ArchVIZ: adt (AutoCAD Architectture) vs Revit Architecture

[Morne]

So this is something I'm thinking about today.
adt (AutoCAD Architecture) vs Revit Architecture.

Apparently Autodesk did a survey of the two and with ADT people work up to 30% faster than with regular AutoCAD and with Revit they work up to 70% faster than with regular AutoCAD. So if you look at this then its pretty simple. Revit wins.

However I worked with both and I must say after 11 odd years working with AutoCAD, I prefer ADT because of the familiar interface and workflow, whereas even though my 2 years working with Revit was very productive and I eventually got use to the workflow and mindset of Revit, it never really grabbed me as much as ADT.

Maybe people like GloryBound can comment on this. Bobby what is your thoughts since you work on Revit?

So here is the kicker (maybe) from Autodesk AGAIN: Autodesk mentioned they will continue to develop both ADT and Revit (since they have a very large number of seats that use ADT), however it seems to me they are more agressively marketing Revit as the best thing since sliced bread and kinda trying to "hide" the fact that there is something like ADT (When I say ADT I know it is now called AutoCAD Architecure, its just easier to say ADT). This concerns me since VIZ was also never going to die and now we have MAX 2009 Design. (ok well maybe that is for the better?)

So my point is: Both ADT and Revit are great programs, but will people choosing ADT be kicked in the head by Autodesk in a year or two since they might drop ADT in favour of Revit, or will both live happily ever after? What are your thoughts on this?

[glorybound]

ADT vs Revit

being an Autodesk product user for 20 years I can confidently say that ADT is a very expensive application to do 2D drawings and that is what it is used for 95% of the time. Most users use it so their doors, walls, and windows clean up in plan. If you are doing CD's don't waste your money on ADT and buy LT... for your preliminary visualizations use Sketchup.

If you are looking for a 3D application Revit is far easier to use. I have been trying to teach about 20 users here Revit and 19 of them do not "get it". When I say easier I mean the software is easier, but the methodology is a lot more difficult. We are using a very expensive application (Revit) to produce a set of 2D documents, just as we were with ADT.

[Sawyer]

I have used ADT (r2) and I am doing some drafting in Revit now and I have to say Revit wins for me hands down. But a lot of that is the interface which I think is hmm more like drafting in the computer less like scripting. I know acad really well and I never thought it made sense from an architectural point of view. To me it always seemed that cad was too complicated, can't any simple program like even word draw lines and make text and dimension lines? Rant rant rant...


Anyway my thoughts are that Adsk really wants to kill ADT and yet they can't because they will piss off too many people. It seems that just recently there is a big push towards Revit by all the resellers here. I would not trust adsk when they say they won't kill ADT. I bought my seat of max in 2001 because even back then everyone was talking about maybe viz was going to be killed. 7 years later it happens. And I would have saved a crap load of cash if I hadn't listened to the people saying maybe viz would die.

[glorybound]

Revit

The demise of Mechanical Desktop (MDT) was Inventor, which is the Revit of mechanical drawings.

[rmejia]

Revit

I'm for Revit. In Revit I do 3d, in Autocad I do 2d. I tried 3d in ADT and it was painfull, in Revit it was a pleasure. After one week of trying out the Revit tutorial I was hooked. I think Revit is still young and lacks many things in Autocad, but Autocad has been around for ever. Regardless Revit is new technology and to me is the future.

Between the two, they appear to handle information differently. Autocad is coordinate based, Revit is object based.

In the end, this might say it all:
"Apparently Autodesk did a survey of the two and with ADT people work up to 30% faster than with regular AutoCAD and with Revit they work up to 70% faster than with regular AutoCAD. So if you look at this then its pretty simple. Revit wins."

Revit wins

[Morne]

You can't compare ADT r2 with any recent version of Revit. It's like trying to compare the DOS version of some 3D program with Max 2008!

Bobby, when I was thinking about this thread, I had Arhviz in mind and purely thinking about us Archviz guys, not the architect or the CAD operator doing 2D stuff. ADT vs Revit for guys like us to model our stuff quickly and effectivly. Especially for veterans of CAD that models about 5% in MAX and learnt to model CAD in packadges.

So with the latest ADT and Revit in mind for 3D modelling for guys like us, whould you say its better to drop ADT in favour of Revit sooner than later since Autodesk might do this anyway?

Can somebody that actually use ADT 2007 or newer here also please give their comments, and the Revit guys state your case also. Sketchup was mentioned also, so how does sketchup compare to the other 2? (what puts me off sketchup is that it is not intelligent like the other 2, but merely a bunch of lines forming objects, like in max)

I'm thinking long term here so was just wondering what package I will be modelling in a few years from now, and what your thoughts are about what package you guys will be using. (well actually was also thinking about now, is it time to switch to another package now)

rmejia: It seems you dont know that ADT and AutoCAD are 2 different things. ADT is like Revit but uses an AutoCAD interface. Apologies if you knew this and I understood otherwise...

So far it seems Revit is winning the race, and I believe it is not because it is better than ADT, but that Autodesk and its resellers actually markets it, and like I said "they seem to be trying to hide adt"

Kind Regards,
Morne

P.S. Exactly when will Revit be able to be nativly imported into MAX, without 1st exporting it as an AutoCAD file?