Okay, this is from my personal experience, it would be interesting to hear if others feel the same?
To learn to use
Revit will take you 6 months to become an intermediate user if you are handy with a computer, I found myself wrestling with Revit and getting frustrated.
To learn to "knockout" a 3D model in
Sketchup (without creating 2D plans) will take you 2 days if you are handy with a computer, however, to be good at Sketchup you will need to understand how to use it properly. EG Understanding groups, components, Layers/Tags and Scenes will enable you to produce reasonable quality 2D drawings in Layout (I would say 2 months). You may want to look at
Nick Sonders & Matt Donnellys Book It will save you a heap of time.
Yet if you use Plugins in Sketchup you can be up and running in 2 weeks including 2D documentation. Some Plugin make Sketchup really easy to use: groups components, scenes Layers/tags are automated with plugins Like
PlusSpec, you can also go to the next level and look at a new BIM VDC plugin called
PlusDesignBuild.
Seeing that you are proficient in Auto CAD and you are looking at retirement, I would think that SketchUp is the best way to simply produce a 3D model, it is also fun to use and easier to design and conceptualize with.
That is my 2 cents worth, I hope it helps.
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Andrew Dwight
Designer/BIM manager AAD Build
BDM RubySketch
Sydney Australia
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-24-2020 17:55
From: Angelo Biondi
Subject: Revit/3D Question
I'm a sole practitioner focusing primarily on custom residential design work and rapidly (not fast enough) approaching retirement age. I've decided that before I draw to a conclusion I might make the jump to some type of 3D capability such as Revit, SketchUp or other program to help with design presentations. I currently use Autocad 2020 and am pretty familiar with its basic functions although I'm sure I could use it more effectively with a little more education. I'm wondering what people in my type of situation did when they took the leap? Did you use outside consultants to do this or teach you the ins and outs of a particular program? I'm not particularly good at online tutorials for initial learning. Was the learning curve long and difficult? Any guidance from people who faced a similar problem would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Angelo L. Biondi, AIA
A.Biondi Architects, LLC
1815 Spruce Avenue
Highland Park, Illinois 60035