What is Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Autodesk Support

Oct 30, 2019

Collaboration for Civil 3D is new functionality being added to BIM 360 Design that allows project teams, whether within one firm or across multiple firms, to collaborate securely on Civil 3D projects and store design files, data shortcuts, and external references in a common data repository. It will be delivered as an entitlement to BIM 360 Design, like Revit Cloud Worksharing.

Is there a price change for BIM 360 Design?

No, there is no price change to BIM 360 Design.

How do I get started with Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Read the getting started guide here.

What are the requirements to access Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Requirements for access are Civil 3D 2020.2 or later, a BIM 360 Design license (for the Collaboration for Civil 3D entitlement to BIM 360 Design), Desktop Connector, and an Internet connection.

When is Collaboration for Civil 3D available?

As of October 30, 2019, a subscription to BIM 360® Design will include access to a new entitlement called Autodesk® Collaboration for Civil 3D®.

What are the features and capabilities of Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Collaboration for Civil 3D enables Civil 3D users to:

  • Open and save Civil 3D files to the common data platform, BIM 360
  • Manage Xrefs (external reference) and create/consume Civil 3D Data Shortcut objects in a common data repository.
  • Automated file locking of Civil 3D drawings.
  • Support file-based collaboration on the BIM 360 platform

If I already have BIM 360 Design, do I need to buy another seat to use Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Every BIM 360 Design subscription includes an entitlement to Collaboration for Civil 3D. If you want to add additional team members to use this functionality, you will need to purchase additional subscriptions to the BIM 360 Design.

Is a free trial available for the Collaboration for Civil 3D functionality?

At this time, there is no free trial available for Collaboration for Civil 3D. You can, however, sign up for a trial of BIM 360 Design for Revit collaboration workflows here.

Where is the Collaboration for Civil 3D user interface?

There is no specific interface for Collaboration for Civil 3D in BIM 360. In Civil 3D, the Start tab has a BIM 360 page that allows you to navigate projects and open design documents. Documents, data shortcuts, and external references associated with a Civil 3D project are also visible through BIM 360 Document Management.

Does Collaboration for Civil 3D work with the Design Collaboration module within BIM 360?

No, Collaboration for Civil 3D does not work with the Design Collaboration module currently.

Does this new functionality affect my customer’s already established Civil 3D workflows?

There is no impact on teams working on non-BIM 360 projects, for example, local project folder, project stored on a shared network drive.

How do contract admins activate the Collaboration for Civil 3D entitlement?

Collaboration for Civil 3D is an entitlement included in BIM 360 Design. All current and new subscribers to BIM 360 Design will have access to Collaboration for Civil 3D.  Contract managers will need to assign and manage the Collaboration for Civil 3D entitlement in the same way that the Revit Cloud Worksharing entitlement is assigned and managed today.

  • If a user already has Revit Cloud Worksharing and wants access to Collaboration for Civil 3D, what should they do?
    Collaboration for Civil 3D is not automatically enabled. In Autodesk Accounts, the contract manager would have to go to User Management to assign the entitlement to a user. Assigning the Revit Cloud Worksharing entitlement does NOT give the user automatic access to Collaboration for Civil 3D.
  • What are the steps to give them access?
    See How Do I Access Autodesk Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Do I have to pay for a user to access and use BIM 360 Design when they are outside my company or organization?

BIM 360 Design uses the “bring your own subscription” (BYOS) policy. To learn more, read this.

Note: The Bring Your Own Subscription (BYOS) policy defines access to modules and services within BIM 360 Design. BYOS does not apply to other BIM 360 product subscriptions.

Does the Bring Your Own Subscription (BYOS) policy for BIM 360 Design apply to Collaboration for Civil 3D?

Yes, it does. The BYOS policy applies to BIM 360 Design and therefore its entitlements. The policy applies in the same way as it applies to Revit Cloud Worksharing.

Can I share design data with stakeholders that don’t have BIM 360 Design?

A license to BIM 360 Document Management is required for simple file sharing of Civil 3D projects. If you need full data shortcut functionality, then a subscription to BIM 360 Design is required.

Does Collaboration for Civil 3D work with BIM 360 Team?

No, BIM 360 Team and next-gen BIM 360 are two different data platforms.

How does Collaboration for Civil 3D differ from Revit Cloud Worksharing?

Revit Cloud Worksharing is a design method that allows multiple team members to work on the same cloud hosted project model at the same time. Team members can co-author the same Revit model any time, from anywhere, by checking out worksets (which contain groups of elements) from the central cloud model.?Collaboration for Civil 3D enables the authoring of Civil 3D DWGs hosted in BIM 360 while maintaining the connection to the data shortcuts.

Civil 3D uses DWG files to store civil objects. Only one person can edit a DWG at a time, that is why most Civil 3D projects are broken down into several DWG files and then referenced into one another using Data Shortcuts and XREFs.

What’s the role of Desktop Connector?

Desktop Connector is required for Collaboration for Civil 3D. Desktop Connector provides desktop file syncing between Civil 3D and BIM 360.

Where does Desktop Connector store the data on my local machine?

Desktop Connector creates a local cache of BIM 360 projects under the user’s computer profile. For example: C:\Users\”UserName”\BIM 360

I have a monthly, annual, or 3-year subscription to BIM 360 Design. How is my subscription affected?

There is no impact to these subscriptions to BIM 360 Design. The entitlement to Collaboration for Civil will be made available to all subscribers of BIM 360 Design.


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