Revit Roadmap Update – April 2017

Last October we published our first public Revit roadmap. Now that Revit 2018 is available, we want to share a Revit roadmap update with you to show you our progress and point out a few changes. We are excited about the features available in 2018 as well as the road ahead. We hope you share in our excitement.

First, a quick reminder of our ground rules: 

1. We’re sharing some of the highlights of our product development roadmap to give you a sense of the general direction Revit is headed. There’s a lot more work going on behind the scenes, and this roadmap doesn’t reflect everything our development teams are working on.
2. We plan to periodically update the roadmap because it is subject to change. When we can, we’ll also share videos that show some of the work-in-progress software.
3. Roadmaps are plans, not promises. We’re as excited as you to see new functionality make it into the products, but the development, release, and timing of any features or functionality remains at our sole discretion.
4. These roadmaps should not be used to make purchasing decisions.

To better explain the roadmap, for each discipline, we’ve grouped our plans by theme:

• Create: Efficiently create information that captures design intent.
• Optimize: Optimize designs for better results.
• Connect: Empower teams by connecting workflows for team-based project delivery.
• Automate: Boost productivity by automating tasks.
• Extend: Support the full project lifecycle.
• Modernize: Create a modern and effortless experience.
• Strengthen: Build a solid foundation for product reliability and efficiency.

We use themes, colors, and icons to keep track of the roadmap details.

   Delivered with Revit 2018

 Revit Idea Delivered with Revit 2018

 Planned (Some features may be available for testing in Revit Preview)

 Accepted Revit Idea (Some ideas may be available for testing in Revit Preview)

 Next, the updated roadmap!

 REVIT CORE

Platform changes can be really big efforts. We need to make sure all features continue to work while we change the foundations. Imagine trying to change the foundation of a skyscraper while making sure the whole thing doesn’t topple over. We must be extra careful, and at times we need to reinforce parts of the building that worked just fine before. Sometimes that means we don’t get as much stuff “out the door” as any of us would want, but quality is at the core of our values. Toppling skyscrapers (or smaller buildings) is unacceptable.

All that said, there are a number of really cool enhancements in the multi-disciplinary functionality in 2018, and some really good stuff on the horizon. Check them out.

 Automate

Although we don’t have anything to show for it in the 2018 release, our teams have been working away at some Automate improvements. We’re still looking forward to extending the Forge platform by adding PDF printing to the Model Derivative API and by extending the Design Automation API to work with Revit. The latter API will enable partners and customers to use Revit’s engine as a cloud service to read, create, and update Revit files. This will enable the automation of many tedious tasks and foster the creation of new cloud-based apps to solve targeted problems.

Speaking of tedious tasks we want to remove, we want to make it easier for you to host your models in Collaboration for Revit by fixing the painful upgrade process. This will make it easier than ever to take advantage of the latest and greatest in Revit technology and move from one release to another.

We’re also continuing our work with Dynamo Player. We’re thrilled with the support it has received, so we’re looking at ways to add support for scripts containing inputs and ultimately better script management as well. Through Dynamo Player, we hope to make the power of Dynamo scripting available to everyone.

 Connect

If you haven’t checked it out yet, take a look at the new Coordination Model (a.k.a. Navis Underlay) functionality in 2018. It’s blazing fast visualization of any model you can bring into Navisworks from another discipline or product. Seriously – we brought in the entire city of Moscow and it performed like a champ! Use it to improve collaboration and quickly and easily display model context. If you’re a development partner, the other awesome thing about this tool is that we created the DirectContext3D API to support it. This powerful new API can draw custom 3D graphics you want directly in the Revit view.

On the subject of APIs, we’re hard at work on a material rendering asset API. As a top wish list item for our partner community, it will allow the automated creation of materials libraries and better transfer of material information between products. Opening our materials API is just one way we’re making our data more open. That area of emphasis is very important to us, and we are continuing in our investments in making our software more open going forward.

Also on our roadmap are two cloud worksharing improvements that are very important to our customers. One is the difficulty of linking external (non-RVT) files into a Collaboration for Revit model. The other is the need for a low-trust model for projects, so that the right people have access to the right models. We’re working to make those improvements to give your teams the best collaboration tools out there.

