Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up a BIM 360 Design Trial

April 23, 2020 Jeremy Smith

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Autodesk has extended customers' access to a BIM 360 Design trial until May 31, 2020.

As specified in the trial FAQ's, companies that do not already have paid BIM 360 Design licenses can have one user sign up for the trial.  He/she as the Account Admin can then invite other users to the site projects, which will give them access to the trial.

Following are the steps for a user to sign up for the trial, create BIM 360 projects, and add team members.

Signing up and activating trial

1.  Browse to  https://bim360.autodesk.com/bim-360-design-trial/

2.  Complete the form (pictured below).

BIM 360 Trial form

3.  After submitting the form, you will receive an email inviting you to activate your BIM 360 Account.  Click on the "Activate your account" button.

Activation email contents

4.  Upon activating the account, you will be redirected to the Account Administration page for your BIM 360 Site (example pictured below).

Account Admin page

 

Adding Projects

1.  From the Account Admin page, select the Projects tab from the menu

2.  Click Add

Add Project button

3.  Fill in the required fields (marked by an *) of the Project Profile form.  Type a project name and select a project type.  These and the other fields can be edited after the project is created.

Project Profile

4.  Click Save & continue

5.  On the Activate Services screen, start by selecting Activate for Document Management service (required before any other service can be activated).

6.  Assign yourself as the project administrator by typing in your email address, and click Save.

Activate Doc Mngmnt

7.  Repeat the same steps for Design Collaboration.

8.  Click Finish.

Add Members to Project

1.  Confirm that you are in the Project Admin module.  If you are not or unsure, click on the Module Selector button and select Project Admin.

Project Admin menu

2.  Click on the Members tab and select Add. 

Project Admin - Member tab - Add
 

3.  Enter an email address, and hit the TAB or Enter key.  Enter additional emails as needed.

Add member steps

4.  Once email addresses are entered, click on Select.

Add to project button

5.  You can leave Company and Role fields empty.  Assign each member to the services by clicking on the Ø symbol under each service to show active user icon.  (For more about adding project members, review the information here.)

6.  When finished select Add to Project.  (Users will receive an email invitation to the project once this step is complete).

Create a Team

1.  From the Project Admin page, select the Services tab

Add team button

2.  Select the Design Collaboration service from the menu on the left

3.  Select Add Team

Name team

4.  Type in a name for the team, and click Add

5.  The team will be created, and the members that were added to the project will be automatically included in the team.

6.  To verify/manage the members in the team and their permission level, select the team checkbox, and select Manage team members.

Confirming Trial License of BIM 360

The user who set up the trial and individuals who were added to the project per the instructions above will be assigned a trial license of BIM 360 Design in their Autodesk Account. (Note:  invited members must click on the link in the email they receive to access the project and be assigned a trial license).

To verify that you have a trial license:

1.  Sign into your Autodesk Account at manage.autodesk.com

2.  Click on Trials on the left-hand side

3.  Verify that BIM 360 Design is listed

BIM 360 Trial - autodesk account

 

Please note that the above steps do not cover every aspect of BIM 360 account or project administration.

For more details you can review the content here: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/bim-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/BIM-360-Design-Getting-Started.html

About the Author

Jeremy Smith

Sr. Technical Support Specialist, AEC<br><br>Jeremy has been delivering service and technical support to customers in the AEC industry for over 25 years. He gained much of his AutoCAD/Revit experience serving as CAD Manager at multiple MEP/FP engineering firms in the Greater Boston Area. He then worked at Autodesk as a Technical Support Specialist, eventually becoming a manager overseeing the Revit and Vault support teams. Jeremy is excited to be in his current role as Sr. Technical Support Specialist at IMAGINiT, as it allows him the opportunity to work directly with customers every day and help them successfully leverage Autodesk’s solutions to achieve their business goals.

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