5 unique ways professionals use BIMcollab ZOOM

5 unique ways professionals use BIMcollab Zoom

Delivering high-quality BIM models is easy with BIMcollab Zoom. Your team can perform fast clash detection, validate the models with smart views, extract information from IFC models with Lists, and re-organize and structure BIM data with Smart Properties. And that coupled with BIMcollab Nexus for BIM coordination and issue management, you have a powerful workflow under your belt to assure delivery of high-quality BIM models.

But in addition to this well-proven workflow, we are noticing more and more BIM teams that are finding new and exciting uses for BIMcollab Zoom. Read on to discover 5 unique ways our clients are using BIMcollab Zoom, from design competitions to sharing model checking tasks.

1. Ensuring design competition requirements are met

Sure, BIMcollab Zoom is used for model coordination, but have you ever thought about Zoom being used for an architectural design competition? Neither did we until we heard of this surprising use example from our user!

As an organizer of the design competition, they use Zoom to create prearranged smart view rules, that together with the Zoom Viewer download link, are shared with the applicants. One of the submission requirements is that the submitted models have to comply with the shared Smart View rules. The participants need to validate their models with Zoom Viewer before submitting the entry, and the organizers can rest assured they are receiving high-quality proposals.

2. Interactive client presentations with BIMcollab Zoom

We’ve all sat through long PowerPoint presentations where the slides seem endless. One of our users has found a way to engage their client in an interactive design presentation with, you’ve guessed it – BIMcollab Zoom. They use Zoom to prepare a live presentation, like creating a breakdown of the model properties by auto-coloring room functions and reviewing the space type distribution.

They also use predetermined Smart Views to visualize the equipment and furniture types through saved Smart Views, which they can easily switch between, making it easy for their client to understand the views in the model context.

We see other clients using issues to capture different design scheme renderings, and instead of a still image, present the options to clients in the wider context of the live model.

3. Automate repetitive tasks with Nightshift

As we hear from our users, including Nightshift in their workflow – leaving Nightshift overnight to perform automated tasks – turned out to be a huge time saver. Nightshift is a Zoom feature that performs scripted tasks, like loading new model versions and updating Smart Issues, while you are away from your computer.

For example, by running Nightshift as you are ending your day, Zoom can check the status of your clashes and update Smart Issues in the cloud overnight. Having the updated clashes ready for you in the morning, already saved you time on repetitive tasks by automating them while you are away from your computer.

Understandably, you also want to try out Nightshift on your project, and we’ve created a helpful guide to get you started.

4. Model checking for anyone in the team

Checking model quality is no longer a task reserved only for project coordinators and model checkers. In today’s mature state of BIM project delivery, all team members should perform a minimum of BIM quality checks. As we hear from our users, BIMcollab Zoom’s unique set-up makes it easy to divide the quality checking tasks across the team.

For starters, the Zoom company license is a floating license that can be shared between multiple team members. This means that with one Zoom license, you can give multiple internal or external users access to a BIM checking tool, allowing the teams to validate their models before sharing them.

Second, with Zoom you can easily share your checking rules with the rest of the Zoom project users. The model checking task that in other BIM tools is reserved for one person, in Zoom this can be shared between the team members by dragging and dropping rules to a shared folder. With Zoom you are ensuring that needed team members have access to the right BIM requirements on their own desktop.

And finally, Zoom offers a powerful checking feature, Smart Views, even in the Viewer version. So sharing a BIMcollab download link with your team members without a checking tool or a Zoom license, gives them access to a free tool where they can check the basic quality requirements before final model sharing. Zoom Viewer also offers fully integrated issue management, so that all team members can easily access any issue in the project.

5. Double check your rules with Smart Views

To create high-quality models, the entire project team should be checking with rules that include the right BIM requirements. But sometimes missing properties and unidentified clashes slip through the cracks of the rule matrix, as we hear even from our most experienced customers.

Zoom is here to check your validation process and catch you when you fall. With powerful Zoom features like Smart Views and Smart Issues, you can easily check not just your models, but your checking rules as well.

Take, for example, your usual clash checks, where you are checking Concrete Walls vs Concrete Slabs, Wood Beams vs Ducts, etc. By creating overall rules like All Walls vs All Slabs, All Beams vs All Ducts, and similar, you can easily spot clashes that haven’t been reported to issues. Zoom’s unique feature, Smart Issues, gives you a colorful visual indication of which clashes have and have not been reported in previous clash tests.

Do you want to know more about BIMcollab Zoom?