Autodesk’s Revit is a Building Information Modelling (BIM) tool. It enables architectural, MEP, structural, and engineering design, and provides analysis to support iterative workflows
$350
per month
Rhino
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Robert McNeel and Associates headquartered in Seattle offers Rhinoceros 3D (or Rhino 3D), a 3D modeling and design application. Rhino can create, edit, analyze, document, render, animate, and translate NURBS curves, surfaces and solids, subdivision geometry (SubD), point clouds, and polygon meshes.
$995
one-time fee
Pricing
Revit
Rhino 3D
Editions & Modules
Monthly
$350
per month
1-Year
$2805
per year
3-Year
$8415
per 3 years
Rhino 3D for Windows & Mac
$995
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Revit
Rhino
Free Trial
Yes
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
Pricing available for monthly, annual, or 3-year subscriptions. Longer subscriptions offer greater discounts.
Revit is great for documentation. I also use Rhino 3D for rapid prototype scenarios that can be imported in, but in the end everything should be documented in Revit because it really is easy.
There are really no competitors to Revit for large complex building projects. It is essentially an industry standard, and we would not be able to complete our work or collaborate with our consultants effectively if we did not use Revit. AutoCAD is still used in the office for …
I think that out of all of these, Rhino is best at having the freedom to design in 3D specifically, and it is a better 3D design tool than SketchUp and Revit. I think it pairs really well with the use of AutoCAD for 2D construction drawings and other 2D outputs.
Rhinoceros 3D is an excellent tool for quick concepts, as are programs like SketchUp and AutoCAD. However, Rhinoceros 3D excels at being flexible in terms of file exports and the capability to work with other software easily like Adobe Creative Suite, Revit, and more. It is a …
Our company has all of these products listed above. In the design field, it would be misguided to think that one tool is all you need for a collection of staff with varying levels of expertise. It's not a question of 'one or the other', but rather how can they all contribute to …
Rhino is a generic platform. For BIM, you can combine it with Revit or ARCHICAD or look for extensions, such as VisualArq or the GeometyGym extensions for Grasshopper. Due to its good interoperability, I often use it for reviewing AutoCAD drawings or converting 3D models. …
It's hard to compare Rhino to other modeling software as Rhino is in a niche of its own. No other software (to my knowledge) is as customizable/programmable and has such a large community and such a large amount of free, open-source addons. Rhino (and Grasshopper) can be …
Rhino serves a very specific purpose in my work: for any geometry that can't be described simply in plan and section, Rhino offers tools to model and document these geometries. With the Grasshopper plugin, Rhino is my go-to tool for any parametric design tasks, such as creating …
Revit is well suited for creating collaborative projects that are fully integrated into the design and construction document process. We work a lot with engineering firms who also use Revit and the program allows us to fully integrate and coordinate our models together to make sure that everything is correct. I can see where my electrical engineer has placed lighting into the model and same with my mechanical engineer and their HVAC equipment
One of the main highlights of Rhino is the built-in visual programming system "Grasshopper". It is widely used for parametric architectural design, by a variety of world-class architectural offices. It is also very popular within architectural schools and universities. Its usefulness has increased a lot by having add-ins, plug-ins, scripts, and integrations with Revit and ARCHICAD for BIM workflows.
3D Models - It's kind of a no brainer, but the key benefit of Revit is its ability to model in 3D. It's a somewhat complex modeling environment, however, it's not impossible to learn and I have seen users from a range of abilities to effectively model content in Revit.
Schedules - 3D is great, but the ability to quantify your geometry is contains valuable data if modeled correctly. If you model how you will build it, Revit has the ability to give very accurate schedules which includes quantities, and any data you would like to incorporate into your model.
Industry Standard - Revit is the industry standard. With that being said, it really help to use software that is compatible with other agencies for collaborative model review.
