Best Revit Classes in Philadelphia

Revit: Building Information Modeling software for construction design and planning.

Learn Revit to enhance your building design and construction planning skills. Master BIM software functionalities and integration with other Autodesk programs. Gain expertise in creating detailed 3D models, generating architectural graphics, and improving design efficiency.

Autodesk Revit is a powerful software tool used in the construction industry, allowing professionals to create detailed 3D building models and assist in construction planning. With in-depth training, individuals in various construction roles can utilize Revit's features efficiently, enhancing their productivity and career potential.

Key Insights

  • Revit is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, extensively used in construction design and planning, and can also generate 2D building plans.
  • Training in Revit can be beneficial for anyone involved in construction, as it allows for multidisciplinary collaboration on the same model, providing opportunities for real-time revisions.
  • Introductory Revit classes focus on understanding the structure of BIMs, the user interface, and basic modeling tools, whereas advanced courses delve into specialized uses of Revit.
  • Revit training can be accessed through various formats including live in-person classes, live online training, self-directed study, and on-demand study.
  • Each training method has its benefits: in-person training offers direct contact with instructors, online training provides flexibility, and self-directed or on-demand study gives students the freedom to learn at their own pace.
  • Choosing the right training method depends on individual preferences and limitations such as schedule, learning style, and access to resources.

What is Revit?

Autodesk Revit is Building Information Modeling (BIM) software that supports construction design and planning. BIMs combine detailed 3D building models with information resources like materials lists, building stages and tasks, and physical properties. This information can then guide estimating, purchasing, scheduling, and other construction planning and management tasks, especially when Revit is integrated with other Autodesk programs like Navisworks and ReCap. Revit can also generate more traditional 2D building plans for use during construction. Inspectors and engineers can study BIMs to derive properties like durability, environmental impact, and structural safety. 

The first version of Revit, later called Revit Architecture, was released in 2000, followed by Revit Structure for structural engineering, and Revit MEP for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing subsystems. Later releases have added cloud-based functionality and AI automation features.

What Can You Do with Revit Training?

Revit has applications for most building projects, especially in their early planning stages. Structures of any kind can be designed, detailed, and explored in Revit, either drawn directly or expanded from designs drafted in Autodesk AutoCAD. These models can incorporate extensive detail, breaking a project into separate systems and structures, describing the materials and tasks required for each part, and deriving properties like weight, physical stress, and airflow. Revit models can then be exported to other programs as the basis for further planning tasks like cost estimation and work scheduling. Add-on packages further expand Revit’s functionality, adding prebuilt modeling elements, automating repetitive tasks, and simplifying challenges.

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Revit is useful for anyone involved in construction: tradespersons, general contractors, developers, and even those building for personal use. It is designed for multi-disciplinary collaboration, meaning that workers with different jobs can interact within the same model, making instant revisions that adjust all related elements. For example, an architect can use Revit to visualize their designs, while an engineer can use the same model to evaluate the durability, safety, and environmental impact of that building and make corrections. Revit also helps to demonstrate and explain designs to clients, using either fully detailed models or derived building plans and sketches. 

What Will I Learn in a Revit Class?

At an introductory level, students learn how Building Information Models are structured and how this structure is implemented and accessed in Revit. Revit represents models as a set of interconnected elements sorted into related groups, or families, which include 3D objects, data points, notes, and views. These elements can be manipulated through Revit’s user interface, which is explained next. Students then learn how to perform tasks in Revit, using both individual tool skills and workflows that use these tools to produce well-formed building models. Many classes teach these techniques while students assemble a complete design project. Instructors explain how to produce not only a global, fully detailed 3D model but also cutaway 2D views, building plans, high-quality architectural graphics, and informational reports derived from that model. 

Intermediate lessons expand on these basic modeling tools to expand the informational depth of BIMs and the tasks that can be performed with them. Students learn to use add-ons and expansions, integrate data structures built in other programs, and integrate Revit files with other construction software. For example, Revit’s BIMs can specify material types and costs that inform construction estimates. In addition to using pre-generated elements, students learn to create custom elements and schedules to specify unique designs better. Finally, more advanced courses address workflow, automation, and time management to improve design efficiency. 

