How we onboard people into Dynamo: no geometry in week one

When we onboard junior architects or modelers into Dynamo, almost all of them make the same mistake at the start: they open the canvas, find Point.ByCoordinates and Line.ByStartPointEndPoint, and try to draw, like they would in Revit or CAD. [One real example: what the first thing they tried to build was, and how long they spent on it.] After a couple of hours of wires everywhere they conclude that Dynamo is just slower modeling, and they go back to doing things by hand. Honestly, I think that’s more our fault than theirs. We were teaching it as a modeling tool, and it isn’t one.

So now, in the first week, they can’t touch geometry. We explain Dynamo as a recipe:

Ingredients (inputs): parameter values, model elements, text strings.

Preparation steps, in order (nodes): filter, sort, group, calculate.

The dish (outputs): updated parameters, renamed views, placed families.

For us Dynamo is mostly a pipeline to get rid of repetitive admin work, and once people see it that way, they stop fighting the canvas.

The next thing that gets them is lists. Nested levels (List@L2, List@L3) show up, one null breaks the whole graph, and nobody understands why. What has worked for us is not trying to teach lists in general, but four operations that cover most of what we do day to day (I’d say around 80%, but that’s my gut feeling, not something I measured):

FilterByBoolMask: keep what you need, discard the rest.

Flatten: remove extra sublist levels before the data reaches the Revit nodes.

GroupByKey: group by system, level or phase to process in batches.

Transpose: flip rows and columns when going back and forth with Excel schedules.

With just that, one real case: who, what they automated, and how long it took: sheet creation, parameter checks, room data.... No complex geometry and no Python.

I’m curious how it goes in other offices. What’s the biggest roadblock you see when people start with visual scripting? And do you begin with parameters, or with geometry?

Edit: rewrote parts of the post because it came across as too generic.

First time using revit for working projects, should i do the plastering as a structure in wall layers or do it as a separate wall plastering with own details ?

I’ve recently been experimenting with ChatGPT Astra to create custom pyRevit tools that help automate repetitive tasks and speed up my workflow in Revit.

I don’t have much programming experience, but I’ve managed to create a few useful tools just by explaining what I want them to do.

A few examples:

Send Text to View - A tool that allows me to select text notes placed directly on a sheet and transfer them into a specific view, similar to moving objects between paper space and model space in AutoCAD.

Saved Text Box Library - A tool that allows me to save frequently used text notes in a library and select which ones to paste onto different sheets when needed, rather than having to find and copy them from previous drawings.

Batch Duplicate Sheets - A tool that allows me to select and duplicate multiple sheets at the same time, rather than duplicating them individually. I can then renumber and rename the duplicated sheets as required, which saves a considerable amount of time when setting up drawing packages.

I’m curious to know what other people have managed to create using AI and pyRevit.

What custom tools or add-ins have you developed that have genuinely improved your Revit workflow?

I have tried downloading that big file of Revit 7 times, and somehow it's not getting cracked. It shows some error and the crack file disappears even if I turn off all the security and antivirus.

Help me pls, I have a lot of projects in it.

Looking to get a new start, coming from the construction/admin side of things. I understand BIM is any tool that relays information effectively, and real field knowledge will take you further than simply learning Revit. That said, what is some advice you would to give a beginner looking to enter into the BIM space? To the point of learning Revit, would it be more practical to learn everything I can about Autodesk first then upgrade to Revit? A good friend from MEP, is hyping me up and I’m trying to be as practical as possible about how I can do this!

Por servicios profesionales cuando cobrarían el modelado de arquitectura y estructura? Incluyendo planos a un lod 300

Leading national Electric Contractor hiring a Lead Electrical BIM Specialist for a growing BIM department in Nassau County, Long Island, NY

- $140k-$180k Salary Band
- Fully Paid PPO Healthcare Plan
- Huge Backlog
- Tremendous Career Opportunity and Growth

Please message me directly to discuss.

Leading national Electric Contractor hiring a Lead Electrical BIM Specialist for a growing BIM department in Central Connecticut.

- $130k-$150k Salary Band
- Fully Paid PPO Healthcare Plan
- Huge Backlog
- Tremendous Career Opportunity and Growth

Please message me directly to discuss.

hey guys do you know what's the best book to buy for a bim specialist? thx in advice

Hello everyone,

Well, based on the title, I am curious what type of laptops you guys are rocking? Full specs laptop? Basic? Macbooks? I am in the market to buy a laptop.

