Autodesk products aimed towards BIM and buildings

[Marcus.Isacsson]

Hi!

This might be a weird question but I wonder if theres a manual/folder/webpage or whatever showing some kind of optimal flow regarding the Autodesk products and when to use them for buildings.

We're mostly using Autodesk Revit, Solibri Model Checker and Autodesk LIVE. But I know there's a bunch of other products aimed at building phases. Like BIM360 and Navisworks Manage, I also tried Autodesk Building Ops at a "bimhack".

My question is:
- What softwares and flows can help getting the most out of BIM in projects and when should you use them? (mainly aimed at Autodesk products but also others).

[andybrack]

Yes, a very broad question indeed.  Are you an architect, contractor, building owner, engineer? It would help to know your perspective.

I work for a large architecture firm and we run the gamut on products. The most widely used here is Revit for design and drawing production. BIM360 and Collaboration for Revit make a good add-on to Revit if you want to work collaboratively with your team in a cloud-shared environment. We also do still use AutoCAD for some design work and to interface with consultants not working in BIM, particularly civil and landscape work.  We have a small group that uses Navisworks for clash detection and visualization / coordination.

More peripheral programs are Design Review for doing drawing markups (Bluebeam is far better though), and 3DS Max or V-Ray for Revit for renderings. FormIt can be used for early phase work, but most here at this firm still prefer to use Sketchup and then re-build in Revit once the design is more thoroughly fleshed out.

If you're wondering about any specific products let me know and I can give more details.

Sincerely,

Andy Brack

[Marcus.Isacsson]

Thanks for your answer! I work at an architecture firm.

Question: How do you use BIM360, what's the purpose of having it in the cloud?
Is it more approachable than Revit? Or is it because you always want to be able to open the files? 
Does everyone have to create individual logins to Autodesk to use it?

I agree about Bluebeam, I really like that one!

I while ago I found the picture below.
I think that it's quite straight forward and tells how BIM could be living through different stages. I wonder if someone has seen
something similar but with more products and stages. 

Some kind of summarize would be neat. With the different uses of softwares and BIM stages from early design phases (with lighting analysis, sun exposure etc.) to collaboration with the construction phase. Now, to be honest, I feel pretty lost in navigating through all different softwares and their uses. 

[andybrack]

BIM360 is a confusing product, but fundamentally it is built around the idea that sharing documents in a cloud-hosted workspace helps all team members. The products that we used are called Collaboration for Revit and BIM360 (separate licenses). BIM 360 gets you a workspace called a hub on Autodesk's server and Collaboration for Revit is an add-on license for Revit that lets you work on files hosted on that server.  It allows teams to have all their design files on the same server.  The alternative is the typical workflow where each member of the A/E team has their own files on their own server and shares them (via email, Dropbox, etc) at regular intervals. Sometimes projects move so fast that even weekly model sharing can be too slow.

The beauty of BIM360 is that the working files for your team are live to all other team members on a 24/7 basis because they are hosted on a cloud-based server. This is a huge time savings because whenever I want to see what the other team members are doing, I can open my architecture model and look around.  Since the engineer's models are linked in to mine, I get to see the latest and greatest. This is great for coordination and QA/QC efforts.

I've also used BIM 360 Glue which is lighter version of Navisworks that allows clash detection on cloud shared models.  It works pretty well, but I still prefer Navisworks Manage because it has more control and features. The other products in your screen shot Layout, Ops, Field...I haven't used since they are more driven towards contractors.

Sincerely,

Andy Brack

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Marcus.Isacsson

Thanks for posting on the forum!

I am gathering input from the BIM360 team and post the response shortly.

Regards,

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Marcus.Isacsson

Here is some input from @patrick.beattie. Thank you, Patrick!

From the BIM 360 website, there’s a capture of the BIM 360 Family and when they are used.  Benefits of the cloud can be found on the BIM 360 Team Product Overview page (central workspace, faster decision making, accessible anywhere,etc.)

