ACA vs Revit

[backtothefuture4]

Well the fact that Revit and ACA are now available together for a similar subscription cost to what they were individually may be something you can take to your IT guy to persuade them to at least have a look at Revit, although I can understand the reluctance to switch over, a wholesale switch to another piece of software can be costly in the short term until you get up to speed.
You could also download the Trial version of Revit from the Autodesk website (which comes with a quickstart type tutorial) just to get a bit more insight for yourself.

As far as training and courses go I'm not sure what is offered by Colleges etc in your area but the Approved Autodesk Resellers should offer courses and the AUGI run events may interest you (CAD Camps).

Also have a look at the ATP Courses and AU Handouts available here which may be of use to you, as far as ACA goes the ATP129 will probably be worth a look, it takes you through a full project from start to finish using video tutorials (although the ATP team are still in the process of uploading the videos they should be available soon).

Thanks for your help, I'll give them a look.

[Revit3D.com]

It's funny you mention Ross & Barruzzini. We're doing all of their training now. Locally for their Miami office and via live webcast for St. Louis. Unfortunately, they were not very happy with their local training options and we were thrilled to step in and help them along.
Check out their blog, http://revit.rossbar.com. Part of your success with Revit is the quality of training and support you get. It's a big problem in a lot of areas and is just going to get worse as Autodesk rolls out more and more BIM products.

Since David said I was a little to harsh in a previous post, Backtothefuture4, you can sit in on our Revit class via live remote webcast. It's the second Monday-Wednesday of the month. I"ll guarantee you our teachers can get you up and running on Revit. If someone switched to another product, I'm sure it was bad training. Our main Revit teacher is ranked number 2 nationally right now, so what do you have to lose.

Revit is the new CAD - Coordination, Analysis and Design!

Since you are mentioning Seiler, you most likely are either in St Louis, Chicago, or KC. There are many firms in all those cities currently using Revit. Arcturis, Christner, Forum Studio, HOK, The Lawrence Group, Oculus, Ross & Baruzzini and many more I know currently use Revit on some (and in many cases, all) projects and that's just in St Louis. It's growing in use fast.

[Brian Myers]

It's funny you mention Ross & Barruzzin.

I don't know about funny, if you read their first post they mention Seiler and praise the training on Revit Architecture... I was Seiler's trainer. I had been training for a while then but was only just starting to learn Revit MEP so we didn't offer that service. Later I began teaching all three Revit flavors and I got a lot of praise for my abilities. I also refined my Revit Architecture presentations/training over time. I remember them and they are good people.

But I've trained several hundred individuals on Revit before moving on to my current role as a BIM manager in STL.

[Revit3D.com]

Dilbet, my apologies. It was the Revit MEP training from another company that they were very unhappy with. Didn't mean to imply it was Seiler. That's what we helped them with.

I don't know about funny, if you read their first post they mention Seiler and praise the training on Revit Architecture... I was Seiler's trainer. I had been training for a while then but was only just starting to learn Revit MEP so we didn't offer that service. Later I began teaching all three Revit flavors and I got a lot of praise for my abilities. I also refined my Revit Architecture presentations/training over time. I remember them and they are good people.

But I've trained several hundred individuals on Revit before moving on to my current role as a BIM manager in STL.

[michael.12445]

Kind of an interesting discussion...our firm is moving, albeit very haltingly, towards BIM, and our tool of choice for doing so is Revit Architecture. ACA was never really under consideration. I think the principal who initiated this move was more impressed by Revit as a "pure" approach to BIM, rather than something built on top of AutoCAD. I supported his choice for my own reasons - I think I had a few too many run-ins with rogue ARX objects over the years, so I distrust anything built using that mechanism.

[leothebuilder]

I believe both Revit and ACA are aspiring BIM programs. Neither have reached BIM status as far as I am concerned. Revit forces you to create a 3d model whilst ACA allows you to "cheat" a lot more easily. But because of the fact that Revit creates a 3d model does not mean BIM per se. ACA more often does not get used properly to it's fullest capability. I have seen people use it to place walls, doors and windows and do the rest in 2d linework. I think ACA's scheduling capabilities are awsome.
BIM won't go away and is here to stay. We must all jump on board or get left behind. Which platform is the best will remain open for discussion. Remember five or six years ago, the word BIM wasn't even thought of. Just think of what we will see five or six years from today.

Leo

[cphubb]

This thread should be stopped before any more damage s done.

Guys BIM is not about software and it is not about ACA vs. Revit vs. Archicad. The faster we stop this redicululas argument the faster we can all move to BIM.

I agree that neither Revit or ACA are BIM. They are tools that allow us to do BIM. Just like a hammer is not a building, it allows us to create buildings. The tool you choose does not define whether or not you are doing BIM the final outcome defines BIM.

In 1995 I did a research project in college where we create a full 3D building is Generic Autocad and use the xData to make the model more intelligent. We were then able to use that data and some good lisp programming to create working drawings from the model and generate data for the contractor to build the project. This took lots of time, effort and research and in a non-academic envorinment cost way more than any fee could cover for the house that was eventually constructed. But I contend that what I produced was BIM at least at some level. Revit and ACA make what I did easier and cheaper, they do not have the lock on the BIM market.

To further illustrate my point I would like to point everybody at a couple of different pieces of data. Contractors are noting that designers are using 1/3 of the capabilities of BIM, primarily to produce documents, and those are not necessarly coordinated. Plus this has allowed the contractors to coin the term VDC because in their opinion designers are failing at BIM so they are attempting to dumb it down and promote VDC as the TRUE process for virtual building.

Now I am not trying to start a new argument about BIM vs. VDC because I think they are synonymous but all of the arguments above fall flat when trying to describe true BIM.

Thanks

[dbaldacchino]

Funny, but I forgot what the acronym "VDC" stands for and I can't pull an explanation in Google!

[H-Angus]

Funny, but I forgot what the acronym "VDC" stands for and I can't pull an explanation in Google!

Virtual Design Construction I think

vur-choo-uhl di-zahyn & kuh n-struhk-shun

[cphubb]

Virtual Design and Construction