I am a Building Services Engineer. I mainly use Revit and AutoCAD for my current job to design drawings and models. I have a workstation in the office, and I am currently using my personal laptop (MSI Stealth, Intel i7 10th Gen, GTX 1660 TI, my college laptop) if I want to check some drawings when I am out of the office. I also do a lot of office work unrelated to design, close to a 50-50 split for now.

I am looking towards something like a MacBook Air because of the battery life, how portable it is and how quiet it is (no fans). It is a good laptop for my office work, but like for Revit it can be a challenge, since you need some sort of VM. My laptop is loud, the battery sucks, and it is so heavy. I commute mainly by public transportation. I want to be able to bring my laptop to meetings, site visits, or during emergencies when I am needed to check on drawings.

I am looking at ZenBooks, ThinkPads, and other thin and light laptops... mainly ARM-based laptops because of how thin and light they are, with really good battery life. My only concern for them is the long-term reliability.

I just want to know how important it is to you guys to have an all-powerful laptop. Or is something like an iPad enough?

Thank you for your input :)))

Hello, has anyone here got refunded by Autodesk? How long did it take to get your money back?

Already reached out to their support an hour after they credited the auto-renewal and said my refund has been granted but its been 2 weeks and my money has still not reflected to my bank😭😭

So my city doesn’t really have any in person BIM/REVIT modeling jobs. Could I be able to land a remote entry level BIM modeling job?

Must have been a duct there previously

Hello guys, i started this side project a while ago, i wanted something similar to dynamo but inside navisworks, couldn't find it so i took my coding experience with the help of claude and built it myself.

It is called camelgraph and it is free to use with the source code on github.

I would love to get some feedback or feature requests

Download

https://bimcamel.com/plugins/dyncamelo

Github

https://github.com/mrshoma99-rgb/Dyncamelo

Wiki and guides

https://bimcamel.com/plugins/dyncamelo/wiki/

I want to start/learn BIM. Are there any free courses or websitest that you would recommend?

I have a background in architecture, and I’ve recently been offered a position doing BIM for the interior design of an airport project.

I’ve only studied BIM for architecture, so I don’t know what interior BIM work actually involves. How is it different from architectural BIM?

From what I understand, BIM isn’t widely used in interior design, so I’m worried that this could narrow my options later on. I’m not sure if this is a good opportunity.

Has anyone here worked with BIM in interior design? What was your experience, and how did it affect your career?

I’m also interested in working on large global projects like theme parks or the Olympics in the future. Do those teams use BIM mainly for architecture, or is interior BIM also used?

Anyone else feel like the last 3-5 years the BIM and coordination environment has been inundated with convoluted processes, increased bureaucracy, and just general uselessness?

I feel like GC coordination meetings have been overrun with box checking and paperwork. The drawing submittal process has become confusing; specifically I know am seeing EOR teams reviewing and marking up newly IFC'd drawings (which already contain adjustments from their markups from the review submittal set) which creates re-work and revisions super early in the process. And now it's practically standard to have 2 coordination meetings a week; which is a mood killer. Also, productivity tracking... Woof.

I'm not sure if it's a systemic blight, or if it's a whole bunch of new guys ruining things, or if it is the increased use of construction technology that is creating a bureaucraticess.

Job satisfaction has really gone downhill for me this year, and it's been a trending down for a while.

We’re building this workflow in AEC Platform and would love feedback from project managers, superintendents, executives, engineers, and developers.

Would this be useful on your projects? What would you want to see or do with the results?

i'm working on PlanChecker AI, so this is a product-design question, not an independent recommendation.

say a checker flags a door tag that doesn't match the schedule. hypothetical example: the plan says D14, but there's no D14 entry in the schedule. i'd want the flag to show both source locations and the file revisions, so i can check whether it's a real omission or the software misreading the tag.

a paragraph confidently telling me there's an error wouldn't be enough. i'd rather see 'couldn't read this clearly' than have it guess.

for people reviewing drawing sets alongside the model: what would you need attached to a flag to make it quicker to verify than checking manually? and what would make you stop using the checker entirely?