In an email, I was asked about placing ArchiCAD Projects on the BIM Server
that had been begun as solo PLN files. Who should do this? Is that something that I need to do, or is it something that any of us can do? This brings up a couple of things
I’ve wanted to go over with you all.
First, I am trying to
maintain a spreadsheet that lists all of our Projects which are being done in
ArchiCAD. It is kept on a server that is Read-Only to most ArchiCAD Users, so I
would ask that each of you, if you are working in a solo ArchiCAD PLN file,
please send me a quick email with the file’s Project Name and Number, which version of ArchiCAD it
is in, and its Category (Architecture, Interiors, Proposal, etc), so that I can
add it to the list. See a partial screenshot of the list
below (Project Names are hidden here):
Second, if you are
working on a Project by yourself, simply using a PLN save in the Project
Directory on the F: drive is perfectly fine, but when the time comes that the
file needs to be accessed by more than one person at a time, you can either let
me know and I’ll be happy to Share your Project onto the BIM Server so that it
can be accessed by multiple users as a Teamwork Project, or you are welcome to
Share solo Projects to the BIM Server yourself, following the steps outlined
below:
Go to the main Floor
Plan View in the View Map portion of the Navigator. Then center the Floor Plan
on screen.
ArchiCAD is going
to remember the state of View Map, Layout Book, and Publisher Sets – it is going
to keep each folder either open or closed as it is when the file is Shared to
the BIM Server, so next collapse or expand the View Map, Layout Book, and Publisher
Sets as you’d like them to be once it is a Teamwork Project on the BIM Server
(see the screenshots below, and the one above – I like to keep the main Floor
Plans expanded in the View Map, the Architectural Subset expanded in the Layout
Book, and the Layouts to PDF Publisher Set active). Incidentally, ArchiCAD is
going to keep everything in the Project Map expanded, so you can ignore that
one.
Also, ArchiCAD is going
to remember which windows you leave open. You only want the Floor Plan
window to open. This will minimize the number of Model Views that ArchiCAD
needs to generate when you open the file. So, with the main Floor Plan window
active, go to the Window menu, and if you have more windows displaying at the
bottom of the menu other than just the Floor Plan (like the 3D Window, a
Schedule, and A4.01 in the screenshot below), click Close All Background
Windows. These steps are also recommended routine daily practice in ArchiCAD
prior to saving and closing, in order to minimize the number of background Views
needing to be updated.
Now you can Share your
Project to the BIM Server by selecting Teamwork à Project
à
Share:
Next, be sure win-bim-2
is selected for the Server, verify the Project Number and Project Name (double
check the spelling too), and pick a Category (usually either Architectural or Interiors
Studio, or maybe Proposals if it is a PWS Project Number).
Then click Backup
options…, change .BIMProject to Run every 1 Day(s) and uncheck the option to
Regularly create .PLN backups.
Then click OK, and then
Share.
Again, I am happy to
Share your Project to the BIM Server if you would
rather not.
Once ArchiCAD has
placed your Project on the BIM Server and Joined you to the Project, then you
can save your first Manual Backup by clicking File > Save As
> Browse to the Manual
Backup folder in the Project’s directory at F:\Proj\xx-xxxx\Drawings\!ArchiCAD
Documents\1 Project Model\Manual Backup and save your Manual Backup PLN in the
format: Date, Project Number, Project Name (2014-04-30 14-0000 Test Project.pln,
and you can delete the ArchiCAD-added indication of who has saved the Backup
when you save a PLN from a Teamwork file, the [win-bim-2-brian.spears] that it
automatically adds to the Project Name).
Alternatively, you can simply Cut the
PLN you had been using from the Project Model folder in the directory and Paste
it into the Manual Backup folder and insert the date in the file
name.
Thank you for following
these procedures as we continually attempt to keep Project structure and logic
consistent across all our ArchiCAD Projects.
