I work for an architectural firm in Minnesota, USA. We've been using Revit for several months now and it has it's quirks as do all new programs. Autodesk is exceptional in listening to it's clientel and making changes that improve the program.
A few things to note. Revit is not a drafting program. You don't draw, you build. You need to know how things go together in a building. If you only know how to draw/draft you will have a hard time with Revit.
Expect an exceptional amount of front end time on Revit. You WILL NOT learn to use this program trying to sit with it 8-5 5 days a week while doing your other work. I assume 1500-2000 dedicated hours of working with Revit to become a proficient user.
Now... the good news. Once you know how Revit works it will take care of almost everything for you. It will build schedule from information within the model from a plethora of bits of information.
Revit is a fully parametric program. If you change a door number it will automatically change in the schedule. For that matter if you changed a door type in the door schedule from 7'-0" to 8'-0" it would automatically change every door on the plan that was that type to be correct. It automatically numbers and labels plans as the go onto sheets and automatically fills in the detail callouts and section heads. It eliminates all of the bandying about that architects/draftsmen had to mess with when something moved from one sheet to another or a sheet got added to the set.
Another thing that Revit allows you to do is render your model in real time and be able to look at it from any direction at any time.
There is far too much for me to get into in this description but check out
It is one of the best (if not THE best) forum out there for Revit users. You can also request a CD of Revit 6.1 to install and try with full functionality for 30 days (I believe this was changed to 60 days)from
The tutorials do an excellent job of showing you what the programs capabilities are. If you are on a broadband connection you can also download the trial version and apparently there is a streaming application option that I haven't tried. After the trial version expires you will no longer be able to plot, save, or export but you will be able to view and change things as you were able to before.
Revit takes the drafting away from architecture and makes it automatic. Now we can focus on our design elements and let the drawing flow from that. Revit begins to narrow that space where function can begin to follow form. no longer are we so focused on the nitty gritty aspect of how to DRAW it. We now can BUILD what we want and the drawings are done for us.
I hope this has helped you see a bit deeper into Revit. I highly suggest you look into the trial version. I'll try and check back if you have any further questions.
