Announcing Autocad Revit Architecture 2009.1 now including Autocad Architecture and Autocad.

THIS IS A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!

You're never going to believe this, but Autodesk is now bundling AutoCAD Architecture (ADT) with Revit Architecture.

No more having to decide whether you want AutoCAD Architecture or Revit Architecture.
You can now have both. If you have Autocad Architecture, you can now crossgrade to Revit and keep your AA and now have to downgrade to AutoCAD in the bundle.

One License, One Subscription Fee. No more Revit-UP promos.
This will allow customer to migrate to Revit and get the value of BIM without affecting your workload. If you're not on subscription, this is a huge reason to get it now. Call me if you're in Florida and I'll answer any pricing questions.

So, this will let you transition from AutoCAD or AutoCAD Architecture to Revit Architecture and keep your existing software so you can:

• Gain the powerful competitive advantage of BIM using Revit Architecture
• While supporting ongoing or legacy work in AutoCAD or AutoCAD Architecture
• Transition to BIM with the flexibility of being able to choose the right tool for the job.

If you're on subscription, you will automatically receive AutoCAD Architecture when Autodesk starts shipping in Mid-September

You will receive 4 discs in the 2009.1 release.

Click here for the Autodesk Customer Q&A PDF
And here, thanks to rmejia, an Augi user is the Augi forum posting about it all.
Here's the Autodesk Forum posting as well...
AutoCAD Architecture will still be available as a standalone product.

We still haven't heard anything about 64bit Revit yet.....

visit www.autodesk.com/architecture-webcasts for some great webcasts about migrating to BIM.

Click here to Subscribe to my blog and always have the latest official Autodesk information

Delivering the BIM Promise - Cadalyst AEC

Revit's 2009 offerings aim to realize the potential of building information modeling.

May 8, 2008 By:Heather Livingston

With its 2009 Revit product line, Autodesk's goal is to fulfill the potential and promise of the building information model (BIM), according to Rick Rundell, AIA, director of product marketing for Autodesk Building Solutions and fellow Cadalyst contributor. Through the acquisition of some key applications, Autodesk is leveraging Revit to provide AEC users with a full spectrum of analysis tools that can not only enhance collaboration across building disciplines, but also deliver a project with greater accuracy, speed, and efficiency.

"We spent the last few years making tools to capture building information and design information productively and easily so that they are very capable of producing the documents that architects need and putting in capabilities for collaboration and workflow," Rundell said. "We'll continue working on those things of course, but now that we have those things well established, the real focus is moved to enabling better design decision making through analysis."

The Offerings
On April 16, the company announced that it was shipping its 2009 product line for BIM, which includes Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, Revit MEP, AutoCAD Civil 3D, and Autodesk NavisWorks. According to the company, Revit Architecture 2009 includes sustainable design and energy analysis capabilities to assist with quantifying energy consumption and recycled content, among other measures. "The area that we have focused on is supporting sustainable design," Rundell explained. "Some of the most powerful things that can be done there have to do with quantifying the amount of energy that a building will consume, how lighting in the building behaves, and the material content — the same [information] that cost estimators want to know." Autodesk also reports that Revit Architecture's Mental Ray high-performance rendering engine also provides photorealistic images (see image) with greater ease and speed.

Continue reading the article... Delivering the BIM Promise - Cadalyst AEC:
http://aec.cadalyst.com/aec/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=515412

Revit Architecture 2009: AECbytes Product Review

Revit Architecture 2009: AECbytes Product Review

AECbytes Product Review (April 30, 2008)

Revit Architecture 2009

Product Summary

Revit Architecture 2009 is the latest release of Autodesk’s BIM application for architectural design that integrates elements, views, and annotations into a single, coordinated building information model.

Pros: New mental ray rendering engine and extensive library of predefined materials allows high-quality renderings to be generated within Revit Architecture; additional rendering aids include photometric lights and expanded library of RPC content; new Swept Blend massing tool allows more complex forms to be modeled; macros capability gives users direct access to the Revit API for developing useful aids and shortcuts; new navigation tools make it easier to view the model from any desired angle; ability to apply color fills to sections; many other enhancements in modeling, interface, display, document creation, and interoperability; continues to remain very intuitive and easy to use. .

