CS225847

How to run Clash detection in BIM 360 Model

Coordination using BIM 360 Design
Anil R. Mistry
Autodesk, Inc.

Scott Green
Autodesk, Inc.

Learning Objectives
• Learn how to share Revit model to BIM 360 Document Management using
BIM 360 Design workflow.
• Learn how to prepare models for model coordination in BIM 360 Document
Management
• Learn how to perform clash detections, review clashes, create issue, assign
issue to team members in Model Coordination
• Provide useful tips and information for potential users and new users to set
up and prepare to use BIM 360 Design, BIM 360 Document Management
and Model Coordination space from the support perspective.

Description
Learn how to share models from Autodesk Revit to BIM 360 Document Management using
BIM 360 Design and then use this model in Model Coordination for Clash Detection, reviewing
clashes with team, creating issues and etc.

Model Coordination provides a shared space to publish, review and run clashes on your latest
set of project models and upload 3D models to a centralized Model Coordination folder, and the
clash service automatically locates any issues in those models.

BIM 360 Design is a cloud worksharing and design collaboration product built for distributed,
multidisciplinary teams. With BIM 360 Design, you can co-author Revit models in the cloud,
control worksharing activities, and coordinate deliverable exchange across teams.

AU Speaker(s):
Anil Mistry joined Autodesk as a Technical Support Specialist in February 2014.
Currently I am working with the Autodesk BIM 360 (Field/Glue) support team and based
out of Boston, MA office. I have been an Autodesk product user for more than 20 years.

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I received my bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Massachusetts,
Lowell, MA. I have 15 plus years of experience working in Civil/Construction industry
and worked on several small to large size projects. I was involved on many highway
design projects (The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (BIG Dig), Manchester–Boston
Regional Airport, NHFG, Broad Street Parkway, NH) for large and small clients
including DOT and municipal clients.
I received a “Certificate of Excellence” for outstanding performance and excellence
while providing oversight on New Hampshire Department of Transportation Federally
Funded construction project.

[email protected]

Scott Green: I am a technical specialist on the BIM 360 support team in our Technical
Support group at Autodesk. I work out of the Portland; Oregon office and I have been
with Autodesk for five years. During that time, I have supported Revit, Plant 3D,
AutoCAD, Navisworks, ReCap, and BIM 360. I am also a certified technical writer and I
have hosted several AutoCAD and BIM 360 webinars.

[email protected]

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Contents:
• What is BIM 360? ............................................................................................ 4
o The Forge API ...................................................................................... 4
o BIM 360 Document Management ......................................................... 4
o BIM 360 Model Coordination ................................................................ 4
• Setting up a New Project and Activate Services (Account Administration) ...... 5
o Creating a project ................................................................................. 5
o Activate Services and add Project Admin ............................................. 6
o Add Account Members.......................................................................... 9
a. Add individual members to the directory .................................... 9
b. Add multiple members to the directory ....................................... 9
• Manage Project Members and Access (Project Admin) ................................ 10
o Add Project Members ......................................................................... 10
• Before you begin uploading models, the following must be setup ................. 12
o Create structured project folders (Document Management) ............... 12
a. Add Folders .............................................................................. 13
b. Assign Folder Permission ........................................................ 13
o Upload Model...................................................................................... 15
o Upload and Publish Linked Files ......................................................... 16
• Create Teams (Document Management or Design Collaboration) ................ 16
o Add Team members and set permission through Design Collaboration ...... 18
o Assign Folder Permission (Document Management) .......................... 19
• Initiating design models (Revit 2018.3 or 2019 only) ..................................... 19
o Upload a Model to BIM 360 Document Management ......................... 20
o Migrate Linked Models to BIM 360 Document Management .............. 22
• Set up Model Coordination Folder in Document Management Plan Folder ... 23
• Set up Model Coordination Space in Project Admin ...................................... 23
• Upload Models for Coordination .................................................................... 24
• View and Filter Models .................................................................................. 25
• View and Filter Clashes ................................................................................. 27
• Helpful Reference .......................................................................................... 30

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What is BIM 360?

BIM 360 is a unified platform that connects your project data in real-time from design
through construction, supporting informed decision-making and leading to more
predictable and profitable outcomes.

BIM 360 improves construction project delivery by supporting informed decision-making

throughout the project lifecycle. From design collaboration, documentation and reviews,
to pre-construction, and through quality and safety and operations, BIM 360 connects
the people, data and workflows on your project, so you can see the big picture and keep
your projects on track.

