Paul F. Aubin's Mastering Revit Architecture 2010

Overall, this book hosts a wealth of information. I'm not sure if "Mastering" is the correct title, as I bought this book as part of a class requirement for a beginning class. Having said that, I believe that it is much more than a beginner's book and will give the reader a useful set of tools that will enable the user to feel comfortable with the program.The missing, coveted fifth star is missing mainly because of the editing of this book. I have found a several typos and there is a great deal of redundancy. This is not done by way of review, but rather in phrases such as, "As stated earlier in the chapter/book/etc...." The chapters are laboriously long as it is (some flirting with 80 pages), without having to read that I read something a few paragraphs earlier. Redundancy can be helpful if it is reviewing or referencing a concept that was done earlier in the book, but this isn't what I'm referring to.I have used this book in conjunction with Autodesk's online tutorials and this seems to fill some holes that the tutorials leave out, giving the user a greater overall advantage by learning more about the program. The tutorial is focused on getting the user comfortable with the program and showing what the program is capable of. Truly moving the user from beginner to novice level. This book gives more "whys" and goes more in depth than the online tutorial. For me personally, I have combined the two, using the online tutorial as a primary source and this as a supplement to give me a greater knowledge of the program.

Revit is rapidly gaining momentum in the architecture industry, and new comers may be frustrated to find learning materials somewhat limited for getting up to speed quickly. Paul Aubin's, Mastering Revit Architecture 2010 is currently the best book available for drafters and designers entering into BIM design."Mastering" in the title is a bit misleading as this book reads more as a thorough, but high level overview of the program. More subtle topics such as the conceptual massing environment, family editor, and rendering capabilities of Revit are touched on, but not covered in great depth (although Mr. Aubin does often cite sources for further reading). Hopefully Mr. Aubin will delve more into these aspects in an additional volume, may I suggest the title, "Beyond Mastering Revit Jedi Architecture Rock Star Mind Tricks and Riffs 2012: The missing bible for dummies" which ought to about cover publishers latest titling trends.After spending time with several other "mastering" Revit volumes, I finally got comfortable and inside the program with this book. Mr. Aubin organizes topics rationally and builds concepts slowly, he uses both step by step tutorials and general discussion to teach his lessons. I noticed immediately that there was more flow and sense to the subject matter due to there being one author. Some other efforts involving multiple authors have come across as disjointed and confused. Mr. Aubin maintains a consistent tone and style, knows what is in the rest of his book and will refer you back or forward to other topics where it is relevant for his discussion. The sequence of the book was so well thought out in fact (except for conceptual massing at the end) that I sat down with it at the beginning of a recent project and just worked through the book and my project sequentially at the same time. The project turned out great, and the hook has been set for me to want to use Revit more. Thank you Mr. Aubin for a sincere and solid effort on this exciting new software.

I purchased this book for a class I was taking. The price was reasonable so I ordered. Let me warn you... shipping = 4wks! And they use every minute of that.After I got the email notification that my order went through, I noticed the shipping time was ridiculous so I tried to call to cancel the order. Good luck in finding contact information easily. It was painful to find any correct contact info. All I could do is send an email. Days later I get a reply saying they can't cancel my order cause it's been processed. 4 wks later when I finally received my book, I returned it but not without 15% restocking fee and I have to pay shipping back.Overall a very poor transaction. I'm unhappy that I was unable to cancel my order only hours after I made the purchase for something that takes 4 weeks to get to my house. Having to pay for return shipping was bogus as well as 15% restocking fee for the return.I will never purchase anything through this company in the future.

Mr. Aubin presents Revit 2010 in a clear and consise manner, starting with a simple project as an overview of the workings of the software, then moving into detailed explanations and examples. I am using this as a textbook for a Revit class at college and quite frankly do not need much help from the instructor because the book does such a great job of covering the material.

Excellent Revit Architecture 2010 tutorial guide! I am about two-thirds through the book (skipped around a little by reading chapters 10 & 11 after reading 3) but have been very pleased with the presentation of the material. Thorough and easy to follow. If a Revit tool didn't seem to work like anticipated I could usually backtrack and find where I missed an instruction. If an error message popped up, PA usually anticipated it and explained why it popped up.PA also gave plenty of instructions on where and how to explore the software on your own to further improve or practice skills.