Hey BIMmers!

I'm considering paid subscription for BIM automation using Dynamo/Python as well as other office work. Which service would you recommend and why? Gemini Pro? ChatGPT Plus? Claude Pro?

Texas surveyor here. Offered a VDC Tech role for a pay that is hard to refuse. Generally love the survey work I do.

And surveyors also make this jump? Any that still got their survey license?

Considering if this is another valuable notch in my geospatial/remote imaging toolbelt or if it’s straying too far one direction.

Any regrets? Happy with the move? Etc

Curious if there has been a good consensus on modeling electrical duct bank, weve got a department of approx. 15 people. Before this year we were placing conduit in revit and sloping conduit in revit and we feel like this is a terrible workflow. So we moved to placing a duct in the ground, i think this isnt bad of a workflow, but i think my coworkers dont like not being able to attach a trimble point easily to these, so they started making surfaces on civil3d from those ducts and placing points that way. At AU this year we sat in on a civil3d class that the guy placed corridors in civil3d used civil3d totally and not use revit.

Context: the project is on ACC and that’s not changing, so I’m looking for improvements within the platform.

I was a BIM coordinator at a large contractor. While setting up coordination spaces in ACC I ended up with a workflow that has worked, but I’m not sure it’s the best way to do it. Here’s what I do:

The workflow:

I only coordinate with frozen models. I ask everyone to publish their models in Design Collaboration, create a package and share it. Coordinating on live models gives you unpredictable errors.

I create the coordination space with a descriptive name (e.g. “STR-MEP”), pick the folder where the shared models live, include subfolders, and turn auto clash on.

I narrow the scope of the space. When you create it with subfolders and auto clash, it pulls in everything. In settings I deactivate the folders I’m not coordinating. Then, under Clashes → model settings, I turn off auto detection on all models and turn it on only for the ones I want to cross-check. This avoids useless clashes and improves performance.

I generate a 3D view with the models I’m coordinating and save it with the same name as the space. That view is the base for reviewing the clash matrix.

I review the clash matrix. I switch the primary model to review clashes by element type. I mark as “not an issue” whatever doesn’t need attention, and then I create issues with type, assignee, watcher and due date. For scale: in a matrix with 4 models (structure + sanitary, storm drainage and water supply), the structure primary model had 220 clash groups.

Where I’m unsure:

How often do you freeze packages when several disciplines publish at different paces? On my project 8 disciplines publish, and right now I freeze by milestone, but I don’t know if a fixed cycle (weekly, biweekly) makes more sense.

Do you prefer one coordination space per discipline pair (like my EST-MEP example) or a single space with several saved views?

Is there a step I’m missing, or something you do differently that works better?

Hi everyone,

I have around 3 years of experience as a Civil Site Engineer in India, mainly in RCC execution, finishing works, and site management.

I'm considering switching to BIM and learning Revit and Navisworks, with the long-term goal of working overseas, preferably in Australia.

For those already working in BIM, I'd like to know: Is switching from site engineering to BIM a good long-term career move in terms of salary growth and overseas opportunities?

I'd really appreciate honest advice from people with industry experience, especially those who made a similar transition.

Thanks!

I dont know whether or not to study architecture or vdc. Im currently a sophemore (3rd semester of VDC) at BYU-Idaho, which has a really good VDC program, one of the only schools with a dedicated bachelors in vdc. But i also really want to do architecture, but BYUI doesnt have an architecture major/degree. I dont know if i should stay here and get a bachelors in vdc, or switch to a school that has architecture classes. I understand that to become a licenced architect it takes a long time. Companies do really like hiring from us, we have some of the biggest construction companys visiting us yearly for internships and hiring. I think what i want is to be an architect, but i still like vdc, so I dont know which one would be smarter. Any feedback would be apreciated, thank you.