David Smolker
Authors: Sasha Crotty, Harlan Brumm, Ian Molloy, Pawel Piechnik, Dan Peticila, Martin Schmid, Gernot Jeromin, and the Factory.
The Revit product management team is thrilled to share with you what’s new in Autodesk® Revit® 2021.1. Revit 2021.1 delivers new features and upgrades to extend capabilities while reducing friction on BIM projects. Additions include Dynamo for Revit 2.6, many new Dynamo nodes, and new Generative Design in Revit sample studies. Better interoperability with Autodesk® Infraworks® and Autodesk FormIt Pro® drives more impactful horizontal and vertical AEC workflows, while upgrades to import and export capabilities make high-fidelity data exchange easier and more precise. For project teams, a suite of features brings better sharing and model coordination, including the user request to reset shared coordinates, and a new way to share 3D project views.
Better yet, Revit 2021.1 offers a new install and deployment experience that reduces the number of steps to install and update Revit, and is much faster than ever before. Altogether, the upgrades and enhancements in Revit 2021.1 improve your quality of life when working in Revit — helping you be more productive, to exchange data more seamlessly between products featured in the AEC Collection, and equipping your project teams to work together with greater ease and effectiveness.
For this release run-down, we’re grouping features into 4 benefit categories: Automation and Computation, Interoperability and Data Exchange, Productivity and Ease of Use, and Coordination and Collaboration.
Automation and Computation
Dynamo 2.6 for Revit and many new nodes
Dynamo 2.6 for Revit introduces new features like the Documentation Browser, as well as faster performance. Many new nodes are provided, e.g. Path of Travel, Generative Design, and new platform categories for automating design across all disciplines.
New sample studies for Generative Design in Revit
Use Grid, Stepped Grid, and Randomize Object Placement sample studies to create and validate room layout design alternatives. To learn more about these new sample studies, including how they can be used in room layout design to address social distancing guidelines in response to COVID-19, check out this new blog post for Generative Design in Revit.
Interoperability and Data Exchange
FormIt Converter in Revit Enhancements
Transfer complex curved geometry and material overrides seamlessly and accurately from FormIt Pro to Revit in early-stage design.
Import and export enhancements
Import SAT, Rhino, and Sketchup 2020 files with high fidelity to source information. Export STL files natively from Revit.
Civil structures alignment for bridge design in Revit
Import and document bridge designs more reliably working from InfraWorks to Revit with 2D and 3D alignment displays and new civil units.
Productivity and Ease of Use
Faster Revit install and deployment
A simplified and much faster deployment experience is available with Revit 2021.1. Read more >>>
Improved view switching
A new view switching dialogue in the Options menu makes it easier to navigate between tabbed views.
Improved panel schedule properties
Easily see the properties of elements selected through the system browser when working within a panel schedule.
Quickly identify the rebar host
Run faster quality checks by locating the rebar host for any given rebar set from the Revit ribbon or by right-clicking.
User profile improvements
Customize the Revit interface at setup by assigning a user profile with better options for job role and discipline.
New units
47 new units in 24 parameter categories support better workflow integration for architecture and engineering. Read more >>>
Resizable shared parameters dialogue
Easily resize the shared parameters dialogue box for better data display.
Collaboration and Coordination
Shared 3D views
Quickly create and share 3D views with all project stakeholders without having to share the Revit model.
Cloud model upgrade
Easily upgrade BIM360 Design cloud models from earlier model versions (2018+) to Revit 2021.
**Available soon for projects based in the United States.
Cloud worksharing improvements
Benefit from more service resilience and up to 30% faster download times when opening, syncing, and reloading Revit models in the Cloud.
Reset shared coordinates
By popular demand, easily reset shared coordinates for all linked project files to default settings.
Acquire Coordinates Notification
A new notification dialogue clarifies successful coordinate acquisition from linked models and flags duplicate model instances.
EU Region support for Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) modeler
European project teams can now access P&ID projects via Plant 3D on BIM 360 Europe Data Center for regional collaboration. Read more >>>
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Want more information?
Take a look at the Revit 2021.1 release notes on the Autodesk Knowledge Network. Also remember to register for our free webinar series AEC Collection Essentials where upcoming topics include Bridge Design Workflow with Civil 3D, Infraworks, and Revit and Generative Design Workflow for collaborative approaches to informed decision-making.
Start using Revit 2021.1 today!
If you have a Revit subscription, your Autodesk Admin account will receive an email indicating when your products and updates are available for download. You can download a FREE 30-day trial of Revit 2021 here. For an overview of the features and enhancements included with Revit 2021, read What’s New in Revit 2021.
Have a question about Revit?
Check out the Revit Product Forums to see if it has already been answered or post to a new thread.
Have an idea for making Revit better?
Better put it up on Revit Ideas. We’ve added nearly 100 of your ideas as new features and we’re grateful for your contributions and commitment to making Revit better for us all.