I saw a demonstration of Revit Building today by one of our Electrical designers and I got to thinking; why don't the Architectural / Building Systems and Civil software developers at Autodesk coordinate more with each other? Revit has a pretty slick user interface and I could definitely see working with Civil 3D in that environment.
Also, it would seem like Autodesk would want to streamline their building and infrastructure product lines into one system: Revit Building, Revit Structure, Revit Systems, and of course "Revit Site" could replace Civil 3D.
Civil engineers would not be the only ones who would benefit. Electrical and Mechanical engineering types also have design elements related to site work - lighting, power and commuications ductbanks, gas mains, steam lines just to name a few. The Civil techs usually "get stuck" with doing the electrical and mechanical site work, especially developing profiles, because they are the ones who are most familar with working with site plans. Why not share the wealth by extending this functionality into Revit, and therefore somewhat merging the projects so they are more compatible?
Architects could also use the site model from "Revit Site" to perform 3D visualizations and analysis in a more compatible, flexible, and "coordinated" environment. (emphasis here on the use of "coordinate" d ).
I was impressed by the features of Revit from what I saw in the brief demo. I believe it could most definitely translate over to the Civil side. If you ever get the chance to attend a Revit seminar, I'd highly recommended it, if only just to see want the "other side" is up to.