The “Next-Generation” BIM 360 line of applications is a cloud-based series of

applications built upon Autodesk Forge platform (Classic BIM 360 applications such as
BIM 360 Glue and BIM 360 Field are not on Forge platform).

The Forge API:

Forge API is Autodesk’s cloud developer platform upon which the Next-Gen BIM 360
platform is based. Forge currently offers access to the following BIM 360 APIs (BIM 360
Account Admin, BIM 360 Document Management, Issues, and the Viewer) for
customization/integration within other web and mobile applications.

BIM 360 Document Management:

BIM 360 Document Management (Docs) is a cloud-based file repository and

collaboration environment that allows teams to manage blueprints, 2D plans, 3D
models, and other project documents. This streamlines the document management
process and connects to Autodesk’s other next generation SaaS products on the BIM
360 platform such as BIM 360 Model Coordination, BIM 360 Design (use with Revit),
BIM 360 Build (aka Field Management), Design Collaboration (associated in with BIM
360 Design), Project Management, and Project Admin modules. BIM 360 Document
Management serves of the focal point of the BIM 360 platform.

BIM 360 Model Coordination:

BIM 360 Model Coordination provides a collaborative environment to publish, review,

and run clashes on 3D BIM models. When models are uploaded to a centralized folder
within BIM 360 Document Management (Plan Folder), the clash service within Model
Coordination will automatically locate any clashes within those models. The module
allows for viewing model data and filtering that data to facilitate easier inspection of
clashes.

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Setting up a New Project and Activate Services (Account Administration)

The Account Admin module allows account administrators to manage the Autodesk BIM
360 account and its projects, members, and company data.

Account administrators can create projects, activate services, and assign project
administrators to those services.
Creating a project:

1. In the BIM 360 Account Admin module, click the Projects tab.
2. Click Add.

3. In the Create Project Profile dialog, specify the project name and enter the
project information. Required fields are marked with an asterisk. Some of the
fields, such as the start and end dates, are used for company reporting and
analytics to ensure all team members have access to consistent project
information across workflows.
4. Select a language from the BIM 360 Field Project Language drop-down list.
5. Click Save & Continue to create the project and display the Activate Services
page.

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Activate Services and add Project Admin:

1. On the Activate Services page, click Activate next to each BIM 360 service you
want to activate. The list of services depends on what modules you have
purchased.

Note: For this class activate Document Management and Model

Coordination services.

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 Important: After creating a project profile, you can activate BIM 360 services.
Note: You must activate Document Management first, before you can activate
other Next Gen services like Model Coordination, Project Management, Design
Collaboration, etc.

2. When activating Document Management, you can choose to copy a folder

structure from an existing project, to help organize your project documents.
Select a project from the Copy Project Settings drop-down list.
Note: When activating BIM 360 Glue or Field, you have the choice between the
classic and Next Generation modules. See About Autodesk BIM 360 for more
information. Once you start project in BIM 360 Glue Classics or Model
Coordination you can’t switch back. If you want, you can create two projects and
run parallel.

3. For each service you activate, add at least one project administrator. Enter their
name or email address, and a company name.

Note: Adding a project administrator is important, as they are able to activate

further services for the project, assign a member's role and company, and
manage access and permissions.

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 New members added as project administrators receive an invitation to the
account and the project. You can also add existing account members. Search the
directory by entering a name or email, then click Save.

4. Click Finish.

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Add Account Members:
Add individual members to the Member Directory or bulk-import multiple members using
a spreadsheet. As a best practice, we recommend account administrators add their
employees to the member directory first. Then, project administrators can use the
search feature to more easily invite them to any project, without creating duplicate
entries. While this practice is recommended, it is important to note that project
administrators can add new members directly to a project, even if they are not in the
account member directory yet. As soon as these new members are added to the
project, they are added to the account member directory as well.

Add individual members to the directory

1. In the Account Admin module, click the Members tab.

2. Click Add Add people to the member directory.
3. Enter the person's email address, press the enter key, and click Add.

Tip: If necessary, you can add multiple members at once before clicking Add.

4. Select the member's company and role from the lists and click Save.
You can change the default company and role later if necessary.

Add multiple members to the directory

1. In Account Admin, click the Members tab.

2. Click Add Import members by spreadsheet.
3. Do one of the following:
• For a first-time import, click Download the member list template and
open it with Excel. In the template, replace the example entries with your
actual member details, one member per row, and save the file. Then click
Choose File to select the spreadsheet.
• If you have a properly formatted member list spreadsheet, click Choose
File and select the spreadsheet.
4. Click Start Import.

