Autodesk BIM 360 Glue – holding together your next BIM project?

In this section of our 360 Series, we are going to be focusing on Autodesk BIM 360 Glue. BIM 360 Glue, in short, is a cloud-based BIM management and collaboration tool. It allows us to connect the entire project team to one cloud-based model, streamlining the BIM project review and coordination workflows. We can upload our models and views directly from Revit to Glue via our 360 Glue add in.

360 Glue is a one stop shop for all your coordination needs. Its interface is very user-friendly and its systematic layout makes it accessible for even the most technologically-challenged individuals.

As an admin user within Glue, you can specify who has access to each of your projects. You can add users from your contacts list or users you have collaborated with previously. You also have the ability to set the type of access this user will have to specific projects. Users who have been invited to a project receive an email invitation  containing a link with instant access to the corresponding project from wherever they are in the world.

Instant email notifications aren’t just subject to project invitations. Reviewers of the model have the ability to send marked-up views to other users instantly, giving designers and builders the ability to communicate site issues, design intent and deviation in a matter of seconds backwards and forwards directly between their inboxes.

When you open up your 3D model in the BIM Glue 360 desktop app or the web browser, it feels very similar to Autodesk’s Navisworks. The graphical representation and the navigation tools are virtually identical.

You have the ability to carry out very basic clash detection as well as reviewing object properties within the model space, much like Navisworks.  This is, however, a  more simplified version of its desktop counterpart.  (So if you are a Navisworks user, think of BIM 360 Glue as Navisworks LT – in the cloud.)

The mark-up facilities also work in a similar way to Navisworks.  You navigate around the model and orientate yourself to a view you want.  You then select the mark-up tools and start populating your view with text, red lines, etc. Once saved, you can send the mark-up to members of the project team. You can also automate the issuing of marks-ups by designating a mark-up colour to a certain team member or group of team members. For example, if I assign the colour red to Dave – every time I use red text or lines, Dave will be notified via email that there is a mark-up on Glue that requires his attention.  Simple but effective.

When Dave receives his email notification informing him of a mark-up that requires his attention, he can click the link in the email and Glue will launch through his web browser and automatically navigate to the required view.

There is also the option to “switch back” between modelled attributes in Glue and Revit, making it even easier to rectify model errors or design issues within your live Revit model.

By giving you instant access – via your desktop app or a web browser – to a holistic overview of all your project data, anywhere, anytime, Autodesk BIM 360 Glue is a tool that really should be part of your collaborative team’s arsenal.

You can download a 30-day trial of BIM 360 Glue from the Autodesk web site.  As it is a cloud product only, Autodesk licences 360 Glue differently to its traditional desktop proudcts.  And if you have not already noticed, cloud services are an area of tremendous growth for Autodesk.  We are seeing more and more of Autodesk’s most innovative ideas appearing in the cloud.  As such, you will want to develop an understanding of how Autodesk cloud services fit into your overall software strategy.  For more information on how to deploy BIM 360 Glue on a live project, please contact us using the links below.

Another new cloud-based tool you will want to consider is BIM 360 Field, which will be the subject of our next blog.

(Thanks to the Cadassist BIM team for help with this article.)

Cadassist’s BIM consultants are on hand to help guide you in the right direction – a useful resource, particularly if you are tackling your first project. 

You can find more information on ‘A360′ in our blog . 

Please contact your account manager or sales@cadassist.co.uk  for this and other BIM services.

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