Cons: Interface for conceptual modeling lacks the fluidity of other 3D modeling applications; complex building elements still relatively difficult to model; the potential for better inferencing and smarts to cut down on modeling steps remains largely unexploited.

Price: Suggested retail price for the standalone (non network) version is $5495.

This review of the new version of Revit Architecture, which Autodesk started shipping earlier this month, is the third in a series of product reviews of architectural design applications in AECbytes, which started earlier this month with Nemetchek’s Allplan BIM 2008 Architecture and was followed last week by a review of AutoCAD Architecture 2009. The latter, by the way, has sparked off a very interesting discussion on the AECbytes blog about what is a BIM application and what is not, and what is the nature of “true BIM,” if there is such a thing at all. It is a discussion very relevant also to Revit—being one of the leading BIM solutions available today—and we will come back to it later on in this review. Let us first explore the various avenues along which Revit Architecture has progressed in this 2009 release.

To compare notes with previous releases, see the reviews of Revit Architecture 2008, Revit Building 9, and Revit Building 8. Those studying the evolution of Revit can even go as far back as Revit 7 and Revit 6 from the days when Revit was still a single application rather than a platform of multi-disciplinary products.

Dramatic Improvements in Rendering and Visualization

Up until now, one of the main limitations of Revit from a design and visualization standpoint was that its built-in rendering capabilities were not on par with those of other, more established, 3D modeling and BIM applications. That limitation gets all but eroded in Revit Architecture 2009, which replaces the AccuRender engine that Revit has had so far with the more sophisticated mental ray rendering engine. This brings new capabilities to Revit such as physically accurate lighting, automatic daylighting, real sun and sky solutions, and an optimized render solution for architectural scenes, resulting in much higher-quality renderings than before, as shown in Figure 1. The Rendering dialog, now easily accessible from the View Control Bar, has been improved to make the basic options easier to understand and select for the casual user, while advanced users can access more detailed settings to fine-tune the rendered image. A new Region option allows only a portion of the scene to be rendered, which is useful for testing parts of the scene before investing the time to render it completely.

Larger image

Figure 1. The new rendering capabilities in Revit Architecture 2009, powered by the mental ray rendering engine. (a) shows a shaded interior view of the model while (b) shows the Rendering dialog settings and the resultant rendering.

...continue reading the article Revit Architecture 2009: AECbytes Product Review

Download Revit Architecture 2009 Program, Tutorials, Training Files, Familes Guide, Family Training Files, Getting Started Guide, User's Guide

OK, I hope everyone's done installing their copies of Revit and have finished playing around with all of the new features. Did anyone lose any productivity with the new version? I didn't think so. Thank goodness you aren't using AutoCAD with it's completely new and different interface. They'll be spending weeks trying to figure all that out, while you're busy cranking out your renderings with Mental Ray. Raise your hand if you've already done a rendering with Revit Architecture 2009. Now keep your hand raised if you ever did a rendering in AutoCAD. I didn't think so. Yeah, I know...too time consuming.

Well, here's some more stuff to keep your time occupied. Lots of guides and tutorials for 2009 Revit products. Enjoy.....

Download the complete documentation set for Revit® Architecture 2009. From the User’s Guide to metric and imperial tutorials, here’s where you’ll find everything you need to get started.

http://www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-documentation

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Download Revit Architecture Suite Version: www.revitarchitecture2009.com
Download Revit Architecture Standalone Version: (only download if don't have Autocad Revit Architecture Suite

Tutorials (CHM)

A complete set of self-paced training exercises is available for you to use to become more productive using Autodesk’s Revit Architecture 2009.

IMPORTANT: Follow these steps to successfully download the tutorials.

