BIM 360

[randygroff6408]

When setting up projects in BIM360 Design that will be used for Revit collaboration, do the Revit models that need to be linked together need to reside in the same project folder like the Team site required?

Our firm uses job numbers for project folder structuring and I would prefer to setup BIM360 Design project naming this way if possible. Doing it this way places Revit models that may need to be linked together in different project folders. BIM 360 Team would not allow this to work, does BIM360 Design let you do this. I don't want to create a bunch of projects folders to test this that I can't delete later and can only show as archived.

Thank you...

[KyleB_Autodesk · Accepted solution]

Cloud worksharing in next gen BIM 360 absolutely supports this sort of workflow.  We call it "controlled worksharing".  I wrote about folder permissions over on this thread.  You have 3 different options for how you want to set up linking:

1. Live Link Models
   Selecting the linked model in the Folder that contains the "live" version of that model results in a live link relationship that's identical to what's been historically possible with cloud worksharing in BIM 360 Team.  If a SWC happens on the Link, those changes are visible the next time Link is loaded in the Host model.  We expect this to be common across models authored by a single team, or when different disciplines want a live view of each others models.
   
   The nuance now is that this folder may not even be visible to other teams -> whether other disciplines have View access is a decision by the BIM Management staff on the project.
   
   
2. Link to the "Shared" Versions of Models
   If you trust the other team to always share versions that you immediately want to see updating in your Host models, you'll choose to create your Link against the "Shared" folder that is created by the Design Collaboration module.  We expect this to be the least common setup.
   
   
3. Link to the "Consumed" Versions of Models
   If you want be in control of when other discipline models update for your team, you'll choose to create your link against the "Consumed" folder that is automatically created within your team's working folder.  The model versions that end up there are the versions that were 1) shared by the other discipline teams and 2) chosen to be consumed by your team (likely a BIM Manager or other team member with the "Share" permission define in Design Collaboration).
   
   This workflow is analogous to how teams typically work across the domain firewall.  One team chooses to make an updated model version available to the rest of the team, and the rest of the teams decide when to "swap out" the link so Revit loads the latest.  Difference here is that it's all managed in an integrated system with very little friction.

I suspect much of this will make a whole lot more sense once we talk through the Design Collaboration module workflows in targeted threads, but the key point here is that we've built the flexibility into the new workflow to accomodate the diverse dynamics between discipline teams, and it all comes together in a seamless experience (our biased persective, you tell us if we missed the mark).

Cheers,

Kyle

[adrian_worboys]

Thanks for this explanation Kyle.

Is the 'Shared' and 'Consumed' folders set up by default, or something the project admin is supposed to set up?

It would be great to be able to link direct to a drag & drop file rather than a file that has been saved via Revit.

You mention 'Design Collaboration Module'.  Has this been release yet?

Thanks

[KyleB_Autodesk]

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@adrian_worboys wrote:

Thanks for this explanation Kyle.

Is the 'Shared' and 'Consumed' folders set up by default, or something the project admin is supposed to set up?

It would be great to be able to link direct to a drag & drop file rather than a file that has been saved via Revit.

You mention 'Design Collaboration Module'.  Has this been release yet?

Thanks

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Yes, those folders are automatically created, and the necessary permissions are automatically applied to those folders. The Admins need to setup the project in the Project Administration module for Design Collaboration.

1. Define the Teams
2. Map to the desired "working folders"
3. Add the appropriate Team Members

-Kyle

[adrian_worboys]

Thanks Kyle,

I am an Admin user.  Can you please explain where I can activate the Design Collaboration.  Referring to the attached image that I think should have the Design Collaboration listed.

Regards

Adrian

[KyleB_Autodesk]

For those wondering about Adrian's question, Design Collaboration hadn't been added to his next gen BIM 360 account as part of the script we ran earlier this week.  We resolved it over a private message.

-Kyle