I need to learn Revit. How do I do this?
March 5, 2020 4:30 PM   Subscribe

My wife is co-owner of a small, successful commercial interior design firm. Almost all of their work is for boutique hotels. I want to learn Revit to begin working with their company. What is the best way to learn this that doesn't waste much time? I have extensive knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator as I worked for 20 years as an art director in ad agencies.

I will need to take data from field measurements and create plans and elevations, populate these drawings with furniture, lighting, etc., and be able to edit and make changes to existing drawings. These do NOT need to be architectural-level drawings, as I am not going to be designing new buildings or making big changes to load-bearing walls and such. But they do need to be very, very accurate. Projects will include guest rooms, hallways, restaurant/lounge areas, lobbies, conference rooms and any other sort of spaces you'd find in hotels.

Most of the work will involve making markups, changes, edits, fixes etc to existing drawings. But I will need to be able to create drawings from scratch, too.

Again: I have a solid knowledge base for computers, Mac and PC, and I have used Adobe Creative Suite extensively over the years, without any formal training. I learned on the job. I'm 49 years old, and am pretty familiar with many architectural and interior design concepts, too.

What is the best way to learn Revit? I am not looking to get a degree. I know classes exist, but I want to avoid classes that include very basic computer concepts or areas of this study that are extraneous. I want to avoid classes that assume I'd be working towards a degree in architecture. Should I look at community colleges? Or are there specific schools I should consider? I don't even know what kinds of schools to begin looking at. And of course, I want to avoid rip-offs. Is there a certification program I need to take and pass? This is in Chicago, USA by the way, but the hotels are all over the country and some in the Caribbean.

My wife is co-owner, a designer and does hand-drawings. She's run this business successfully for over 25 years (yes, I am proud of her!). She typically hires people to do AutoCAD currently, but they are in BIG need for someone to know Revit. Frankly: she's kind of old-school, and would like me to learn and do this, but is not great at communicating the entirety of what I would need to learn to do all this. She does NOT know Revit or AutoCAD at all. So Revit is what I want to focus on.

Please help me find my way to learn Revit.
posted by SoberHighland to Computers & Internet (13 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I'd start with the Autodesk Academy stuff, which gets you a reasonable introduction.

Note, however, that in Revit you're largely building models, not drawings in the traditional sense. This distinction is fairly important; rather than creating lines and saying "this is a wall" you're creating a wall object and giving it various properties. So, to make a given wall thicker you don't draw some lines a little further away, you change the wall type/properties. I find the Revit approach to be vastly superior to older ways of doing architectural drawings, but I'm mentioning it as something to watch out for -- you may have some personal habits that will be significantly affected by this conceptual change.
posted by aramaic at 4:42 PM on March 5, 2020 [2 favorites]


I'm not sure any of your prior computer experience will be helpful at all, aside from just a general familiarity with how computer programs work and what graphics-based programs will have as a basic set of commands. And echoing what aramaic says, you're not "drawing", you're modeling the building in three dimensions. Generally. You could just draw if you wanted to (Revit does have that function), but then you might as well get AutoCAD and you'd lose the three-dimensionality. A lot of what Revit does involves setting things up before you start placing building elements, so it's a bit like filling out a small spreadsheet for every component, which is actually the important part, and then locating them, which takes seconds. If your plans need to be very accurate, Revit won't solve measurement errors for you. Even if you knew the program inside and out, your plans will only be as accurate as your measurements. See here for more info on that.

