Support ifc (stored in the cloud) in nested links in cloud worksharing

[Orsolya.Balazs]

On behalf of a customer from Germany let me post the following wish:

Currently IFC files, stored in the cloud,  won't appear through nested links in a cloud worksharing model. Request is allow the support of IFC through nested links in cloud worksharing.

This issue impact not only ifc, but non-workshared nested links as well. See this article.

[benschilders]

@r.waandersEF3FP 

Deffinitly gonna try the open IFC method instead of linking it to create a RVT. (1Gb to 30MB is astonishing)

Do you use the IFC add in from Autodesk, just curious ? 
OFFTOPIC:
Also if you are working with Archicad partners i really recommend the Graphisoft IFC export extension.
It helps with making the IFC more compatible when imported in Archicad for your partners.

The method of opening more than one Revit session is the same method i use it really helps speeding up the process,
instead of waiting your'e stil working and the process keeps running, even better when you use the empty spare pc (if the company has un used pc's, we have because of a dismissal, so thats the way i do it.)

Keep u the postive vibes and togheter we might get the best out of the Autodesk products 👌

[r.waandersEF3FP]

@benschilders  Yes I use the IFC add on from the Autodesk App Store. Beside that, I use a standarized and optimized IFC template and IFC im- and export mapping table. The problem with IFC's is that the quality of it depends on how a third party exports it from their software. If that's done not properly...you can fill in the rest. 

[paavo.idman]

This is actually a part of a larger problem. Which is that non-cloud workshared models are not visible as links when viewing an actual cloud workshared model in browser.

Usually this means .RVT files converted from IFC files but it can be something else too. E.g. Tekla can export structural models as .RVT files but that doesn't help if it's not a cloud workshared model.

And initiating models as cloud workshared models every time they get updated is unnecessarily burdensome and I think it also requires you to delete the previous model in BIM 360 because you can't initiate a new one on top of the old one with the same name.

One other option that we have tried to look into is to save those converted RVT files with Save as Cloud Model function. But we haven't been able to test if those would be visible in browser as links or if you can save an updated RVT directly on top of the old one because that of course requires some other license that is not included in the BIM 360 Design license ("Cloud Models for Revit" instead of "Revit Cloud Worksharing" https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles... ).

[charl.maraisJGPAX]

@Anonymous, PLEASE consider resolving the inability of bim 360 to handle linked IFC files. On our current multidisciplinary civil infrastructure project, we have literally 100s of IFC files that get updated weekly and simply don't have the time to open each Revit file separately to create workshared cloud models. Hence, we are forced to keep these IFC files offline on our local server - not ideal for collaboration, especially in this pandemic-age 😉

[charl.maraisJGPAX]

This is hardly a novel idea and it has been flagged since the inception of bim 360. Please sort this out as a matter of urgency............ no, the workarounds don't work with nested linked IFC files and the notion of manually creating workshared models of hundreds of weekly updated IFC files, is not an option.

[kimberly_fuhrman-jones]

Hi, @charl.maraisJGPAX ,

Here is a similar Idea: Support ifc (stored in the cloud) in nested links in cloud worksharing - Autodesk Community

If you think they are similar enough, I will combine this one with yours.

Thank you for your submission!

Kimberly

[federica.delsanto_SGB]

Is there any solutiuon about this topic nowadays? 

[Viveka_CD]

Adding this request from one of our enterprise customers based in the UK

They are asking for IFC files to be managed in BIM 360 as if they were native Revit or AutoCAD files.

[kimberly_fuhrman-jones]

REVIT-126918 and REVIT-167696

[almeidaandre]

What is the best method to work with IFC on Collaborate Pro (Revit 2020)?

[Kris_McIsaac]

As another large enterprise customer I want to put my support behind this request.  We are also working on large infrastructure projects and others like Pharma and water with IFC files from multiple other platforms.  The current workflow (workaround!!) is a huge burden to the projects.  Nesting and updating IFC links needs to be as simple as with .DWG.  

[Roger_Feste-Symetri]

We have several customer having the same issues. Showing linked IFCs should not be an issue at all. 

Everyone are working with IFCs alle the time. This needs to be fixed.

[kimberly_fuhrman-jones]

Congrats! We think this is a great idea, so we've decided to add it to our roadmap. Thanks for the suggestion!

To follow the progress of features in development, please see the Revit Public Roadmap and join the Revit Preview Release to participate in feature testing. (Note that Accepted Ideas may not be immediately available.)

The Factory

[shaun.r.clough]

@kimberly_fuhrman-jones Can you link the exact feature in the Roadmap here?  There are 3 Revit roadmaps with multiple worksteams in each and I could not locate the specific feature request.

[kimberly_fuhrman-jones]

@shaun.r.clough ,

As stated in my post, Accepted Ideas may not be immediately available on the public roadmaps, however they have been included in our teams' internal roadmap. Confusing, I know, but once it hits a certain point in development (I don't know when), it will be added to the public roadmaps and Revit Preview.

[shaun.r.clough]

@benschilders and @r.waandersEF3FP I understand your workflows, however how do you manage change when the IFC files are updated?   Currently, you cannot overwrite a cloud work sharing or save to cloud Revit models.  Which forces you to delete the previous IFC.RVT and create a brand new one, which creates a new GUID in BIM 360, which plays havoc with Model Coordination and Assemble.

[asWAPL9]

hey Autodesk, how about a better workflow? 🙂

[NelsonSanchezGiraldo]

Autodesk, facilite el Open BIM, consideren permitir el reconocimiento de vínculos IFC dentro de la ACC

[MiWolff]

@Orsolya.Balazs @kimberly_fuhrman-jones Almost a year since the 'acceptance', is there an update yet?

[kimberly_fuhrman-jones]

Per the product team, we are pleased to say that this has been implemented in Revit 2025! Thank you for your contribution to improving Revit!

 -The Factory