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An Epic Thread on Revit Worksets and Worksharing

63 comments on this Linked in thread may be to much to digest on a weekend but worth a look .

Some thoughts on Revit Worksets and Worksharing

The different thoughts of respected and experienced users on this subject may be an eye-opener for some.

If not only for this read the comment by Kyle Bernhard, he is the Product Line Manager, Building Design Suite for Autodesk. A good Insight form the Factories and the past of this feature .

here his reply.

1. The Role of Worksets in Modern Revit

In order to understand how Worksets fit into Revit today, you need to understand how they got there in the first place.
Worksets were our our first foray into the realm of true Worksharing in Revit (one model, multiple users). Initially, you had to make a whole Workset editable to make any changes, effectively locking out the rest of the team from making any changes to those elements. The Visibility control functionality for Worksets was implemented as means to help identify what Elements were on what Workset.
Recognizing that Worksets alone were not flexible enough to facilitate productive collaboration in many cases, we implemented Element Borrowing. This enabled the transparent borrowing of elements when a user operation required them to be editable, without the need to explicitly "check out" of the entire Workset that contained them.
So Element Borrowing is really the implementation of Worksharing in modern Revit. Worksets were never deprecated, since many existing users at the time still used them for their original purpose. Even today, we see the pre-Element Borrowing understanding of Worksets discussed and implemented in the market. Ultimately, that's our fault for not communicating as effectively as possible with the Revit community.
With their original use usurped by Element Borrowing, Worksets today are mainly a means to apply an additional Classification of Elements in the model. There are certainly lower-frequency use cases where they are still used as originally designed, but that is the exception rather than the rule.
So, it's not the least bit surprising to see all sorts of different uses for them out in the market, given Revit's horizontal nature these days, and the needs to classify thing on a model.

2. Worksets, Visibility, and Memory

Turning off the visibility of a Workset in a View does not unload it from memory. It's the same thing as toggling a Category in a View -> Those hidden Elements, and their 3D faces visible in the current View Extents, aren't parsed by the graphics system, resulting in View loading and manipulation improvements.

3. Worksets and Memory

Revit loads all elements in a model into memory at load, at least in a serialized form, regardless of whether their Workset is loaded. We do this because we need to know their relationships to other Elements during Model Regeneration, in case they need to be updated as a result of a change in other model Elements. If such a circumstance occurs, they get fully "parsed" into memory and modified as the change propagates. The only way to completely unload Elements, as astutely pointed out earlier in the thread, is to place them in a linked model and unload that model.
Unloading a Workset effectively ensures that the Elements it contains are never fully loaded into Memory, unless Model Regeneration requires them to do so. It's kind of like a master switch next to the toggles we have for visibility in each individual View in the model.

4. The Future of Worksets

I really can't publicly go into any significant detail on where we are headed with Worksets - or Worksharing, visibility control, scheduling control, and the many other uses they have today - but I can say that we consider this a critical piece of Revit functionality, and one that's not fundamentally flawed in a significant way. Yes, as many have articulated, there are areas for improvement, and those improvements are part of the many areas we consider as we chart the future path of the product.

Revit Templates at Autodesk Building Owners

This Place is worth a look when looking for Building Owner based templates and COBie Information Autodesk Building Owners

VEO is here

Finally we can check it out

Learn Try Buy

http://www.m-six.com/index

and see you here

http://www.m-six.com/forum

“Free COBie in the Cloud” module: COBie Basic

EcoDomus, is releasing a free version of its EcoDomus PM online software application called EcoDomus COBie Basic, which will help design and construction teams simplify the COBie deliverable process.
The EcoDomus COBie Basic software functionality enables:
• Data export from Autodesk Revit to a secure online database
• Online data entry and editing for all COBie entities (“worksheets”)
• Uploading and attaching documents to BIM objects
• Import and export of COBie Excel files
EcoDomus releases “Free COBie in the Cloud” module: COBie Basic
COBie Basic - EcoDomus /

The Fight for the BIM Cloudscape is heating up

 

Autodesk® BIM 360 services

There is not a week we don't her from Autodesk's BIM 360 services

 

Autodesk views its new cloud based service, BIM 360, as heralding the next generation of Building Information Modelling

Autodesk Acquires Qontext Social Collaboration Platform

Autodesk Agrees to Acquire Horizontal Systems

Autodesk acquires Vela systems

BIM 360 Glue On The Go

BIM in the Cloud

Autodesk Agrees to Acquire Horizontal Systems

Autodesk views its new cloud based service, BIM 360, as heralding the next generation of Building Information Modelling

BIM 360 | Civil Collaboration Arrives in the Cloud

 

Trimble continues its quest to be a mayor player for BIM in construction.

It has acquired in recent times  Accubid Systems, PlanCal, QuickPen, SketchUp, Tekla, and Meridian Systems. But two of its more recent acquisitions, WinEst and Vico Software, are concentrated on the 5D aspect of BIM. It goes to show just how far and reaching BIM has moved into the construction operation.

