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cjcarch
2007-11-30, 09:08 PM
I'm an architect (near Seattle) who is on the end of the high dive and ready to jump headfirst into the Revit pool. Having looked at a number of different programs, I'm ready to download the demo package and try it for its 30 day trial period.

I attended an Autodesk presentation in Seattle last spring and was impressed with what I saw but for a number of reasons, I wasn't ready to jump in the pool at that time.

I'm a one-man show, so it's all up to me to make this program work for me. My work has been mostly residential (single and multi-family). My projects are getting bigger - my current project is a 46 unit mixed-use condo/retail project with two floors of parking garage. Obviously, I won't be able to do this project while I'm learning Revit but I want to be ready for my next project (spring 2009).

As I'm getting ready to jump in on the demo program, my questions are about training and are as follows:

1) I plan to do as much learning as I can in the 30 day demo period and then contact trainers that can assist me in learning more of this program and (hopefully) helping me to set up Revit in such a way that will be productive for me. There are several large resellers in this area (one nation wide firm and one Northwest firm). Does anyone (especially in the Seattle area) have any experience with these firms (I'm not sure if it's proper protocol to mention either by name)? With large reseller / training firms, my concern is that the teachers will have much more of a "computer" background, rather than an architectural background and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or advise about this. I'm concerned that a "techie" teacher will focus more on all the aspects of the program whereas I feel that a teacher with an architecture background might focus more on aspects of the program that will help an architect do the job quickly and efficiently.

2) Since most of my work has been residential type projects, I'm concerned that having a teacher with a commercial type project background may teach the class with a "commercial project" type slant. Would this be a problem or am I being overly cautious? It seems that a number of the programs that I've looked at have had a higher percentage of commercial projects in their demos, which has made me wonder how effective these programs were at doing residential projects with all sorts of different roofs, etc.

3) Does anyone in the Seattle area know of any Revit trainers that they might recommend? If so, feel free to private message me.

4) If anyone has any additional advice, encouragement, or warnings about the whole training process, I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,
Carl

MRV
2007-12-01, 12:54 AM
If your'e doing the Revit tutorials, dual moniters will help a lot. I was switching back and forth between the programs on a single moniter, and it was SLOW going...

Check out the video tutorials from dgcad.com, they are great and you can easily follow him through exercises - with his approach you see real time "oops" that are both enertaining and instructive. Don't laugh, he's really good at teaching.

SCShell
2007-12-01, 02:37 AM
Hey there,
Welcome to the board! And better yet, welcome to Revit!!
I am sitting in the Las Vegas airport.....waiting for a 4 hour delay due to this silly rain.
I thought that I would offer you some assistance.

As far as one question, you don't have to worry about whether your instructor is familiar with residential or commercial at this point. You just need to start working on the 'basics'. Start with the Revit Tutorials and work your way through them.
I will PM you.
Good luck
Steve

Bubba
2007-12-01, 03:23 AM
I started using Revit three months ago. I draw residential homes as a draftsman.
Get your hands on the Revit Users Guide, Revit Imperial Tutorials and Revit Esentials.
I also have been using 4D Technologies Computer Based Training. This is a very good resource. All in all it's alot of work, but it's the best pathway that I have found.

BomberAIA
2007-12-01, 01:40 PM
I am a one man show also mainly doing multifamily and mixed use projects. I think you should jump full force into Revit on this project. The time savings from Revit will make up for the loss time in your learning curve. All you need is someone to show you how to setup and start the project and the basics. A lunch meeting with an architect is more more productive than training from a so-called expert that has never put together a project. Email me if you need help. wayne@thewaynegroup.com

iandidesign
2007-12-01, 05:25 PM
Hi Carl,
I'm also new to Revit and I too live in Seattle. I have some perspective on the local resources. Shoot me a private message or email iandidesign@comcast.net

cjcarch
2007-12-02, 05:11 AM
Thanks very much to each of you who have kindly responsed to my request for help and thanks for helping "Welcome" me to the forum. Judging from the initial responses, it looks like this forum will be very valuable in helping me to learn the program while picking the best brains out there.

www.shawzell recommended that I acquire Revit Users Guide, Revit Imperial Tutorials and Revit Esentials. I've downloaded the Revit Users Guide and the Revit Imperial Tutorials. I've done a Google on "Revit Essentials" and the results have shown Revit classes held in various locations around the U.S. I also found a website (edulearn.com) that had a Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2008 Essentials training DVD with the instructor Lay Christopher Fox.

www.shawzell: Is this DVD what you were referring to when you said to get the Revit Essentials? or did you mean to attend a Revit Essentials course (which most seem to be 3 days in length)?

Thanks for all of the help,
Carl

charlescctdc
2007-12-02, 07:06 AM
Hi Carl,
As a revit begineer, I am sure you can learn a lot from the following websites:

http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/revit/tutorials.htm
http://www.revitzone.com/index.php

Bubba
2007-12-02, 07:15 AM
No. Not the course. The Essentials Autodesk Training Courseware Manual.
It's the same manual that they would teach you from (3 days etc..) check into buying it through Autodesk without going to the class, I did.
The DVD by L.C. Fox is also very beneficial. I think the DVD is more important then
the Courseware for learning Revit.
Good Luck!

Alan aka cadalot
2007-12-02, 05:23 PM
Carl

As someone said above check out the http://www.CADClips.com web site, best 3 month subscription to anything I have ever made. You will find a host of Links on my web site at http://www.cadalot.co.uk don't worry about it saying Revit Structure - I've included links to all things Revit as I find them.

Regards

Alan (cadalot)

cphubb
2007-12-02, 07:25 PM
Carl,

Have you attended the Seattle Revit Usergroup yet? If not go to www.searug.org and sign up. There are also forums there that are watched by local Revit users. Feel free to send me a PM if you need any further Assistance

cjcarch
2007-12-03, 05:30 AM
Thanks very much for all of the great Revit links. I've just briefly scanned them and found that they will be very informative - now, I'll have to read them in depth as I plunge into Revit Architecture.
Carl

ian.nichols
2007-12-03, 09:51 AM
Thanks very much for all of the great Revit links. I've just briefly scanned them and found that they will be very informative - now, I'll have to read them in depth as I plunge into Revit Architecture.
Carl

Sounds like you are definitely on the right path. I would also "really" recommend reading through Autodesk's Official Lecture Notes on Revit / BIM. They can be downloaded for free from:-

http://students2.autodesk.com/ama/orig/RAC-2008-CurriculaLectureNotes_Final.pdf

This will give you an excellent overview, upon which you can learn the detail.

truevis
2007-12-03, 12:55 PM
.... I would also "really" recommend reading through Autodesk's Official Lecture Notes on Revit / BIM. They can be downloaded for free from:-

http://students2.autodesk.com/ama/orig/RAC-2008-CurriculaLectureNotes_Final.pdf

This will give you an excellent overview, upon which you can learn the detail.

Good paper. I must give it to my students. I particularly like:


What you are asked to do in school is different from what you are asked to do in an architectural practice. Whereas architecture school is as interested in fostering your individual expression and critical thinking, the early years of practice are largely devoted to your learning a trade. If you aren’t avant-garde in school, someone will want to know why, and if you are in practice you may be asked to leave.