The secret to successfully implementing Revit is choosing Revit process features that offer the best initial financial benefits early in the CAD-to-Revit transition process.
If Revit can substantially outperform your CAD software for creating documentation why not start using Revit to draw faster and improve your documentation integrity and quality?
Here’s a list of the ten best process features in Revit that can offer the biggest Return On Investment (ROI) in the initial phase of Revit implementation.
Automatic Sheet set Management and Tag Coordination
Automated Floor Planning Tools
All Model & Sheet Views Update When the Revit Model is Edited
Annotation & Graphics Resize Based on View Scale
Power of Parametric Dimensioning
Pre-built Building Product Manufacturer Model Libraries
Building Schedules Synchronize\Auto-Update With Model Changes
Views: Independent & Automated Visibility Controls
Multiple people can simultaneously Access and Edit the Project File
Link DWG Files Into Revit Project
Many of these Revit process features and associated functionality do not exist in other CAD or object-based software programs. You can immediately reaped the financial rewards (faster drawing, reduced labor) from using these processes on your first projects.
The secret to making Revit efficient is to make use of its strengths and to not try and mimic CAD functionality.
Revit generates drawings automatically from 3D models, CAD is software used to create drawings. Therefore CAD will always provide more control over the minutia of drawings. For example it is easier to draw a custom section reference marker in CAD than Revit. But how important is a unique looking section reference? Surely the ability to ensure all drawings are properly and accurately referenced is more important.
The project title block and individual sheet attributes are centrally located for global and individual editing. This includes a batch plotting feature that stores lists of project sheets.
As sections, elevations, & details are placed on a sheet they are automatically numbered and their sheet reference labels are updated in the plans, sections or elevations that reference them.
If a designer moves a sheet, thereby changing the Sheet Number — all references are automatically updated within the sheet set.
Floor planning is the pivotal component in a construction document set. Building sections, wall sections, elevations, construction details, schedules and specifications are dependent on their quality.
Revit’s smart building components: walls, doors, windows, parametric dimensions, auto-scaling annotations, smart room-area tags and 2D/3D symbols expedite floor planning and schedules.
A typical CAD program can’t match the quality and coordination speed of Revit’s floor planning tools that allows one person to do as much as two people while keeping project timelines on track.
When a designer moves a window in the South Elevation, the window will automatically move in the Floor Plan.
When a designer deletes a door from the Floor Plan, it will be deleted from the Door Schedule and the Interior Hallway Elevation.
Orphan Dimensions & Tags: Deleting the door, will automatically delete the Door Tag in all views; plan, section and elevations. If dimensions were used to reference the door location in multiple views–all dimensions will be deleted.
Any Sheet that has these floor plan, elevation or schedule views, will update immediately when the views are revised.
Revit automatically scales dimensions, text, annotation tags, linetypes and hatch patterns based on the viewport’s scale. Most Revit projects require only 2 or 3 text or dimension styles –unlike CAD where text and dimension styles are created for every scale.
Embedded line-weight controls update printed graphics based on the scale of each view. This is especially valuable when a sheet is comprised of various scaled views: enlarged floor plans (1:50) , sections (1:20) and detail views (1:10).
Revit dimensions are always associated with objects. If their position or size changes all relevant dimensions automatically adjust.
Revit dimensions control the creation and editing of objects and entities. Typical CAD dimensions only display (document) the distance between two entities.
In Revit, when the dimension value is changed between two objects the dimensioned object that was selected is moved. Revit dimensions can lock the dimensional relationship between objects thereby preserving the design intent.
Dimension values can include formulas and they can force the dimensional distance between objects to be equal distance.
Autodesk Revit provides libraries of free generic BIM content for designing a building. Many Building Product Manufacturers have also created pre-built Revit components of their products, and the number doing so is increasing.
Revit components are parametric so one component file can represent many different components. Because of the parametrics schedules of components (furniture, equipment, doors, etc) can be automatically generated.
Doors, windows, equipment, room, or area schedules automatically update when their components are updated in the plans, elevations or section views.
Smart annotation tags display object properties in the tag. For example, the Room Tag displays the Room Area when it is placed into the room. When the walls are moved the Room Area will update in the area displayed in the Room Tag and in the Room Schedule.
Architectural objects can be graphically revised (i.e. door width) in both a drawing view or from the Door Schedule. From a door schedule, designers can force Revit to show them where the door is inserted in the project’s Plan, Elevation Or Section Views.
This functionality means schedules can be managed from drawings in the Revit model. That is changes to schedules can be made by editing a components parameters in a drawing. This provides context when making changes that may not be obvious when editing a schedule as a spreadsheet.
Revit has many ways to manage visibility, from global control across all categories and all views down to individual elements in particular views. This extends to individual lines within elements.
It has a powerful filter functionality where a query can globally change graphic representation. For example all fire rated walls can be given a colour.
A Revit project file can be configured to allow simultaneous access to multiple people for viewing, editing and printing.
The BIM manager configures the project file into "worksets" that allow users to check out and edit pieces of the project. But it is not absolutely necessary to check-out a workset. For day to day work Revit automatically "borrows" elements some-one is working on so no-one else can work on them at the same time. Messages can be sent to others if access is required to these "borrowed" elements.
Individuals work on a copy of the main file (located on their computer, so access is fast). Everytime they save back to the "central" file their local file is updated with changes others have made. Everyone is working with the latest information.
Revit exports, imports or links (similar to XREF) –DWG, DGN and image files. This allows you to share with non-Revit project members or incorporate these files into your project plans, elevations, sections, site plans, topology and construction details. Control of layers is available in Revit so graphics and visibility can be controlled.
Revit features batch exporting (similar to printing) to DWG and DGN files using custom layer filters for those consultants and clients that don’t have Revit. CAD files produced by Revit have a consistency and accuracy rarely seen in human created CAD files.
CAD files from your details library, kitchen equipment consultants, medical equipment consultants, contract furniture consultants and\or the civil design-survey engineers can be linked into the Revit project. When placed on sheets within Revit these can be cross referenced with the whole drawing set and benefit from the sheet management built into Revit.