Two tier (nested linking) is a typical workflow employed in large buildings where apartment layouts are repeatedly used as links throughout the building. As the 2-Tier apartment layouts are updated, the 1-Tier model is also updated. After the design is locked down, the links are then bound.
When structuring model linking in Revit on a local area network, the capabilities of Revit are different from when you do the same within the Autodesk Construction Cloud. Much of this has to do with the status of the file as a cloud model, be that worksheet or not.
Revit cloud files are special because they resolve the full path upon linking as a cloud reference and avail themselves to be updated on a yearly basis at the click of a button. This is useful for a company that manages a portfolio of designs that are kept current so that they may be worked on in future versions of Revit.
The preferred way of sharing models and information is in line with BIM Level 2 Compliancy requirements. This exposes the different disciplines collaborating on the design to the least amount of risk.
A work in progress (WIP) folder exists for a task team to prepare their model. In the work in progress folder the design team usually has edit permissions and nobody else has access.
The models are then copied to the shared folder in which recipients have view and download permissions. The shared folder is versioned upon each successive upload or sharing of the relevant files that can be slip sheeted and that serve as a record of the truth (what is colloquially referred to as the one version of the truth).
A consumed folder is a subfolder within the work in progress folder that inherits the permissions of the work in progress folder (access may only be increased for the permission holders in the parent folder and not decreased).
When information is consumed it is copied from the WIP folders and into the consumed folders of the design teams over which they then have edit permissions. Should there ever be a conflict over the shady information the one version of the truth serves as a record of the truth and privacy agreements are in place to resolve these situations.
There are complications when you link 2-tier linking within the cloud. The workaround in the cloud could be one of two solutions.
Solution one is to work at risk and to give other task teams view and download permissions on the work in progress folder of the sharing team. A real possibility exists then for the other task teams to base their work on information that is not yet ready to be shared. This is not the approach that I recommend.
Solution two requires a bit of extra work from the sharing team.
The second-tier files are created as cloud models in the work in progress folder. The 2-tier models in the WIP folder are linked into the 1-tier model in the WIP folder. When the files are shared, the second-tier models are shared in a first tranche.
Before the 1-tier model is shared:
• The second-tier links must be re-pathed to the second-tier models that was shared in tranche 1.
• The second-tier links must be set to attached.
If you need help adopting the AEC Collection or the Autodesk Construction Cloud in your practice or if you are looking to invest in hardware, please contact Micrographics so that we may be of assistance.
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