Can anyone compare Chief Architect with REVIT LT

[Justice]

The roof design is very very good and easy to use!

[Fun2Learn]

Hi again everyone. I'm the original poster. I'm happy to have gotten so many replies. It has been very interesting to read. Just to clarify though- correct me if I have misunderstood, but I have come to understand that the major difference between revit lt and the regular revit is that only one person can be working on a project file at a time with revit lt. This would be no issue of course for the very small one or two man firm, but a huge problem for a larger firm. The other features that revit lt doesn't have, such as energy analysis and mass modeling, probably wouldn't be needed by a small firm either. The lack of on-board high quality rendering might be a problem though you do get some in the auto cad cloud if you pay extra for it. So I don't think you can compare Revit LT with Chief Lt --- I think you have to compare it with Chief as far as features go. So Revit Lt (which includes support and the rendering "cloud" free the first year) is half the cost of Chief x5!!

[RMorrison]

So Revit Lt (which includes support and the rendering "cloud" free the first year) is half the cost of Chief x5!!

"Cost" is a flexible concept. There are many costs besides the initial buy-in, and transferability may be an issue.

For example, once you you "buy" Revit LT, can you transfer it to someone else? (I doubt it. But with Chief, you can.) Then, there is the subscription issue. Autodesk had a policy that if you were not on subscription for a period of three years, you had to buy-in again at full cost if you wanted to upgrade. What is the policy for Revit LT? Do you need a subscription, too?

Then there is the learning cost. If it takes twice as long to get up to full speed, Revit LT suddenly becomes pretty expensive. I can't say what the relative learning costs are, but at least with Chief you get access to "free" training videos as part of SSA.

So before you get too excited by the apparent sticker price, it's worth checking into some of the ancillary costs.

[johnnyprc]

Yes, I will attest to the fact Chief was the better choice by far.

[Justice]

The Advantage of Revit for autocad users is that it comes from the same stable so they should work well together and that is one good way to lure in potential clients along with LT versions. I even saw that Autodesk are offering Revit LT with Autocad LT for $1500 US. They keep dangling the carrots and so if you are a donkey about it, you might end up with lots of learning costs as Richard has indicated and rendering costs etc and other program limitations you just do not need. I am very glad I have CA in my tool box one of the most fast complete home building pakages on the market. Yes they can improve it and will do so over time.

[IRISH]

The Advantage of Revit for autocad users is that it comes from the same stable so they should work well together and that is one good way to lure in potential clients along with LT versions. I even saw that Autodesk are offering Revit LT with Autocad LT for $1500 US. They keep dangling the carrots and so if you are a donkey about it, you might end up with lots of learning costs as Richard has indicated and rendering costs etc and other program limitations you just do not need. I am very glad I have CA in my tool box one of the most fast complete home building pakages on the market. Yes they can improve it and will do so over time.

No, Autocad and Revit do not play well together. They work no better than Chief and Autocad. They have all sorts of import/ export issues. In fact, most Revit resellers will advise you to get rid of autocad and just learn a "better" way (meaning the 3d of Revit). Lots of things not being said with these programs all around. It all really comes down to what your primary market is and what you want to offer. If the decision is mainly based upon upfront costs then, as Richard stated so well previously, you aren't looking at the whole picture.

[Justice]

Hi Gary,
Do you mean you can't export a 3d DWF file from AutoCAD full into Revit, if so the BIM is Botched?

I know they don't play well together if you don't send the right year version of the AutoCAD dwg file.

Thank's to Chief we do have the ability to export and import different year dwg files if we keep SSA up to date.

Even if they tell you to get rid of AutoCAD they will still give you a rebate for it to get Revit Full.

Revit appears to be a very good product to me but not quite as good as ArchiCAD when it comes to radical Architectural Design.

Chief is better value than Revit hands down for run of the mill housing that does not get too fancy.

Cornering the market with an array of integrated products like Autodesk does, should make file translation between the AEC fields simpler?

Those that have the whole picture, would be proficient in using all these high performance programs.

I think it might be good to move this thread to the chat room, Asta La Vista Chieftains!

[IRISH]

Hi Gary,
Do you mean you can't export a 3d DWF file from AutoCAD full into Revit, if so the BIM is Botched?
I know they don't play well together if you don't send the right year version of the AutoCAD dwg file.

Yes, the BIM is messed up. There is no direct, full translation between the products. Remember that Revit started out as an independent company's program. As it kept getting better Autodesk swooped in and bought it up so the programming language underneath Revit is vastly different than Autocad and therein lies the challenge for them. Also, just like Chief, Revit is not backwards compatible with previous versions.

[johnnyprc]

Chief is better value than Revit hands down for run of the mill housing that does not get too fancy.

Its funny, I find Chief to be better even than Revit on the more complex traditional homes (aka "fancy"). I think Revit is better at ultra modern homes that look more like commercial structures - which many architects gravitate to. I think Chief could do better with some commercial design elements, but I find too that you can model custom items in other apps (Sketchup ie) and CA does a great job with this.

Revit and Archicad are more refined products - but CA does more things simply, and easier. In the end what the product did was more important than "how it looked while it did it". I am sure CA is going to update their UI soon and move to BIM.

[lbuttery]

I am sure CA is going to update their UI soon and move to BIM

Johnny:

I wouldn't bet on the BIM

CA so far has shown little interest in "industry" BIM
and seems to be "anti-BIM"

I do hope that changes.....

Lew

[johnnyprc]

I think Chief offers a payment plan for the purchase FYI, where you can break up the purchase over a few months. You should check that out, I am not sure how many months they let you span, but you can ask.

[lbuttery]

I think Chief offers a payment plan for the purchase FYI, where you can break up the purchase over a few months.

Johnny:

I have never heard of this

if so, it is a change in policy
years ago CA's response to this was "use a credit card - we are not a finance company"

Lew

[Derek Pedersen]

There is a Finance plan for new licenses. The plan consists of an initial payment and 3 subsequent payments made by credit card. The software is delivered up front and the finance period is a total of 4 months. Feel free to call sales for more details at 800-482-4433.

Derek

I think Chief offers a payment plan for the purchase FYI, where you can break up the purchase over a few months.

Johnny:

I have never heard of this

if so, it is a change in policy
years ago CA's response to this was "use a credit card - we are not a finance company"

Lew

[kenoeightspot]

Softplan offers a payment plan.

[johnnyprc]

Fun: There is no question Chief is more "quirky" than Revit. This forum has been invaluable to me though, in that if I ever get stuck the guys on here patrol and answer questions within minutes. There are even guys on here (Scott & David) that make personal "how-to" videos for people (they have made 3 for me on questions I had) that run into issues - custom videos solving the problem using my actual drawing! THIS IS PRICELESS! I have never seen a software which such a sense of community on thier forums like Chief has here - and its like having a personal trainer all the time, they are great. Once you learn "how to do it" in Chief, then you learn to avoid the "quirks" more.

I am sure Chief is fixing some of this now - as they really do pay attention to these forums.