Autodesk VIZ produces rich visualizations based on your drawing design data. In order to produce high-quality visualizations, you need to add and adjust many design variables that affect the visual impact of your design, but don't really belong in your core AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, or Revit data. You may want to test your design under different lighting conditions, experiment with different texture and material effects, animate components, or move through a space. Autodesk VIZ allows you to enhance your design with this “extra” data while maintaining the integrity of the underlying AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, or Revit design.

Using the File Link Manager, Autodesk VIZ maintains a live data link to AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, or drawings exported from Revit that allows you to use the linked object data in your Autodesk VIZ scene. You can perform various operations on this linked data in Autodesk VIZ for visualization purposes, but nothing you do in Autodesk VIZ will change the base data you see in the source application. The data link allows you to periodically refresh your Autodesk VIZ scene with revised drawing data.

If a live data link is not important to you, the DWG/DXF Import functionality processes drawings, exported from Revit, in the same intelligent way as the File Link Manager. You just don't have the benefit of the live data link.