Linking to Consumed Folder vs Shared Folder with Controlled Sharing

[revit02]

Hi All,

I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between linking to the Consumed Folder on BIM360 vs the Shared Folder.

This is how I understand it so far:

• if you want to control how a project is linked, updated and shared, you can do one of 3 methods.
  • Live Linking
  • Shared Packages
  • Consumed Packages
  • Also, you can publish models to 360.
• Shared packages are uploaded to the Shared Folder location on the cloud, once you create the package and share it.
• Consumed models are uploaded to the Consumed Folder location on the cloud, once you consume a package that has been shared.

if the project is using the Consumed method, and I have access to the Shared Folder, does it matter if I link my backgrounds to the Shared folder instead of the Consumed folder? Or is it only dependent of the folder permissions that the team lead gives the other collaborators?

We are linked to the shared folder instead of consumed. If they have a chance to have different backgrounds than each other, then we should reload from the right location (which will lose all our room tags). But, if there is no difference, we will leave them linked as is.

Does that make sense?

Thanks all!

[dmiller_SCE]

The major difference is that if you link from the shared folder as soon as the linked model is published the link will update automatically in your model. If you link to the Consumed folder you have another level of control and must select to update(consume) the published linked model into your model. 

[revit02]

ok, so if the team has agreed to consume all of the models as the accepted method, but we are linked to the Shared folder Location, we are still seeing the same models that get consumed, correct? They just update in both the Shared and Consumed location as part of the same process?

[dmiller_SCE · Accepted solution]

If everyone is linked to the shared folder, then there is no need to consume the model because as soon as someone publishes the model, the model in the shared folder is updated automatically.  Which, if I understand, is the folder that everyone is linking from.  If your links are linked to the consumed folder, you would need to consume the model to see the new version of the linked models. Theoretically speaking, you could have different versions of the models in the shared folder vs. the consumed folder.  However, because you are not linked to the consumed folder, it doesn't matter. 

[fabiosato · Accepted solution]

Hello,

My suggestion is to link from consumed folder.

In a project I worked, for some reason the architecture model got corrupted, because of this, all users that were linking from the shared folder, could not open their models until they BIM360 manager made a previous non corrupted version as current. If you use the consumed folder, usually you have permission to do it by yourself in the consumed folder.

[revit02]

Thanks all,

From what I can tell, it doesn't matter location-wise where to link the model from. The consumed folder can be different from the shared location, only if you haven't consumed the model. The shared model always gets updated and will always have the latest. 

However, everyone is linked to consumed on this project. After our next submission, I will relink to Consumed to avoid the condition that @fabiosato indicated could happen. If there is a corruption, I want to be as far from liable as possible. It's just painful, because it appears we lose all our room tag links from the Arch model when we link to the consumed folder. Just one of those things that should have been done right from the beginning!

Thanks again for your advice everyone!

[aoffak]

Question what is benefit of shared linking vs just doing direct linking but limit permission of one discipline accessing another's folder to edit? I under consumed folder and being able to control when to take that data in, but i can't understand the advantage of shared vs direct with folders locked more down

[dmiller_SCE]

One advantage of using a shared model over a direct link is that it can prevent unnecessary changes by others. For instance, imagine an architect is fine-tuning the details of a building's ceiling height, making multiple adjustments over time. If MEP consultants directly link to the architect's model, they would see every single change. Without proper coordination, the MEP consultants might feel compelled to continuously update their ceiling components. However, with the shared method, the MEP consultants would only see the final, refined version once the architect shares the model.