1. Close the Revit Architecture online Help window with the tutorial download instructions.
2. Click one file below (Imperial or Metric) and save the file to: C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program\.
3. Open the folder: C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program\.
4. Right-click the TutorialsArchitectureImpENU.chm or TutorialsArchitectureMetENU.chm, select ‘Properties,’ uncheck the attribute ‘Read-only’, and click ‘OK.’
5. Double-click the file Revit Architecture Imperial Tutorials.exe or Revit Architecture Metric Tutorials.exe.
6. Verify that the path is C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program, and click ‘Unzip.’
7. Click ‘OK.’

Windows Vista users: You must be an administrator in order to extract the tutorial documentation files. You must override the default Unzip to folder, extract the CHM to the Desktop, and manually copy the tutorial CHM file to the C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program folder.

	Revit Architecture Imperial Tutorials (.exe format) (exe - 14Mb)
	Revit Architecture Metric Tutorials (.exe format) (exe - 13Mb)

Tutorials (PDF)

Revit Architecture Imperial Tutorials (pdf - 13Mb)

Revit Architecture Metric Tutorial (pdf - 13Mb)

Revit Architecture Metric Tutorial A4 (pdf - 12Mb)

Imperial Training Files

Double-click each file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RAC 2009\Training\Imperial).

Windows Vista users: You must be an administrator in order to extract the tutorial training files. During the extraction process, specify the following Unzip to folder since the default path is not correct for Vista installations: C:\Program Data\Autodesk\RAC 2009\Training.

If you receive errors during the file extraction, make sure that the Training folder on your system is empty, and try again.

• Revit Architecture Imperial Training Files 1 of 4 (exe - 95Mb)
• Revit Architecture Imperial Training Files 2 of 4 (exe - 92Mb)
• Revit Architecture Imperial Training Files 3 of 4 (exe - 94Mb)
• Revit Architecture Imperial Training Files 4 of 4 (exe - 22Mb)

Metric Training Files

Double-click each file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RAC 2009\Training\Metric).

Windows Vista users: You must be an administrator in order to extract the tutorial training files. During the extraction process, specify the following Unzip to folder since the default path is not correct for Vista installations: C:\Program Data\Autodesk\RAC 2009\Training.

If you receive errors during the file extraction, make sure that the Training folder on your system is empty, and try again.

• Revit Architecture Metric Training Files 1 of 4 (exe - 94Mb)
• Revit Architecture Metric Training Files 2 of 4 (exe - 90Mb)
• Revit Architecture Metric Training Files 3 of 4 (exe - 78Mb)
• Revit Architecture Metric Training Files 4 of 4 (exe - 22Mb)

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Families Guide (CHM)

To help you understand how to work with Revit Architecture families, this guide contains conceptual explanations, hands-on tutorials, and reference information. Before using this guide, you should have a basic understanding of Revit Architecture.

Important: The Families Guide (help and pdf format) is installed in the C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program folder. To open the guide, navigate to the Program folder and double-click the ArchitectureFamiliesImpENU.chm (ArchitectureFamiliesMetENU.chm) or ArchitectureFamiliesImpENU.pdf (ArchitectureFamiliesMetENU.pdf) file.

Windows Vista users: You must be an administrator in order to extract the families guide documentation files. You must override the default Unzip to folder, extract the CHM file to the Desktop, and manually copy the families guide CHM file to the c:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program folder.

Families Guide Imperial

Families Guide Metric

Families Guide (PDF)

Families Guide Imperial

Families Guide Metric

Families Guide Imperial Training Files

Windows Vista Users: You must be an administrator in order to extract the families guide training files. During the extraction process, specify the following Unzip to folder since the default path is not correct for Vista installations: c:\Program Data\Autodesk\RAC 2009\Training.

Families Guide Imperial Training Files

Families Guide Metric Training Files

Families Guide Metric Training Files

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Getting Started (PDF)

This is a quick guide to get the basics on how to start a project in Revit Architecture, including

Getting Started with Autodesk Revit Architecture (pdf - 5MB)

User’s Guide (PDF)

This document contains all the information available in the product Help.

