Product Review

Instant Revit!: Commercial Drawing Using Autodesk® Revit® 2015

This book is for students that have some experience using Autodesk Revit. The book contains step-by-step project tutorials with screenshots using the Revit program. The book consists of the drawing of a one-story commercial building.

A three-dimensional model of the project will be developed and used to create views of the: first floor plan, a section view, interior and exterior elevations, wall sections, and detail views of the structure. Some of these drawings will be annotated with dimensions and notes. Door, window, and room finish schedules will be also be created. Once these drawings are completed, the student will then create design options of the structure. This allows the design to be presented with multiple styles or options within the same file.

There is also a companion website for the book that is maintained by the author. Purchasers of the book will be able to download files that are used in the tutorials.

Revit families are presented as part of the project. Families are groups of elements that may be added to the project such as: furniture, cabinetry, appliances, lighting, people, counter tops, etc… The student will utilize these files to add various elements to their project. Family files are also provided from manufacturer’s sites and the companion website.

Students will then be guided through the process of creating perspective views and renderings of the project. Instruction includes use of the Autodesk 360 site to process renderings within a cloud. Cloud rendering utilizes an Autodesk server for processing instead of the student's own computer. This allows for renderings to be created at a much faster rate.

At the end of the project, the student has the option of creating a PDF portfolio of the project. This uses an additional, free program to assemble the files.

Emphasis is placed on making the learning process as quick and as easy as possible with a minimum of extra information. This way the student may concentrate on completing the project and becoming a productive Revit drafter and designer in a relatively short time.