If you have not yet installed it, download and set-up BIMcollab Zoom first.

If you are a first-time user, you need to login upon first-time startup.

With BIMcollab Zoom, you can:

Open one or more IFC files and point clouds and navigate through the federated model
Browse through the IFC properties and perform manual and automatic quality checks
Retrieve IFC data and quantities from the models
Evaluate BIMcollab issues in team meetings with the models at hand and let reviewers easily join the process of issue management

💡 Tip: Do you prefer more hands-on learning? Go to our BIMcollab Academy and enroll in the BIMcollab Zoom basic course.

💡 Tip: Users in a BIMcollab space can use the BIMcollab Model WebViewer to load and view their IFC files directly on BIMcollab platform. This functionality enhances accessibility and collaboration, providing users with seamless options for exploring their IFC files online.

Connect to a project on BIMcollab space

By connecting to a project on BIMcollab space, you can unleash the full potential of BIMcollab Zoom.

Added functionalities of connecting to a project on BIMcollab space include:

Making sure all team members are working with the latest model versions at all times with the Project folder functionality
Centralizing all communication about a project in BIMcollab space by synchronizing issues to the project
Keeping track of the status of clashes with Smart Issues
Sharing smart views, clashes, and List definitions with your whole team
Sharing IFC data and quantities retrieved from the model with the whole team

Working with models

Easily load, unload, and update IFC and point cloud models in your project. Read more about loading files.
Load IFC files automatically and ensure all members have access to the latest files by setting up a shared Project folder.
Open point clouds (E57 or text-based) files and combine with IFC to check ‘as-built’ against ‘as-designed’.
Give prefixes to files to organize the models. Read more about sorting models

Tree views in the Navigation tab

The three views offer insight into the structure of models and the components they contain. Sort and group the tree view based on:

Model tree, grouped per loaded IFC model
Type tree, grouped by object types, combined from all models

💡 Tip: Right-click items in the tree on any level to show additional options, like showing or hiding items, and adding color to them. Double-click on an item in the tree to zoom to it.

Properties view

Review all IFC properties of any component selected in the 3D window or in the IFC tree
The summary tab shows most the important properties in one overview
Right-click on any selected property to show or hide components with similar values
Right-click on file paths or hyperlinks to open directly in browser or file viewer

Navigation

Mouse and keyboard bindings

Annotations

Add Text, Lines, Arrows, Circles, Rectangles or Clouds to your 3D views to emphasize specific areas of interest
Annotations are created in the plane clicked
Hold SHIFT to place annotations in the plane facing the camera
Select annotations to change properties like line-thickness, color and arrow
Change size with the grips or drag to move them in their plane. Use SHIFT to offset from that plane
Annotations are saved with issues and can be uploaded to BIMcollab space

Dimensioning

Annotate issues with the 3D dimensioning tool
Move your cursor and hover above the starting point of your measurement
Start at an edge, corner, or a plane which will be indicated by the mouse cursor plus:
- Edges will be highlighted in red
- Corners will be indicated by a circle
- Planes will be indicated by a square
Receive a preview of the measurement as you move the mouse cursor

💡 Tip: Find more tips about Dimensioning.

Colors

Highlight any component or set of components
Colors will be saved with issues uploaded to BIMcollab or exported to a BCF file
See colors stored in issues from other software

💡 Tip: For more information on how to add colors to components, consult the article Manually change the color of specific components

Model validation

Basic model validation can be done by using Smart Views.

With a single license, you can use more advanced validation options like Clash detection, Property validation (IDS), or Distance checking.

Smart views

Smart views allow you to define filters to show and color objects based on their properties
Smart views can be used to quickly gain insight in the quality of the information in your BIM model based on requirements
Use auto color to automatically classify components based on the values of the selected property
The legend can be used to interactively go through all materials, classifications, or any property you want
Smart views can be shared with team members through BIMcollab synchronization, or they can be exported
Use the Property listing of the auto color function (not a desktop application Free feature) to quickly display the sum, average, min or max values for numerical properties of your project. BIMcollab Zoom will list all properties based on your criteria and apply the operator of your choice.

