Revit LT 2013 – things that you need to know

by Dennis Collin

As you know Autodesk released a 'Lite' version of Revit last year, I am just trawling around the software to see what it contains and what it lacks compared to the full individual Revit products and the combined Revit in Building Design Suite. There are lists bouncing around on the net but it’s always useful to actually go and take a look to see what actually makes it to the shipped version.

Although it includes things like Phasing, Design Options, Area Plans and some site tools it does lack some features from the following areas

General:

No In-place Families

No plug ins/extensions

No ODBC Connection

Architectural:

No Massing Elements (and all related items like patterned panels and no create 'element' from face option)

No Create Stair by Sketch Option (although you can convert a component stair to a sketch and edit that!)

Structural:

No Foundation Pads

No Reinforcement tools

No Framing Elevation View Types

Visualisation:

No Decal Creation

No Rendering (does possess cloud rendering capability)

No in view rendering (raytrace mode)

Mechanical Electrical & Plumbing:

No MEP, Pipes, Ducts or Cable Trays (and remember no in-place family option to use either!)

Collaboration:

No Acquire or Publish Coordinates option with Linked Files

No Support for Point Cloud data

No option to setup or define Worksets

No copy monitor or clash detection tools

No IFC Export

Despite these omissions Revit LT remains a good product, and provides a robust platform for any practice wanting a ‘gentle introduction’  to a coordinated approach in producing drawings, visuals and schedules. It also enables users to  see and get their feet wet with an intelligent building model . Much like its lite companion products Inventor LT and AutoCAD LT, it provides a great deal of functionality of its complete relation for a much reduced price.