In BIMcollab Zoom, it is possible to link IFC files and point clouds stored in a shared folder, to the project. This workflow ensures that all team members of the BIMcollab project always have access to the most recent files in the desktop app. This folder will be set up in BIMcollab Zoom itself by a Project Leader (or Editor) with BIMcollab Zoom editing rights and a BIMcollab Zoom license. You can find how to set up and share this project folder in the article Set up the Project folder to link shared files to a project.
After setting up a project folder, the shared files will be accessible to all team members when they connect to the BIMcollab project from the desktop app.
Loading the files from a project folder for the first time
The first time a team member connects to a project from BIMcollab Zoom after the project folder has been chosen, they will notice that the shared files are displayed in red in the 'Navigation' tab.
They will need to navigate to the correct folder, before being able to display the files in BIMcollab Zoom. This is necessary because the absolute path to the correct folder is machine specific, meaning that different users can navigate to the same shared folder through a different path on their computers.
The project location path can therefore be changed by every user separately to reflect the correct absolute path leading to the shared folder, whereas the Shared project folder setup is shared between all team members, and should only be changed by the Project leader.
To help BIMcollab Zoom to locate the correct folder, follow these steps:
Open BIMcollab Zoom
Go to File > Project folder...
If the folder in 'Shared project folders' is displayed in red, it is necessary to indicate the correct absolute path to the shared folder.Click the [...], and navigate to the correct folder on your computer. Make sure you choose the folder with the same name as the folder which is displayed in red in the Project folder window, and click 'Select'.
The shared folder will be shown in black. Click OK to close the window.
The models will be displayed in the 'Navigation' tab. When you connect to the folder for the first time, the models will be displayed in grey, signifying that they are not loaded.
Right-click on the models that should be loaded and choose 'Load model'.
The models will be loaded and the folder symbol will turn yellow. The model tree will be visible.
Prefixes and move/rotate settings are shared with the team. The load status of the models is stored for each individual user, so they can choose themselves which models need to be displayed.
⚠️ Attention: If you have BIMcollab Zoom editing rights, but are not the project leader who setup the project folder, do not uncheck any folders in 'Shared project folders'.
📝 Note: For more information on the load status of models within a project, consult this article about different colors of model names.
If you make use of a Cloud storage platform to host the shared project folder, consult the article The Project folder in combination with a Cloud storage platform for some recommendations.
Keep the project up to date
Because this setup is folder based, all changes in the connected folder are recognized automatically when a user connects to the project for the first time after the change. Replace updated models, add new models and delete outdated models from the shared folder.
⚠️ Attention: An updated version of a model can only be detected when the new file has the same name as the previous version. If the updated version has a different name, it will be added to the project as a new model and the previous version will be shown as missing (if it was deleted from the folder).
The use of locally stored files
It is still possible to add locally stored files to the project, next to the shared files. If team members want to pre-check their IFC models with BIMcollab Zoom based on the requirements shared in the BIMcollab project, they can do so before they share a new version of their IFC file with the rest of the team.
Make sure that you are connected to the space and project, as described above
Go to File > Add to project....
Navigate to the preferred file and choose 'Open'
The file will be loaded and displayed in the 'Navigation' tab with a File Icon in front of it.
These are only available for the user who added the file to the project, and are not shared with the rest of the team.
If the IFC file is ready to share, move it to the shared project folder, so all team members will see the new file in the 'Navigation' tab after connecting to the BIMcollab project, and will be able to open it.
💡 Tip: Since BIMcollab Zoom version 8, users can download and review BIM WebViewer models directly in the app by connecting to their BIMcollab project. For detailed instructions on using this feature, please consult the article Checking WebViewer model in BIMcollab Zoom.