Revit 7.0?

[Beth Powell]

See this mentioned in AU classes. Guess that'll be about right from when 6.1 came out last December. Any clues as to major changes?

What? Do I sound too anxious? :confused:

[Steve_Stafford]

Sorry we won't get any sneak previews here...except I do know they are specifically taking care of everything that I wished for :grin: 8-)

[Beth Powell]

I figured it would be too soon to see anything about it. It's a shame as I have some users that may be choosing Revit, but they have a few concerns. My hope was that maybe 7.0 would solve their problems and swing them to decide to come away from the dark side.

Oh, well. Still will enjoy seeing whether there are any differences in handling exporting and if there are any Building Systems type features added.

Only another four months...

[Steve_Stafford]

Beth...you work for a reseller right? If anyone has a shot at a preview...ya'll do. Contact your rep and see if a NDA preview is in your future or at least if one could be arranged soon?

[mnielsen]

So, the ETA is December then?

[Scott D Davis]

We can only speculate, and look at past history. The last two release have come near the time of AU, which is the beginning of December. There is also a class again this year at AU, "What's New in 7.0"

We have to remember that Autodesk and Revit do not relase official 'release dates' to the public. If something comes up at the last minute, they will postpone releases until problems are resolved. So we think it will be around December....but it could be later....or sooner! :D

[mnielsen]

Good enough - just needed to get a ballpark estimate... Thanks!

[mnielsen]

Just thought of another question - Is Accurender still going to be the rendering engine - or is the Revit going to be incorporating 3dViz? That was a rumor I heard last year...

[Beth Powell]

I know I'll get slammed for this, but I got better previews and more info when I was on the AUGI Board then in the reseller channels. We're the next to last to know. :roll:

[Tom Dorner]

As much as anyone, I would like to know what is in release 7.0 Just remember though that Autodesk is a public company listed on NasdaqNM:ADSK. As a public company the company and their employees are prohibited from making any "forward" looking statements by the SEC.

Disclosure of any upcoming release dates of software or features would be considered forward looking.

So the long and the short of it is that I will just have to wait like the rest of the crowd until the morning of December 3rd at AU to find out what the 7.0 buzz is about.

Tom

[beegee]

.

So the long and the short of it is that I will just have to wait like the rest of the crowd until the morning of December 3rd at AU to find out what the 7.0 buzz is about.

Tom
Unless 7.0 actually comes out before then... :wink:

[Steve_Stafford]

Unless 7.0 actually comes out before then... :wink: aaah...ever the optometrist...:-)

[beegee]

aaah...ever the optometrist...:-)I see that new spell checker is working well for you Steve. :grin:

[blads]

Unless 7.0 actually comes out before then... :wink:

well that'd make a great anniversary present if it was out by Nov 27th :grin:

[adegnan]

well that'd make a great anniversary present if it was out by Nov 27th :grin:
Wow, same as mine Blads!

[UKITManager]

I and many UK users are” on the fence” to deploy more Revit seats until the site tools and proper roads are available in REVIT so the longer we have to wait for version 7 and if they haven't addressed these crucial issues, the sales for this product are not going to take off. Even thought he companion seats are now available I believe real use of the Revit will remain "measured at best" due to our perceived productivity gain with 80% of the program and the last 20% of the software still slows down the user due to its incomplete procedures to achieving the designed project.

If there is not indication of the new feature set for the version 7 release then is no reason to pursue further deployments. We are expecting to go from 6 seats to 34. But we can’t if we can not create (with some efficiency ) multi sloped car parking lots, real compound curved roads, with sidewalks and kerbs and the external works that make up a detailed site plan.

Anyone else on the fence, until they see what’s in the next release of REVIT 7?

[sbrown]

The SCRUG user group saw a demo of 7.0 last April, I'm sure Scott Davis can tell you all about the enhancements.

[Scott D Davis]

Man it was cool! Although we all signed NDA's, so I can't talk about it.... ;)

[Steve_Stafford]

Okay guys...Scott and Scott are referring to Jim Balding's April Fool's joke of showing Revit 1.0 as the new beta release 7.0. It had everyone going for a bit and Jim couldn't bring himself to take it further and spilled the beans. So, we didn't see the real 7.0 and therefore honestly can't provide any info.

(edit by SD: Steve, you let 'em off too early! I was gonna tell them it was an April Fool's joke, after holding out for a little while....8) )

David,

I realize that site features are important but you wouldn't be doing anything close to what Revit does in AutoCAD, since it has no site features at all other than drafting 2d lines (unless you are using Land Desktop?). So why does this hamper your efforts at all? Until the site tools please you, just use Autocad imported site drawings. To ignore all Revit has to offer because one feature doesn't satisfy is "punching your nose to spite your face"...my humble opinion.