 

RIB Group

And now we see a move from technology providers on an international level? For example, RIB Software, www.rib-software.com, Stuttgart, Germany, which recently acquired MC2,

With over 15,000 customers, the RIB Group is one of the leading providers of technical ERP software solutions for the construction industry.

RIB has become a market leader in Germany. The world’s largest construction companies, the public sector, architectural offices and engineering companies as well as key accounts in the process industries all around the globe use RIB’s software systems to optimise their engineering and construction processes.

RIB has its own sales and service offices in EMEA, North America and APAC

RIB acquires a leading Cloud software provider in Australia

Model-Based Engineering and Construction Processes Efficiently Implemented in Real Estate Projects

New COBie Toolkit for Revit

Autodesk now provides a COBie Toolkit

The COBie Toolkit produces COBie v2 deliverables in conjunction with a Revit model
Installs into new and existing Revit project models

• Creates Revit parameters for objects that need to track COBie data fields

•  Contains an update macro that can keep parameters in sync with a set of standard COBie fields

• Provides export capabilities to a COBie formatted text file for intake into a MS Excel COBie spreadsheet objects that need to track COBie data fields

• Contains an update macro that can keep parameters in sync with a set of standard COBie fields

• Provides export capabilities to a COBie formatted text file for intake into a MS Excel COBie spreadsheet

      http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk

Specialist contractors struggling with BIM in UK

A briefing prepared by the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group (SEC), which represents a range of interests including those of plumbers, electricians and the heating industry in the UK says.

"Poor practice" by 'tier one' contractors - larger companies contracted to provide a project, which then sub-contract more specialised parts of the project to the type of contractor represented by the SEC - is also resulting in additional costs further down the supply chain, the briefing said. It accused larger contractors of not bringing specialists into the design process early enough, offering poor value 'BIM seminars' and "dumping" responsibility for information management and data coordination onto sub-contractors  http://www.building.co.uk/bim/specialists-warn-government-over-bim-costs/5043303.article
http://www.out-law.com/en/articles

Use of BIM rises dramatically

A study by McGraw-Hill Construction indicated that architects, engineers, contractors and owners are increasingly embracing Building Information Modeling (BIM) in their building projects.
This is for America.We have certainly seen a steep rise in Australia too, but i don't think it would be of the same magnitude.
Read more from | Home Channel News
Use of BIM rises dramatically | Home Channel News

BIM 360 Glue On The Go

Autodesk just released BIM 360 Glue On The Go for the iPad
glue-on-the-go.
Here are a few useful links to find out more, and importantly, where to get the app:

• View the App in the iTunes AppStore
• Learn about the Autodesk BIM 360 platform
• Mobile Access for BIM 360 Glue WikiHelp
• Haven't got an Autodesk ID yet? Create an Autodesk ID, it's free!

Navistools - Navisworks SQL database Link

Another interesting development in the spirit of BIM Link, Onetools, FM, Codebook
There are more and more Database plugins available.
BIM seems to move away from the One Database approach to specialised Database Integration, in my view, a commendable development.
Below what the developer has to say
Navistools

Navistools provides a visual portal to Navisworks allowing you to easily link
Navistools provides a visual portal to Navisworks allowing you to easily link, access and manage complete project data and documentation from a Navisworks model which can then be handed over or shared between project stakeholders throughout the design, construction, management and lifecycle phases.age complete project data and documentation from a Navisworks model which can then be handed over or shared between project stakeholders throughout the design, construction, management and lifecycle phases.avistools provides a visual portal to Navisworks allowing you to easily link, access and manage complete project data and documentation from a Navisworks model which can then be handed over or shared between project stakeholders throughout the design, construction, management and lifecycle phases.

Automated Feature Extraction of pipes now available for Revit

It promises substantial workflow savings of up to 85% 
ClearEdge3D announced the release of its latest product, EdgeWise MEP™ for Autodesk® Revit®. For the first time, users can bring extracted pipes, conduit and other cylindrical mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) elements directly into Revit. ClearEdge3D’s new MEP solution leverages the powerful feature extraction technology of EdgeWise to automatically extract pipe solids from laser scan point clouds.

 http://www.clearedge3d.com/

Liftdesigner BIM Exchange for Revit

Some Companies just get it
Digipara with their Elevator Architect and now with the export capability of detailed Elevator Model into Revit with native Revit Families....hats off

The new module BIM Exchange for Autodesk Revit enables elevator manufacturers to export and send complete 3D elevator BIM models, which show all elevator components, to architects and builders, who are working with Autodesk Revit software. Due to the new export format, architects can display elevators more precisely as well as perform interference checks between the elevator and the building.


Liftdesigner

Project Sauron

Remember  2001: A Space Odyssey 

Project Sauron makes Online Collaboration and Document Management as Cool

Trimble Announces Point Creator for Revit

Trimble Announces Point Creator for Revit