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Manage Project Members and Access (Project Admin)
The Project Admin module allows project administrators to manage project members,
companies, and services, as well as edit the project profile.

After an account administrator creates a project, they can add one or more project
administrators to handle the administrative responsibilities for the project. Companies
with multiple projects can delegate responsibility to project administrators to securely
manage users and access on a project-by-project basis. Typical examples of
construction industry positions that could fill the project administrator role include project
managers or superintendents for a local project.

Within the Project Admin module, project administrators can add project members and
control the member access to the various modules. They can also view all 3rd party
companies associated with the project.

Administrator Permissions Reference:

Add Project Members:

1. Click Module Selector Project Admin.

2. Click the Members tab.
This opens the Project Members page, which displays all members of the
selected project, their assigned role and company, and the services, or modules,
that they have access to.
3. Click Add.

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4. To add new members:

a. Enter an email address and press Enter on your keyboard.

b. Click Select.
To add members who have already been added to the account:

a. Enter a name or email.

b. Choose a member and click Select.
Tip: You can add one or more members to a project at the same time.

5. Optionally, assign the member to a company:

• Search for a company that has already been added to the directory by an
account administrator.
• Add a new company. Type the name of the new company, then click Create
company <name>.
Tip: In Project Admin, click the Companies tab to view all 3rd party
companies associated with the project, and the number of members
associated with each company.

6. Optionally, assign the member a role(s).

Tip: The assigned role determines a member's access to all modules. For
example, a Superintendent is granted administration rights and access to
Document Management, Project Management, Model Coordination, Field
Management, and Insight. However, this can be overwritten, as described in step
7 below.
7. To change the member's access level, click in the Project Admin or module
columns:

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The icon changes to indicate access level.

Note: Assigning access to individual modules overwrites the access level granted by role.

8. Click Add to Project. An email notification is sent, which allows the member to
activate their membership and access the project.

Before you begin uploading models, the following must be setup.

Create structured project folders (Document Management):
Create a customized folder hierarchy for each of your projects.

Every project starts with pre-configured top-level folders to support a specific process or
data type. These folders are called Plans and Project Files. You can add subfolders to
these folders.

• Plans: Use the Plans folder to manage, download, review, and publish the latest set
of construction documents, in both 2D and 3D formats. This is the digital equivalent
to the printed set of contract drawings for the project.
• Project Files: Use the Project Files folder for any project document, including
design data and all other document types. For example, photos, reports, schedules,
budgets, requirements documents, etc.

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Note: Folders can be manually created within Document Management or
automatically within the Design Collaboration Project Admin area when creating
Teams.

Add Folders

1. In the folder tree, right-click a folder Add Subfolder. A new folder appears
below the parent folder.
2. Enter a name and press Enter.

Assign Folder Permission

1. In Document Management, select a folder and right-click > Permissions.

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2. For each member, move your cursor across the Permissions Level bar to select new
permissions for a member, role or company. Permission levels include:

Upload - only. User/role/company may share their own documents in that folder with
other team members.
View - only. User/role/company may view documents and add markups or issues,
but cannot upload documents.

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 View + Upload - User/role/company may share and upload their own documents
with team members and view any other documents in that folder.
View + Upload + Edit - User/role/company may share and upload their own
documents with team members and view and edit any other documents in that folder.
View + Upload + Edit + Control - User/role/company may share and upload their
own documents with team members and view and edit any other documents in that
folder. As part of the Controller (control) role they can also carry out tasks within that
folder that are usually restricted to the Project Admin. This includes creating title
blocks, adding project members and managing permissions. This permission level
offers the greatest access to folders.

Upload Model

1. In the Folder Tree, select a folder.

2. Click Upload Files and select a file. Alternatively, drag and drop a file onto
the required folder.

Note: To select multiple files, press Shift+Click or Ctrl+Click.

3. Optionally, select Add Files and choose additional files for upload.
4. Select Continue.

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 Your files are then processed and published. A results dialog is displayed
when completed.

5. Select Show to view the published files in your folder.

Tip: When you open a document in the Plans folder, the set-specific
information is displayed at the top left of the document, next to its name and
version. Information about the set is not displayed in documents in the Project
Files folder.

Upload and Publish Linked Files

Upload linked Revit files or AutoCad files that include xfefs. You must specify
the parent or host file, which will be linked to the child file data.

