Set Up BIM Compare

Overview

Before we can align your BIM model to a floor plan, you’ll need to have performed a 360° video capture:

• Download the OpenSpace mobile app. 
• Take your first 360° video capture on the project.

Once your 360° video capture has been uploaded and published on your project, you can upload the model on the project following the steps below and start using BIM Compare.

Permissions

Steps to set up BIM Compare:

1. Log in to your local OpenSpace web server.
2. Select the project and go to your Project Settings page (see screenshot for a quick access link from your project card).
3. Go to the Upload BIM tab (on OpenSpace BIM+ projects this tab is called “BIM+”).
4. Upload your model (or multiple models for OpenSpace BIM+ users).
5. (Wait for model processing to complete.)
6. Wait for model alignment to complete, or align yourself using our BIM to Sheet alignment tool.
   • Note: If you replace your model on your OpenSpace project, and if the model coordinate system has not changed, your new model should be aligned as soon as the upload is processed.

Notes about number of models, size

Please note that you can upload one model per project with OpenSpace Capture. Your model can be up to 4GB in size.

If you need the ability to upload multiple models—for example to break up a large file or to upload individual trade files—you can do so with OpenSpace BIM+. Contact your OpenSpace representative about setting up a subscription.

If you don’t have OpenSpace BIM+ on your project and need to be able to view BIM modeled elements from more than one source file in BIM Compare, we recommend uploading a single, federated NWD or IFC file that includes everything in your project: the federated model (sometimes called the coordinated model).

OpenSpace BIM viewer performance

Our BIM viewer is built for performance, and we have a high standard for fast loading and navigation times regardless of model size and complexity (within our performance specifications as outlined below in this article). 

A web viewer's performance, such as the BIM side of BIM Compare, is primarily impacted by browser memory management and source file complexity. To get the most out of your browser experience when viewing BIM in OpenSpace, we recommend using Chrome. We also recommend keeping your browser up to date, since browser updates can improve browser memory management for a better BIM viewer performance.

Model characteristics can also impact load time and performance once loaded in any BIM viewer. Here are three factors that impact performance:

1. Model complexity: the number of nodes in the assembly / “model tree”
2. Model complexity: the number of different meshes / materials to render
3. Model size: the file size of the model
   • Because “model complexity” is more difficult to assess without opening and examining an individual file, we sometimes use file size as a proxy to also assume complexity—larger files also tend to be more complex in the ways described in the first two points, but sometimes smaller file sizes are deceptively complex.

The OpenSpace BIM viewer is built as an integration with Autodesk's Model Derivative API, so any file type compatible with their Forge Viewer is acceptable (NWD, RVT, FBX, etc.)—click here for a definitive list of supported file formats from Autodesk's Forge Viewer API.

Tips for Revit files

Publish settings

When you publish a Revit model, the default 3D view and all 2D sheets are published by default. In order to customize what BIM elements appear in BIM Compare, you can use one of two methods:

1. Customize the Active View Set in RVT files:
   • Visit the Autodesk publish settings support article, geared toward BIM360 and Autodesk Build customers, but the same steps can help customize the view settings of the file for OpenSpace. Below is an overview of the steps (read the Autodesk article for more detailed instructions):
     • Open the RVT with Revit Desktop.
     • Go to Collaborate > Manage Models panel > Publish Settings.
     • Select your 3D views and other views you want to see in OpenSpace and ensure that they are in the Active view set.
     • Save the change to your RVT file.
     • Re-upload the modified RVT to OpenSpace.
2. Export to an NWC file:
   • Our BIM viewer can handle larger file sizes than other common web-based viewers, so exporting an RVT file to NWC should not be necessary for performance reasons. However, it can be a preferable workflow for other user-specific reasons. Below are steps to export an RVT file to an NWC if desired. In order to use this export method, you will need to download and install the Autodesk Navisworks Add-in for Revit:
     • If you upload an RVT file and have not customized the publish settings as shown in #1 above, the Autodesk Viewer will default to the "default 3D" view (typically called "{3D}") in your Revit file. Our upload process does not allow a user to select a specific 3D view other than this view, and it does not allow the user to specify the phasing of a Revit model, so all geometry and all phases within the Revit model shown in the view named {3D} will be uploaded and visible in OpenSpace.
     • For this method, we suggest creating a 3D view in Revit that only shows the modeled geometries that you want to see in OpenSpace, name this view "OpenSpace Export" or similar, and export that view as an NWC file to upload to OpenSpace.
     • The resulting NWC export will only contain the geometry visible in the "OpenSpace Export" 3D view that you have set up.
     • For future uploads, in cases where your Revit file has been updated since the initial OpenSpace upload, continue to use the saved "OpenSpace Export" 3D view in Revit to export an updated version of your model that you can then upload to OpenSpace.

Linked files in a Revit model

Note that linked files in a Revit model, even if it is the central model, still do not exist in the Revit file itself. Therefore, if you upload a Revit model with linked files into OpenSpace, the linked files will not show up in the BIM viewer.

Tips for devices/usage

Minimum specifications

For basic functionality, we suggest a minimum internet speed of 5-10 Mbps.

Apple devices:

• iPhone: iPhone 8 or newer
• iPad: iPad 6th generation or newer

Android devices:

• Operating system: Android 11 or newer
• RAM: 4 GB of RAM or more

Windows devices:

• Operating system: Windows 10 or newer
• RAM: 4 GB of RAM or more

Mac devices:

• Operating system: macOS Mojave (10.14) or newer
• Processor: Intel Core i3 or better
• RAM: 4 GB of RAM or more

The above specifications are the absolute minimum required to run BIM Compare on mobile with basic functionality. Users with devices that don’t meet these specifications may experience slower performance and limited features.

Preferred specifications

For optimal performance, we recommend an internet speed of at least 30-50 Mbps.

Apple devices:

• iPhone: iPhone XR or newer
• iPad: iPad Pro 3rd generation or newer

Android devices:

• Operating system: Android 13 or newer
• RAM: 6 GB of RAM or more
• Brands: Google Pixel, Samsung

Windows devices:

• Operating system: Windows 10 or newer
• RAM: 8 GB of RAM or more

Mac devices:

• Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15) or newer
• Processor: Apple M1 chip or better
• RAM: 8 GB of RAM or more

The above preferred specifications will ensure a smoother, faster, and more reliable experience when using BIM Compare, since they’re designed to handle more complex tasks, larger files, and more intensive graphical requirements.

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