 Modernize

Following on the heels of high-resolution monitor support in 2017.1, we are continuing investments to better use available hardware to improve efficiency. This includes reworking the core Revit UI frameworks so we can ultimately support Revit windows on multiple screens.

You’ll notice that our investments in modernization also saw some change from the previous roadmap. In response to customer feedback and evaluations of technology, we have deprioritized the changes to the properties palette in favor of improvements to the Project Browser experience. Making these improvements, as well as improving the model browsing experience, is the best way for us to bring significant value to you by letting you get your work done more efficiently and by making Revit easier to learn and use.

 Strengthen

We’re excited to bring quite a few enhancements to you in 2018. Most of these didn’t make the last roadmap, so we’re happy to debut them here. We know there are a few big-ticket items from Revit Ideas that you may be disappointed not to see in the done column. Rest assured, they’re still on our roadmap and we know how important they are. We’re also glad to say we heard your feedback from Revit Ideas and Inside the Factory, and we have added schedule management to the roadmap. As always, thanks for your feedback, and keep it coming.

 ARCHITECTURE

For architects, we are investing our work in these three areas:

• connecting our products together
• creating complex architectural elements simply
• working to provide solutions to help architects optimize their designs

Connect

To allow architects to better connect to other people working on projects, we want to prevent the need for recreating work that has already been done.  Remodeling is bad – and we don’t think you should have to do it.  Together with the FormIt team, we’ve delivered functionality that allows your FormIt models to come into Revit with all the same materials already applied.  As a result, you don’t need to reapply materials, and you avoid the possibility of losing important design information. 

We are also improving how you exchange information with civil engineers.  We want to ensure that, when working with a civil engineer, you don’t have to remodel things in Revit that have already been modeled elsewhere. Therefore, we are investing in improving the consistency of geometry when sharing topography between Civil 3D into Revit.

It’s not just other Autodesk products that we want you to be connected to.  We also are working on supporting the IFC4 format to ensure that Revit remains best in class at exchanging data with other software. 

  Create

When it comes to creating geometry in Revit, our focus is on helping to create complex geometry simply and enabling you to work better and faster in 3D views. 

For the Revit 2018 release, we are releasing new multi-story stair and railing functionality.  This allows you to quickly create stairs that are connected to levels and adjust parametrically when changes are made – change a level height, and the stair updates, too. 

Stairs need railings, so we also worked on making sure railings work with multi-story stairs. Furthermore, we have made changes to how railings are hosted on all types of geometry.  Railings now can be hosted directly on topography, and you have much more control over how railings are hosted on stairs.  Railings really follow the host geometry, and when you make changes to the hosts, the railings update automatically.  When you sketch railings, they now adapt and follow the geometry accurately.    

We are also planning further railing improvements so that, in the future, you can have more control over the railing patterns and balusters.    

With the 2017.1 release, we introduced modeling in perspective views, but we are not done.  We know that you need a true 3D perspective view (not just a camera), and that it is important that you can see your levels in 3D in order to accurately model. Stay tuned!

 

Optimize

Optimizing a design is a key part of the iterative workflow that architects use throughout the course of a project.  We want to help you by providing better access to simulation and visualization tools so you can better understand your design and work in a more iterative way.

We’ve been working to make sure that Revit Live is integrated into Revit so that it works seamlessly if you subscribe to the service.

Right now, we are investigating other areas to focus on for this area, so if you have suggestions of ways Revit can help provide you information to make better design decisions, let us know in the comments.  For example, would fire evacuation, egress paths, or seeing occupant movement in your building be helpful?  

 MEP

Let’s look at some capabilities we are investigating for MEP customers of Revit, Plant 3D, P&ID, and our fabrication products to support users across building and plant design, detailed fabrication modeling for contractors, and deliverables to support the construction process.

 Create

Model revisions are a part of managing a project that involves tight timelines and changes to material and labor availability.  We are investigating how to make it easier to change out elements from one type of connectivity and material to another. For example, your original specifications called for welded piping, but grooved piping is to be provided instead.

