Revit’s moat is that the contract documents it generates are consistently generated for a project. It is stable at revision clouds. Its ability to change-control that it shows the same export again and again despite heavy software engineering on top of it, is its moat, in my opinion. Here I have tried to unpack using OpenAI Deepresearch as my study partner.
To cross the moat, one must understand it better than those currently defending the moat. Lets begin.
I will skip the private releases and jump right into the 1.0 Feature Sets
Revit 1.0 April 2000
Released 25 years ago this month.
- Parametric Change Engine – Changes to one element in the model meant changes to every element in the model. Moving a wall would update: walls, floors, roofs, the flipping dimstrings assocaited with the wall, and annotative notes. This feature alone is nearly impossible to build.
- Graphical Family Editor – A graphical interface for designers to create parametric objects – making parametrics easy to access for designers for the first time. Dynamic blocks only came to AutoCAD in 2006.
- Automatic Coordination – Any change made in a view was reflected across every view and related documentation
Revit 2.0 August 2000
At the time shipping a new version FOUR months after the first one was seen as lunacy. Are these guys nuts? Check out their velocity:
- Massing Study Tools – Simple 3D form modelling
- Building-Scale Detailing – Wall section editing and the ability to do larger scale drawings (DETAILS)
- Family Editor Improvements – custom doors, windows, edit in place
- AccuRender Integration – Raytracing & basic photo-real rendering
- Content Libraries and Catalogs – Predefined components (Doors and Windows) and gearing up for manufacturer catalogs. This enabled architects to place common elements without needing to model them from scratch
- Version 1 was impressive but very buggy. V2 Had a whole lot more stability
- Speed and Model Regeneration, even for larger models
- Revit 2.0 File type (non-backwards compatable); this was a free upgrade to everyone that bought in the first year
- UI: everything was edited in a dialog box, there was no parameters panel with immediate canvas updates yet
All the hallmarks of moving the Technology “Parametric Propagation Engine” towards product market fit are apparent here. They billed $200/ Mo & with no options for annual or perpetual licenses. The early “BIM” took a much larger mindshare from the AEC industry–and there was noting known as BIM at this time.
Revit 2.1 October 2000
- Bugfixes and Performance Improvements
Revit 3.0 February 2001
The multi-role demands upon the software that AEC has? The need to allow more than one editor into the machine.
- Multi-User Collaboration in Parallel (Worksets) – Users could check out a subset of the model to edit it, while others could only view it. Once checking the subset back in, it would engage the parametric propagation engine and get everyone up to speed on changes.
- 4D Construction Phasing (Phases) – Setting existing, demolition, new construction started here. Keeping all phases in one model was unheard of at the time
- Compound Walls, Floor, Roofs – Using multiple materials for how these elements are comprised of physical materials.
- Detail views and Drafting views – 2D specific deatiled linework attached to named views–used for call out views and section blowups. This enabled construction documents on par with CAD
- Rendering – added radiosity for more natural lights within spaces. They also leveraged Accurender procedural plants to create geometry without needing to create geometry
- Expanded Library – drag and drop placement of doors, windows, fixtures from family libraries
I will leave this analysis here for now. It shows what is accomplishable by a startup in the early 2000s, and we should all learn from it and respect its velocity. It derailed CAD and moved us towards parametric modeling.