What's New in Revit 2020 (Platform and Architecture)

An overview of the new features and updates in Revit 2020

The new release of Revit incorporates the features included in the 2019 mid-year update (2019.2) as well as a host of other new features. Here we will outline the features that relate to the overall Revit platform and specifically the Architectural discipline.

Autodesk have published a development roadmap for some time now, as well as a user wish list. Many of the features introduced in the new Revit releases have come from the user wish list.

They group the functions into Create, Optimize and Connect. Create relates to creating the model, Optimize for optimizing workflows and the building analysis tools, and Connect relates to connecting both teams and products in the workflow.

Create

From the create group the only real feature that has been added is the ability to model elliptical walls. Whilst this is something that has been incorporated from the user wish list, I don’t think it will be a widely used function. Building elliptical objects in the real world is difficult due to setting out problems and using a series of arcs to replicate an ellipse would be preferred.

The ability to schedule and tag the elevation of objects has also been included. This will allow users to automatically pick up on the height of objects placed in the model rather than having to use workarounds to get this height data into schedules and tagged on drawings. Although this will mostly be used by building services engineers, the ability to take this information from Casework and Furniture families will also prove useful to Architects and Interior Designers.

Finally, there has been some improvements to the Materials workflow. The Material Browser has the option for larger thumbnails to better inform the user of material appearance and new filter icons to for material classes to be more consistent with the general interface.

Optimisation

For optimisation, several features have been added. A new ‘Path of Travel’ routing analysis feature will assist in plotting emergency exit routes through buildings.

Enhancements to the filters allowing ‘or’ rules to look at all parameters rather than just common ones and to check whether a parameter has a value or not will allow for much more complex and comprehensive filters for views.

The ability to include Scope Boxes in View Schedules and Copy/Paste Legend Views between multiple sheets will also add to the usability of Revit 2020.

Connect

From the Connect group, the headline feature is the ability to import PDF files. This has been a long-requested feature and one that is very welcome. They are imported and managed as an image, although the option to enable snaps will allow us to use the vector data to measure and re-model from the PDF. This will help greatly with the refurbishment of existing buildings where drawings are only available in PDF format.

The SketchUp import has also been updated to support the latest SketchUp version.

Summary

In conclusion, the 2020 release continues with the Revit evolution. No doubt there are still many features that we would like to see added or refined, but this is a positive step along the Revit development path.

Watch our video below to see these new features in action:

Note: the below webinar recording was created by Excitech prior to becoming Symetri in January 2021, following its acquisition by Addnode Group. All Excitech products, services and solutions mentioned in this recording are available through Symetri.

To learn more about Revit, please visit our product page or contact us.

Author

Paul Grimston

Spending his formative years as an Architectural Technician, followed by a stint in the Exhibition and Graphics industry, Paul has worked for many years on design projects across the UK where he gained diverse experience in the use of design technology in all areas of design. A benefit of Paul’s graphics experience is knowledge of visualisation and presentation techniques that take advantage of the latest 3D modelling software.