Revit for Conceptual Design... Yes or No?

I recently posted this comment to a Linkedin Revit Group on  Revit is not efficient for conceptual models ! Do you agree with this?
Thought I'd share it here as well...

It really depends upon the user, I have some power Revit users that wouldn’t hesitate in starting conceptual modeling straight in Revit, all the tools are there and available to you, it’s just a matter or knowing what’s available and learning how to use it. Other designers are not so familiar with Revit and prefer to use Sketchup or AutoCAD.

Don’t try and force people to choose one over the other, Designers are creative people (nature of the industry) if I try to constrain them and limit the tools that have available to them all I’m doing is constraining their creativity and ultimately they’ll feel that and leave!

What I choose to do (as BIM Manager) is provide guidance and boundaries and provide information on how and when we transition from one software to another, in our case when we stop modeling in Sketchup or AutoCAD and rebuild the model in Revit.

Even when a conceptual design is created in Revit we will stop and rebuilt the project again in Revit when transitioning from Design Development stage, the reason for this is that DD is inherently a fast paced, quick and dirty design process. We want to think fast and throw down ideas as they come. It’s a very creative process that doesn’t focus so much on accuracy… unlike Preliminary Design…

So a documented process where my designers have the flexibility to use the tools they are comfortable using…. And a given point where they know to take it into Revit for further development.

Works for us!

 

Sc

Oh Sketch-up I love you....But!

Oh Sketch-up I love you!....But you know were really not compatible! :-(

Sketchup is soooo popular for doing quick and easy conceptual design and visualization.
However in a Architectural firm or a Design office using Revit, Sketchup can cause some issues.
you can loose design intent whenever you switch from one program to another where you cannot transfer information, like in the case of doing the concept design in Sketchup and then preliminary/construction design in Revit.

When I talk about design intent I'm referring to the feel and flow of the design. When recreating that in another program you typically find that whoever is inputting the design there are inevitable design changes that occur for a variety of reasons (I wont go into here).

The same is true for any program I'm not just picking on Sketchup.

I have seen instances where floor plans don't match elevations which don't match sections because each was created using a different program!

What few Reviteers realise is that a lot of the same tools you use in Sketchup are available in Revit, it's just a matter of spending a little time familiarising yourself with how to use them and you'll quickly see you'll be able to recreate what you can create in Sketchup in Revit.

In fact you may find that you can do more......!

AND! You will not loose the integrity of the design making the transition and flow from each design process easier with less mistakes.

So next time your doing a concept design give the tools you have in Revit a try, such as the Massing tools, Visualization, Solar study, Paint materials, Space scheduling, Visual Styles etc... I think you'll like the results and you wont be replicating work you have already done!

Thoughts anyone?

Sc