Thursday, January 20, 2011

Revit MEP Book - The Aubin Academy Master Series

I received a review copy of Paul's latest effort. He teamed up with three other guys, Darryl McClelland and his other brothers Larry and Darryl. Sorry couldn't resist the Bob Newhart reference (dating myself). Actually his partners were Darryl but also Gregg Stanley and Martin Schmid. I know of Martin because of his role at Autodesk. I have not had the pleasure of meeting Gregg or Darryl yet. Enough meandering...


My first honest reaction was, "Uh oh! This book is thin!" It may be disappointing at first glance but don't let that dissuade you. Despite weighing in at just 368 numbered pages include front and back matter it packs a lot in. The book format is a bit larger than other books, a tiny bit smaller than a full sheet of standard letter size paper (8.5x11 inches).

It isn't intended to be the complete story on Revit MEP either. It's a solid introduction that tackles basic stuff like the user interface (do we really have to do that with every book? I guess so!) and digs into worksets, linking files, copy/monitor...murky stuff fearlessly too.

I can see someone starting from scratch with this book and getting off to decent beginning with enough exposure to more involved things that it won't intimidate them as much when that stuff gets real for them on a project. It helps that it is bolstered with lots of exercises that delve into practically everything it discusses.

There a some things said that I might quibble with but considering the audience it is focused on I get their purpose. Paul's compiled a great deal of experience and information into a small package that delivers. I'd say it's a must have for anybody looking to add to their Revit MEP resources and library.

Amazon show its list price at $76.50 but they tell me I could have it for just $48.20 and free shipping using Super Saver Shipping.

[Added: February 3, 2011 after a comment about finding the data set]
Visit the book's Webpage at Paul's site
Download the Data Set
Download the Readme file

5 comments:

Travis said...

Been waiting for this book for a while actually. Had a chance to meet all people involved in the book. Very knowledgeable about the Revit MEP platform.

DaveP said...

I always wanted Daryl Hanna to do a guest spot on the Newhart show.
Then Larry could have come in and said: "This is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl. And this is my sister Daryl."

Anonymous said...

i recieved the book from amazon about 2 weeks ago. in the front of the book it directs you to the publishers website to download the companion files that are needed to do the totorial. NOT THERE!!! and when i called them....don't exist, and the course notes that was to be released on Jan 28th, publication cancelled. so without the extras this book is pointless, so i had to send it back. if you want a book that really helps, get marvin titlows "mastering autodesk revit mep 2011".

Steve said...

Sorry you had a bad experience. I found the data sets on Paul's own website:

Paul's Book web site

Download Data set

Download the Readme file

Paul F. Aubin said...

I too am sorry that you felt compelled to return the book. I have alerted the publisher to the missing dataset files on their site in the meantime posted them to my site as Steve mentioned. This does not excuse their not being posted on the published location I realize. I am working hard to get them posted as advertised.

As for Course|Notes, you are correct; its publication has been cancelled. This is unfortunate, but rest assured that Course|Notes while complementary is a separate publication that is not required by the book or to complete its lessons.

If you (or any of Steve's readers) wish to discuss the matter further offline, I can be reached from my website (www.paulaubin.com) using the contact link at the top.

Again my apologies for any inconvenience.