Students who have mastered BIM creation and use and Revit’s specific interface and integrations can progress to more advanced lessons. Advanced Revit courses most often cover specialized uses beyond residential and commercial construction, such as landscaping, civil engineering, interior systems like electrical and plumbing, and industrial structures. Students may also learn to use Revit to address engineering and architectural questions like structural soundness. Advanced classes also improve students’ flexibility and efficiency in Revit by boosting their ability to create custom elements, automated routines, and workflows to manage collaboration.

What Kinds of Training Options are Available to Learn Revit?

In-person training

Live, in-person classes have several advantages. Students meet with an instructor at a classroom site for scheduled sessions, often in a computer lab with school-provided hardware and software. While students need to complete readings and exercises off-site, they can discuss their work directly with the instructor. Students can also discuss lessons and collaborate.

Live online training

Live online training is most analogous to in-person instruction. While live online classes are still taught by a live instructor, students attend sessions remotely through videoconferencing. This format shares many of the same advantages as in-person attendance without requiring students to travel to a classroom. However, it requires that students have their own computer and Internet access, install required software, and download supplemental study materials rather than receive preprinted copies. 

Self-directed study

While live online study is more convenient than in-person classes, students must still adhere to a fixed class schedule that can conflict with working hours or other responsibilities. Other online options, called self-paced or asynchronous study, allow more flexible scheduling by trading the advantages of live instruction for the freedom provided by pre-recorded materials. Students can study these videos, texts, and interactive websites at their own pace, whenever they are available.

Self-directed study is a type of self-paced study that retains some of the benefits of live instruction. Although students primarily view pre-recorded lessons, they have regular access to expert instructors who can provide additional explanations, answer questions, or review their classwork. These contacts are reached by video or text chat, phone, or email. Self-directed courses can also include private mentoring sessions and career support. Most self-directed courses use a time-blocked schedule to keep study organized and coordinate progress with instructors but still allow students the freedom to choose exact study times.

On-demand study

Another kind of self-paced study, on-demand, permits students even greater freedom. On-demand students can access course materials at any time or in whatever order they prefer. Students can even skip familiar topics or add extra modules. On-demand schools may charge separately for each lesson, sell sets of lessons as packages, or allow unlimited access to all lessons for a subscription fee. These courses are the least expensive paid option but offer only limited contact with an instructor or mentor. Some schools offer chats or message boards for discussion between students.

Choosing the Right Training Method for You

A student’s ideal training method depends both on their preferences and personal limitations. In-person training is usually the most effective format due to its extended, direct contact with an instructor. This face-to-face contact provides fast, clear, and thorough feedback. Students can request alternate explanations, ask questions, and get critiques. Students can also work together without barriers, practicing communication and collaboration. For students with attentional, motivational, or sensory difficulties, physical presence can help them absorb more information and maintain focus. By contrast, online classes sometimes suffer from technical problems like poor audio and slow connections. Some students lack computers and rely on physical classrooms for access to technology.

However, other students find in-person attendance difficult to manage or less beneficial. Anyone who cannot travel to a classroom site due to limited transportation or disability will need an online option. Even for those who can travel, its time and expense can be prohibitive, especially if they have other responsibilities. Additionally, in-person training is limited to nearby schools and classes; online training provides more options. Finally, some students find classroom attendance uncomfortable or distracting and learn better online.

Live online classes share many of the advantages of in-person training, particularly the frequency and speed of instructor feedback. Self-paced classes lack this advantage, and some students’ progress is slower and less certain. For complex programs like Revit, checking one’s understanding without expert guidance can be difficult. Self-paced study also challenges students to maintain their progress without the guidance of a fixed class schedule. Self-directed study reduces these disadvantages through regular check-ins with an instructor but still provides less feedback than live instruction. Both self-directed and on-demand courses also lack direct contact with other students. 

