I have been getting a little tired of hearing how great Revit is and how much ArchiCAD sucks (or is falling behind, or failing to stay ahead, or whatever). So I decided to have a little fun.
Don't get me wrong, Revit is a good program with a lot of nice features. I have enjoyed using it on a few projects now and look forward to getting familiar with more of its subtleties and advanced features. And of course if GS stands still, or if it is perceived that they are falling behind, they will lose in the marketplace.
So I have undertaken a completely biased and unfair comparison of the two programs (since it is based on a Revit
Apologies to Wes. I hope you don't mind me "borrowing" the list. I grabbed it from the Augi forum (it's publicly posted with no copyright notice so I can't see any harm in it) and have added my own inline comments. My knowledge of Revit is still somewhat limited so I may be a bit off on some of the finer points, but I have tried to be as accurate and objective as I can (while still having a little fun with it). And Wes, if you can add some more knowledgeable feedback about anything I have misunderstood I will be most appreciative.
Modeling
- Allow shared coordinates to be used in defining heights ot point entities that define the toposurface... points only use project coordinates at this time
...We may not have the terrain tools as such but the mesh tool can do this
- Improved sloping slab / roof modeling tools (specify slope by three spot elevations)
...Sloping slabs would be nice, but we do have this for roofs.
- Allows slopes in pad objects
...I guess we would need pad objects first (library parts could do it).
- Sloping walls -- angle of slope as instance parameter (not just skinned on mass objects)
...We've got this and then some.
- Create workplane by clicking 3 points in model (sim to AutoCAD create UCS by 3 points)
...We don't need no stinking workplanes.
- Create named reference plane by selecting face of object (ref plane aligned to object face)
...I'm not sure about this one. I don't recall using these in Revit. EDIT: I just checked and realize that I've been using reference planes all along and either didn't know or didn't remember what they are called. There is much about them I still don't understand so I am still not able to comment on this one.
- Allow system families to be placed in user-defined subcategories
...That would be like layers only less flexible. Also like Classcodes which I truly, deeply wish we had.
- Allow windows/doors (but esp. windows) to be tangential to the wall when "Vertical only" is unchecked in the family. This is a huge problem for non-vertical walls where the user wants the windows to be coplanar with the wall
...We have it now.
- Allow 3D snapping of model lines and/or reference lines to allow us to escape workplane hell
...We've got this one too (and no workplane hell).
- Improved/more site modeling tools (road design, etc.)
...Yes, well, we can wish for this one too. I'll have to compare ArchiTerra 3 to the Revit tools some time. EDIT: Well I just took a quick look at the terrain tools and , unless I'm missing something, I would prefer to model terrain with the mesh tool. ArchiTerra definitelyhas functions that are lacking in Revit.
- Improved stair modeling tools and ability to join geometry with floors (e.g. monolithic concrete stairs)
...Yes, well, that too.
Documentation
- Ability to customise elevation tags like you can with section tags
...All tags in AC are customizable and far more so than in Revit.
- Ability to categorize interior and exterior elevations separately and control their tags' visibility separately as well
...There are all sorts of ways we are ahead on this one.
- Transparent filled regions (allow % transparency as overlay or underlay in views)
...We have this too.
- Ability to add views (sections, elevations) while working on an in-place family
...I'm not sure what this request is about.
- Ability to resequence numbering in schedules when objects are added or removed
...We can do this manually in the IS. I haven't done schedules in Revit so I'm not sure how this compares.
- Area tool (suggested to have it built into the measure tool)
...We have this in fills, zones, and of course the measure tool.
- Ability to vary lineweights by distance from cut plane in section/elevation
...We have this partially in the distant area settings
- Camera location icon for plans
...We've had this forever
- Greater control over wall visibility in views: cores only, cores + everything else
...Well...
- non-rectangular boundaries for viewports (it's like deja vu all over again )
...This was introduced in PM2.0 as I recall
- Viewports to be "snapable" for fast, precise layout
...We've had this forever too.
- Either remove limitations of detail views for floor plans, or allow for more floor plan callout types
...We have a similar wish for live enlarged plan views.
- More control of revision schedule: direction (bottom to top), designations (not just numbers only), and allow revisions to list even if revision bubbles aren't displayed
...Well, if we had a revision schedule, we could wish for improvements.
- Report number of objects selected
...We have this live in the Find & Select and in detail in the modal Edit Selection Set dialog
- Ability to tag legend objects in legend views
...I'm not sure what this is for.
