- [Instructor] In this video, we're going to talk
about the third way to link Revit models
to one another in a BIM 360 workflow
and that is the package/consumed method.
So we've already talked about the other two direct link
and package/shared in previous videos.
So you are welcome to review those
if you want to learn more.
But just what do we mean by the package/consumed workflow?
Well it is similar to the other workflows in
that we will start with the notion
that we have a host model and some other model
that we want to link into it.
Now the linked model is usually a live version
within a team.
So a team is working in
that model in a live situation making changes
and saving updates as they go along.
Now when the time comes that they want to share
that work with an outside team,
this is when they would need
to perform a few steps in BIM 360.
So the first and most important step is
that they need to publish their model
at whatever state it's saved that
and then create a package from that model.
Now this is similar to what we had to do
in the other workflow that we looked at in a previous video,
the package/shared workflow,
and at that point the link model gets copied
to the shared folder
and that will happen in this workflow as well.
The difference is that the recipients
in the host model will ignore the copy
that's in the shared folder and instead,
they will review the package on BIM 360
and if they are satisfied with the contents of it,
they will consume it
and at the moment they consume that package
it will move over to the consumed folder.
So a copy of it will be made in that location
and then that copy is what they will actually link
to in Revit.
So when you create these packages,
they are actually available in both locations
either the shared folder or the consumed folder.
So the trick is for the folks on the receiving end,
the folks in the host file
to decide which workflow they want to use.
So you really don't want to have some people linking
to the shared folder and other people linking
to the consume folder within your team,
each team really ought to decide one or the other workflow.
Now it's perfectly fine
if different teams choose different things
but within the team I think it makes the most amount
of sense for everybody to be doing it the same way.
So that's the basic idea of the workflow,
now let's take a look at it in practice.
For this example, I'm going to show you linking the MEP model
into the architecture but you could use any two models
for this demonstration
so you don't have to have the same project files as me
or the same setup as I do.
So I'm going to start here logged in as Deshi
and working in the architecture model
and then I will go to the Insert tab and click link Revit.
So as we saw in earlier videos,
it takes takes me right to the Nadia's Garden folder
and shows me the folders for my team,
in this case architecture and the shared folder as well.
Now we're not going to use the shared folder for this workflow
because we want to look at the consumed workflow.
So we're going to ignore shared
and this time, double click into the architecture folder
and there you'll see a consumed folder.
Now if I double click into the consumed folder,
here's where our first snag comes in.
It's currently empty.
Now the reason it's empty is one of two possibilities,
either none of the members
of our extended project team have actually created packages
for us yet or we have not consumed those packages
that they have created for us.
So either way, those two things need to happen
before anything will appear here in the consumed folder.
So I will cancel this, get on the phone
and have a conversation with my MEP engineer
and request that they send over a package.
So I'm here in BIM 360
and I'm logged in as Freya, my MEP designer
and that takes us to the MEP team space here
in design collaboration.
Now at the top of the screen here, there's this menu
that you can expand that will display the timelines
or what are sometimes referred to as the swim lanes
and what this will show you is your own team
and then any other teams that you have access to
but almost everybody will see a shared lane
in addition to their own lane.
So here on the MEP lane,
what you're seeing is any activities
that have taken place for that team in this project
and you can see the square symbol here indicates
that there was a model published back in that location
and then notice here, there's this open circle,
it's kind of a dotted circle.
So this is the start of a package
that Freya has begun creating
to share with the architectural team.
So I'm going to click that open circle
and the open circle simply means
that the package has not yet been shared.
So when we click on it,
it will actually open that package
and allow us to edit its contents
and as I mentioned in a previous video,
you are able to delete a package
until the point when it actually gets shared
and then it becomes permanent.
So if Freya changed her mind
and she wanted to delete this package,
then that's an option at this point.
Now she's got the package pretty much ready to go.
It contains a model and it's ready to share
with the architects except for the problem
that right here you can see that it says
that I do not have sufficient permissions
to share packages with other teams.
So you may recall when we set up our projects
that one of the steps was to create teams
and at that time we created permissions based
on either individual users, their roles or their companies.
So the way that the MEP team is set up is
that anybody who joins the company,
MEP Co. international gets added to this team
but they have view and edit permissions.
So currently, there's nobody
on the MEP team with share permissions.
So Freya contacts the BIM manager let's say
and says I need to have share level permissions
so I can share my package with the architectural team.
So let's take a look at what that would look like.
