Journal of a Revit Noob
Ben is always learning new languages. Who is Ben? He is a Revit Master and my husband! When we decided to take a trip to Italy, he practiced Italian for a few weeks, picked it up quickly and tried it out every chance he could get. “Dove posso trovare la pizza?” He wasn’t 100% fluent but his point was made and he trusted himself and the process. I, on the other hand, do not pick up languages. I do not retain words that have no meaning or have not been applied to my real life situations since birth. I do not trust myself enough make a fool of myself attempting to order coffee or asking for the bathroom. It’s terrifying to think about learning and conveying my intentions around the natives from fear of being laughed at. The same can be said for the architectural drafting language of Revit because let’s be honest, I speak AutoCAD and so does everyone else!
I have been in Ben's Revit Academy for 3 weeks now working on small residential projects. It’s my job to indicate the first timer’s frustrations so that Ben can better explain the nuances of BIM to others and so I made a list for him:
Dimensioning is hard
I just want to do a diagrammatic layout to see how something looks in plan!!
Why can’t I draw how long a wall should be like in AutoCad?
Why does TAB selection tool make me feel inadequate?
Not all architects know the difference between a “ribbon” and a “properties box”!
Does everything have to have a behavior? Why can’t I just draw to illustrate my design intent?
These were my frustrations. Your take away from this blog post is that like languages, I encourage you to practice, practice, practice! Even if it's for an hour or two a day. Moving objects may feel weird at first, but in time, it begins to feel more natural. Practice with purpose! Set small goals like drafting your house or just a room, then take it from existing conditions to design through construction documents.
I have since graduated from Revit Kindergarten and I am doing much better with the basics as I move into the next phase of my training. I may not be asking where the bathroom is in Italian, but I can import toilets like a pro!