Revit Architecture User's Guide (pdf - 24MB)

Revit Architecture User's Guide A4 (pdf - 22MB)

Revit MEP 2009 Program, Tutorials, Training Files, Familes Guide, Family Training Files, Getting

Download Revit MEP Suite Version: www.revitmep2009.com
Download Revit MEP Standalone Version: - Doesn't exist. Revit MEP only comes bundled with AutoCAD MEP and AutoCAD Architecture

Download the complete documentation set for Revit® MEP 2009. From the User’s Guide to metric and imperial tutorials, here’s where you’ll find everything you need to get started.

www.autodesk.com/revitmep-documentation

---

Tutorials (CHM)

A complete set of self-paced training exercises is available for you to use to become more productive using Autodesk’s Revit MEP 2009.

IMPORTANT: Follow these steps to successfully download the tutorials.

1. Close the Revit MEP online help window with the tutorial download instructions.
2. Click one file below (Imperial or Metric) and save the file to: C:\Program Files\Revit MEP 2009\Program\.
3. Open the folder: C:\Program Files\Revit MEP 2009\Program\
4. Right click the TutorialsMEPImpENU.chm or TutorialsMEPMetENU.chm, select ‘Properties,’ uncheck the attribute ‘Read-only’ and click ‘Ok.’
5. Click the file Revit MEP Imperial Tutorials.exe or Revit MEP Metric Tutorials.exe.
6. Click ‘Browse’ to specify the path to C:\Program Files\Revit MEP 2009\Program\ then click ‘Ok.’
7. Click ‘Unzip.’

Revit MEP Imperial Tutorials (.exe - 25Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Tutorials (.exe - 25Mb)

Tutorials (PDF)

Revit MEP Imperial Tutorials (.pdf - 13Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Tutorials (.pdf - 13Mb)

Imperial Datasets

Double-click each file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RME 2009\Training\Imperial).

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 1 of 7 (.exe - 88Mb)

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 2 of 7 (.exe - 103Mb)

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 3 of 7 (.exe - 105Mb)

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 4 of 7 (.exe - 112Mb)

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 5 of 7 (.exe - 85Mb)

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 6 of 7 (.exe - 123Mb)

Revit MEP Imperial Datasets 7 of 7 (.exe - 102Mb)

Metric Datasets

Double-click each file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RME 2009\Training\Metric).

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 1 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 2 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 3 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 4 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 5 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 6 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

Revit MEP Metric Datasets 7 of 7 (.exe - 95Mb)

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Getting Started (PDF)

This is a quick guide to get the basics on how to start a project in Revit MEP.

Getting Started with Autodesk Revit MEP (.pdf - 5Mb)

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User’s Guide (PDF)

This document contains all the information available in the product Help.

Revit MEP User's Guide (.pdf - 24Mb)

Revit Structure 2009 Program, Tutorials, Training Files, Familes Guide, Family Training Files, Getting

Download Revit Structure Suite Version: www.revitstructure2009.com
Download Revit Structure Standalone Version: (only download if don't have Autocad Revit Structure Suite

Download the complete documentation set for Revit® Structure 2009. From the User’s Guide to metric and imperial tutorials, here’s where you’ll find everything you need to get started.

www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-documentation

---

Tutorials (CHM)

A complete set of self-paced training exercises is available for you to use to become more productive using Autodesk Revit Structure 2009.

IMPORTANT: Follow these steps to successfully download the tutorials.

1. Close the Revit Structure online help window with the tutorial download instructions.
2. Click one file below (Imperial or Metric) and save the file to: C:\Program Files\Revit Structure 2009\Program\.
3. Open the folder: C:\Program Files\Revit Structure 2009\Program\
4. Right click the TutorialsStructureImpENU.chm or TutorialsStructureMetENU.chm, select ‘Properties,’ uncheck the attribute ‘Read-only’ and click ‘Ok.’
5. Click the file Revit Structure Imperial Tutorials (.exe format) or Revit Structure Metric Tutorials (.exe format).
6. Click ‘Browse’ to specify the path to C:\Program Files\Revit Structure 2009\Program\ then click ‘Ok.’
7. Click ‘Unzip.’