Still, for diligent, motivated students, self-paced courses can match live options and sometimes even finish faster. The chief advantage of self-paced classes is that students can study whenever they are available, avoiding conflicts with work, family needs, or other education. Self-paced study is also considerably less expensive than live instruction.

How Hard is it to Learn Revit?

Revit’s uses are clear, but its underlying structures are complex and require familiarity with several domains. Those learning Revit will have different challenges depending on their prior experience. Workers who are already familiar with building plans and construction methods will have less trouble understanding views, plan creation, and various information resources, although they might be challenged by the shift from 2D drawings to a parametric 3D model. Computer-aided Drafters and others already familiar with 3D modeling applications can manage Revit’s modeling paradigm and tools more easily but can be challenged by the program’s in-depth informational and integration features. Construction Managers and Estimators will better understand how Revit aids their duties but take more time studying its workflow structure and collaborative features. 

Novices new to both construction work and CAD/BIM systems face all these challenges and will likely need outside coursework to learn Revit fully. An introductory course can familiarize students with Revit’s structure, tools, and capabilities, but knowing what to do with those assets requires construction knowledge. Finally, regardless of background, full fluency in Revit requires extended practice using its more complex features in realistic tasks. The small, simple examples instructors can show in a single class are usually insufficient to demonstrate Revit’s full functionality.

What are the most challenging parts of learning Revit?

Workers already familiar with traditional 2D drafting are often challenged when shifting to a 3D environment, particularly the parametric modeling used in Revit. Rather than drawing each element separately or copying and pasting, working with elements in Revit requires that users control parameters and use family relationships. 3D models are also more complex and require different kinds of visualization compared to separate 2D drawings. 

Another set of challenges stems from Revit’s necessary complexity. First, students must learn the program’s many tools and functions to build complete, fully-featured BIM models. Second, learning Revit requires learning several novel, possibly unintuitive concepts like elements, families, views, and schedules. Third, users need to learn Revit’s methodology, an organized workflow divided into phases; this workflow is even more complex when users with differing disciplines collaborate on the same model. A fourth challenge is creating and using views to investigate models and produce building plans. Finally, advanced students need time to master Revit’s integration with other programs so that they can produce outputs like cost estimates, labor schedules, and environmental analyses.

How Long Does it Take to Learn Revit?

An introduction explaining Revit’s fundamental concepts and features can be completed in two to four days of full-time study with a live instructor. A self-paced introduction might take a month: around 20 hours of lectures plus time to complete practice work and resolve questions. Regardless of format, an introduction can only start students’ exploration and practice with Revit; they will still be unfamiliar and inefficient with many of its features.

A longer course — one or two weeks of live, full-time training or about 60 hours of self-paced lectures, plus exercises — gives students a stronger grounding in the program, increased efficiency, and more access to its unique features. Mastering these lessons with regular practice and work experience usually takes another three months. This degree of training may be sufficient for workers who only collaborate in Revit or use it as one of several job tools. 

However, those who will use Revit as their primary workspace, like Architects, BIM Managers, or BIM Coordinators, need more extended training. To achieve the proficiency needed to pass Revit certification tests and become a professional user, students need several weeks of live training or around 120 hours of self-paced lessons. Experts also estimate a minimum of six months or 400 hours of active practice before users are fully fluent with Revit: capable with all its features and maximally efficient.

Can I Learn Revit for Free Online?

Students interested in learning Revit can find many free online resources explaining the software. The most accessible sources are on social media platforms like YouTube, including multiple channels for CAD and BIM enthusiasts, “VDCI cadteacher”, software publisher Autodesk, and program-specific creators like Revit Tutorials. Revit Tutorials and Revit Courses are also separate websites hosting free lessons. Students can find other free Revit courses on general education, software training, and construction industry websites. 

