Problem with BIM 360 Concept

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone. I have a question that have confused me completely.

when we are working in file based worksharing we have to select central file and create local copy of it and working on it and then saving and synchronizing. But in BIM 360 i have serious problem with concept how we are working.

Suppose there is a project and i have been added as member to project and we want to work with other companies on that project with different diciplines. I have read some articles and youtube videos but it confuses me how it works.

How can i create local file from central file that administrator has uploaded? or I have to create my own file without any connection then upload to hub? I am completely confused and i cant find proper answers.

[andrei.ni · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Anonymous. These are great questions.

To start off, there are 3 main places where your Revit document can exist:

• Locally, on your local drive. When you work with workshared models, a copy is stored locally so you can save changes every few minutes in case of a computer shutdown or something that might cause you to lose changes.
• Revit Cloud Worksharing, this is where the central cloud model is stored, it updates when you sync to central. On the central model, you can collaborate with others (more people working on one document). 
• BIM 360 Document Management, this is the site, where the document shows when you publish it. The idea is that you would publish here when a version is ready for review, comparison, having markups, issues added to it etc.

You can see this division in the workflow illustrated below:

The two designers work on the same model. Their individual work is saved on the local copy. When one of them syncs with central, the central cloud model is updated and the changes she made will be visible to the other designer. When they reach a stage when the model is ready to be shared with more people on the team (in this example, it needs to be shared with the senior architect for review), they publish the model and it now shows up with the latest changes in Document Management on the BIM 360 site.

When you start working on an existing central cloud model, you simply open it from the Revit home page (or click collaborate if the model isn't shared yet). When you save/sync/publish, remember the 3 places associated with the 3 actions:

• Save - saves to a local copy of the model.
• Sync with central - updates the Central cloud model.
• Publish - updates the model in BIM 360 Design Management.

For using BIM 360 Design to collaborate with different specialities, I recommend the video and material in this course:

• BIM 360 Design Collaboration: Everything You Need to Know 

And this article where you can find links to different courses and resources:

• HELPING YOU STAY CONNECTED FOR COLLABORATION 

You may also find the following help pages helpful. Navigate through the subpages, according to what you need to know:

• Revit Cloud Worksharing 
• Saving and Reloading Workshared Projects 

I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Hi @andrei.ni. That was great answer and i will see these blog and video and if i have a question coluld i ask in this topic?

[andrei.ni]

Hi, @Anonymous 

I'm very glad you find the resources helpful. I think specific questions can be posted on a new thread of their own. This way, they will be visible for more members of the community, that could come to your aid, in case I may not be available or miss a post on this thread. 😁 Also, if other users will have the same questions you do in the future, the knowledge will be more easily accessible if different topics have their own thread.