I happened to run across this post the other day:
http://archinect.com/arch-ellipsis/want-to-be-an-architect-don-t-learn-revit
Obviously this guy isn't actually telling people not to learn Revit, and starts his first paragraph by backpedaling away from that statement as quickly as possible - however he does not relent on his point, which is that if you want to be a Revit Monkey, then by all means, learn Revit, take
Revit classes/training, watch Revit videos, waste your nights and weekends Reviting.
Just don't harbor any delusions that dedicating yourself to learning a set of software is the same as dedicating yourself to learning a discipline (and get the fuck away from me with that shit). You can study wrenches and sockets for the rest of your life, but it will never make you a mechanic.
As I've mentioned, I'm fortunate to have a diverse engineering and technical background, which is why when I started in the field of Electrical Design I was never hired, considered, or paid as a CAD Monkey (and it's certainly not the way my time is billed).
The various attempts by Revit Monkeys, apologists, and assholes to convince me that I need to take several steps backwards is laughable - especially when they claim it's the only way I will have a job. The fact is - I took off the monkey-suit a long time ago (and it never really fit me that well to begin with).
The ultimate irony is that I could probably get hired over most of them at any given position - just by putting 'Revit' on my resume along with the rest of my work experience and skills - and if I was forced to take a job like that out of necessity - I could be up to speed on any discipline within a matter of days, and equal (or superior) to the skill level of any Revit Monkey on Earth within weeks (even those who have been using it for years).
Oh yes. My childhood friend, and brother-in-law, got hired at our firm as a drafter. Then he learned MEP modeling in both Revit and Bently Microstation. He was constantly promised, over and over again, that he'd be taught basic plumbing designs so that he could begin doing his own work, both in AutoCAD and in various BIM platforms he was familiar with.
ReplyDeleteYou already know what happened.
He got passed over multiple times, and when timelines got compressed because the dumbfuck procrastinating designers waited too long to get mark-ups to him on Revit projects (which always take more time) he ended up being so slammed with so much modeling, he was taken off of his design duties, which were then passed to someone with (guess what) no Revit experience.
This cycle eventually broke him down to the point where he quit. And in good fortune, his father recently got another "card" for him to work down at a port as a longshoreman.
Well, suffice to say he now makes more than I do, and has less hours, and less mental anguish that I punish myself with this software (Revit).
So yeah. I totally agree, if you want to be a :DESIGNER: --- don't learn Revit. Because you can pick it up as you go, and they'll always be a Revit monkey to do the hard stuff for you (unfortunately for my brother-in-law).
The only reason I am as involved as design as I am, is because I started learning it BEFORE Revit became popular (or enforced by the architard) in our office. Then, because the software is interesting to me, and challenging, I am now more knowledgeable than anyone else in my firm with the program.
BUT. Because I got in early doing basic low-voltage design, that is my main stay of work. Sure I'll fire up Revit to do some crazy shit in, but the majority of my work is meeting with clients, designing stuff, and getting work done. Well. It will be. Someday. Because I still find myself helping out people with Revit a lot.
In fact. I get exteremely frustrated towards the horizon of an impending deadline. Because I know more than anyone else, I find myself CONSTANTLY helping out the fucktards I work with (I love them, don't get me wrong) un-F-themselves from some Revit problem ------ instead of focusing on my design work. SO. Long story longer, I am now fixing a lot of problems I overlooked via Addendums, when I could have had them wrapped up in the BID set documents --- had it not been for me running around baby-sitting other Reviteers.
I am on vacation right now. And it is so nice to not have to fire that program up.
Designers are like guys with a bag full of carefully selected tools they need to do any job accurately, quickly, and efficiently. We'll swap out your transmission in an afternoon.
ReplyDeleteReviteers are like guys who have an entire garage full of tools - and a classic car project that is stalled because they don't know what any of them do.