Managing Fabrication LOD (ITM-based) content is an area we hope to streamline, making it easier for content producers and users to make and use the content they need for detailed modeling.

 Optimize

In the 2018 release, we’ve made several improvements related to the analysis of hydronic systems to support pipe and pump sizing and selection.  Revit now provides hydronic analysis for full hydronic loops. It aggregates the supply and return piping network into a total flow and pressure drop on the pump in the network.  We’ve also made it easier to leverage the analytical capabilities by enabling logical connections from terminal equipment to pipe distribution, avoiding the need to have a fully connected physical pipe network.  Finally, we’ve optimized the computation as a background process, avoiding modeling delays while the computations update.

Looking forward, we are investigating support for more complex piping networks, such as those with primary/secondary loops, hydraulic separation, and multiple pumps in parallel.  With these investments, we hope to support your use of Revit on increasingly complex mechanical systems to support design analysis and validation throughout the project lifecycle.

 Connect

Verifying that a project meets the original design intent is a key concern of all stakeholders.  We hope to streamline the ability to easily and efficiently communicate the complexities of a design through a schematic, and to ensure that the details of the design are captured in the model with minimal data re-entry.

This functionality is built on MEP-specific services and Autodesk general services intended to streamline communication between stakeholders in MEP-related workflows.

 Extend

Automated deliverable production is one of the ways in which we can streamline the process of extending information from the model into the hands of those who need to procure, build, and install.  To support that goal, we are investigating ways in which we can automate the production of piping isometrics using Autodesk cloud services. 

 STRUCTURE

This part of the roadmap is focused on structural workflows from design to fabrication, supporting the key construction methods for steel, reinforced concrete, and precast concrete.

In this space, Revit is considered as a multi-material modeling and documentation authoring environment to capture both design-intent and fabrication execution as appropriate.

 Create

These modeling and documentation investments are designed to deliver benefits like the following:

• Increasing the versatility of reinforced concrete detailing to include support for the complexities of civil structures, architecturally demanding buildings, and other concrete structures
• Providing very accurate steel design-intent modeling with all connections, thus supporting fabrication estimating and extending to detailing.

 Optimize

As a result of these investments, we expect to significantly speed up the authoring process with Revit. These improvements result, in part, by automating the process and driving it by several criteria related to structural analysis, code design and constructability, including:

• Making documentation and modeling for reinforced concrete as time-effective as traditional drafting
• Transitioning from design-intent to fabrication readiness for precast concrete planar elements and, at the same time, supporting predefined fabricators production rules
• Enabling the placement of steel connections to respect a variety of connections types and to be automated through rules determined jointly by engineers and fabricators

 Connect

We are looking at ways to facilitate project-centric collaboration among structural stakeholders, from the conceptual phase through to detailed design and fabrication.  The current projects are focused on the following:

• Completing the design to detailing for fabrication workflow for concrete bridges, along with Infraworks, where Revit is positioned to support it with documentation and reinforcement detailing.
• Connecting Revit and Advance Steel in a seamless workflow to take advantage of design-intent accuracy for model and documentation preparation for fabrication (for example, transferring connections as logical entities rather than the geometrical composition of plates and bolts)

 Extend

Our main goal is to support the full project lifecycle, extending from the office to the shop and the field.  With this mind, the upcoming features will focus on the following:

• Respecting workflow practices for concrete for rebar production, release, and installation so that it can be reflected in the Revit BIM model and protected from unexpected accidental changes
• Providing model data and deliverables for precast fabricators to run the process in the shop in accordance with industry standards for data exchange
• Continuing to enhance the open IFC interoperability with respect to enhanced steel model fidelity in Revit

 REVIT IDEAS & REVIT PREVIEW

There are a variety of other discussions and work related to connecting workflows from design to fabrication and beyond.  So if you don’t see something listed here, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t on our radar. If you have specific suggestions for ways we can make the product better, we encourage you to submit them to Revit Ideas.

If you would like to provide feedback on these capabilities, we would be happy to involve you in our beta program (Revit Preview).  Reach out to revit.preview.access@autodesk.com to join Revit Preview.

We continue to post updates periodically, and your feedback helps!  Let us know what you think.

Thanks!

The Factory