Parametric Modeling - Grasshopper allows for easy/rapid iterative process
White box renders display - looks great as a quick diagram export with no post-production required.
robust command prompts - rhino was originally made for industrial design and it flexes a lot of unique modeling commands that put it up there with SolidWorks
There are often several ways to draw certain things, but the object will have different capabilities based on the way it is drawn. This can be confusing when trying to use the object.
The way objects are drawn is not always user-friendly. This program would be difficult for someone to figure out on their own without having any Autodesk background.
There should be a better way to track changes in the model. Often times the architect will not share a model during construction to avoid sending changes that aren't finalized or complete.
We will almost certainly be renewing all of our current seats of Revit and will likely be adding seats as we look to get more and more of our staff trained and using Revit. The software is starting to become the standard for our projects as we move forward as more and more of our clients are requesting or accepting use of it
It is a professional environment, but far from easy and overly complex in many places. The system is often too deep in settings and overrides (see Visibility/Graphics in combination with linked files, filters, color overrides and view templates). I don't really like the dialog-in-dialog interface and its spartan looks. But it works well overall if you know what you are doing.
Revit seems to always be available when I need it. I have not experiences an outage. There are occasions where we need our internal IT department to trouble shoot a file on our Revit dedicated server and that sometimes causes a delay however that is not a software access issue
Revit is a fairly graphics heavy piece of software. It is powerful in its capabilities but as a result it takes a lot of the graphics card, the memory, etc. For all that it can do and the specs of my computer I find it pretty good from a performance standpoint
Autodesk has always had a good support system in place. There is a massive user base for Revit, and there are thousands of forum threads and other discussions online about any and every problem that you could ever run into. For being such a large program with so many different options, there aren't many roadblocks or pitfalls that users can fall into.
A majority of the support for Rhinoceros 3D does not come from the company itself, but from online forums and boards where other Rhinoceros 3D users outline their issues and solutions. The Rhinoceros 3D website does not offer much in-depth support and just outlines general how to's. At the same time, online forums allow for more specific issues to be addressed and solved by the Rhinoceros 3D community.
The training was Revit Essentials and it was very beneficial. I would say that it is best to get the training right before you know you will be using Revit as learning the basis then applying what you learned immediately is the most effective and best value for your money.
The online training is hit or miss. I feel that its better to be live to be able to pace and ask questions to a live person as you are learning hwo to do things. Its not natural to learn Revit especially if you know AutoCAD so my suggestion is the live training
Implementing Revit as your main drafting software (i.e. moving to BIM from CAD) may be a tough decision if you have learned drafting. It is a different way to approach and think about developing a project. However, if you are able to adapt to a new way of thinking and get used to it by working through a few projects than it is as efficient as CAD in most areas in general and will also be both better/worse in some areas
Revit like AutoCAD can produce both a 3d model & 2 dimensional drawings such as plans, elevations & sections which are required for any design project to be communicated on paper for construction. But unlike AutoCAD, Revit's focus is to build a 3d model that contain smart information for construction. So for Revit the 2 dimensional drawings becomes a byproduct. In addition to the required drawings needed on paper to communicate the design, Revit offers so much more information in the model for all engineering disciplines.
It's hard to compare Rhino to other modeling software as Rhino is in a niche of its own. No other software (to my knowledge) is as customizable/programmable and has such a large community and such a large amount of free, open-source addons. Rhino (and Grasshopper) can be intimidating at first but once you get familiar with it and grow your toolbox with your own scripts, so much time will be saved
While I am not directly involved with the deployment of Revit, it seems that our internal IT department has appreciated the ability to increase or decrease the number of seats. I have never had an issue with the deployment if and when needed, especially regarding the availability of a set
It's positive. It saves quite a bit of field time when used correctly, and lets us make sure we have proper room for all equipment and ductwork.
Helping minimize field 'thinking' time is an immediate add to the bottom line. 1 guy designing on the front side saves down time of 5-10 guys waiting in the field. Cost savings on labor is apparent.
Coordination time is also cut down, saving on office time. It's easy to spell out what your plan of attack is. All these savings directly add to bottom line profit by not expending labor.