- Ability to print multi-page PDFs rather than having print/name each page manually (granted if you use PDF Factory -- or the free PDF Creator from PDF Forge)
...We have PDF capabilities way beyond Revit. As far as I can tell there is no PDF import at all.
- Allow true colour presentation option for shaded / shadowed orthogonal views (plan / elevation)
...We have this in elevations anyway. Not hard to fake it in plan by referencing a 3D view.
- Allow rescaling of hatch patterns without finding and reimporting the .PAT file
...This has always been possible in the File Types dialog. We can even rescale instances since 11 came out.
- Allow calculated values in tags (e.g. show room occupancy or corridor loading)
...Zone stamps can be easily customized to do occupancy. Accumulating corridor loading is still manual.
- Allow calculated values to control color schemes (e.g. show areas over/under building space program)
...I'm not sure what this means.
- Color fill legends should not be cut off by the crop region
...We don't have this problem.
- Allow gradient fills
...Yup, we've got these too.
- Coarse scale fills should permit a view override per category so that all walls, floors, roofs, etc can have the same coarse scale appearance in plans and sections
...We can do this in a variety of ways. View Options, Pen Settings, etc.
- Linework tool should be allowed to work on linework from linked Revit files (to remove lines between linked elements if no line would exist when the design is constructed)
...We don't need this since ArchiCAD does a proper job cleaning up the drawings.
Performance
- Double-click to edit sketch based objects rather than rolling up to the 'Edit' button
...We don't need this since we can easily edit the items (such as floors & roofs) in place without having to go into Sketch mode.
- Revamped UI: varies from requests for basic updates to inclusion of VIZ-like behaviour to commonly-used tools to modeless properties dialog box
...Revit has a long way to go to approach both the capabilities and the complexity (complifications?) of the ArchiCAD interface. If GS could really put a priority on clean-up and consistency, not only would we all be thrilled, but it would be much more obvious how far ahead ArchiCAD is in this respect
- Accurender 3 needs to be updated to a newer rendering engine
...We know how this feels. I haven't done much rendering in Revit but I understand that it is no better and perhaps worse than AC in this regard. EDIT: Mental Ray now in Revit 2009 - I don't know how this stacks up to LightWorks in AC
- Improve display system - make objects display as they do in Inventor (clear and rapid display of objects)
...I don't know Inventor, but the performance and display quality of Revit definitely lags behind ArchiCAD
- Allow double-click or right-click to edit and finish editing objects (e.g. floors)
...Again we don't have the onerous Sketch mode and so don't need this.
- Allow users to select point of rotation rather than moving icon from center of selected objects
...We have this along with the rest of the much quicker and more facile edit functions in AC.
- Auto-hiding/roll-up of portions of the UI (Project Browser, Design Bar) to facilitate more screen space
...Both programs need a face lift. At least it is possible to customize AC.
- Full screen mode
...I thought Revit had this. They must mean something different than I am thinking.
- Support for dual monitors
...AC supports as many monitors as you care to attach
- More keyboard support for commands (e.g. various line tools during detail line command)
...Of course we can customize this to our hearts' content - with a few exceptions.
- Editing request pop-up for users who need to relinquish objects
...Hard to compare, but this sounds like it could be a cool Teamwork function. Not high on the list as far as I'm concerned though.
- Select all instances: per view or per project
...This would make Revit's selection tools only slightly less pathetic by comparison to ArchiCAD.
- Make family list pull-down (Type Selector) wider, or at least appear in a tool tip: long family names are getting cut off
...Most of the field length issues have been sorted out in ArchiCAD
- Customized pallettes for storing and placing commonly used components
...Favorites, Modules, Eyedropper & Syringe tools
- "Create Similar" command should mimic all properties of the object selected (only partially mimics properties at this time)
...I still haven't got the hang of this tool in Revit. It sure is a long way from the Eyedropper & Syringe tools
- Let Tape Measure tool work in 3D
...We've got this too. It would be even more useful in Revit if you could snap to points and edges, and constrain directions as well as we can in AC.
- Option to have crosshairs as the cursor
...I'm not sure about this. If they mean full window crosshairs, well I guess I would just turn them off.
- Let Revit access the power of high-end video cards
...ArchiCAD flies on a Quadro. It's not that bad on a GeForce either. I'll try to compare the two some time if I get a chance.
), getting instant section models (marquee-F5), and selecting, modifying, etc. all in 3d and switching back and forth (F2 - F3 - F5) - is really the natural step up from the second best way to do architecture (foam block - chip board - section models - drafting over trace, etc...). I feel in this regard, AC still has no competition.