I learned Revit by taking specialized courses at a local training school that seemed to train the entire architectural population of San Diego on one program or another. If you can find something like that (I'll research it myself for Chicago and come back with things I feel are similar), you'd probably be on your way. The courses I took really did not have any aspect that was remedial, and pretty much assumed that students were familiar with basic computer operations. There are some things with navigating in Revit that are peculiar to the program, so there is some time spent dealing with where to find stuff. Also, there are a number of books out there that are pretty good. Mastering Revit [whatever version] by Paul Aubin is good, and I learned a lot from those as a second layer a couple years after I took the courses. Since you don't plan on doing anything with the more esoteric aspects of the program, that might actually be a good start. There's also a series of books published by Ascent that are the AutoDesk-approved instructional books, but I have limited experience with them.
posted by LionIndex at 5:10 PM on March 5, 2020 [1 favorite]


I'm not finding much that matches up with what I had in San Diego, which was this, and you'd probably want to do something like the 101 level and then assess whether that gets you what you were hoping for (I'd imagine it would). Frankly, even just the program tutorial may get you where you need to go. Locally to me currently, there is a college that offers continuing adult education courses in Revit, so there may be something similar in your area.
posted by LionIndex at 5:27 PM on March 5, 2020


Aramaic's Academy link is good, but the videos there are out of order compared to what I would expect - I'd start with #4 and maybe go straight through to #9, then go back to #1. #14 should probably come a bit earlier as well, but may be able to be skipped if you're already familiar with standard architectural drawing types.
posted by LionIndex at 5:34 PM on March 5, 2020


Long time Revit user. I had no formal training, I did get "Mastering Revit" at the beginning, but learned in an office environment from more experienced users. It is an incredibly deep program, always more to learn.

I did come from a CAD background, and did manage to make a pretty decent model of a building from a plan someone else generated on bumwad with no help whatsoever. This convinced our office to go Revit. We then hired an experienced user to work with us and train us. So, beginner stages are not too difficult, assuming a CAD background.

The other thing I was going to mention, when I get stuck at something, there is always a youtube video showing how to do something. You'll need the vocabulary to be able to search though, to know what Revit calls things.
posted by rudd135 at 5:41 PM on March 5, 2020


Do not pay for any courses. You will learn on the job. Revit is complex, but you can get started with it right away and you'll learn the deeper tools as you go.

The best way to get started is with Lynda. Use your Chicago Public Library card to access it for free at this portal (or you can go on the CPL website and search for Lynda). You can access Lynda with almost any public library card, so no worries if you use a library other than CPL.

Here are some good intro courses on Lynda:
- Designing a house
-
Multi-family housing

Lynda has a ton of other Revit courses. I bet you can search for content on there specifically relevant to your interior design goals. Once you've gotten your feet wet and gotten comfortable with the basic terminology and functionality, then Youtube videos, Google, and recorded webinars are your best friends. Especially for Revit, I recommend using videos for learning if you can, or at least tutorials that have really good screenshots.

You will need a copy of Revit. Use the one from your wife's work, if you can, since it will already have any add-ins and company-specific databases you'll be using on the job. Otherwise, you can download Revit for free from Autodesk as student software or trial software, depending on if you qualify as a student or not.

Disclaimer: Revit is a highly complex (read: powerful, pain-in-the-ass, lots of dependencies) piece of software. However, if you're only working with your own models and not linking other people's models or any MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing), your life might be significantly easier because you'll be using Revit for its original intended purpose. Good luck!
posted by cnidaria at 7:44 PM on March 5, 2020 [2 favorites]


Minor correction to prior posters: you can model in 3D in CAD as well. 3D CAD is definitely a thing, I have built 3D models for $20 million plumbing projects down to nuts and bolts and 1/16th" precision in Fabrication MEP layered over AutoCAD.

However, where CAD focuses on efficiently drawing/modeling what you want to draw/model, maybe with some prefab parts or equipment, Revit focuses on objects and dependencies and relationships among those objects. Which means it sometimes tries to guess what you want, and that changing one thing can have unintended consequences. That's also why I recommend using your wife's company's version of the software -- that company may have specific databases, home-brew objects, and add-ins, and it would pay to be familiar with those from the start. Also, use the software version they're using -- Revit 2019 differs a lot from 2016, it's not backwards compatible. I find 2019 a lot nicer because you can have multiple views open as tabs and you can tile them.