While free sources spare the expense of training and can be studied at any time, they have several limitations for professional training. Instructional quality can vary widely, particularly on social media, and free lessons are not always structured into a full training program. Some sites limit their free tutorials, especially if these lessons are meant as demonstrations of longer or better-supported courses. Free resources are also refreshed more slowly than live curricula. Even on reputable sites with well-curated content, free lessons will lack an instructor’s guidance, and students will progress slower and with less certainty than in formal training. Finally, few free sources offer any career support or proof of accomplishment.

What Should I Learn Alongside Revit?

The best topics to study alongside Revit are those that intersect with the software itself: 3D modeling, computer-aided drafting, and drawing and reading building plans. More traditional 3D modeling programs like SketchUp offer a useful comparison to BIM systems. Computer-aided drafting (CAD) programs like AutoCAD also produce detailed, complex 3D models in addition to 2D views. Learning to read more traditional building plans like blueprints adds an extra job skill and also helps to understand the layered information within building models. 

Students learning Revit may already be studying architecture, general construction, or a building trade like plumbing or masonry. If not, students may want to take introductory courses on building design and construction. These subjects cover the underlying knowledge embedded within building information models, making their details more accessible and enabling users to create more valid and full-featured models. Other careers that use Revit as a tool skill include construction management and construction estimating. Revit students may find these subjects useful to better understand the program’s uses. Construction Managers use BIMs to guide subcontractors and plan work schedules, while Construction Estimators extract information from these models that informs their cost estimates.

Industries that Use Revit

Multiple sectors of the construction industry use Revit, but its most common use is for building design and construction planning. Designers like architects, interior designers, and landscapers draw and detail project models within Revit. Engineering consultants and firms, as primary designers or guides for construction planning, find Revit useful to describe structural properties and analyze designs for features like safety, environmental impact, and resistance to natural disasters. Building clients like property owners, facilities managers, commercial developers, and government agencies collaborate with designers, engineers, and builders in Revit. These clients can also generate and compare initial concepts in Revit and then use BIM to communicate their needs.

The most prolific users of Revit are builders themselves: construction firms, general contractors, and subcontractors. These businesses receive clients’ initial concepts and descriptions, then specify models further in Revit to support their project proposals and guide active construction once approved. Revit building models embed information that can be referenced to generate lists, schedules, estimates, and plans for every part of a construction project. This process also applies to skilled trades like plumbing, masonry, and HVAC who can use Revit to plan and guide their work. 

Revit Job Titles and Salaries

Revit’s most frequent users are Architects and Architectural Designers. These creators devise multiple aspects of a building’s design, from its overall shape and aesthetics to functional concerns like utility systems and usable space. Some Architects also oversee and advise during construction. The average annual salary for Architects in the United States, across all experience levels and specializations, is $108,000, while Architectural Designers average around $71,000 per year. Related design jobs that use Revit are Interior Designers ($68,000/year), who focus on the appearance and usability of interior spaces.

Alongside these designers or working for construction companies and subcontractors, Drafters specifically create detailed construction models and building plans; these workers are often experts in CAD and BIM systems. A Drafter in the United States can earn an average of $70,000 annually. BIM Managers and BIM Coordinators (both about $83,000/year) more specifically master BIM programs like Revit and oversee the creation, modification, and collaborative use of these models throughout a project’s duration. Similarly, building-related engineering professionals like Civil Engineers ($101,000/year) may use Revit for construction design, analysis of planned structures, and production of building plans. 

Multiple kinds of builders and other construction workers regularly use Revit. The workers who most often use this program are Construction Managers (or Construction Project Managers), who plan and oversee the work of on-site builders, and Construction Estimators, who analyze building models to itemize their required components and calculate their costs. Construction Project Managers earn an average of $94,000 per year in the United States, while Construction Estimators earn around $81,000 per year.

Revit Classes Near Me

Visual Design and Construction Institute (VDCI) offers multiple self-directed online classes on Revit, individually or in discounted course bundles that add services like individual mentoring and certification exam prep. For each class, students complete one or more portfolio-quality projects, receive a certificate of completion, and can retake the course within 1 year. 

