Autodesk Revit Architecture
Existing facades of the former Pritzlaff Hardware Company buildings (Above)
Ahh Revit. I recently began to teach myself Autodesk REVIT Architecture, and what you see above is my progress thus far. I have found that while this program is complicated and difficult to learn at first, it is in my opinion much more sophisticated then Sketchup or even AutoCAD. I am reasonably experienced in the use of REVIT at this point, and understand the interface (well you can be the judge based on my screen shot).
Modeling in REVIT most definitely takes more time then in my other favorite program Sketchup; but the results are much more accurate and easily readable. The major difference for me is that once I make a 3d model in REVIT, I don’t have to do much else to create floor plans, sections, and elevations, as they are pre-determined and set up prior to starting a project. During my thesis last year, the major headache was dealing with a section plan from Sketchup and importing it into Autocad, where it would be a mess of lines all with the same lineweight, and it would show every line on every object that was within the viewing frame (not fun to clean up).
I also enjoy the fact that in REVIT everything is customizable, and you can create objects, or families (such as the cornice details above) and sweep them across the face of a wall, to show depth and relief. This “sweep” tool is fantastic, especially for historic preservation, where you have existing historic structures that are undoubtedly very detailed and complicated. In addition to that, I have enjoyed the curtain wall tool, and the window/door placement options, allowing me to customize mullion locations and sizes.
While REVIT is a bit more time consuming, the results are light years ahead most other 3d modeling programs…. I am a very happy new REVIT user!
-Elliot