[Wes Macaulay]

Yeah -- the idea of a beta of 7 in April didn't seem likely!

[UKITManager]

I realize that site features are important but you wouldn't be doing anything close to what Revit does in AutoCAD, since it has no site features at all other than drafting 2d lines (unless you are using Land Desktop?). So why does this hamper your efforts at all? Until the site tools please you, just use Autocad imported site drawings. I the UK and I'm assuming in the USA as well Revit is being sold as a replacement for AutoCAD. So if I upgrade my AutoCAD and ADT subscriptions, I have to surrender those licenses. Many potential users (who would purchase anywhere from 20 seat to over a hundred seat have expressed their view that REVIT has to replace the use of AUTOCAD in the office to really show some productivity improvements.



The site tools is an area where an office can start the design process with some efficiency and keep the project up-to-date, via different site based solutions. Its not that we have to have a site tools to buy into REVIT, but the efficiency gain with good, realistic, site tools could be demonstrative. This is just one of a number of areas where REVIT-Architecture Mode meets only 80% of users needs and the 20% development still required is handled with “workarounds, or alternative “Autodesk solutions” which is not good enough to promote this product in our market or yours. It is my understanding that Autodesk is more concerned with getting release 7 to attract other construction based disciplines and the Architectural side of the software is sufficient for the architectural market place. After using this product for 3 months and training 13 staff, starting 5 projects on Revit with only two remaining on REVIT; its rough edges require some more attention and Autodesk has got to start listening to users (both USA and UK) demands. I have sent over 6 lists of recommendations directly to Autodesk UK and I feel that release 7 is not going to address these issues.



All REVIT users need to ask more from Autodesk and if you’re an Architect you need to insist the product is not finished. So if there are teams of developers working on mechanical, structural fine, but Architects need further development that makes it easier to implement REVIT in to the office, easier to train, staff and easier to get the efficiencies that are expected from this product.

[aaronrumple]

All REVIT users need to ask more from Autodesk and if you’re an Architect you need to insist the product is not finished. So if there are teams of developers working on mechanical, structural fine, but Architects need further development that makes it easier to implement REVIT in to the office, easier to train, staff and easier to get the efficiencies that are expected from this product.

Have you tried to deploy and implement ADT/3.3/2004/2005? Revit has succceded in the areas of ease of training and deployment compared to other solutions...

[fernando]

if u at UK want to replace adt ou autocad with revit, consider to upgrade to Revit Series, u get a full version of AutoCAD 2005 + Revit
so u could still manage the simple task's of AutoCAd to drafting and site, but still all the hip's of Revit

[Wes Macaulay]

The site tools is an area where an office can start the design process with some efficiency and keep the project up-to-date, via different site based solutions. Its not that we have to have a site tools to buy into REVIT, but the efficiency gain with good, realistic, site tools could be demonstrative.Perhaps this is a case of site design being more of a requirement for UK architects. Of the many firms that are adopting Revit here in western Canada, we have had no requests for these sorts of tools from architects that are using it for building design. Few, if any, of the posts here mention the sorts of tools you want. Because Revit overlaps with all the other disciplines (more so because it's 3D) I can see the need for tools such as you mention, particularly for landscape architects and civil engineers. No doubt many architects would use them the same way as you intend.

What would be an interesting survey would be to take the top 100 wish-list items and let the users assign them a priority so the Factory could pick off the most important items.

[SkiSouth]

David,

So why does this hamper your efforts at all? Until the site tools please you, just use Autocad imported site drawings. To ignore all Revit has to offer because one feature doesn't satisfy is "punching your nose to spite your face"...my humble opinion.

I'm with David on this one. The site tools are very poor. And sure, it takes add on packages for Acad to work, but after all thats what the defined role of AutoCAD is
now "A drawing engine" for additional products to sell. With Revit being a Design/Present/Produce type of product, the fact you have to make up a parking lot, curb and gutter, etc for a rendering doesn' t help sell that concept, nor are building sections correct that need to give topo with improvement indications, again without work or using fills to generate what should be a simple sweep in Revit. Simply allowing sweeps along split surface edges would help greatly for curb and gutters.

[Steve_Stafford]

Comments noted, no argument regarding improvements...everyone here has been very vocal about the things we think could be better. All I'm saying is, personally I wouldn't derail implementation of Revit just for the weaknesses of the site features.

