Revit is Autodesk's building information modelling (BIM) software for three disciplines: architecture, structure and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing). Instead of drawing separate sheets, you build one model of the building; every plan, section, perspective and schedule is generated from that model.
This is the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering's overview page on Revit. Each year several hundred engineers and architects learn Revit here, across six courses. The page answers the questions we hear most: how Revit differs from AutoCAD, what the three disciplines are, where to get it, what it costs, and whether it is hard to learn. Each question has its own in-depth article; this page gives you the whole map before you pick a road.
What Revit is and what it does
The name carries the original idea: Revit is short for "Revise – Instantly" — change one thing and every related drawing changes at once. The software appeared in 2000 at Revit Technology Corporation in Massachusetts, founded by two engineers who came from mechanical CAD, and was acquired by Autodesk in 2002. That mechanical origin explains why Revit is not "AutoCAD with 3D added": in Revit you do not draw lines, you place parametric building elements.
A wall in Revit knows how thick it is, which level it reaches and what it is made of. That is what lets Revit do three things 2D drawings cannot:
- Coordinate disciplines on one model. Architecture, structure and MEP each build their own model and link them together. A beam cutting through a duct is seen at design time, not after the concrete is poured.
- Schedules generated from the model. Door counts, floor areas, concrete volumes, pipe lengths — pulled straight from the model and updated whenever the design changes.
- A consistent drawing set. Plans, sections and elevations come from the same source, so one sheet can no longer contradict another.
One early caveat: Revit is a piece of software; BIM is a way of working. Using Revit does not automatically mean you are doing BIM. BIM vs Revit: what is the difference? draws that line.
How Revit differs from AutoCAD
This is the question we hear most, because almost everyone who comes to Revit is already using AutoCAD.
| AutoCAD | Revit | |
|---|---|---|
| You work with | Linework: lines, arcs | Elements: walls, columns, doors, pipes |
| When the design changes | Edit every drawing, every sheet | Edit the model; every drawing follows |
| Quantities | Count and measure by hand | Schedules generated automatically |
| Coordination | Overlay drawings | Link models, run clash detection |
| The hard part of learning | Memorising commands | Unlearning linework, thinking in objects |
Two things are often misunderstood. First, Revit does not fully replace AutoCAD: many firms still use AutoCAD for 2D details, for drawings received from partners who do not use BIM, and for legacy projects. Second, you do not need AutoCAD before Revit; many of our students learn Revit first and find it easier, because they have no linework habits to unlearn.
The three disciplines: Revit Architecture, Structure and MEP
The three names sound like three programs, but since the 2013 release there has been a single Revit; install it and you have all three toolsets. The names survive because that is how the industry divides the work and the people.
| Discipline | What you model | Who uses it | Course |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Walls, floors, roofs, doors, stairs, elevations, renderings | Architects, architectural drafters | Revit Architecture |
| Structure | Columns, beams, foundations, structural slabs, rebar, steel connections | Structural engineers | Revit Structure |
| MEP | HVAC, ventilation, water supply and drainage, electrical, fire protection | MEP engineers | Revit MEP |
Nobody learns all three at once. Each discipline has its own logic and its own libraries, and firms hire by discipline rather than for "someone who knows Revit". Choosing a discipline is the first decision; Revit Architecture, Structure or MEP? compares the three by job role, and the MEP side has its own article, What is Revit MEP?
Whichever discipline you choose, you will meet families — the parametric component library from which every object in Revit is built. Understanding families is the line between "can use Revit" and "can only use what came in the box"; What is a family in Revit? is devoted to it.
Revit versions, file formats and hardware
Autodesk ships one release a year, usually in April, named for the following year: the release that came out in 2026 is Revit 2027. Project files use the .rvt extension, family files .rfa, project templates .rte. Revit runs only on 64-bit Windows; there is no official macOS build.
The single most important fact about versions: files do not open backwards. Open a file in a newer release and it is upgraded; the older release can never open it again. On a project where every party runs a different year, this is a constant source of trouble — so before taking on work, ask which release your partners use.
That gives the question "which version should I use" two answers. Working professionals use whatever their firm and partners use; an Autodesk subscription lets you install the current release alongside several previous ones. Students do not need the newest release: the fundamentals — elements, families, views, model organisation — have not changed across versions, and switching to a release a few years apart takes less than a session.
Hardware for learning Revit: 64-bit Windows, 16 GB of RAM, a discrete graphics card, an SSD. An 8 GB office laptop will open Revit but crawls on real models. Large office models need 32 GB or more.
Where to get Revit and what it costs
There are three legal ways to get Revit, and two of them are free.
