As the AEC industry increasingly adopts BIM modeling as a part of standard processes and deliverables, models have substantially increased in size and complexity. So with OpenSpace BIM+, we added the ability to upload as many models as you want—on the same coordinate space—to any OpenSpace project. This feature enables you to upload an entire suite of models to your project (as opposed to first having to federate those models in a program like Navisworks and upload only the single federated NWD file). Large NWD files can impact performance in our web-based BIM Compare viewer. By uploading linked source files directly in OpenSpace BIM+, you’ll see improved performance since you can choose only the models you need to load into BIM Compare. (If you’re not using OpenSpace BIM+, you can upload only one model per OpenSpace project.)

Notes:

If you still prefer to upload a single NWD file, visit our Set Up BIM Compare support article, which includes tips to reduce the size of your model if it’s over our 1GB size guideline.

After I’ve uploaded multiple models to a project, which model loads when I open BIM Compare?

If a Site or Org Admin has set a default model in Project Settings, this is the model that will load when you open BIM Compare. If a default model has not been set, then the model that was most recently uploaded will load when you open BIM Compare.

What BIM file types are supported?

If you’ve uploaded or imported an unsupported file type or you’ve made an invalid point cloud selection, you’ll be notified of these errors in a status window.

Are there file size limits for multiple model uploads?

You can upload models up to 4 GB in size to OpenSpace, however individual models above 1GB in size may load slowly in the BIM viewer, so we recommend keeping models under 1GB. While we recommend that individual models don’t exceed 1GB, the total size of all uploaded models has no limit. However, when selecting which model(s) to load simultaneously in BIM Compare, the viewer will be slow and could potentially crash if too many large models are loaded at the same time.

Can I upload individual models for each floor?

Yes, as long as all uploaded models are on the same coordinate system before uploading to OpenSpace.

What will happen to sheet alignments if I upload additional models to a project that already has a model aligned to sheets?

If the newly uploaded multiple models are on the same coordinate space as the federated model, the sheet alignments will be the same and no realignment is required. If the newly uploaded multiple models are NOT on the same coordinate space, then sheets will need to be realigned.

Which option is OpenSpace taking to align all models from BIM 360 or ACC: internal origin, base point, or shared coordinates/georeferencing? Also, is the choice exclusive, meaning can we align some models with shared coordinates and some others with internal origin or base point?

Regardless of which method is used to establish shared coordinates (internal origin, base point, or shared coordinates), as long as one of those methods is used, multiple models will come into OpenSpace correctly aligned to one another. The choice is not exclusive, and yes you can align some models with shared coordinates and others with internal origin or base point.

Can I manually modify models’ positions relative to one another in OpenSpace after the model(s) have been uploaded?

Currently, manual alignment is not possible. All models must be on the same coordinate system. You will need to use a BIM authorship program to align models to the same coordinate system. Manual alignment is an OpenSpace BIM+ feature request. Contact our Support team if you’d like to associate your account to this request.

If you have any additional questions please reach out to the OpenSpace support team at support@openspace.ai.

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