Tekla Structures 2025 introduces the Live Collaboration functionality as a Preview feature. In Trimble Connect, Live Collaboration is labeled as Beta. To find out more, see Preview features in Tekla Structures 2025.

As a part of the review process, Tekla Structures users can share their model modifications live to other Tekla Structures and Trimble Connect users, and see the modifications and the navigation of other collaborators in their Tekla Structures model. Model changes are visible to all collaborators, but each user can edit only their own model. This means that you can see other users' model objects as an overlay among your model objects in Tekla Structures, but you cannot edit them or convert them to native Tekla Structures objects. Trimble Connect users can also share models which are stored in the Trimble Connect project.

Prerequisites for a live collaboration session

Before you can start using Live Collaboration, the following prerequisites must be met:

• Your Tekla Structures model needs to be linked to a Trimble Connect project. See instructions here: Link a Tekla Structures model to a Trimble Connect project.

• Invite your collaborators to the Trimble Connect project. All the collaborators using either Tekla Structures or Trimble Connect need to be members of the same Trimble Connect project to be able to join the same Live Collaboration session. See instructions here: Inviting users.
• In Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer, go to Settings and enable the Live Collaboration extension. The Live Collaboration functionalities then become available.

Start a live collaboration session in Tekla Structures

1. In the Tekla Structures side pane, click to open the Live Collaboration side pane window.

2. To start a live collaboration session, click next to the Start a session or join a session with a link box.

   If needed, you can enter a name for the session. Otherwise the session name will consist of the date of the session.

   Sessions can be started both in Tekla Structures or in Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer. The same sessions appear to the list of sessions in the Live Collaboration side pane, regardless of the application where the session was started. The collaborators using Tekla Structures or Trimble Connect for Browser can then join the same session.

   You can join any of the sessions that are visible in the side pane. The model names, collaborator names, and the used application names are visible for each collaborator. To join an existing session, click next to the session name.

   Collaborators can join the same session multiple times, from different applications, devices, or using different instances of the same application. If needed, you can also share the link of the session, for example, in a calendar invite or in an email.

   Note that the sessions always take place within a single Trimble Connect project. To change the Trimble Connect project where the session happens, first unlink the Tekla Structures model from the current Trimble Connect project in File > Trimble Connect > Exclude from collaboration. Then, link the Tekla Structures model to a different Trimble Connect project.

3. When the session has started, click Share to add your model to the session and make it visible to other collaborators.

   

4. Start working in the model or follow other collaborators.

   To	Do this
   Follow other collaborators' camera movements in the model	The camera movements of each collaborator are shown in the model as a head with a hard hat symbol , with the collaborator's name next to it. The symbol is only shown to other collaborators if you are using the perspective projection in your model. If you are using the orthogonal projection, the head with a hard hat symbol is not shown to others in the 3D view.
   Follow other collaborators in the model	To follow another collaborator in the model, click the profile picture next to the collaborator's name in the side pane window. The profile picture gets a blue highlight. To stop following your collaborator, click the profile picture again.
   Force other collaborators to follow your camera in the model	Click to force others to follow your camera movements in the model. Other collaborators can see that you have locked the presenter state. To stop the enforced following, click again.
   Highlight the parts in the model that are zoomed in and selected	Zoom in and select parts in the model. The selected parts are highlighted in light blue, visible to all participants in the session, whether they are using Tekla Structures or Trimble Connect.
   Enter the private space	If you do not wish other collaborators to see you in the model, click to enter the private space. To exit the private space and make your changes visible again, click .
   Join the same session in Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer	In Tekla Structures, go to the Trimble Connect ribbon tab and select For Browser > 3D view to open Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer. Join the session in the 3D viewer.
   Share reference models	Tekla Structures cannot share locally stored reference models in a session. Ensure that all reference models used by Tekla Structures are available in the Trimble Connect project. However, a collaborator joining from Trimble Connect can share a new 3D model in the project during a session.
   Show reference models that have been added to the session	Click the eye icon to show or hide the reference models. To fit the model to the 3D view, click the three dots and select Fit to view.
   Add markups to the model in a session and share the markups in Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer	Join the same session in Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer and use the 3D viewer markup and measurement tools.
   Invite other collaborators to the session in Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer	In Trimble Connect for Browser 3D viewer, click the Copy session link button and share the link with other collaborators. The collaborators need to be members of the Trimble Connect project to be able to join the session.
   Give feedback	In the upper right corner, click to give feedback on Live Collaboration and help to improve the tool.

5. To leave the session, click .

   If you want to return to a session, click next to the session name.

6. To delete a session, click next to the session name.

Compatibility in Tekla Structures and Trimble Connect

The following table lists some functionalities and their Live Collaboration compatibility in Tekla Structures and Trimble Connect.