Windows Vista users:
You must be an administrator in order to extract the tutorial files.
You must override the default Unzip to folder, extract the CHM files to the Desktop, and manually copy the tutorial CHM files to the c:\Program Files\Revit Structure 2009\Program folder.

	Revit Structure Imperial Tutorials (.exe format) (exe - 14Mb)
	Revit Structure Metric Tutorials (.exe format) (exe - 13Mb)

Tutorials (PDF)

	Revit Structure Imperial Tutorials (pdf - 15Mb)
	Revit Structure Metric Tutorial (pdf - 15Mb)
	Revit Structure Metric Tutorial A4 (pdf - 15Mb)

Training Files

Windows Vista users: You must be an administrator in order to extract the tutorial training files. During the extraction process, specify the following Unzip to folder since the default path is not correct for Vista installations:

c:\Program Data\Autodesk\RST 2009\Training

If you receive errors during the file extraction, make sure that the Training folder on your system is empty, and try again.

Imperial Training Files

Double-click each file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RST 2009\Training\Imperial).

• Revit Structure Imperial Datasets 1 of 4 (exe - 95Mb)
• Revit Structure Imperial Datasets 2 of 4 (exe - 92Mb)
• Revit Structure Imperial Datasets 3 of 4 (exe - 94Mb)
• Revit Structure Imperial Datasets 4 of 4 (exe - 22Mb)

Metric Training Files

Double-click each file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RST 2009\Training\Metric).

• Revit Structure Metric Datasets 1 of 4 (exe - 94Mb)
• Revit Structure Metric Datasets 2 of 4 (exe - 90Mb)
• Revit Structure Metric Datasets 3 of 4 (exe - 78Mb)
• Revit Structure Metric Datasets 4 of 4 (exe - 15Mb)

Common Training Files

Double-click the file below to download (files will be copied to: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RST 2009\Training\Common).

• Revit Structure Common Datasets 1 of 1 (exe - 90Mb)

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Getting Started

This is a quick guide to get the basics on how to start a project in Revit Structure, including

• Exploring the User Interface
• Creating a Concrete Project
• Creating a Steel Project

Getting Started with Autodesk Revit Structure (pdf - 474Kb)

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User’s Guide

This document contains all the information available in the product Help.

	Revit Structure User's Guide (pdf - 25157Kb)
	Revit Structure User's Guide A4 (pdf - 25217Kb)

Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home. Home! - Revit Download Links Finally

Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home. Home! And this is my room, and you're all here. And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there's no place like home!

This isn't even posted on the Autodesk website yet, but it was easy enough to figure out from the 2008 links:
You are the very first people in the world to get the 2009 versions of Revit. Please remember to tip your blogger on the way out. If you've enjoyed my blog, don't be shy and please send me a comment.

If you haven't already, please subscribe to this blog for updates and service packs for 2009 products and to be the first to know anything about Revit 2010.

Revit Architecture Suite - Revit Download
www.revitarchitecture2009.com or
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/2009/RAC-S2009.exe

Download this link only if you don't have the suite - Revit Architecture Standalone
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/2009/RAC2009.exe

Revit Structure Suite - Revit Download
www.revitstructure2009.com or
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/Structure2009/RST-S2009.exe

Download this link only if you don't have the suite - Revit Structure Standalone
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/Structure2009/RST2009.exe

Revit MEP Suite - Revit Download
www.revitmep2009.com or
http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/RME2009/RME2009.exe


OK, it's time to play the game "Flood the Server". Here's how you play. Send this post to every Revit user you know and tell them to start downloading your Revit 2009 file now.

Thank you all for visiting www.revit3d.com, especially for the last 2 months. I'm pleased that I could provide all of you the information you were looking for.

I promise to do the same for the next few years.
Next year, starting February 10th, visit www.revit2010.com and I'll start posting information on the 2010 version as soon as it becomes available.

