No two projects are the same, and neither are their design processes. Some projects demand more flexibility and adaptability in their workflows, allowing teams to collaborate more organically in real-time. That’s where DOCS and COORD in ACC come in, offering a new way to work with models and enhance team collaboration.
We have all worked on projects where designers require information in real time. They live-link their models to quickly share information between disciplines, developing a more organized and collaborative workflow. You usually find live-linked models within smaller projects when information can be shared more freely.
Though I will focus on a specific workflow between DOCS and Model Coordination, this can be integrated with Design Collaboration when data and content need to be managed. As I said, not all projects are the same. Determine what you require and assemble the tools that you need.
To best utilize this workflow, I suggest you set up your project folders based on Permissions assigned to roles.
Here are examples of roles/permissions to show how I set up this project.
Project Files - General Permissions:
Architectural Folder - Refined Permissions:
As you can see, I define a project with roles and permissions; users are automatically sorted and provided with the capabilities they need when added to the project. Sometimes, you may need to give an individual unique access, but you can still apply this; generally, this setup will reduce much of the work when initializing a project. If this project utilizes Design Collaboration, it will have different permission settings, as no one will need to see another team's folder. Content will be consumed in their folders through Design Collaboration.
All right, now for your models and files. Content that is accessible through Model Coordination needs to be set up in a way that allows you to create dynamic Coordination Spaces.
Ensure that your models' published sets define the view, elements, and configurations you wish to review. You can clash your model with this process, clashing your Walls and Openings or your pipes and ducts. Determine how you want to work with your content and set it up to support you. You have a wealth of information available to you; take control of it and your design.
We can see views created for each primary element type within this project. I can use this to review them individually or clash them amongst each other.
Publish Settings from Revit:
When we publish these files to ACC and create a version within that environment, we can begin customizing our solutions.
Let's head back over to ACC; this time, we will initialize Model Coordination. For this workflow, do not turn on Design Collaboration. As mentioned, you can integrate these workflows together, but for this article, we will focus on DOCS and COORD.
Go to Settings and find the button for + Create coordination space. Select this:
You will have a few options here, but this is where you will set up your custom Collaborations Spaces.
Make sure the name is clear and descriptive enough that it is easy to identify. Then, select the folder for which you want to create this space. If you're going to define a space to live-clash all models, select the parent folder to those files as your main folder. In my examples, this would be Project Files.
Here, I am defining a Coordination Space for my Electrical models.
If you need to refine the folders further, you can modify Selected folders only.
This preview is from a project that utilizes COLLAB and COORD. Here, you can see how you can select and unselect folders as required.
You can also disable Clashing before initializing the space if you desire. If you are happy with your selections, you can press Create.
You can modify these settings at a later time if they don't match your needs. That is the beauty of this workflow, you can customize it as much as you need. You can create different Coordination Space to perform different coordinations.
Just like that, I'm taking control of the project and making it work for me. Remember, as the teams publish models, these spaces will automatically update, creating a live-clashing environment for your design team.
Now that we have set this up, you can use Model Coordination as you always have. Switch between Coordination Spaces by selecting the dropdown from the top right.
Projects don’t fit into molds. We need the ability to adjust our workflows and mindsets to ensure success and take full advantage of the out-of-the-box features that come with your ACC subscription. These tools allow you to evolve your processes and designs to meet the demands of each project. Setting up your projects correctly from the start is key—create and define multiple templates that work in different ways. With the ability to configure multiple modules for a template, you can significantly reduce your setup time and get projects moving faster.
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