In this article, we are going to go over a simple, yet effective workflow, that allows your CAD Users to gain Revit experience while keeping expectations low and staying within project budget.
It's a proven fact that when firms are reactive vs. proactive to their BIM adoption, it puts an insane amount of pressure on their CAD staff to learn Revit 'on the fly,' especially when deliverables and coordination are now included in project tasks. Below is the solution without hiring outside help!
Don't wait for a BIM Deliverable to start researching how to use Revit! Take a read at the following guidelines to get an idea how your staff can learn Revit and deliver drawings with your company standards in tact...ON THE FIRST PROJECT!
Let me explain! Revit is a 'Workflow Program' and much as we live in a world of apps and software interfacing, they still don't replace the need for bulletproof, internal workflows. If anything, apps work BETTER when you have set internal workflows.
So here it is...
Your Company's (Insert Company Name here) BIM Adoption v1.0:
Model in Revit
Export 2D Views to AutoCAD
XRef exported views into AutoCAD project
Annotate/Print in AutoCAD
Wait...WHAT?! "I thought "BIM Adoption" meant abandoning AutoCAD altogether..."
Well, that would be nice but that idea is a pipe dream and difficult to implement. The truth is, just like any change in habits, cutting anything off cold-turkey isn't very efficient, reliable or realistic. The adoption needs to be done in phases or 'versions.' Tailor your expectations and create a plan for the transition to Revit, hence the 'v1.0' in your BIM Adoption plan. How long Version 1.0 lasts in your company is up to you.
Now let's break down each step in detail!
Step 1: Model in Revit.
This requires planning! After review of the project, ask the Project Executive how many hours are budgeted for drawing production. Use 20-30% of that total for modeling time. In my estimates, adding 2D content has always consumed the majority of time on a project so don't exceed 30% of budgeted hours.
Now, go and have fun modeling in Revit! From here, 2D views will be exported to AutoCAD and your clients will not see this Revit model. Knowing that fact will ease the pressure in your learning curve while giving you a set amount of time to learn on the project without destroying the budget.
Step 2: Export to CAD
Once you've modeled the basics of your project, create views that are needed for your drawings. i.e.: floor plans, ceiling plans, building sections, elevations, etc.
The Autodesk Knowledge website has a good tutorial on how to do this process. You can find that tutorial here.
AutoCAD print settings are color-based so don't forget to set the color for each Category in your Export Settings dialogue box to match your AutoCAD standards.
Step 3: XRef into AutoCAD
This requires a nice & clear folder structure! I like using numbers in my folder names to set the order of importance to the folder hierarchy.
01-Revit
Revit working model lives here
02-AutoCAD
AutoCAD production drawing file lives here
01-Exports from Revit
02-Received from Client
03-PDFs
Printed PDFs from AutoCAD saved here
Step 4: Annotate & Print from AutoCAD production file
Proceed as you normally would and annotate as necessary. If a change needs to be made to the model, follow the workflow and overwrite the exported .dwg files. Good practice is to keep both Revit and AutoCAD open so you can easily toggle between programs.
If the project becomes tight on time and it is no longer efficient to keep hopping between software, then you can completely abandon Revit on THIS project, bind/explode the XRefs and continue working in AutoCAD. After all, we do have deadlines. But you began v1.0 of your BIM Adoption and before you know it, you will add more and more to the Revit side of you projects, implementing 'version updates' until your firm is performing 100% of the work in Revit.
Change can be difficult, intimidating & frightening...this method allows you to tailor your expectations for your staff, relieves the pressure of learning a skill that can affect their livelihoods, the work will be executed much more efficiently and your company will be ready to offer those BIM Services when the time comes. Plus...it's fun to model!!
Revit, BIM & VDC has changed how AEC industry collaborates. AEC firms can find efficient ways to be prepared for when that shift in the industry becomes the standard. Do you want to wait for models to become legal document submittals to finally take this bull by the horns??
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