Training Prep

In order to prep for the classroom training, I opted to have everyone complete as many of the eLearning exercises on the Subscription website as possible. The first one I had them go through was Exploring the User Interface - since you can't do much (effectively) without being familiar with the program. I went through them also (as a needed refresher) since it has been a while for me, too. This should mean fewer slowdowns during the training - I hope.

It was recommended by our Implementors (?) to try the Getting Started with Revit Structure 2009 booklet that is included with the DVD, but that is more for someone at least a little familiar with the program. And, just for the record, there are a couple of mistakes that easily confused our novices when they tried that before the eLearning mini-courses. I would point them out, but I can't remember them exactly. I do remember that one called out the wrong elevation marker to use (or was very vague in the description - north instead of south, maybe?) and consequently ended up with the grids showing reversed from what they showed in the picture. You should've seen the puzzled looks I got.

One thing to mention about the eLearning exercises: we all had some major issues trying to get the Simulations to work and were forced to use the Application to complete them. There is nothing really wrong with that, but if they give you the option to do it either way, they (Autodesk) should make sure that it works either way. I say that it's their issue because we tried on at least ten computers (all 6 of our work computers and most of our home computers as well) and had a very low success rate using the Simulations anywhere with either XP or Vista. If you try it, definitely use Internet Explorer as Autodesk is one of those sites that doesn't always play nice with Firefox (unfortunately). The only times it worked for us was with IE7. Score 1 more for Bill Gates & Co.
Like he needs any more points.

Confidence Level going into the classroom: High.