Create and edit zones

Before you begin

• Zones are created or edited from a clash space. You'll need to set up a clash space first. 
• Zones support IFC and Revit models uploaded to the Document Register.
• Your organization requires permission to create and edit zones. See Project settings in Models.
• All zones are connected to form the zone breakdown. There cannot be any voids or gaps within the zone breakdown. This means individual zones cannot be deleted.

Create a zone breakdown

Zones are created or edited from a clash space. You'll need to have clash space first before setting up zones. 

1. Give your zone breakdown a name, and select a Model (for example a structural model) to be the primary reference for the zone breakdown. It’s important to use a model that covers the full area you'll be using in Clash. This will help create the geometry of zones.
2. Click Create to continue, and you’ll be taken to the zone editing screen.

Edit a zone breakdown

When a zone breakdown has been created for the first time, a single zone is generated around the model geometry. You can configure your zone breakdown to match your project delivery program using the following tools:

• Adjust the boundaries of zones by moving vertical edges, and their height by moving top/bottom surfaces.
• Split zone by level to quickly create zones based on levels in the model.
• Merge to quickly combine multiple adjacent zones into a single zone.
• Cut new zones using the shape of selected objects to create more complex zone volumes.
• Show/hide zones to help focus editing on specific zones, very helpful when cutting zones into other zones.
• Rename a zone or zone breakdown to match the breakdown of the building.
• Reorder zones to make them easier to manage, especially after using split, merge or cut.
• Undo any changes made to the geometry if you've made a mistake.

Zones and Objects

There are two modes when creating a zone breakdown - Zones and Objects mode. You can switch between modes at any time.

In Zones mode, only zones can be selected and edited. In Objects mode, object selection/deselection works the same way as zones.

Zones

• Use Zones mode to interact with zones.
• Select a zone by clicking it. It will become highlighted in the viewer and the list panel.
• Select multiple zones by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and clicking each desired zone. This can be done in the viewer or in the list panel. You can also hold Shift to select a range of zones in the left panel.
• Activate a menu by right clicking zone(s). The actions available in the menu will depend on your zone selection.
• Clear your selection by selecting another zone or pressing the Escape key.

Objects

• Use Objects mode to interact with model objects. Note that the list panel only displays zone details.
• Select an object by clicking it. It will become highlighted in the viewer.
• Select multiple objects by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and clicking each desired object in the viewer.
• Clear your selection by selecting another object or pressing the Escape key.

Below is an example of a selected object inside selected zones.

Adjust the boundaries of zones

The boundaries of zones can be adjusted to achieve the desired coverage across the model. You need to consider that this boundary will affect what Clash includes in the test results. All clashes outside the boundary of the zones breakdown will be excluded from the results 

The shape of the zone breakdown can be modified by moving and/or changing the number of vertical edges.

To move a vertical boundary, hover over a vertical edge then click and drag.

To add or remove vertical edges:

• Hover over a horizontal edge, then right-click and select New Vertical Edge.
• Hover over a vertical edge, then right-click and select Remove Vertical Edge.

Note: Vertical edges may not be removable if it means the shape of the zone breakdown may intersect itself. The zone breakdown must have a minimum of three vertical edges

To modify the height of a zone within the breakdown, hover over a horizontal edge then click and drag.

Split zone by level

Splitting by level is helpful to quickly break down the starting zone.  A single zone may be split using levels in the model if a significant level elevation is present inside the zone’s volume. 

There are two ways to action split zone by level:

• Left click to select a zone, and click the 'Split zone by level' icon, or,
• Right click a single zone, then select Split zone by level from the menu.

Merge zones

Merging is a handy way to simplify the number of zones in a breakdown, especially after using split zone by level. Zones can be merged when they are adjacent.

There are two ways to merge zones. Start by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and left click to select multiple adjacent zones, then:

• Click the merge icon, or, 
• Right click anywhere on the selected zones then select Merge selected from the menu.

Cut new zones by model objects

Use the Cut by objects tool to create a zone for a vertical shaft or similar. This tool uses the shape of selected objects in the model to create a new zone within selected zones.

For best results, use a perpendicular object to form the cut shape (for example, a rectangular shaped object). Currently, other shapes result in a simplified cut shape.

1. Make sure you have selected Zones mode. Zones can only be selected and edited when the viewer is in Zone mode. 
2. Select the zone(s) you would like the new zone to cut through. Left click to select a single zone or hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) and left click to select multiple adjacent zones. 

3. Change to Objects mode so that model objects can be selected.
4. Click on the desired object to form a shape.
5. (Optional) Show or hide zones to assist with selecting the desired zone/objects combination.
6. Once zones and object/s are selected, click the Cut by objects icon in the top right menu.

7. There are two methods for cutting a new zone by objects:

• Merge to a single zone: A new single zone will be created spanning across each selected zone, or,
• Cut new individual zones: New zones will be created per selected zone.
  An outline of the new zones will be projected onto the model so that you can preview it before proceeding with the cut action.

The steps for each method are detailed below.

Merge to a single zone
Choose this option if you require a single zone to span across multiple zones. The merge method requires selected zones to be adjacent. Perpendicular object shapes create the best results.

1. Click to enable Merge to a single zone.
2. Enter a name for the new zone.
3. Click Create.

The new zone appears in the left panel with the name you provided.

Cut new individual zones
Choose this option if a new zone needs to be cut inside each selected zone. Perpendicular object shapes create the best results.

1. Leave the Merge to a single zone toggle disabled.
2. Enter a suffix for each new zone. (the new zones will take the selected zone’s name and append the suffix e.g. ‘Level 1 - Shaft’)
3. Click Create.

The new zones appear in the left panel using the suffix provided.

Show / hide zones

Zones within the breakdown can be hidden from view to help focus on specific zones. When a zone is hidden, it will disappear from the viewer. You'll see an eye icon in the list panel. 

If zones are hidden while selected (from a left click), they will stay selected. Selected zones are highlighted in the list panel.

1. Select zone(s) to hide/show.
2. Right click and choose from the available options.

• Show/Hide: Toggles the visibility of the selected zones.
• Show/Hide everything else: Shows all other zones. If every other zone is already shown, then they are hidden.
• Show/Hide All: Shows all zones. If all zones are already shown, then they are all hidden.

3. Toggle zone visibility by clicking the eye icon on the list panel.

Rename a zone or zone breakdown

Zones are automatically named when they are generated. But, you can rename an individual zone or zone breakdown to make the zones easier to manage or better match the breakdown of the building or model.

Hover over the name and click the pencil icon to edit the zone or zone breakdown name. When you're done, click the tick icon to save the changes.

Re-order zones

Zones can be reordered in the list panel by selecting a zone, holding it and dragging it to another position in the list.

Undo or redo

Any edit in zones, for example, splitting, merging, moving boundaries, or cutting by objects can be undone or redone for up to 5 steps. 

The Undo and Redo buttons are in the top right toolbar menu in the viewer. When an undo or redo action is available, the icons will become active to click.

Submit the zone breakdown

Once you’re done editing the zones, click Submit in the top right header. This will save the zone breakdown for use in Clash in the Cloud.