So I'm at Zachary's desk now and he's the BIM manager
and he's got this request to elevate Freya's permissions.
So on the module picker here,
all he has to do is choose project admin
and then either check the box here next to MEP
and manage team members
or simply click the link over here in the members column,
either one would do the same thing
and that would give us to the manage members
for MEP team.
Next he could elevate the access rights
for the entire MEP Co
or if he wants to keep it limited
to just an individual user,
he could begin typing Freya's name,
select her, change her level of permissions
to view, edit and share
and then add her to the project.
So even though she was part of the project already
as part of MEP Co,
this will elevate her level
of permission higher than her coworkers.
So now whenever anyone from MEP Co wants
to create a package,
they will give that task to Freya,
she's become the designated individual for that task.
So now let's go back to Freya's desk
and finish sharing the package.
So we're back here at Freya's desk,
I'll expand the swim lanes again,
select the unshared package and notice
that Freya now has access to the share button.
So it's as simple as clicking share,
giving it a description if she wishes
and then clicking the share button.
Now in this case I had the package all ready
to go before we shared it.
If you're unsure about exactly what a package is
and how to create one then you can go back
and review an earlier video on that subject.
It would be exactly the same process here.
The only thing that was different
was needing the permissions
to the share button in order to finish the process.
So now that we've shared the package,
Freya can contact the architect and let them know
that a package is available.
Okay, so we're back at Deshi's desk now
and she's had a conversation with Freya, the MEP engineer
and Freya has sent over a package
and so now Deshi is ready to link in that model
that was included in the package or is she?
Well, let's find out.
So what we're going to do is go to the Insert tab,
click link Revit.
Go into the architecture folder, the consumed folder
and it's still empty.
So at this point,
Deshi is probably getting a little bit frustrated
but remember, this is called the package/consumed workflow,
which means that there's a step
that needs to be performed by both parties.
So the party with the link file has to create the package,
the party with the host file has to consume the package.
So Freya and MEP have created the package.
but until Deshi, an architecture consume the package,
it won't be available to them.
So I will cancel this one more time
and let's go out to BIM 360.
So I'm in BIM 360.
I'm in the design collaboration module
and this time I'm logged in as Deshi.
So of course that takes me
to the architecture team space by default
and let's expand the timelines or the swim lanes
and take a look at what's available here.
Now this is our timeline, architecture.
We're not concerned with that at the moment.
What we're concerned with is the stuff
that has been shared with us.
Now you can see it's all just grouped together under shared
but if you click this little down arrow a second time,
it will actually expand it out into each team.
Now in this case, it's only MEP
that has shared something with us.
So all it really does is change the name
but if structure and civil
and other teams had shared stuff with us,
it would actually expand them out
and give each one of them their own lane.
But either way, whether it says shared here or MEP, notice
that there's an open circle here called preliminary layout
when I hover over it and that's the package
that MEP has shared with me.
So all I need to do is select it and then consume it.
So I'll click consume right here
and it tells me I'm about to consume it, are you sure?
I will go ahead and confirm
that by clicking consume again.
The open circle will change to a new symbol,
we actually get the hybrid symbol.
If you click on that it expands it open
and you can see that we have our consumed package here
and then the contents of
that consumed package contained an MEP model.
So the circle is the package and the square is the model.
So now finally, we can switch back to Revit
and then here in Revit, I can click link Revit.
Go to the architecture folder, go to the consumed folder
and now there'll be an MEP folder in there
because we've now consumed this package
and finally, I'll select the MEP model
and add that by clicking open.
And you can see
that several diffusers have now appeared here
on the ceiling, indicating that I have successfully linked
in that MEP model.
So no doubt you're looking at this workflow
and feeling like it's a bit complicated
and I could understand your feeling that way.
Remember that we have two possible package workflows
that we can use, package/shared or package/consumed.
So with package/consumed,
you are deliberately making the decision
to say I want to postpone the receiving of updates
from my outside consultants until I'm ready for them.
But by making that decision you are adding
that extra step of the requirement of consuming the package.
If you feel like that extra step is unnecessary
or is too complicated,
then you can choose not to use the consumed workflow
and instead use the shared workflow
that we looked at previously.
In that case, there's fewer steps
and it's the team that creates the package
that decides when an update becomes available
and it happens the moment they share it
without consuming being necessary.
So I encourage you to consider both workflows
and try them out in your own projects
and see which one works best for you and your team.