Tracking down project information is a nightmare. Searching endless folders on your hard drive or network, jumping between cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box or even worse, it’s on a flash drive in a drawer somewhere. Even when you do track down the data, there is no guarantee it’s the most current version. This struggle is what lead me to put together my Autodesk University industry talk Connect the Docs: BIM 360.
This session examines the benefits of the BIM 360 ecosystem and how it helps your architecture, engineering, and construction workflow. We’ll go over how to keep up-to-date on design development; detect clashes before they’re built; provide one location for all project documentation; manage project quality; do project layout from an iPad; and offer simple and effective punch lists for contractors.
BIM 360 is Autodesk’s cloud and mobile platform for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) Industry. The platform currently consists of 7 products that span from conceptual design to construction to commissioning and handover, and even extending into operations:
Because the BIM 360 platform is a cloud-based common data environment, you can exchange project data between products without cumbersome exports or time-consuming steps. You can even share this same data instantly across your team via a web browser or on mobile device in the field.
While there are seven offerings in the platform, it doesn’t mean that you need to be using all of them, as they each have their own place within the AEC project lifecycle.
BIM 360’s seven solutions connect stakeholders to project information throughout the AEC project lifecycle.
Design collaboration with BIM 360
Take a product like BIM 360 Team, that is purpose-built to alleviate many common issues associated with collaboration and document management in the design phase. This is done by keeping all project data in one location, and allowing anytime, anywhere, access through its cloud database. You can view, share, and markup over 50 2D and 3D design file types right in your browser.
Another feature is the ability for those on the team that aren’t Revit savvy to view and interact with Revit files in the 3D viewer. These interactions can include markups and notes, and are all captured and tracked within the project history, easily accessed from your mobile device.
Of course, there is more to BIM 360 Team as a standalone product than just these few things, but it is also the backbone and central repository for Autodesk’s cloud-based Revit model co-authoring service Collaboration for Revit, affectionately known as “C4R”.
While Collaboration for Revit is not a BIM 360 product, it’s worth mentioning because of its relationship to BIM 360 Team. C4R allows design teams that work in different offices, or different firms to work together on a common Revit project. With it being a cloud-based solution it removes costly IT hardware and setup allowing design teams to get right to work, while taking advantage of all the benefits of its BIM 360 Team backbone.
View, share, and markup 3D files in your browser in BIM 360 Team. Together with Collaboration for Revit, you can co-author 3D Revit models from any location or firm without a complex server setup.
Extending documentation into the field
Another interesting product that works with a BIM 360 sidekick is BIM 360 Layout. This solution helps to modernize and digitize the field layout process by extending the benefits of BIM 360 Glue. Layout is a free iPad app for BIM 360 Glue subscribers that allows you to take layout points from your model into the field via Glue, where you can use that same iPad to control a robotic total station to execute the field layout process. But it doesn’t stop there! We can also use the Layout app for QA/QC to verify job site locations, or to collect as-built data.
If what you have read so far has piqued your interest, there is still time to register for this year’s Autodesk University in Las Vegas.
You can sign up for my session Connect the Docs: BIM 360 – AS122439 on Wednesday, Nov 15, 1:00 PM–2:00 PM.
See you at AU!
