Autocad will not die. Nor should it--no matter how hard the interns decry its existence. There is a time and place for all software--including an HB pencil and sketchbook. It is perhaps true that senior level folks have a reluctance to accept Revit, but the same ambivalence exists at the other end of the spectrum. For me, down and dirty drafting will always be more efficient in Autocad--especially for small projects and one-offs.

There is never a time where a HB pencil will do... It's 6B or die!

gib, don't get me wrong... I still use Autocad and am old; I also used to defend it. It has it's place; like I primarily do details. But I've worked with folks who know Revit extremely well. It is far superior when doing ground up if you know the software. I am not that guy, but have seen the light. If you are starting out, I see no reason to spend the time learning Autocad when you could be learning Revit...

i would die before i gave up HB lead.

Not kidding; I've used bluebeam and image clips of scanned hand sketches and rough sketchup models to put together a full cd drawing set. Didn't touch Autodesk once on that job. Basically used the good ole stickyback drafting trick using modern media/tools to bum rush out a quick project...

those use sketchup

There is a whole corner of the internet dedicated to analog recording (over digital). The warmth and nuance that vinyl records have cannot be matched by 1's and 0's. To suggest that older technologies simply have no place in modern society is shortsighted at best. Dynamic blocks in autocad are--in fact--pretty sweet and oftentimes perform better in a drawing than any fancy Revit family.

Gib, that's only because you've not seen properly designed BIM families.

^^^^this right here.

Let me tell you that I have taken this very popular food chain's standardized autocad drawings and Revitized them into the best damn drawings set they have every seen. Get lots of compliments from all the contractors bidding my jobs.

Well, that's cool and all, but the effort it takes to produce those awesome drawings in REVIT often is more than is necessary relative to the scale of the project. There are just going to be times when CAD is faster. Shit, just from an opening files standpoint, I can be into a file, edit it, and print before I can even open a REVIT file. Both have their merits. REVIT has yet to include a text editor that wasn't abysmal. To say that one or the other should be dying is foolish. They each have their place.

Hip7, that's encouraging to hear. My single biggest complaint of Revit projects is the lack of lineweights, depth, and overall composition of drawings on the sheet. Everything always seems static and sterile. As an architect, I've always struggled with the notion that the drawings are really are only true medium. The contractor and fabricators actually build everything. I'm glad to hear that some folks still take pride in the quality of the drawings and the clarity of detail within them. Until just recently, it seemed that the young people in past offices were so concerned about getting the 3d model to 'look cool' that the 2d drawings on the sheet suffered . . .

the time and effort is way less than it was to create in autocad. I am laughing all the way to the bank.

Gib, lack of lineweights? Again please don't let your lack of knowledge of a program be the fault of the program.

And thanks for thinking I am young :) Im actually over 40 and quite cranky for it :P

Gib, graphics can easily be controlled by filters. You just need to talk to people who know their shit instead of juniors with 9/10 listed on their CV software skills graph.

Who cares about lineweights, just send them the ifc model ;)

Almostship7: Do you ever have any projects for which you don't get tons of compliments from the contractors bidding the job? I ask this sincerely, because it's my impression that it's standard contractor operating procedure to tell every architect that their set is the best set ever (and to allude to how bad everybody else's drawings and specs are). I don't think it matters what software is involved, or if there are any line weights at all - I think I could draw in orange crayon on a window shade, and if that was the bid set then all the bidders would tell me it's the best ever.

^ Agree. Every bid set is the best bid set in the world, according to every bidder - until they get the job and it's time to change their tune so they can milk it for change orders. As for AutoCAD: I haven't seen it in the wild in close to a decade, but I'm sure it won't go totally extinct - and there are people still fixing typewriters, and embroidering samplers, and making barrels. The projects I work on are mostly large public and university things, for which full Revit from architect and all consultants is a contract requirement - but the nearby reprographics place says some local architects still do all their drawings by hand, so... it takes all kinds?

^we constantly get told our drawings are horseshit (in those exact words)... then, depending on which team (we have segregated teams in the office with little cross-contamination) did the work, they are either correct or incorrect. I have had nothing but legit compliments on my BIM stuff, but that's because I'm a one-person team.