Thanks for keeping the discussion alive guys. Interesting.
As an update, I have forked out and got AutoCAD and Revit as a suite. Big bucks, but for a business that needs to work as seemlessly and efficiently as possible with other consultants that are using that combination, I think the cost will pay for itself over time.
@jbacus said:
Maybe it would help if you were to describe the data you want to exchange with Revit users.
Here's where I show how green I am regarding BIM.
I'm a structural engineer that started in an office that drafted on the drawing board. The office went to AutoCAD but the drafters I've found (even recently) just use ACAD to draw lines on an electronic drawing board. They don't seem to use some of (what I understand are available) the powerful features of ACAD to make their daily grind even more efficient and fast. eg Sheet Set Manager, Layer Managers etc.
While I'm an engineer, I also have an interest (and Graduate Diploma) in IT. If I were using software like ACAD all day long, I'd spend some time learning and implementing every feature in there to make my daily use more efficient. But the drafters don't seem to have the same drive, and the company I work in wasn't big enough to have the knowledge/time/money/resources to get the standards to that level. An excuse maybe, but what's done is done.
Now BIM and Revit are here and I've started my own company. From the ground up I want to use BIM mostly and ACAD only where the project would find it more applicable. I know a fraction of what BIM is capable of.
Most consultants we work with (I believe) are just using Revit as a drafting tool. Not many use all features, 4D etc. I think most are modelling in it for plans and sections to 1:100, maybe 1:50 or 1:20 type outlines, then drawing the rest in 2D.
I'm yet to decide how far I go with it. I'm meeting with a local Revit guru to assist setting up my new company standards and families, and I'll discuss with him a practical line to draw in the sand of what gets modelled.