anyone here, would do that. It is a tremendous effort.

[zanzibarbob7]

I sympathize with Jim about the books. I have both the books and the web casts. The webcast is easier as it is visual. I have two screens and as the web cast plays I often pause the video and play with the topic in Revit on the other screen. In my opinion the best of either is the one that explains WHY things happen and not just a recipe. I have run across this promisning site: http://www.cahillnet.com/elearning.htm. They have a sample Revit video. It may be worth pursuing.