I do have one request of you. If you have an office in Florida, we'd love to be your reseller. I'm sure your current reseller hasn't put this much effort and passion into really helping you.

If you're anywhere in the United States, we do training (live & remote), technical support, implementation and coordination between all Revit disciplines. If you're looking for more out of Revit, we're happy to help you get there.

We're the US Distributor for Broutek and are resellers for e-Specs, Riverbed, CostX, Adapt, Reed BIM Library Manager and IES. If you have questions, want a demo or pricing, please contact me.

I think I'm going to take a few days off from the blog so you can absorb all this.
Gregory

PS. Will, thanks for your post this morning. It was truncated so I couldn't get it to work, but you inspired me to figure out the link. Thank you. (Will informed me he got the link from an AUGI post, so we'll have to give Will and AUGI credit.

Note to other bloggers: If you're going to copy these links, please give my blog the proper credit.

The other program we don't talk about.....

I just got a comment that we need to address.
These downloads will only give you the Revit portion of the Suite. You're not downloading AutoCAD.

You'll have to wait until Autodesk ships you the DVD so you can install AutoCAD 2009.

Here's why:
If you download AutoCAD 2009 from the Autodesk site, it only licenses it as the standalone version.
The AutoCAD DVD that ships with your Revit DVD is bundled together in that they share the same serial number and the activation code is different.

The only difference between AutoCAD standalone and AutoCAD of the Revit Suite is in the license activation.

So, if you download AutoCAD, you'll just have to uninstall it and reinstall the copy that will be arriving any minute. A minor inconvenience, but I thought you should know.

12:57 am and nothing!!!!

You would think at 12:01 am you'd be able to download all of the 2009 versions, but no.
I even tried to be real sneaky and went to the Australia and UK Autodesk websites, but there's not even a link to download the software on those pages.

Whatever. I'm going to bed and we'll try this again first thing in the morning.

You can't say I didn't try.

You can try going here and see if it refreshes with the new versions but right now it says 2008:

Architecture
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9408083
Structure
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9281007
MEP
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=9262907

Some thoughts about tomorrow, the future and Revit Architecture 2009

I received an email this morning from a client who I had mentioned that Revit 2009 products are shipping tomorrow. Her response was "Don’t tell me another version is coming out… I haven’t gotten thru the books on the last two!".

This brings up an interesting point. Like it or not, the Revit intereface looks pretty much the same for the past few releases. When you install the new version tomorrow, it will look just like 2008 and you'll lose no productivity. You will be checking out the new features, trying out Mental Ray and trying out the new features. In about 2 or 3 days, you'll have all of them done pat and you're productivity will go up.

Well, there's also the 800 lb gorilla in the room that we haven't discussed. For all of you who have AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite, you're in for a huge surprise. AutoCAD has a completely new look and feel. They've replaced the toolbar with a ribbon interface similar to Office 2007. For the AutoCAD users out there who have been using AutoCAD for many years, here's yet again another change that people are groaning about. Of course, you can revert back to the old interface, but it's ironic that the Revit users' mantra is "Change Everything" and the AutoCAD users' mantra is "No, don't change anything, I'm happy with the way things are."

It's like getting a typewriter with every new computer you purchase. Maybe nows the time for the AutoCAD users to jump ship and move to Revit. How many more dwg format changes and interface changes do you think you can stand.

I've been fascinated that over the last 2 months, since the release of the 2009 information, my blog has been overwhelmed with new readers. Subscription is up from 100 to over 400 in the last 2 months. I've had 14,000 visitors in the last 30 days with 49,000 clicks on links in my site. I wonder how many AutoCAD users went onto AutoCAD blogs. While you Revit users have been clamoring to find out every little bit of new features, the AutoCAD users are complaining about why Autodesk changes the program again and now they have to relearn a whole new interface. Ah, the price of progress and technology.

So, on this last day before you all start getting your brand spanking new shiny Revit Architecture, Structure and MEP DVDs, let's take a moment and thank Autodesk for the work they've done since acquiring Revit in 2002 and not changing the interface every year.