BIM 360 family

• Is it more approachable than Revit? Or is it because you always want to be able to open the files? 
• BIM 360 products are not a replacement for Revit.
• Does everyone have to create individual logins to Autodesk to use it?
• Much like everyone needs a seat in order to use Revit.  All members who access a BIM 360 product must have an Autodesk login.  A company usually purchases a subscription with X number of seats.  As they invite members those seats are taken.

If you find posts have solved your problem, please click on 'Accept as solution' to help others with similar questions. Kudos welcome!

Regards,

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Marcus.Isacsson

Here is some additional input from @don_simpson. Thank you, Don.

Overall, BIM 360 is about collaboration and data sharing.

In general, the theme to BIM 360 is developing next-generation products that pull all of the various BIM 360 services together into one more cohesive BIM 360 product with modules based on workflows. The initial outline was announced last year at AU. There is expected to be many major announcements around BIM 360 next week at this year’s AU. See HERE for this year's classes. Recordings will be available later for viewing.

• How do you use BIM360, what's the purpose of having it in the cloud?
• It depends on what they are trying to accomplish.
• If it the question is coming from a Revit user who is primarily on the design-side, they might be asking about or more familiar with BIM 360 Team (formerly A360 Team).
• Within each of the services, there can be multiple workflows. I hesitate to add the bullet points below, as it might limit people in thinking what each service does. I am adding this more for your benefit. I would point them at BIM 360 for more info.
• Team with C4R would give designers an easy way to share files and control versioning without a lot of IT overhead.
• Docs would be primarily a way to share construction documents.
• There is some overlap between Team and Docs.
• In general, Team is more on the design-side, while Docs is more post-design.
• See the YouTube video for a comparison between the 2. It’s a few months old, but give a good video: Smackdown: BIM 360 Team vs. BIM 360 Docs
• Glue would streamline clash detection, model sharing, and notification of clashes. A large variety of different model types can be uploaded.
• Field improves construction quality control and job site safety with cloud-based checklists, equipment tracking, tasks, issues, and daily reports.
• One common workflow is to upload your Revit or Navisworks models to Glue, create sets, map sets in Field, add construction data in Field, and sync all of the data back into the Revit model.
• There are many classes from previous AUs that go into detail on this workflow. It can be a pretty powerful one.
• Plan – Project work plans/lean construction.
• Ops is meant for ongoing building maintenance after turning the project over to the owner.
• Layout connects a coordinated model to the construction layout process to improve the accuracy.

• Is it more approachable than Revit? Or is it because you always want to be able to open the files? (I think he means viewing the files online)
• I guess it depends on what they are trying to do/their workflow.
• If they were sharing models/construction documents out to people closer to construction, there would be much less training overhead, much less IT resources needed, and a much more focused workflow than Revit is likely to offer.
• I believe all of the different services have some kind of mobile component, so in addition that would put the models and other construction data right in the hands of users in the field.

• Does everyone have to create individual logins to Autodesk to use it?
• Once invited to a BIM 360 project, regardless of the BIM 360 service, users would use their Autodesk account login credentials to access.
• Licensing is currently a bit different between Team and the other BIM 360 services.

• What workflow can help getting the most out of BIM in projects and when should you use them? 
• Here is a link that gives an overview of all of the BIM 360 services, as well as contains a way to sign-up for a free 30-day trial: BIM 360
• For more general information on technology trends in construction, use cases, and product information, there can also check out the Connect & Construct blog.

If you find this post helpful, please click on 'Accept as solution' button to help others with similar questions. Kudos welcome.

Regards,

[Marcus.Isacsson]

Thanks! But is it possible to get a product tree from sketches to maintenance of a building using BIM and Autodesk products?
For example I know that Vasari was available before for early sketching, I guess that it's replaced by FormIt?

Would be neat to get an idea of which products we can use for the best BIM flow available.

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Marcus.Isacsson

You are welcome!

Yes, FormIt has easy-to-use sketching tools and helps create conceptual building designs while initiating a BIM workflow

A product tree would be a great idea - let me find out if we have something similar to share. Meanwhile, you can check out all the links by Don Simpson and Patrick Beattie in the above posts.

Regards,