VDCI’s Revit Fundamentals Course Bundle combines an Introduction to Revit and BIM systems in general with an Intermediate course that expands students’ ability to create detailed building models. Students learn how to create a full-featured 3D building model, generate and use 2D views within that model, and generate architectural graphics, work plans, and schedules to list material and labor requirements. Both courses also address workflow design to improve efficiency in Revit. 

Students ready to pursue complete training in both CAD and BIM can combine VDCI’s AutoCAD and Revit certificate programs into a single CAD/BIM Certificate Program. In addition to the Introductory and Intermediate classes and two more units of extended practice with construction documents for both programs, the combined program includes a professional-level capstone project, 120 hours of elective classes (including advanced AutoCAD or specialized versions of Revit), and eight 1-on-1 mentoring sessions to address difficult topics or help with career preparation.

For full professional training in Revit, including preparation for the Autodesk Revit Certified User Exam, VDCI offers a Revit Certification Training Bundle. In addition to the Introductory and Intermediate courses from their Fundamentals bundle, this training program adds three units teaching the creation of construction documents from BIM systems. These courses sequentially address plans for topography and landscaping, cutaway and section views, floor plans, and 3D perspective views. Throughout these units, students improve their BIM workflow practices and proficiency with complex construction designs. This bundle includes a one-hour 1-on-1 mentoring session, expert grading of students’ final projects, supplemental materials to reinforce lessons and prepare for certification, and a voucher for the Autodesk Certified User exam. 

ONLC Training Centers teaches software and professional skills through live and on-demand online courses. The school maintains training sites in over 300 cities, including Philadelphia, where students can attend their live online classes from an equipped computer lab. Their live online classes for Revit include a four-session introductory course, Autodesk Revit Architecture for Novice Users; separate Fundamentals courses on Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure (each also four sessions long); and an advanced two-day class, Autodesk Revit 2023 BIM Management: Template and Family Creation, which deepens users’ understanding of Revit’s underlying structural features. An on-demand course, Autodesk On-Demand: Revit Architecture Comprehensive, offers unlimited access to a series of video lectures, practice exercises, and graded examinations covering Revit’s full functionality. ONLC’s on-demand courses include regular reporting to track student progress and proficiency.

Community College of Philadelphia, in partnership with ed2go, hosts several self-paced courses on Revit, starting with a short introductory course, Revit Basics. This starting class allows up to three months for completion, starting with fundamental Revit concepts and introducing features as students complete a 3D modeling project and produce 2D plans and documentation. Three longer courses, each up to six months long, prepare students for professional certification with Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, or Revit MEP. These courses each teach their version of Revit in full professional depth, including collaborative work and the production of construction documents. Course enrollment includes a voucher for the corresponding Autodesk Revit certification exam.

Certstaffix Training presents both live and self-paced online software training classes. Their primary Revit class Autodesk Revit Fundamentals for Architecture, is taught live online over four full-day sessions. This class covers Revit’s fundamental concepts, interface, and modeling tools, with a focus on organized, efficient workflow. Students practice building 3D models and generating construction documents through several hands-on projects. Students can access all necessary software and files for the class on a virtual computer accessible through any web browser. The class also offers a free retake for up to six months after completion.

Revit Corporate Training

For organizations that need Revit training, VDCI can provide live onsite or online instruction. Live classes can be fully customized, with lessons tailored to your needs and projects matched to your typical work tasks. You can even use real construction designs and personalized information resources like local materials and building codes. Class length and scheduling can also be modified as necessary. Alternatively, groups can purchase vouchers for VDCI’s existing public enrollment classes, with a discount for bulk purchases. You can then distribute these vouchers to members to register for selected classes per their availability. 

Contact partnerships@vdci.com for a free consultation to address your training needs, create a custom training plan, and discuss pricing, or to purchase bulk course vouchers.

How to Learn Revit

Become proficient in Revit for architectural design, BIM, and project documentation.

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