Best Revit method...

[Clyne Curtis]

First of all, let me give a little background into my current CAD methodology. As part of my job I manage a CAD database of around 12 million square feet of buildings for our campus. the designers in our planning department use copies of my floor plans for their remodeling projects, and upon completion of the project, I in turn harvest - cut and paste - all the updated information back into my floor plans. I then take the updated plans, generate square footage reports, and pass that information on to our Space Management department .
I am looking to switch our campus database to Revit over the next year or so, and I am trying to come up with the best method for our designers to use the new Revit data in their projects. Most of our design work consists of one or two rooms, or possibly a suite of rooms being remodeled at one time. It is also not uncommon to have multiple projects being done simultaneously on the same floor.
Is this a scenario that could be worked out using worksets? I have not used worksets much yet, so I don't know if it is even possible to have only certain interior walls as part of a workset.
I guess if I have to continue to use the cut and paste method I will still save time with the automatic updating of the room areas.
Not to mention that Revit is just dang fun to use regardless!!
Anyway, I am hoping to hear some additional ideas or opinions on a good method that I might present to my boss next week.

Thanks for any input!

Clyne
BYU

[Wes Macaulay]

First hurdle: making sure everyone uses the right version :lol:

Second hurdle: I would put each building in its own file, and use worksets on each so that project team members could add their work as needed to each building. Link the buildings into the campus master file for site plans.

I would be concerned that if the campus is quite large Revit might gripe about the coordinate system being too large; I haven't tested this in a while to see what the current limits are.

Final hurdle: making sure everyone is sufficiently versed in Revit so that they add sensible data to the model.

You might also consider having a base building file which users link in to do their fitouts. That way the base building is preserved.

My 2 cents...

[aggockel50321]

What I do here, at our campus is to maintain a project file for each building. We're about 1/12 your size, so some may not apply.

It can get confusing, especially when we get over 3 projects going on in one building, but I find that maintaining one model for each building much easier then updating multiple projects.

I make extensive use of worksets, phasing, and design options, seldom using worksets to isolate a project, but more for isolating sections of larger buildings. I'm the only one doing this, so multiuser with worksets never applies.

What I typically do is let the current state of the building stay as the current phase. This is where I generate floor plan reports, etc. I export the floorplans out to 2d acad drawings, as this is what most consultants want around here. For archive purposes, pdf.

For the projects, I use phasing, (a lot of times, one future phase for multiple projects). I then isolate the projects by adding a project parameter called "job" and then set up views & sheets for each job, and sort the project browser by job.

Once I get a set of sheets done for a project, I write them out to pdf, and if the project is complete, delete the associated views & sheets, update the current floor plans by either changing phases or moving everything changed back to the current phase.

I find it works well. Some of these projects will lie dormant for up to three years, and then proceed. That's why I find it a good practice to write out the sheets as pdf files, as it's amazing how I'll find that a change I made two software updates ago, come back to bite me. :banghead:

I find design options are invaluable. Typically, the way we do things, is to do the preliminary dd's in house, create a budget, get it approved, & then farm it out to a consultant to polish the dd's and produce the cd's. Most of the decisions leadiing up to getting a budget approved are made by committees, so design options are great, as on some projects, I'll have up to eight options. What amazes myself the most, is doing over/unders on which option will win, and then seeing the result. I'm seldom right.

In conclusion, it's a challenge to keep it sorted out, but as an old acad workhorse, I could never do the above in that software.

Thank you Revit!

[Clyne Curtis]

Thanks for the great replies Wes and Andrew!! Just a couple of quick questions...


"You might also consider having a base building file which users link in to do their fitouts. That way the base building is preserved."Does linking the base file allow you to save your changes back to the base file? Or is that strictly a function of worksets?


"For the projects, I use phasing, (a lot of times, one future phase for multiple projects). I then isolate the projects by adding a project parameter called "job" and then set up views & sheets for each job, and sort the project browser by job."

This method sounds intriguing, Andrew, I don't suppose I could talk you out of a little more detail and possibly an example? BTW, which campus do you work for?

Thanks again for the helpful responses!

Clyne
BYU

[Clyne Curtis]

Note to self...learn how to use the forum quote function...

[Adam Mac]

LOL Clyne - i can relate to that.......!

[beegee]

Note to self...learn how to use the forum quote function...How to quote ?

Well, I'll just quote Steve, from the Forum FAQs....


To quote someone like this: (assuming you need to quote more than just the post you are replying to or want to quote several lines.


Inconceivable!!
I can not tell a lie!First check out THIS TIP (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=15819) to set up the enhanced editor.

If you do you can use a little button to add quote codes and then paste text in between. To give credit to the other person you just need to add the =username after the first quote. I've attached a couple images to help...hopefully.

[mibzim]

just a quick note that might prevent some problems in the future...

When linking files that have design options only the primary option comes through to the linked file. In other words you cant link option A B or C into a master site plan... it was a problem for us and could be for you - im sure the factory knows about it and hopefully we will be able to choose which option gets linked in future releases

[beegee]

The work-around is to make a copy of the linked file, rename and change the secondary option to primary.

You can then reload the appropriate link containing the option you want displayed.


just a quick note that might prevent some problems in the future...

When linking files that have design options only the primary option comes through to the linked file. In other words you cant link option A B or C into a master site plan... it was a problem for us and could be for you - im sure the factory knows about it and hopefully we will be able to choose which option gets linked in future releases