Model Selection Order Not Maintained by Forma

[cburgessYUD2V]

I wanted to make sure I'm not missing something so I'm putting this to the forum. I have found that when building a View in the Model Coordination module, no matter how I select the models to be included Forma will re-order the models seemingly randomly. If I'm trying to build a model with all the Design models first then the trade models underneath, for instance, I can select them that way and save the View, but when I re-open the View or save it to Files, the model order has been scrambled (see images below). It doesn't seem to matter if they are NWCs, NWDs, or a mix of the two, they will all be mixed up when the View is saved. 

If there is something I'm not doing, or doing wrong, I would appreciate any help! 

If this is just how Forma works, I would like to request that this be fixed so that models stay in the order they were selected/added, or else be able to change the order. 

Left image, before saving the view first time; Right image, reopened newly saved view

Before saving the view        Reopened after saving view

Note: these NWC files are just 5 exports of the same model, so they are identical in size/content. 

[josue.balderrama]

Hi Chris,

That’s an interesting observation. From how I understand Forma’s Model Coordination workflow, the actual clash results may not depend heavily on the order of the models in the list, especially if the coordination process is mainly comparing the selected models against the primary/main model.

So from a clash detection view creation standpoint, the reordered list may not necessarily change the results.

That said, I do see why this would still be frustrating. In real coordination workflows, model order can be useful for readability, discipline grouping, and making saved views easier for the team to review later. Even if the order is not functionally required for clash detection, preserving it would still improve the user experience.

This Autodesk Learning page on creating Model Coordination views may also be useful for checking the intended workflow:

https://www.autodesk.com/learn/ondemand/tutorial/creating-model-coordination-views

Hope this helps clarify the behavior a bit.

[cburgessYUD2V]

Hi Josue,

Thanks for the reply and the link. The clash detection workflow on ACC isn't the issue here--it's the usability of the ACC models for everyone else.

My superintendents aren't going through clash results, they want to be able to look at specific locations in the model and be able to easily hide/unhide items or look at an object's properties. If they have to look at a list of 100 models that are all jumbled together, instead of being organized by company/trade/level/area etc., then I will start getting calls from irate superintendents telling me it's too difficult to use the model, and the entire purpose of having the model available to the field teams is lost, because they'll just stop using it.

Making specific views customized for certain areas or trades could certainly help, but they'll have the same issue of not being in any logical order, so if there are more than 4 or 5 models it will start to get more difficult to use (if the user intends to be able to find and hide/unhide specific models).

I'm sure some wouldn't care what order the models are in, but I have great superintendents and PMs on my project that want to be highly interactive with the model, and we have directed everyone to use ACC whenever they want to see the model. So anything that makes it harder to use or makes it look disorganized only discourages people from using it.

I'll put this on the Idea Board, I just wanted to first check that I wasn't just doing something wrong!

[josue.balderrama]

I completely agree!! Getting field teams to adopt and regularly use model-based workflows can be challenging enough on its own.  Having PMs and superintendents who are genuinely interested in interacting with the model is such an advantage though!! You should empower them and make them trust the tool.

Havev you tried looking into is Search Sets, which Autodesk recently added to Model Coordination. They allow you to create and save property-based filters that users can quickly access later. While they don't directly solve the model ordering behavior, they may help your superintendents and PMs find and isolate the content they're looking for in a more structured way without having to work through long lists of models.

I've found that anything that reduces the number of clicks and makes the model easier to navigate tends to go a long way toward improving adoption in the field.

That said, I still think your suggestion is a good one. If a user takes the time to organize models in a specific order, it seems reasonable to expect that order to be preserved when the view is saved and reopened.

Definitely worth submitting to the Idea Board. Hope Search sets help your teams better adopt Autodesk Forma!!

Best,