BIM 360 Docs: Not a Preview Anymore

Autodesk announced a “new world order” with its BIM 360 Docs cloud platform at Autodesk University in December 2015.

A behind-the-scenes look provided a few more details about the collaborative environment for building information modeling (BIM) documents and models, but we were still left with some questions.

Now the day has come: BIM 360 Docs is officially on the global market.

How to Manage BIM Documents

BIM 360 Docs supports iOS devices as well as web browsers. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)

BIM 360 Docs is a cloud-based collaborative environment for storing, managing and reviewing project documents like plans and models.

Rather than tailoring necessary information based on a person’s role in the project, the software is designed to aggregate information for design and construction teams alike. This helps to ensure that important details are exactly where they need to be—no more running around in a frantic search for relevant information.

What to Expect from BIM 360 Docs

Now that it’s officially open (BIM) season, what can users expect to see with BIM 360 Docs?

The platform will be available in two pricing tiers, each with its own set of features.

Tier 1: Free	Tier 2: $249 per month per project
Supports a single project only Features cloud-based management for a range of documents, including PDF, project drawings and model file formats Includes a model viewer for 2D sheets and 3D models, with support for web browsers, tablets and smartphones Enables the user to markup 2D sheets and to toggle visibility of these markups Extracts 2D sheets from 3D models Separates multi-page PDFs Uses optical character recognition (OCR) to extract title blocks for automatic sheet/model naming and organization Includes apps for iOS devices, complete with offline access and sync Shows data in thumbnail and list views Allows custom properties and attributes for selected files and folders Includes project-level access control, determined by role, company or individual user	Includes all features of the free tier and adds: Support for multiple projects, priced individually Features cloud-based management for all project files and file formats Includes file-level access control, determined by role, company or individual user

BIM 360 Docs enables users to identify and add attributes to files and folders. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)

Although the free preview has ended, Autodesk is offering a 60-day free trial subscription of the paid tier’s features. This will be limited to a single project.

If you signed up for a free preview after the AU announcement, you have likely been enrolled automatically in the trial subscription. According to Autodesk, this trial will not renew itself after the initial period.

For more information, check out the revamped BIM 360 Docs website.