One of the things I love about Revit is the visualization functionality. All of those "I don't do 3D because it's too complicated" can now have a tool that isn't complicated. All of the photos in this post took 3 clicks to create the renderings. You don't need to know a thing in order to use Mental Ray within Revit. I hope this will put the final death blow to Archicad with their previous superior rendering capability to Accurender.

Revit, it's finger clicking good!

Revit Structure 2009 Documentation and Installation Instructions

Revit Structure 2009 Known Issues

Revit Structure 2009 Product Summary

Revit Structure 2009 Feature Summary

Revit Structure 2009 Installation Instruction

Whats New in Revit Structure 2009

Read This First - Revit Structure 2009

Revit MEP 2009 Documentation and new feature slideshow

Well, it looks like they've made some good improvements on the 2009 version. Architects, start bugging your engineers to crossgrade now. If they haven't started using Revit MEP, it's almost too late to catch up to those who are using it. Also, if you're concerned about the content, Broutek is the answer.

RTF-Revit MEP 2009(Read this first)

Revit MEP 2009 Known Issues

RME2009 Installation Instructions



http://picasaweb.google.com/revit3d/RevitMEP2009NewFeaturesSlideshow

A little fun with Revit and Swept Blends while we're waiting...

Here's a little fun with swept blends.

MEP & Structure Update:
I can't believe I'm still downloading the files. 11 gb is taking a little longer than I thought. Plus, I ran out of hard drive space and had to break out the external drive. Also, they're zipped ISO files that have to be extracted and mounted. Oh what fun!!!!

Can you say "hello Mr. Fedex man, I've been waiting for you."

I'm so happy. I have the Revit Architecture 2009 Official Gold Release to play with!!!!

JR is so happy. He just got his own license of Revit Architecture 2009 and he loves it. Wait, he's drooling all over the box. Thank goodness it's coated in plastic. He's officially the first person in the world to touch the new software.

I know, you're sitting there pissed off a 72 day old baby has his hands on the 2009 release and you don't.

As soon as he develops the motor skills to use a mouse, I'm going to teach him Revit. I'm wondering if he should be the 4th generation of the Arkin family to become a General Contractor. Keep track of bim-baby.blogspot.com and we'll see if JR's career path takes him down the Revit Road.



Do you think in 20 years we could convince every single drafter to finally give up AutoCAD. How does that sound...AutoCAD 2030? And it will work on the Intel 256 core processor, but still not with Vista. Do you think you're engineers will still be using AutoCAD then? Probably.

In the meantime, anyone have any AutoCAD blueprints they want to recycle into diapers? If anyone from Autodesk is reading this, for the record, I love AutoCAD. I only sell the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite, so I make sure that everyone gets a copy. I couldn't imagine selling Revit without bundling it with AutoCAD. Now if we could only get that bundle to include AutoCAD Architecture. If it weren't for AutoCAD, we wouldn't be selling so much Revit. This is a recording. I love AutoCAD. AutoCAD is good. Long live AutoCAD. OK, did the nice people from Autodesk leave? Now back to reality.

And shouldn't you be working instead of playing on the internet reading this blog? Go back to work. Yeah, you, in the cubicle. You've got deadlines! Come on, close your browser. See you next post.

Gregory and JR Arkin
www.revit3d.com and www.bimbabe.com

Revit Architecture 2009 Features, Installation, Known Issues Documentation

Ok, you'll want to read all these before Tuesday. Forward this to your IT/BIM Managers to get a head start.

Revit Architecture Previous Release Known Issues
Read This First-Revit Architecture 2009
Revit Architecture 2009 Installation Instructions
Revit Architecture 2009 Feature Summary
Revit Architecture 2009 Known Issues
LicensingEndUserGuide

If you're really happy with everything I've posted here the past 2 months about Revit 2009 and you have an office in Florida, feel free to give me a tip by sending me an email stating the following:

"We would like to make CADD Centers of Florida our Reseller of Record"
from your company's email account.