Note: You cannot drag and drop linked files.

1. In the Folder Tree, select the folder you want to upload files to.
2. Click Upload Linked Files and either:
• Select the parent (host) file.
• Press Shift+Click or Ctrl+Click and select all files to be linked (parent
and child).
3. In the Linked Files Upload dialog, select Add files and choose additional
(child) files if necessary.
4. In the Parent File column, check the parent file Continue.
Linked files are then processed and published. A results dialog is displayed
when completed.

5. Select Show to view the published files in your folder.

Create Teams (Document Management or Design Collaboration)

1. Click on Add Team from Project Admin Services Design Collaboration to

Create all the Teams that would be in the project (Architectural, Structural,
Electrical, Plumbing, etc.)

a. The first team added will result in a “Shared”, “Consumed”, and “Team
Name” folder being created.
b. “Consumed” folder will reside in the “Team Name” folder.

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We see the two teams on the project timeline in Design Collaboration.

We also see new Shared and Consumed folders for the two teams in Document
Management.

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2. Add members to Team through Design Collaboration or within Document
Management.

a. Permissions/visibility into Team folders can be done either within

Document Management or the Design Collaboration Project Admin area
Add Team members and set permission through Design Collaboration

1. Click on Project Admin from module selector

2. Click on Services tab
3. Select Design Collaboration from left navigation menu
4. Select Team
5. Click Manage team members
6. Enter roles, companies, or individual names
7. Select Name
8. Click Add
9. Set Permission Level

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 Assign Folder Permission (Document Management)

1. In Document Management, select a folder and right-click >

Permissions.
2. For each member, move your cursor across the Permission Level
bar to select new permissions for a member, role or company.
Permission levels include:
Upload - only. User/role/company may share their own documents
in that folder with other team members.
View - only. User/role/company may view documents and add
markups or issues but cannot upload documents.
View + Upload - User/role/company may share and upload their
own documents with team members and view any other documents
in that folder.
View + Upload + Edit - User/role/company may share and upload
their own documents with team members and view and edit any
other documents in that folder.
View + Upload + Edit + Control - User/role/company may share
and upload their own documents with team members and view and
edit any other documents in that folder. As part of the Controller
(control) role they can also carry out tasks within that folder that are
usually restricted to the Project Admin. This includes creating title
blocks, adding project members and managing permissions. This
permission level offers the greatest access to folders.

Initiating Design models (Revit 2018.3 or 2019 only)

1. Once Folders have been setup, members added to the project, and assigned to
teams has been completed. Members should be ready to initiate models from
within Revit.
2. Initiate the design models in your Team(s) folder within Project Files

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 3. DO NOT USE THE PLANS FOLDER. ALTHOUGH IT IS VISIBLE, INITIATING
WILL BREAK THE WORKFLOW

Upload a Model to BIM 360 Document Management

As part of the process to set up Revit Cloud Worksharing, upload a model to BIM 360
Document Management.
1. In Revit, open or create a model.
2. Click Collaborate tab Manage Collaboration panel (Collaborate).

3. In the Collaborate dialog, select In BIM 360 Document Management.

4. Click OK.
5. If prompted, sign in with your Autodesk ID and password.
Note: When you sign in, your Revit username changes to match your Autodesk
ID.
6. Select the desired project folder.

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7. In the dialog, click Initiate.
Revit displays information about the status of the initiation process.

8. Click Close to continue.

9. If you subscribe to notifications in BIM 360 Document Management, you receive
an email when your model is successfully published to the cloud.
10. If the uploaded model includes links, migrate the linked models to BIM 360
Document Management.
Note: After a model has been workshared, the BIM 360 project is only visible to
the release of Revit the model was shared from. Cloud models can only be linked
to other models shared using the same release.

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Migrate Linked Models to BIM 360 Document Management
Initiate cloud collaboration for each of the linked models, and then use the Manage
Links tool to reload the links from their cloud location.

1. For each model that is linked to the host model, do the following in Revit:
a. Open the linked model.
b. Click Collaborate tab Manage Collaboration panel (Collaborate).
c. Select In BIM 360 Document Management.
d. Select the BIM 360 project where the host model is stored and click OK.
e. In the Collaborate dialog, click Initiate.
Revit displays information about the status of the initiation process.

f. Click Close to continue.

Repeat this process for each linked model.

