What is Revit 3D Digital Modeling?

When a developer finds himself in the situation that he has to present in a short period of time, the project of a house, an apartment building, or a large commercial complex, with great precision of detail, if he uses CAD programs it may be that you can't get a representation of the project faithful to its construction and complete from its exterior to its interior details only with 2D plans. But this is possible with the modeling or digital design of 3D buildings since it facilitates and at the same time improves the representation of the entire buildings.

BIM is the result of the progress of three-dimensional digital design with real construction elements and the association with the data that allow the quantification and calculation of their energy or resistance behaviors. The virtual construction of BIM models allows having a clearer understanding of architecture/engineering projects compared to 2D CAD drawings.

Entire projects or parts of the buildings can be worked in the Revit environment.

The family editing tool in Revit helps the user to handle simple 3D models and from then on, with its combination, create complete projects and obtain plans, sections and elevations while making perspective views from various points of view.

All of these features are not possible with traditional CAD programs.

One of the most useful tools that Revit offers is the coordination and collaboration between the different construction disciplines: architecture, structures, and MEP (installations). You can visit my article of the role of Revit 3D Modeling in construction.

Thanks to this, design decisions are very close to optimization, since the detection of collisions between structure and pipes helps to solve them in the design phase and not find them unexpectedly in the middle of the construction process, thus saving costs and weather.

Another advantage that Revit offers is that changes can be made to specific elements of the model and these changes can cause the rearrangement of neighboring elements thanks to the fact that Revit establishes proximity links that allow them to interact with each other.

For example, if you move a wall section to the right, the walls that are connected to this wall adapt their endpoint and move like the wall. And if there is any piece of furniture leaning against this wall, it is also readjusted to the new position. In addition, these changes are automatically reflected in the plans, elevations, and sections, and the dimensions and quantity tables are modified and adjusted to the new dimensions. This makes it possible to have up-to-date documentation after any changes are made and make it easier to view the updated design.

One of the tools that Revit users tend to use to model architectural objects, such as doors, windows, furniture, etc. is the family editor, which allows you to modify and create new families. In the Revit environment, all elements are part of a family and are governed by a hierarchy that establishes an order between Category, Family, Type, and Element.

For example, Category is what distinguishes a door from a window or a piece of furniture, it is the basic concept that allows classifying the elements that intervene in the construction model. Family is what differentiates a 1-leaf window from a double, sliding, or fixed window. They are the kinds of windows that can be used in a project. Type is the variety of sizes that each family of windows can have, there can be windows of 70 cm, 80 cm, 90 cm, etc. Each type can be assigned a code (type mark) that, being visible, will facilitate its distinction and location in the plans. Element is the individualized object, which may have some distinguishable characteristics from the rest of the elements of the same type or family. A double window of 120 cm can be placed at 1m. from the ground and another can be 1.1 m., both being of the same family and type.

The families of constructive elements, and also 2D annotative ones, are made up in libraries that, through the orderly classification of them, allow very easily the incorporation of the necessary families adjusted to each project. Undeniably, the digital design of the building improves the development of all facets of a project.

In the MEP discipline, Revit offers many tools in facility 3D modeling. Revit is flexible enough to allow architectural discipline views to be used in the development of different MEP systems without the danger of facilities consultants altering the architects' design. A great level of precision and quality can be obtained in collaboration with the use of a centralized data source that facilitates the continuous availability of the 3D model and accurate and up-to-date information.

The workflow in Revit 3D modeling in a BIM environment enables collaboration between all parties involved in the design, construction, and maintenance process of a building. These different actors and teams can also contribute to complement the information available in the database so that the digital design developed can represent the evolution of the project from its inception to its completion.

3D modeling with Revit to the use of project evolution management tools such as design options that allow the storage of different solutions proposed to a problem or the phases, which organize the appearance and disappearance of elements and parts of the building in overtime, they help prevent and resolve potential design and construction conflicts by simulating time sequences and operations.

The direction of the project has improved and for its part the performance as well. Tight budgets and high-quality service are assured. The wide range of 3D modeling tools that Revit presents has contributed significantly to the success of virtual building design results, but you also have to consider the work of professionals, certified by Autodesk, who can exploit and obtain the maximum performance of these tools that Revit makes available to us.