Revit also includes something called "view-range". In CAD, for a 17-story building, we'd usually have a file for each floor, because otherwise the files got too large for the program to efficiently handle. In Revit, you have one file for the entire high-rise, and multiple people can work in it at once because there's sophisticated version control and ownership of elements set up. But it also means some of the control of viewrange is more challenging / complex / annoying than just referencing in arch plans from the floor above to see the walls when I want to choose locations for my plumbing risers on the floor below, for example.
posted by cnidaria at 7:53 PM on March 5, 2020 [1 favorite]


Oops, I just re-read your question and realized that your wife's company does not have Revit at all yet! I still definitely believe you can teach yourself this starting with Lynda. And once you've done that, you can decide if you want to pursue additional training or teach yourself with Youtube / webinars / etc.

And definitely go for at least Revit 2019, being able to have multiple views open side-by-side is worth it. Good luck!
posted by cnidaria at 7:57 PM on March 5, 2020


Cnidaria, older versions of Revit didn’t have tabs, but you could always open views side by side. Shortcut WT.
posted by misterbrandt at 10:53 PM on March 5, 2020 [1 favorite]


Best answer: First, I had a friend who rose to principal at an interior design firm for high-end retail, she used Revit, so you are probably picking the correct platform.

I'm a self-taught CAD user (Vectorworks) and have two things that were helpful to me.

1. I found an online tutorial that specifically addressed the kind of work that I would need to do (theatrical design, plan, section, elevation) and found it. Vectorworks, like Revit, has way more functionality that I need, but knowing what 5% of the software is where I should live was hugely valuable. Looking at the Revit page, there is so much it can do that has to do with mechanical, hvac, etc, nothing to do with interior design. I would avoid basic courses if they assume you need to learn the whole app.

2. I had a person I could talk to about basic, step-zero thinks like setting up windows, tool palettes, views, application preferences, and input devices (keyboard shortcuts and mouse). My god, what a difference that made. Using a standard scroll wheel mouse was a game changer and improved speed by 10x over a touch pad. The best designer I knew had a paper map of keyboard shortcuts taped to his desk, kept left hand on four main shortcut/action keys, and right hand on mouse. I found almost no video tutorials handled this kind of basic setup - they were all about what's going on in the window and how to work with the model or data. I found it helpful to zoom out to see what was happening at the level of the user's desk, hands, workspace, etc.

I'm not sure how you would find this person, if you are not in a community or large firm already, but I have hired a QuickBooks accountant for an hour not to do bookkeeping, but to sit with me and go over software. I'd suggest hiring another person to do the same. Maybe remote via video call so you can go outside your city and avoid hiring a competitor in your immediate market.
posted by sol at 4:18 AM on March 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Seconding Lynda.com. There are a variety of instructors who teach at a variety of levels. You can watch the videos and decide who's style you like. Many libraries offer free Lynda access.
posted by hydra77 at 8:34 AM on March 6, 2020


Response by poster: First: Thanks for all these answers. Very helpful!

I do have access to Revit and AutoCAD on a dedicated Windows laptop that is owned by my wife. She owns the software, she just isn't really good with it. One of her employees knows a TINY bit of Revit. I also have an architect friend who also does some work with my wife's company. She's a long-time friend who can help me with Revit basics. I forgot to mention this crucial, and certainly relevant point. I plan on sitting with her for guidance, but I wanted an overview first from the MeFi hive mind. And I don't want to waste her time.

Also: My thought was to take this laptop and load up a bunch of existing drawings that I can open and mess with as I learn. I will re-name the drawings as my practice files and will keep these separate from current projects. This has to be a smart move, correct?

Thanks again. I'm a big "planner" person and wanted viewpoints and suggestions before I started tearing into things. The good thing is that my wife's work can go on without me helping immediately. It will just be very helpful and it is my medium-term plan to do this as a paid position.
posted by SoberHighland at 2:58 PM on March 6, 2020


Response by poster: A "step zero" session setting up palettes, tool bars and settings is a fantastic idea. As a Photoshop user I know there's like 90% of that application I never touch, and 10% that I use ALL THE TIME, and I figured that would be the same with Revit. Great suggestion.
posted by SoberHighland at 3:02 PM on March 6, 2020


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