[SkiSouth]

I wouldn't derail implementation of Revit just for the weaknesses of the site features.

Absolutely not. For those who haven't implemented, note that you're only losing your own money - Revit really can be profitable - much more so than ADT.

[UKITManager]

Have you tried to deploy and implement ADT/3.3/2004/2005? Revit has succeeded in the areas of ease of training and deployment compared to other solutions...
Revit is a new software package for us, all be it we've used ArchiCAD and Vectorworks 10 with good success. My attraction to REVIT is that the next setup for CAD work AND its owned by Autodesk. But it is still rough around the edges and implementing it in large retail parks (a large part of our work) shows off its short comings pretty quickly. I'm not trying to compare REVIT to AutoCAD. I'm trying to get the REVIT users to ask (and sometimes demand) action from Autodesk. REVIT’s present success is with architects and as a new user I see it needs more work to be a truly valuable tool for architects.



Agree?

If yes

....then email Autodesk.

[Wes Macaulay]

But it is still rough around the edges and implementing it in large retail parks (a large part of our work) shows off its short comings pretty quickly.Ah - I see what you're about. I can certainly understand why these tools are so important to you!

[barathd]

David:

I am going thru the "love - hate" cycle with Revit for the second time. Yes Revit does have its strong point but I totally agree with you about the "rough edges". Autodesk seems to have a strange way of trying to move people into Revit - what I mean "do as little as possible". Development seems to me much, much slower than pre Autodesk. I have detected a slight change of attitude with Autodesk hopefully it will start to reflect within Revit's development.

Regards

Dick Barath

[Scott D Davis]

Slower development? Revit was on a one-year release cycle pre-autodesk, and still follows the same timeline post-autodesk. In fact, the Revit developement cycle has bled into the Autodesk developement of other products such as AutoCAD. The developement of Revit became a role-model for the rest of the organization, and now we see products like autocad on a release-per-year cycle.

[barathd]

Scott:

Yearly cycle - yes. In pre Autodesk days the content in each release IMHO was something to look forward. After an absence of over two years the program seems to be more or less the same. I don't doubt that there are not so obvious improvements i.e. wall joints - however somethings such as setting windows by "head height", annotation improvements, structural detailing, etc. have largely gone untouched. I think it is a little ridiculous for Autodesk to have two AEC programs - when they decide to drop one or the other people are going to be gravely upset. Very curious what Revit 7 will bring.

Regards

Dick Barath

[trombe]

I thought that Revit was always a new generation program very much in its infancy at release 4.5 more or less when Adesk took it over.
I also thought that it was well worth taking a punt on (late 2002) for sole practice, doing residential and light commercial smaller work. I tried to estimate how long it would be before Revit could really be a match for ArchiCAD in all the areas critical to me, and exceed many of VectorWorks Architect 9 features - all in terms of a broad perspective.

I feel the development team has made some genuinely excellent progress, but that after nearly 2 years, there is still rather a lot yet to do. This is exactly what I expected. I thought it would be a 3 year development cycle before Revit was truly likely to take over from ArchiCAD as a cost effective rival and exceeded most of the features that ArchiCAD has established as critical, basic and necessary.

Similarly, while the tools do get better, it would appear that management higher up have determined how fast they want Revit to progress. In this regard, they might have slowed things up by the looks.
While we can only guess at the future direction of Revit, I am determined that its core processes are already head and shoulders above ArchiCAD and VectorWorks 11 - which only now has batch plotting for example ( bizarre).

Revit is good for custom design ( in some areas) which we all do a lot of in NZ so I am hoping that the Family Editor and all tools associated with custom design / modeling are strengthened as time goes on and that Revit does not become focused on large commercial developer type or large engineering type clients, with large , simple floor plates, at the cost of the Architect and the work that the Architect , Draughtsmen / women, and associated building Designers actually do.
It is far more than the CDs that are required. Without the critical thinking and critical design modeling tools and associated tools to let the CDs be created, the CDs themselves do not exist, and neither do large, simple or complex floor plates no matter how much ROI they might suggest.

I would argue for Engineers to pursue dedicated Engineering solutions which could be linked back. As for the other myriad of requests that continue to pop up, well we all have an axe to grind and surely, if there was a better solution available, people would be buying into it, rather than expecting Revit to supply everything for Christmas THIS year .

Good to be positive and pro-active but have you thought about asking Adesk Sales HQ about your large proposed seat base and the likely near future ?
I know if I was considering a substantial investment I would do my homework well and go as close to the source as I could get .....

2c worth ?
trombe