Ah yes, free. Everything in life is better when it's free. Right? Not in this case.
We are all guilty of grabbing a component or two from RevitCity.com or other free component sharing sites. The question is; How useful was that component? It is very likely that the component you grabbed was not parametric, not exactly what you wanted, and looked like crap in one of the views (plan, section, or elevation).
I talked with some students in a design studio class at my school and they give me a look at their Revit models. Of course, there were a few components that popped out like a sour thumb. Freebies! I asked them why they used the components. They answered, "because I don't know how to make it" or "it takes to much time to figure out".
Firstly, you're in an architecture program. Take the time to make the components! It will only make you better at Revit and understand the program much better. It will also allow you to add the amount of information you need to that component. It will allow you to create parameters that will be necessary to quickly adjust the size, material, light output, and etc... later on in the project.
Lastly, if you are going to actually extract information from your Revit model, such as energy analysis, then those components could play a crucial role. For example, if you have a computer classroom in Revit there are over 30 computer, a projector, and lets add two 42" flat screen T.V.'s. Anyone who has been around these three objects, especially the flat screen T.V., knows that they emit a ton of heat! Don't you think this should be calculated when thinking about the heat loss or amount of heat needed for a space?
Ultimately, I want my fellow students to not let the people who say "Revit is just a program full of built in components and restricts design freedom" be correct. Let's not go the way of BIMpanzee's and CAD Monkeys. Let us think deeper and farther out of the box. Revit is not a drafting program. Let's not use it as one.
I hope this comes into your mind next time you are on RevitCity.com searching for a Mac that you can add to a desk that was already imported from a Revit model that was built in Revit 8.1.
