The Next Generation of BIM 360, Part 3: Implementing BIM 360 Design

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Synergis Application Consultant, Bill Knittle
In Part 2, I covered adding Project Members and Teams to the BIM 360 Project. Now that the Team environment is established, it is time to initiate collaboration in the cloud. The process of initiating cloud-collaboration in BIM 360 Design is similar to classical Collaboration for Revit. The individual initiating the process must be logged into A360 within Revit and also be a project member with permissions to the appropriate Team folder. The Collaborate tool in Revit launches the familiar Collaborate dialog. However, in Revit 2018.3, users can choose to initiate cloud-collaboration in BIM 360 Team or BIM 360 Document Management. Migrating to Revit 2019 will not allow a model to be initiated in BIM 360 Team. Like before, a Revit file that is not work-set enabled will be when initiating cloud-collaboration.

First, the individual selects the account which hosts the project. Then, they select the project that hosts their Team folder. Finally, they select their Team folder that will host their team’s published Revit models.

Once the file is initiated from Revit, the latest published version can now be viewed in the Document Management service of the project. Revit users from the same team that are entitled to use BIM 360 Design can now open, create, edit, and synchronize the live model.

When it comes to sharing Revit data, BIM 360 Design uses an improved experience of publishing, sharing, and consuming Packages. Packages are comprised of published Sets from the Revit file. Creating Sets in Revit is still the same process. Within Publish Settings, a Revit user selects views and/or sheets to create a set for publishing. However, one user can now publish two or more sets simultaneously. The user simply includes the Sets for publishing within the Select Sets window of the dialog. Finally, the user selects the Save & Close button.

Publishing the Revit file remains the same as well. The same Revit user launches Manage Cloud Models and navigates to the BIM 360 project. At which point, they select Publish Latest. This uploads the data and creates a new version in the Team folder.


From here, the focus of Packages turns to BIM 360 Design. Within the Design Collaboration service, a member of the Team that published the Revit data can view the Sets and the data they contain.

The unique Team Space UI provides the member creating the package an opportunity to review the data with their Team Space. The Project Model view aggregates each Team’s model into a single project model similar to how Navisworks appends models. Reviewing the Project Model offers cross-discipline insight through visual analysis. The side menu provides tools to visualize models by individual Team, a Phase, or a given Level. The standard Large Model Viewer toolbar is also available to explore the model further.

The Contents of what was published in the Sets in Revit can also be reviewed. Again, the side menu offers a Content Browser which the member can use to navigate through each view within each Set.

Once the review process is complete and the project member is confident that they are ready to share their published data, they can create a Package. A small tab allows the Visual Timeline to expand. To the right of the Team’s lane in the timeline is a small “+” button to Create a Package.

BIM 360 Design fetches the data and presents in a similar fashion. However, it provides checkboxes to include or exclude Sets from the Package. Additionally, the side menu presents not only the Content Browser button but also, a Change Visualization button. This way, changes can be visually conveyed. At this point, the member selects the approved Sets to share and saves the Package.

Finally, the member can choose to delete, exit, or share the Package in the upper-right of the Team Space.

BIM 360 Design allows the member to name the Package and provide a description of its contents.

The Timeline indicates the shared Package as a solid-filled node in the lane of the Team.

Behind the scenes, a copy of the published file In the Team’s folder was placed into the Team’s folder within the Shared folder. This can be validated within the Document Management service.

From the vantage point of the engineer’s Team Space, the shared Package displays on their timeline as an open-filled node in the lane of their Team. Selecting the shared Package reveals the author, contents, and description.

At which point, the engineer can select the Explore button to reveal the contents in more detail. In this case, only the file and one Set containing Sheets were shared. The 3D view Set was not included.

If all looks good, the engineer can now select the Consume button. A message appears indicating the ramifications of the selected procedure. Selecting Consume completes the procedure.

Now, the circle shows up as a solid-filled node in the lane of the recipient Team’s timeline.

Behind the scenes, a copy of the shared file In the Team’s folder in the Shared folder, was placed into the Consumed folder of the Team’s folder. This can be validated within the Document Management service. In Part 4, I’ll cover the linking methods and other collaborative workflow features.

Watch the video for a step-by-step tutorial on how to implement the BIM 360 design workflow.