Students and educators: free. The education licence is fully featured, valid for a year and renewable while you are enrolled, issued through Autodesk Education. It is a legitimate licence, not a crack. We have step-by-step guides on registering an Autodesk Education account and on installing Revit free with a student licence.
A 30-day trial for anyone who wants to look before deciding, downloaded from Autodesk after creating an account.
Subscription by the month, year or three years for professionals. Autodesk stopped selling perpetual licences in 2016; when the subscription lapses, the software stops running. Prices change by round and by region, so check Autodesk's Revit page rather than trusting figures copied into old articles. Firms buying many seats usually go through an authorised reseller in Vietnam for deployment support.
Revit LT is the cheaper cut-down edition: no worksharing on one model, no add-ins, and many structural and MEP tools missing. It suits a small architecture office better than someone learning the trade.
A frank piece of advice: do not learn on a cracked copy. Cracks tend to break exactly where beginners need help — cloud sync, online libraries, IFC export — and the learner assumes they made a mistake rather than that the software is broken.
What surrounds Revit
Revit rarely stands alone on a project. Four names you will meet early:
- Navisworks merges models from many disciplines and many programs for clash detection and construction sequencing. Revit builds, Navisworks checks. See What is Navisworks used for?
- Dynamo is the visual-programming tool bundled with Revit, used to automate repetitive work without writing code.
- The Revit API lets you write add-ins in C# when Dynamo is not enough. See What is the Revit API?
- IFC is the open format for handing a model to other software — Tekla, ArchiCAD, the client's own tools. See What is IFC?
On multi-party projects the Revit model lives in a common data environment (CDE) so that everyone works on one version.
Revit in Vietnam: when BIM becomes mandatory
Under Decree 217/2026/ND-CP, from 1 July 2026 every new building of grade II and above must apply BIM, whatever its funding source. Revit is the most common modelling tool on those projects, so for many roles knowing Revit is moving from "nice to have" to "required". Grade II and above: BIM is now mandatory explains who is covered and what must be submitted.
But not everyone needs to learn to model. How our lecturers answer when a student asks "should I learn it?":
- Architects and architectural drafters — yes, and soon. Most design-firm job postings already list Revit as a requirement.
- Structural engineers — yes if you work for a design consultancy or a large contractor. Analysis stays in ETABS, SAP2000 or Robot; Revit is for modelling, rebar detailing, drawings and schedules.
- MEP engineers — the group that gains most from BIM, because clashes between ducts, pipes and cable trays are the biggest source of site rework.
- Estimators and QS — no need to model well, but you must be able to read a model and extract quantities from it.
- Site and supervision engineers — read the model and coordinate; on projects where BIM is mandatory, site staff increasingly work straight from the model.
- Clients and project management units — no need to model, but you must understand what Revit can do in order to set the right requirements for your consultants.
Learning Revit: is it hard, how long does it take, where to learn
The honest answer after many cohorts: the operations are not hard; the new way of thinking is. Placing walls and doors, cutting sections, producing sheets — someone used to AutoCAD can do that after 2–3 weeks. The difficulty sits in three places almost everyone trips on: unlearning linework, understanding families, and organising the model (naming, splitting the model for teamwork). Self-study from videos usually stalls at "I can build the sample house", because those three things are not in the videos.
On time: to model and produce a drawing set for one discipline takes around 2–3 months of regular guided study, or 4–6 months self-taught; being fluent enough for real projects takes a further 6–12 months on the job. The Revit learning path for beginners breaks that road into a week-by-week plan.
At the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering, Revit is taught in six courses by discipline and by level, by practising lecturers — designers, contractors' engineers, and BIM managers on the client side. Classes run in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and online; companies can commission a private course built around their own project.
Frequently asked questions
Are Revit and BIM the same thing?
No. BIM is a way of working with a shared, information-rich model; Revit is one program for building that model. You can use Revit without doing BIM, and do BIM with other software. What is BIM? explains it in ten minutes.
Does Revit run on a Mac?
There is no official macOS build. Mac users run Revit in a virtual machine or a Windows partition, and need a stronger machine than usual because the virtual machine takes its share of resources.
How is Revit LT different from full Revit?
Revit LT is cheaper but has no worksharing on a single model, no add-ins, and lacks many structural and MEP tools. It suits a small architecture office working alone; it does not suit someone learning in order to work at a firm.
Can Revit be used for roads, bridges and infrastructure?
Revit handles the structural parts of infrastructure well — stations, plants, bridge piers and abutments. But road alignments, grading and urban drainage belong to Civil 3D; buying Revit does not cover every kind of project.
Should an architecture student learn SketchUp or Revit?
Both, for two different jobs: SketchUp to think through ideas quickly, Revit to produce the drawing set. SketchUp or Revit for architecture students says which to learn first and when.