Can anyone compare Chief Architect with REVIT LT

[IRISH]

Fun2Learn,

I can tell you beyond any doubt that for what you are wanting to do Revit LT is NOT the program you want. Yes, it can do what you want but it was not designed for it as a program. No, you cannot "import" manuf. catalogs either. You have to either import a "family" or create your own. You are limited to doing renders "in the cloud" and even then you only get 5 times with your subscription. After that you pay extra. There are many good things about the program but for the type of work you are considering, well, Revit LT is not the best use of your time and money.

CA is not really that much more money and the differences between the two programs is huge. You have so many symbols, manuf. catalogs, colors, etc., etc., that come with the program. And you can also import sketchup symbols as well for anything else you might want. Drawing in both programs is easy. Making changes in both is easy. Finer control of the output is greater in CA. Content is greater in CA. I could go on further but I'm getting tired of typing. Another important item to note though is that neither program is backwards compatible. The difference though is that CA does talk with the homeowners editions, with caveats, so your clients "could" buy an inexpensive HD program to play with their design and then pass it off to you. With Revit you are limited to the version the drawing was created in or newer.

Hope all of this helps at least some.

[Fun2Learn]

Thanks so much everyone. THe link someone gave to a similar thread (though from last year) was insightful; though I couldn't exactly follow all the technical computer talk completely, it was a very sharing it. Reading through all these cad related posts (here and on a revit forum) have left me feeling like architecture has really become quite a different profession. Now, not only do you need to understand construction and how to design a building, (as if that wasn't difficult enough), you now also need to be a bit of a computer engineer! Just reading the technical info on autocad and revit is a bit overwhelming. (I just wish the price was reversed and Chief was the cheapest!)

Irish--thanks for the specific info. That is very helpful and exactly what I was looking for. I am not sure what they mean by "families"--I assumed it meant objects. It sounds like they have lots of outside sources to import from. Autodesk has a free "homestyler" home design program that lets you design online and then import the "families" into Revit. I guess that RevitLT is so new there is confusion about what it can and can't do. I saw several different features charts online that were a bit different from each other--I think they may have made a few changes from the initial or just made corrections to the chart, maybe?

I posted a similar question on a revit users forum (asking for comparisons of the two programs) and one user said this :

"..Chief (10) worked like sketchup layout, you model the building in a file and put linked images on sheets in the layout file. Updating on the layout sheets is a simple manual process.
In an alteration I'd have two models, existing and proposed which had various views linked to the layout file.
Unfortunately there is no demo function. Clearly showing the extent of work meant hatching demolished area and items in plan, elevation etc and keeping track of that throughout the project. Extremely irritating."

Has this improved on version x5? I imagine I would be doing lots of remodeling projects involving some demo (assuming I'm lucky enough to get some work, LOL).

Thanks again.

[Fun2Learn]

OOPs. I meant to say "Thanks for sharing it!" (the link to the earlier discussion, that is.

[lbuttery]

(I just wish the price was reversed and Chief was the cheapest!)

I think you are comparing apples to oranges

at $1200 I really suspect that Revit LT is closer to Chief Lite or Chief Interiors

Chief Premiere at $2200 probably has many, many more features

In an alteration I'd have two models, existing and proposed which had various views linked to the layout file.

It is the same in X5

I have been suggesting for many versions that Chief be "ehanced" to allow for the as-built and the remod and various alternatives to reside in the same plan
giving us total control via layers which one we wish to view or edit

I guess I don't see it happening any time soon....

Lew

[BREEZE WOOD]

In an alteration I'd have two models, existing and proposed which had various views linked to the layout file.

It is the same in X5

I have been suggesting for many versions that Chief be "ehanced" to allow for the as-built and the remod and various alternatives to reside in the same plan
giving us total control via layers which one we wish to view or edit


Lew

In an alteration I'd have two models, existing and proposed which had various views linked to the layout file.


Lew, isn't that the same as two plans in the same folder ? - I keep several (remodel) plans in the same, folder - to layout and works very well. The title for each plan is descriptive enough to prevent confusion ...

[lbuttery]

isn't that the same as two plans in the same folder ?

Mike:

not the same at all...

create a base model then clone it three times for the various alternatives
such as garage or bonus room or solarium in that same space

now find that you need to make a change to the base model
due to a mistake or a client request

now you have to make that same change to the three alternatives

that in itself can be a PITA
but forget one or make a mistake and not notice ....

if everything was in one plan - no issues at all

Lew

[IRISH]

Irish--thanks for the specific info. That is very helpful and exactly what I was looking for. I am not sure what they mean by "families"--I assumed it meant objects. It sounds like they have lots of outside sources to import from. Autodesk has a free "homestyler" home design program that lets you design online and then import the "families" into Revit. I guess that RevitLT is so new there is confusion about what it can and can't do. I saw several different features charts online that were a bit different from each other--I think they may have made a few changes from the initial or just made corrections to the chart, maybe?

Families are like a smart block (symbol). A simple illustration would be if you wanted to insert a 2x6 into a detail and you also needed a 2x12. In autodesk products you insert 1 symbol, a box with an "x" in it, click on it and choose the size you want. There is no limit that I know of for that symbol. It could be anything you want from a 2x2 to an 8x14. Make the first use of it the 2x6, copy it to wherever you needed the 2x12, click it and simply change the size. These types of "smart" blocks are incredible time savers and the "families" can be anything you want. This is a very simple example and some of the families can get quite complicated which is why autodesk does not provide too many out of the box.

Yes, more and more companies are providing Revit families but I think there are even more companies providing sketchup symbols for free than Revit families. A "family" is only good for the version of Revit it was created in, or newer. With sketchup, well, all sorts of programs can import their symbols.

With all of this being said, and from what you describe your business and interests to be, in my opinion only, you would be far better served using CA than Revit LT. Its not even close.