Customer Reviews

Mastering Revit Architecture 2008

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book covers allot of ground and shows a lot of impressive possibilities to dazzle you.

I'm a veteran Architecture 2008 user and am switching to Revit 2008. What's maddening is all the little nuances that the experienced users skip over that make all the difference...

As an example, I do a lot of remodel work and many of the existing structures and site features are at odd and sometimes slight angles. Revit will force any lines or objects that happen to be less than 1 or 2 degrees to snap back to 90 degrees or 0 degrees. Granted, those pesky slight angles can create some serious challenges when working in 3D, but there are circumstances that demand that level of accuracy. It took me 2 days of rummaging around the web on blogs and support sites, discussions with my VAR to finally figure out that it just requires a simple typed command "SO" which stands for" Snap Off" that has to be typed while in the command. None of the 3 books I bought mention that little tidbit and my VAR was clueless. Another example: To really make Revit do all the really useful 3D customization that is needed, it's heart and soul is the toolsets to make custom family objects and massing components. This is a very deep subject with a huge amount of special tricks. This book has some practical step by step instructions, but there is a awful lot of "isn't this cool!" and "Geez, wouldn't it be great to make Revit do tricks like these!" kind of examples with just some generalizations as to how to do them. What I'm finding is that the tools and tricks I learned so well in ADT do not translate into Revit. Another example: The drawing (line work) tools take more steps and operate in odd ways compared to the refined tools in ADT. Both this book and the "Introducing Revit" do not show how to use the basic drawing tools! So it was trial and error time. The book talks about roof extrusions but does not show the ins and outs. Roofs apparently extrude profiles not closed loop sketches. Other objects require closed loops "sketched" on a work plane. There isn't enough detail to show the basic steps and the presentation is a bit limited as to which types to use under what circumstances. There is a lot of strategy and important choices to make to work effectively and efficiently that the book does not get into.

This book struck me more like a travel guide than a nuts and bolts instructional manual. The level of detailed instructions are unevenly applied.

After finishing the majority of this book I was impressed with the quality of the examples. The authors definitely understand how Revit works in the "real world." If you are looking for help understanding Revit beyond modeling walls and windows this is where I recommend you start.

Wow, talk about a tool that will finally advance my mad REVIT skills. I have only just begun reading the book and am learning lots of useful tricks. The section on complex massing is especially helpful.

This book gives you an overview of What Revit can do plus some useful tips. This book is not a steps-by-steps tutorial for beginners. If you already have finished all the Revit basic training and looking for additional resources, this is the one.

The title of my review is more a comment on Revit in general. This book goes a long way and in a detailed, usually, understandable manner to the heart of this program. Having worked in AutoCAD for years now actually helped understanding the interface--similar logic.

What it didn't do well for me--and this goes back to title of this review, was to show how much drawing went on in Revit. The program is sold on its BIM ability, automatic drawing coordination (almost), instant sections, enlarged plans, schedules, etc. All of which it does amazingly well. It wasn't until I worked in an office that had used Revit for several years that I was indoctrinated into the Revit Reality--there is still alot of drawing going on to make the drawings presentable. It's not all automatic. (Learn the difference between a model line and a detail line as soon as possible).

Don't get me wrong--I will never go back, Revit is a beautiful program that can only get better and this book goes a long way toward making that end understandable. Get on board now!

This book is definitely a must have for any Revit user. Regardless of your revit experience, this book goes over how Revit is used within the architectural process. I love how the book recommends various tools within the software for the different phases of design. My favorite part of the book is the "Real World Scenario" portions of the book. Those really show how Revit is utilized within the real world. This writing team convey to the reader that they know how to use Revit Architecture. The Project Gallery really shows how off Revit is used in architecture throughout the world.

I am currently a student working on my masters in Architecture. There are no classes offered in REVIT at my school and I feel that this book is a perfect follow up to the first one. It is already helpful in aiding me in advance topics like family editing. What a great tool, especially if you are self taught.

I've been using Revit now for 5 years and am happy to see this book. Finally, there is somewhere to go when i have questions, whether basic or advanced. I would highly recommend this book for people who are starting off or well into their education. An excellent reference!!

Revit is great fun if you can figure out how to use it. This book takes you a long way. Like AutoCad, half the battle is knowing what it can do, then you figure out how to get there. This book is still written in geek-speak, so it's not always clear instruction. But it's the best Revit bible I've found so far.

My recommendation is that Revit beginners buy this book after you have used the Sham Tickoo book. This one is not a simple tutorial book. As has been pointed out there are not a lot of step-by-step instructions, but what I got out of it is the way it takes you to the next level- beyond the basics and shows some more of the intricacies and potential of Revit. For example, the chapter on creating design alternatives within a single project is nowhere to be found in any of the other books I have used. The pics of many different roof types gives brief explanations of their formation- just what I want. I would rather see that than a 20-page explanation of a simple hip-roofed building.

I am a recent(1 week to date) convert to the program and am more impressed everyday with the power and simplicity of Revit.

!!!!!Here is the the great thing about this book- great graphics and lots of it. There are other books which have minimal graphic examples. Don't those authors know who their target market is? We are visually oriented people!!!!!!