2. After you have initiated cloud collaboration from Revit on all linked models, open
the host model in Revit.
3. Click Manage tab Manage Project panel (Manage Links).
4. On the Revit tab of the Manage Links dialog, for each linked model, do the
following:
a. Select a linked model and click Reload From.
Notice that the file browser opens by default to the BIM 360 project
location.

b. Select the name of the linked file and click Open.

The cloud version of the link is cached on your local computer and loaded.

5. Repeat this process to reload each linked model from the cloud location.

6. Click OK to close the Manage Links dialog.

Note: When a BIM 360 project is renamed, the Manage Links dialog may still
reference the old project name in the link paths. The links will still resolve
correctly, however the path may be confusing. To update the Saved Path to the
new project name, use the Synchronize with Central tool, Synchronize and
Modify Settings drop-down. Click OK. To update the link paths in the Manage
Links dialog, click Reload.

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Set up Model Coordination Folder in Document Management Plan Folder
Project Admins select a folder for coordination. The project team can then upload
models to this folder.

1. Sign in to Model Coordination.

2. Follow the steps in the product to select a folder for coordination in the Document
Management module. As a project admin, in the Plans folder section, you need
to create a shared folder for coordination. It is recommended that you name this
folder "Shared" so that team knows where the coordinated models are located.
The selected folder and any subfolders are included for coordination.

Set up Model Coordination Space in Project Admin

Project Administrators set up the Coordination space for project. As a Project Admin,
when you first sign in to Model Coordination, you'll be asked to select a folder in the
Document Management module. This will become the Model Coordination space for
your entire project team. This folder may contain subfolders, which are also included
automatically.

1. Click on Create
2. Name your Coordination Space
3. Select Shared coordination folder
4. Click on Create to finish process

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Upload Models for Coordination

1. On the Folders tab, select the Model Coordination folder.

2. Select Upload or Upload Files and select files. You can also drag and drop
files into the folder.

Note: At this time Model Coordination only support Revit and DWG files. Other
file types are in feature road map.

3. Select Continue. The files are processed and then published.

4. Select Show to view the published files.
All uploaded and processed models will appear under the ‘Models’ tab

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View and Filter Models
When you add models to your coordination folder, clashes are detected automatically in
Model Coordination.

1. In Model Coordination, select the Models tab.

2. You can see the coordinated model list, the contributor, and the total clashes for
each model.

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3. Use Search to narrow the model list. On the right you can filter by your models,
or by the model contributor, company, or the date to narrow the list.
4. Select individual models and click View to see the aggregated set of models. In
the example below, four models have been selected for viewing. Select to
control their visibility.

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View and Filter Clashes
In the clash results grid, you can see each model and the number of clash groups for
each individual pairing of models. Select a clash number to see that clash set in the 3D
model.

1. In Model Coordination, select the Clashes tab.

2. Use the drop-down list to filter the models shown on the Clash grid or use the
search to find a specific model or group.

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3. Select a clash group to view the clashes in the coordinated models.
In the grid the row header indicates the number of objects (within that Primary
model) that clash with other models in the matrix. Each cell across the row shows
how many of those [primary model] objects clash with the intersecting
[secondary] model. Darker colored cells indicate where the most clashes exist.

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 4. As shown below, the selected clash group is highlighted in the model.

The ‘Red’ Element (Compound Celling) is the ‘source’ of the clashes, whereas the
‘Green’ Element (Rectangular column) is the element being clashed against.

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Helpful Reference:

• Getting Started with BIM 360 Design

• To Manage Folder Permissions in BIM 360 Document Management

• Set up teams and folders comfortably with Design Collaboration’s

Project Admin

• Understanding Revit Model Linking in BIM 360 Design

• BIM 360 Design is Released - The Next Generation of C4R

• Linking Cloud Workshared models in BIM 360 Design

• Creating and Consuming Packages

• To Work with Packages

• To Manage Teams and Team Members

Short YouTube Videos:

• Overview of BIM 360 Design

• Uploading Revit models

• Uploading Other Project Documents

• Creating and Consuming Packages

• New Videos for a BIM 360 Design Kickstart

Community Forum:

• BIM 360 Design Collaboration Forum

• BIM 360 Model Coordination Forum

• BIM 360 Document Management Forum

Online Learning Resources:

• Learn BIM 360

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• BIM 360 Community Hub

• Connect and Construct

• ConTech Academy

• Construction Training

• Autodesk University – Class Recordings

Product Help Content:

• Account Administration

• Document Management

• Design Collaboration

• Model Coordination

• Autodesk Desktop Connector

• Desktop Connector for BIM 360

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