Fuck the trash that is Revit.
It has become a circle jerk of epic proportions - even when I waste time attempting to start projects in Revit (several times recently), conflicting schedules, and a lack of information put me in exactly the same spot - nowhere near done, and no way to get done.
I don't know how many simultaneous projects a 'Revit Electrical Designer' should be able to handle, or what circumstances they are working under. I don't know what an 'average schedule' looks like, I just know what mine looks like - and it's hectic, chaotic, and unpredictable (at best).
Schedules shift at a moments notice - scope creeps or jumps, and often the project that you started out with bears little resemblance to the original proposal, and the harder you tear into it on the front end, the more guaranteed you are to end up doing nearly the entire fucking project twice (or more).
The one advantage to doing it in Revit, is that you don't have to worry about doing it twice - because you'll never get it done the first time. I've been listening all morning to people who have been chasing endless tweaks on projects that should have been 'pencils down' days ago.
When modification becomes too simple, the barriers to making unnecessary modifications are removed, and the attitude on the front end becomes 'oh - we can work that out easily later in the project', so important discussions, critical decisions, and ACTUAL coordination never happen.
Not having constraints and limitations on design sounds like a dream come true - until you realize what that actually translates to in the real world, which is: 'No end to other people finding ways to screw me over at the last minute because they can't understand the domino effect.
If I'm going to have to deal with it at that level, then I'm absolutely going to use tools that allow me to easily sketch out schematics on whatever screwed up, unplanned p.o.s. that comes across my desk, so that I can have a starting place to build what will eventually be a completed set of drawings.
ARE YOU READING MY MIND. I just wrote an email along these same lines to one of my architect client/buddies.
ReplyDelete"Back in the day", like in the late 80s, early 90s, which was before my time (I was still conquering the basics of where to properly get rid of my bodily waste). I’ve talked with many senior management and designers and they all say pretty much the same thing --- back then, background updates were NOT as frequent --- simply because the technology had not evolved to a point where rapid design revisions and re-plots were a reality. This meant that, the architect couldn’t just willy nilly move a wall around and have the MEP respond --- in addition, the MEP knew he couldn’t just slap a larger air-handler in a room where it wouldn’t fit. I think that, because of the hand-cuffs of slow plotters, paper, and early versions of AutoCAD --- you by nature had more time to spend during the QA/QC phase of your design. AND it was a given that the MEP drawings wouldn’t perfectly align with the architectural drawings because of the joys of mylar and ink pens.
These days, we have this amazing technology (Revit), and while restricting at some times (since it’s a database vs. just a drawing program like AutoCAD) --- it allows for much more rapid design revisions and coordination. And boy howdee is that a double edged sword. Because now it means we have to be much more diligent about taking time to have QA/QC and be more disciplined about design revisions (know that it will have a cascading affect to the entire team as they attempt to respond to updates).
And just as you said. Most of our architectual clients are just not hip to the cascading domino effect that is the Revit MEP Skullfuck. I swear it's almost a weird implusive reaction to them "OH GOD. I MUST MOVE THIS WALL 2 INCHES. NO WAIT. FUCK. I NEED TO DELETE THE WALL AND START OVER AGAIN. FUCK. NO THAT'S NOT RIGHT EITHER" --- next model update --- all my MEP devices are broken ---- AGAINNNNNNNNN.
Somehow, us MEP-ers need to turn the screws on the architects to do a couple of things (and maybe both).
1. No more knee-jerk design changes. No more last minute tweaks. Pencils down.
2. If you want better coordiantion from us (nit picking the interior elevations in relation to where our devices are) --- then give us a bigger hunk of that fee. It's MORE effort on us to properly coordinate all our stuff in your model --- and it's LESS effort on you to create your interior elevations (since you're not hand drawing clock speakers, junction boxes, or electrical panels based on what we have shown on our plans).
Until one or both or the above changes --- shit just AIN'T gonna get better in Revit MEP.
A-fucking-men brother!
DeleteThis is the first web site I've seen where an honest opinion of Revit MEP is written with no punches pulled.
ReplyDeleteOur firm has been on the fence ever since Revit MEP came out. First there were the software limitations, followed by hardware limitations. Now the software has evolved, but I'm hearing it's still a pain in the ass for MEP consultants. Hardware has evolved somewhat, but seems to have hit a wall because the past 3 or 4 years hasn't seen a heck of a lot of change in personal computers. The failure of Windows 8 puts an even harder point on that fact for desktop users in the MEP profession.
Now, I'm not sure what MEP firms out there can really do (profitably) with Revit, but a lot of them seem to be bullshitting about their true capabilities. We're in the business of quickly producing safe, practical designs for our clients AND making money. Wasting time (= money) damn sure isn't on our wish list. And until Autodesk can make something that works effectively, even on stale machines with Windows 7, neither will Revit. AutoCAD still works for us, we typically let the contractors worry about Revit when it comes to MEP shop drawings and clash detection. They can afford to make that cost a part of the construction fee.
Reinforcing our hesitance is the fact that we are getting more work than ever from clients frustrated by Revit designers who don’t know what they're doing when it comes to electrical engineering, and their repeated failure to meet contracted deadlines.
They are absolutely bullshitting about their capabilities - and watching them fail is it's own reward!
DeleteNice to see that the anti-revit crowd is growing ... I couldn't agree more with everything said in the post
ReplyDeleteYou people are beautiful! Fuck Revit!!!
ReplyDelete