Cleaning up Revit files for Export to Navisworks

If you are having difficulties exporting large Revit files to NWC, or just want to clean up your files prior to export then this article gives some tips about how.

1. Create a new View in Revit specifically for Navisworks, then in the Visibility Overrides of the view switch off things you won't need such as Lines, or specific details that won't be needed for your TimeLiner Simulation or Clash Detection.
   
   

   Once you have created your View, you can save this as a template for future use.
   
   
   Then when exporting, change Export to 'Current View' in the settings.
   
   

2. Now look at your Navisworks Export Settings; is there anything you don't need - rooms, URL's, or even linked files?
3. If you do have linked files, do you need them all? Just keep the ones you need. If you are having problems when exporting files with many links, do they export correctly individually?
4. You can use the 'Purge Unused' button on the Manage tab of Revit to delete unused families or unused family types from the model. You will be able to select which items are Purged before proceeding.
   
   

   You may want to open each individual linked file and purge it until there is nothing left to purge; this may take two or three passes. After all individual linked models have been purged, purge the main model and try again to export.

Other things to check if you still have problems exporting

1. Does Revit needs a restart? If you are working in the application all day and then try to export at the end of the day, you have been potentially caching your project all day. Save the project, restart Revit, reopen the file and try to export. If you still have problems and the machine has been left on for days or weeks then a restart of the machine may also be a good idea.
2. As with any memory hungry operation, try to minimize the number of other programs competing for resources.

We know there other methods you use to pare down your files - please get in touch if you feel there's any that you can't live without that we should include in this article.