By Martha Hollowell
One of the best reasons to use the Autodesk® Revit® software is so you can collaborate on a project not only within a company, but also across the disciplines. Because this is so important, we have revised our Autodesk® Revit® Collaboration Tools class to include the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, Autodesk® Revit® MEP, and Autodesk® Revit® Structure software as well.
Here is a quick overview of what has changed.
Chapter 1 - Phasing, Design Options, and Groups
Project Phasing is used across all disciplines, so we have added practices for all three. The practices are very similar to each other, but use typical situations for each specific discipline. Throughout the course we include icons that show which product the practice is for, as you can see below.
Design Options and Groups are rarely used by MEP engineers, so we do not have practices for them. If you are teaching a mixed discipline class it won’t hurt for everyone to know how to use these tools, and students can work on one of the other practices if there isn’t one for their specific discipline. In this case, it helps to use the Autodesk Building Design Suite version of the Autodesk Revit software instead of having all of the individual programs installed on each training computer.
Chapter 2 – Linking Models
Linking in an architectural Autodesk Revit model is something that Autodesk Revit MEP and Autodesk Revit Structure software users do early on in a project. Architects typically do not need to use linking unless they are creating a multi-building site using the same building or occasionally when creating high-rise buildings with identical floors. In this training guide we repeat some of the information covered in the Autodesk Revit MEP and Autodesk Revit Structure Fundamentals software guides, but we build on it by focusing on how the multi-discipline process is enhanced by using links. The first practice for this chapter uses all three types of building models linked into a site, as you can see below.
There are also two practices for Copy/Monitor: a collaboration between an architect and a structural engineer, and a collaboration between an architect and a MEP engineer.
Chapter 3 – Importing and Exporting
While the Autodesk Revit software has become a major player in the AEC community, many firms have legacy drawings from other AutoCAD® programs or are working with consultants that use other programs. Regardless of which Autodesk Revit software you are using, you can import, link, and export data from a variety of programs. With that in mind, we created three practices that are very similar but which match the needs of each discipline. Like all of our practices in this training guide, discipline-specific practices should take students approximately the same amount of time no matter which one they do. Since exporting files and using Design Review is the same no matter what discipline you are in, there is one practice for this.
In addition, we kept the optional topic on Exporting for Energy Analysis which is still geared toward architects, even though it is similar to what HVAC engineers use.
Chapter 4 - Project Team Collaboration
Here is the big one: worksets. We had written this up for the Autodesk Revit Architecture software and included it for the Autodesk Revit Structure Advanced software, but it had not yet been included for the Autodesk Revit MEP software. Well, here it is!
Once again, we have practices geared to each discipline where you use and create worksets that match the use of the software (shown below for the Autodesk Revit MEP software). This is a challenging topic because the practices can be rather complex, as well as the fact that a training room is not the typical setup for worksets. Each student needs to open two copies of the Autodesk Revit software and then pretend that they are two different users. Be especially aware that the existing central file for the first practice has to be repathed. We include a note about this for the students, but it can help if the instructor would open these files the first time and fix the issues. This is not something typical users need to worry about.
Appendix A – Additional Information
Shared Positioning is something we added this year. Since some offices use Shared Positioning when they link files, we have copied this topic from our Site and Structural Design training guide. You can find out from the class if they need it and teach it if you have time. If not, students still have it as a reference should they need it in the future.
We hope you enjoy the new Autodesk Revit Collaboration Tools training guide from ASCENT! Please leave any comments below on what works for you or if you would like to see something specific in this or any of our courseware. We always appreciate your feedback.
