Revit Implementation

[alext]

My boss finally agree to switch to revit, My office is too small to hire someone to help us to do the implementation. I need to do this by myself. Can any one tell me what is the best reference book to buy? or any suggestions?
My office is looking for someone to do on site training. Any recommendations?

Thank you for your help.

Alex Tu

[Steve_Stafford]

...My boss finally agree to switch to revit...Congratulations!


...best reference book to buy?...Check the LINKS (http://www.augi.com/revit/default.asp?page=375) page for publishers (at the bottom of the page)


...My office is looking for someone to do on site training. Any recommendations?...Local resellers are a good place to start. Where are you located? Might be able to get in a training class with others? Autodesk and third party trainers are an option but you said you needed to do it yourself so that might not work for you?

[Scott D Davis]

Introducing and Implementing Revit, by Fox and Balding. This is the premier book for implementation! You can find it at Amazon, although Amazon make make the book seem "dated" because they say it applies to Revit 5.5...wait, just checked, they have changed the title!

Click HERE (http://www.amazon.com/)to go to Amazon and then seach for Revit Impementation

[Arnel Aguel]

It used to be 5.5 now they make it 6.6...LOL..... Oh gosh cant they make it right???


I guess the latest book seems to cover version 8 though and how is it different from version 6 or it is just and updated version from the first book? I got the first book but also interested to buy the new one if there are alot of things covered not in the previous book.

Any thought JB? Thanks for any reply.

[rod.74246]

I must admit that our implementation was pretty hack and slash. This is how we did it.

2 of us went on a training course and started a couple of jobs, cocking them up completely and managing to get them back on line after we figured out what we were doing, then started making an office template set up once we had a basic idea what we were doing.

After we got the first job out, 4 more staff went on a training course, after they got back they started doing som projects under trhe guidance of the first 2 who went. Went through the hell process of the learning curve with a bit of back up assistance.

With 6 of us making mistakes everywhere there was a lot of "finding out the best way to do something?" questions happening. We trolled these forums whenever we got sutuck and listened to the advice of a lot of all these expereinced guys :) (thanks all!!)

We got a couple more jobs out as CD and on to building sites. After this i then ran everyone through a couple of weekend "basic training" courses that we made up as we went along ( bout 20 or so more people).

At this point i would say we have 1 reasonably proficient users ( me - though i keep finding out new stuff every day) a couple of intermediate users and a stack of basic leel users. We are still running ACAD / Revit on every machine and slowly getting new jobs on to Revit allowing only 1 or 2 people at a time using Revit for the first time. This allows the more expereinced people give them a hand.

Guess the point i am trying t make is "take it slow" You really need a couple of people to go through the heartache on a number of Projects , right though CD and Construction stage before you get anybody else on to it. There is no chance no matter how good your implementation is that a new user will not make mistakes. I have never read much on implementation (and probably should have) but i think most recommendations would be too take it slowly and introduce a few poeple or teams on to it at a time. One Project at a time. (this isnt really a Revit thing though, i think it is fairly generic for any CAD software changes in an office)

[hand471037]

There's some excellent advice here in this thread, and the only thing I can add is that it's best to focus on an easy job, or one particular job, as your first. By doing this you're able to focus more on learning Revit than on trying to learn Revit while focusing on a complex design problem and/or overly large/new type of project.

One example, from a Firm I did an Revit implementation for, was a School. This Firm mostly did Schools, and they had a project where they were going to take a Design they had already built somewhere else and make another School just like the first at a different site with only minor changes (other than adapting the design to the new site, I mean). This way the major Design problems were already pretty much solved, and they could just focus on how to make Revit work.

Or, another example, at the Firm where I first started using Revit, we focused on just using it for Facilities and Leasing Management. We already knew what needed to be done, and had all the info. It was just an issue of learning how to do it (better) using Revit.

The last Firm I was working at picked as it's first Revit project a huge complex project with several things in it that they hadn't done before. They got it done, but with lots of pain, and while it did inform them such that their projects now are much better that first one it was quite a nightmare.

So pick something easy and familiar and small if you can as your first.

[alext]

Thank you all of your reply. these replies help me a lot !!!


Alex Tu

[jbalding48677]

OK, let me add, comment and clarify...

Our new book, due out in August, is still "under construction". It will be updated to include improvements and additional features from both 7 and 8. There will be an additional chapter on massing. The rest of the chapters will be refined, with new dialog boxes, clarifications that have been requested and (with any luck the appendix will make it in this time ;) ). I have attached that appendix here as it is focused on implementation with the 7 factors and 4 keys to success to implementation (my opinion anyway).

Now, some of the things that I recommend when implementing Revit in an office. These are generalizations as every office is very different.

Baby Steps - Start with a few goals, i.e. you don't need to think about rendering (or materials) in your first project. Shoot for good plans (with office standard annotation), color fills, schedules and details.
Start with a Familiar Project - That means, start with a project type that you are comfortable with, you know the deliverables and expectations.
Four Keys to Success - Plan, communicate, train and support. These are huge, see attached
Nike - Just Do It
On the Job Training - While more stressful, it is much more valuable when you finish.
Exit Strategy - Some say have one, some say don't commit fully.
Reward/Recognition - Recognize or reward those that are "stepping up" and leading the charge. This will help others follow and be willing to take on the challenge.
ContinueTraining - Even though you think you know it all, you gain every time you get together.
Template - Develop a good template.
Don't Force it - They will resent you and will not want to perform
Keep the Team Together - Establish the teams, keep them together physically and project wise.
There is a lot more to discuss, but these represent a smattering of them.

HTH -

[jbalding48677]

Introducing and Implementing Revit, by Fox and Balding. This is the premier book for implementation! You can find it at Amazon, although Amazon make make the book seem "dated" because they say it applies to Revit 5.5...wait, just checked, they have changed the title!

Click HERE (http://www.amazon.com/)to go to Amazon and then seach for Revit Impementation
Thanks Scott, checks in the mail ;) .

[Wes Macaulay]

Knowledge is everything. Everyone needs to get to know as much about Revit as they can. If people really want to get ahead with this program, they need to dive in and figure it out.

For the stuff you can't figure out, post to this forum.. Unfortunately there are some things that even this collective forum doesn't know, and in that case you have to pay Autodesk Consulting Services to get that knowledge ;-)