Worksharing in Revit

Introduction

Worksharing is a design method that allows multiple team members to work on the same project file at the same time.

Revit projects can be subdivided into worksets to accommodate such environments. You can enable worksharing by creating a central model so that team members can simultaneously make design changes to a local copy of the central model.

Worksharing Workflow

The following steps provide the general workflow for setting up and using workshared projects.

1. Select the project to share. A workshared project is one that several team members need to work on at the same time. For example, a team may have different members assigned to work on specific functional areas, such as the interior layout, the exterior shell, and the furniture layout.
2. Enable worksharing. When you enable worksharing, Revit Architecture creates the central model for the project. The central model is like the project database. It stores all changes made to the project and stores all current workset and element ownership information. All users will keep a copy of the central model that is located on local network or Autodesk cloud. All changes can be published to the central model and all users can load other users’ changes from the central model at any time.
3. Begin worksharing. Each team member works on a copy of the central model on the local network or Autodesk Cloud to begin using worksharing.

Enabling work sharing

Enabling worksharing involves creating a master project file, known as a central model, from an existing model. The central model stores the current ownership information for all worksets and elements in the project, and acts as the distribution point for all changes made to the model. All users should save their own local copy of the central model, edit locally in this workspace, and then synchronize with central to publish their changes to the central model so that other users can see their work.

First, all team members will need a BIM 360 account. (follow link sent to your student email) This should grant you access to the Revit Cloud Worksharing.

If not working properly you can ensure you have access by following these steps:

1. Go to accounts.autodesk.com, and sign into your Autodesk account.
2. At the top of the page, click Management.
3. In the left pane under Manage users, select a user and click Edit Access.
4. In the Edit Access dialog, select the checkbox for Revit Cloud Worksharing.
5. Click Save

A complete list of requirements can be found here:

http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2019/ENU/?guid=GUID-F7295877-241B-4A97-B71C-C714D2CEC7C9

How to enable work-sharing and create a central model?

1. Open the Revit project file (RVT) you want as the central model.

2. Next, go th the Collaborate tab and locate the Collaborate Button:

3. Then, choose the option “In BIM 360 Document Management”

4. Next choose a name, BIM 360 Project Location and Choose the TUDelft Licence

Note: When specifying a name for the central model, use a naming convention that identifies it as the central model (eg: OfficeBuilding_CentralFile.rvt)

5. Choose your project Folder. Click “Initiate”.

6. Your model will be Uploaded to the cloud UploadCloud

7. On the Collaborate tab, in the Worksets panel, click (Worksets). The Worksharing dialog displays, showing the default user-created worksets (Shared Levels and Grids, and Workset1).

8. If desired, rename the workers and create new ones.

9. In the Worksharing dialog, click OK.

10. The Worksets dialog displays.

11. Click OK.

Now your model will be saved as a central file that all team members will be able to use.

Workflow for working on a team project

1. Open worksets so they are visible in the project.
2. Make the workset editable.
3. Edit a workset.
4. Synchronize with the central model or reload the latest changes from the central model.

Typical worksharing tasks include the following:

• Create a local copy of the central model.
• Open and edit your local copy of the central model.
• You can make edits by borrowing elements or using worksets.
• Publish your changes to the central model, or get the latest changes from the central model.

When you open your project, Revit will automatically create a local copy of the central model every day. After you create a local copy of the central model, this is the file you work in.

Syncronizing with the Central Model

Publishing your changes is known as synchronizing with central.

This will also update changes from your local copy to the central file, thus seeing the changes other team members have done.

You can also update your local copy of the central model without synchronizing by reloading the latest updates from the central model.

In your local file, on the Collaborate tab, in the Synchronize panel, click (Reload Latest).

Note: Worksets function as main categories in order to allow you to classify your project into the disciplines you choose. For the MEGA project for example, it is recommended to use at least one workset per discipline: Structural, Envelope, Architectural. Each team member should know which work sets to work on and which worksets not to manipulate.

Important: When working with worksets, make sure you have chosen your correct workset so that all new elements that you will create are loaded into this work set. This option is on the bottom center of your work environment.

Although, if you accidentally create an element in the wrong workset, you can change it later in the Properties Tab.

Worksets and Element Borrowing

Generally, it is recommended that you work in your local copy of the central model and not make worksets editable. When you edit an element that is not being edited by another team member, you automatically become the borrower of the element and can make the changes you need. It is recommended that you synchronize with central frequently as you work. Synchronizing relinquishes borrowed elements by default, allowing other team members to edit them. Use worksets when you want to reserve parts of a project so that only the assigned user can edit the elements in that workset. Also consider these benefits for creating worksets: Convenience for editing: dividing a project into worksets makes it easier to make whole sections of a project editable at once. Visibility control: You can control overall visibility in a project when you link Revit models into other Revit projects. For example, it is often convenient to turn off visibility of the Shared Levels and Grids workset when linking Revit models so that you do not have to turn off levels and grids individually in each view.

Workflows

Ideal Workflow

The ideal workflow uses the advantages of multiple software packages through the course of the design. This is the flow of an ideal workflow, from left to right:

1. Physical Massing model of initial concept
2. Fast modeling using Rhino ease of use tools
3. Collaboration of massing with speckle and transition into Dynamo.
4. Use of Dynamo to receive speckle massing model into Revit.
5. Plans, sections and final model in Revit

Once in Revit: The ideal workflow would contemplate BIM 360 with a sole Revit central model. The main model would be divided into at least 4 worksets: Façade, Architectural, Structural, Climate. The advantage of this is that the other worksets can be easily switched off to view each discipline independently, this also means that each geometry can be exported individually to other software for further analysis or graphical improvements.

Optional Workflows

The first workflow alternative is ideal because all information is centralized. Nonetheless, presented here are two other options that could work.