That way I can keep up the hard work and continue the REVITlution! Seriously, if your current reseller isn't putting this much effort into Revit, why are you being loyal to them? Thank you.

Just finished installation and started Revit Architecture 2009

I just went through and compared the New Feature Workshop and compared the one I posted earlier
and I don't see anything extra that hadn't been mentioned previously.

I've reprinted the What's New Features Guide from a few days ago, so feel free to download it again and see let me know if you see anything different.
Revit 2009 User Guide - What's new for 2009 - 60 pages of each new feature in detail (PDF 1.3MB).

Wait...I've found something...it was in the beta version, but I didn't notice it
"Content Search Online"

I typed in "door" and my web browser popped open. http://seek.autodesk.com/
Check out these links:
http://seek.autodesk.com/?prodid=Revit:Architecture:2009:en/#query=search%5Eupdate%5Equery%253Ddoor%253Bcategory%253D%253Bfilters%253Dlinkfiletype%253Arfa%253BsortKey%253D%253BsortDir%253Dasc%253BstartAt%253D100%253BmaxResults%253D20%253BviewMode%253D1
http://seek.autodesk.com/?prodid=Revit:Architecture:2009:en/#query=search^new^query%3Ddoor

Well, I'm off to download the 5.53GB for Revit MEP

2.69GB...2.68GB...2.67GB I'm downloading the final release of Revit Architecture right now!

No, it's not available for public consumption yet, but it should be available for you beta testers. (Update: Beta testers will have to wait, sorry)

As soon as I download and install it, I'll let you know what I secrets I uncover that weren't mentioned in the 3 beta versions.
(Yes, I will download, install and blog about Structure and MEP after Architecture is done)

Last year, they included sloped slabs and never mentioned it previously.

The sacrifices have to make for you blog readers. Having to play with the new official gold release of Revit Architecture 2009 just
so you can know what's in it. This download is killing my bandwith...

PS. Normally the file is 800mb, but they've included all of the content so it's a one shot deal to get everything installed and set up.

I wonder how long this would take with dialup? 13 hours.....hey, let's use an iPhone as a data modem and see what next month's bill from ATT will be.

Click here to download Revit 2009

I went a little crazy on the domain name purchases for Revit, so it's time to put 3 of them to good use.

I know everyone's excited about getting the new versions of Revit and you'll want to download them the moment they become available while the fedex box is sitting on the IT guys desk unopened.

So, I'm going to do my part to help make your lives easier. Starting today, when you want to visit this blog use one of the following links:



4/15/08 Update: The links are now live!!!!
www.RevitArchitecture2009.com or
www.RevitStructure2009.com or
www.RevitMEP2009.com
depending on which version you use.

As soon as the downloads become available from Autodesk on the 15th, the links above will automatically redirect to the direct download link on the Autodesk website.

Sometime on the 15th, when you type in www.revitarchitecture2009.com, you won't see this site, you'll get a dialog box asking you to save or download the 2009 file. One important note: Each of the Revit downloads are the version that are part of the AutoCAD/Revit Suite. Why does that matter? Because the serial number licensing is a little different for the standalone versions.

Of course, as soon as that happens, you'll have to go back to using www.revit3d.com to get back here.

No need to navigate Autodesk's website every hour. I will also send an email to all of the email subscribers to the blog, so if you subscribe, you'll know instantly. If you're not a subscriber yet, click here to sign up.

* No Autodesk packaging was harmed in the making of the photo above *

Ouch. I was just scolded for not providing the What's New Guides for Structure and MEP

Revit MEP 2009 User's Guide - What's New PDF 42 pages

Revit Structure 2009 User's Guide - What's New PDF 38 pages

OK, Mr. Anon Y. Mous, here are the guides for Structure and MEP. I do wish there was more of a demand from engineers, but that's up to you Revit Architects to help motivate them to crossgrade.

Revit 2009 User Guide - What's new for 2009 - 60 pages of each new feature in detail (PDF 1.3MB).
(just linking it here again if you didn't download it on the 4th)