💡 Tip: Find a lot more tips on working with smart views.

Clash detection (Requires a single license)

Use clash detection to locate colliding or duplicated components. You can choose predefined groups of components and set tolerances
BIMcollab Zoom provides options to group your issues based on several properties and allows for three different visualization modes: default, selected, and schematic
When reviewing results, use the batch generate issue to report multiple clashes or groups of clashes as issues
Fully functional example rules can be used. You can find them here: Example projects and templates

💡 Tip: Discover more about clash detection.

Property (IDS) validation (Requires a single license)

By integrating IDS into BIMcollab Zoom, BIM managers can easily check for any missing or non-compliant information in the IFC files. When a model does not meet the requirements specified in the IDS, BIMcollab Zoom enables you to generate issue reports and communicate them via BIMcollab space.

💡 Tip: Discover more about IDS validation

Distance checking (Requires a single license)

Distance checking in BIMcollab Zoom ensures that elements in a model have the required spacing or clearance. You can set a minimum distance, and the tool will highlight any areas where elements are too close together by marking them with red dimensions. This helps you quickly spot and fix potential conflicts in your design.

💡 Tip: Discover more about Distance checking.

Lists (Requires a single license)

Lists are used to extract properties and quantities from IFC models and to share these results within a project. BIMcollab Zoom users with a license and editing rights can create and edit lists.

There are three types of lists:

Property table
Pivot grid
Dashboard data (shared only)

💡 Tip: Learn more about Lists from the Help Center.

Sharing smart views, clash rules and lists

When you are connected to a project in BIMcollab, the Shared node becomes enabled. Rules within this node are stored on a project basis and are shared with the whole team.

Drag and drop rules or create them directly in the Shared node.

BIMcollab Zoom users with editing rights can create smart views in the Shared node. To create clash rules and list definitions, they also need a BIMcollab Zoom license.

Smart properties (requires a single license)

When working with IFC files delivered by multiple authors, it is inevitable that they contain different terminology. This can dramatically limit the flow of information and hinder model validation.

To help you reorganize and structure BIM data, BIMcollab Zoom introduces Smart properties.

Smart Properties in BIMcollab Zoom are user-defined properties, based on existing object attributes.

In a BIM project, these are some issues that you can encounter:

Different models contain different languages, abbreviations or typos, resulting in multiple ways of writing the same value.
Values can be found in different properties for different elements. For example, for one element, 'Volume' is defined in base quantities, while for another element it is under dimensions.

To address these limitations, Smart Properties will help you to structure and reorganize the BIM data in your models.

💡 Tip: Learn more about Smart properties

Collaborate

Issue management

Connect to a project on BIMcollab space for the best experience. Alternatively, use the manual import of BCF files.
Create new issues or review and manage existing ones directly from the 3D window. Publish all changes to BIMcollab space.
Manage issue properties by selecting type, area, label, milestone or status and assign issues to team members to follow up.
All issue-management features of BIMcollab can be found in the issue tab, when connected to a project.

💡 Tip: Save time and create great issues with good issue management.

Smart Issues (requires a single license)

When connected to a project on BIMcollab space, conflicts found with Clash detection, IDS validation or Distance checking can be reported to Smart Issues.

Smart Issues know the conflict they represent, to which elements they belong, and what their status in BIMcollab Zoom is.
The 3D view in BIMcollab Zoom gives feedback on whether the conflict is still active or resolved when zooming to the issue, when you are using an active license.
The issues can automatically be updated according to the latest status of the conflict.
Because the Smart Issues are shared to BIMcollab space, it is impossible to accidentally report any already reported conflict, even if the same conflict is detected across multiple validation rules.