Beyond Design

BIM Workflows Connected with Glue

This week the latest version of BIM 360 Glue was released; offering a completely redesigned user interface, making it quick and easy for project participants to share, review and coordinate models. In addition to the improved UI, under the hood has also received significant attention, now with Autodesk core technology for BIM viewing and coordination as found in Navisworks. This brings consistency in model viewing across desktop, cloud and mobile solutions from Navisworks to BIM 360 Glue and BIM 360 Field. And with consistent clash technology being used, the same clash test being run in Navisworks and BIM 360 Glue will yield identical results. Another huge advancement in my opinion is the Glue integration with Navisworks – in the previous version you could push Navisworks model up to Glue, but now you can open and append models and merged models directly from Glue too.

In this post, I want to highlight the collaboration BIM 360 Glue can bring to your projects - connecting designers, construction professionals and clients, to facilitate better project outcomes.

Designers

Architectural and Engineering design professionals can upload their models to BIM 360 Glue, making them immediately available for the whole team. With continuous access to the latest model versions, designers are able to perform their own coordination ahead of weekly/bi-weekly review meetings – think of this as "reducing the noise", and making broader team reviews more focused and productive.

Glue add-in applications make it even easier to work with Glue from within authoring applications such as Revit, AutoCAD and Civil 3D. These add-ins enable you to send your models directly to Glue; and when clashes are found with your model, you can open the clash report within your design app and quickly access the clashing element to make the necessary design changes.

Get all of the latest add-ins here: https://b4.autodesk.com/addins/addins.html

BIM/VDC Managers

The design models can be merged to create federated models, which may initially be carried out by a BIM/VDC Manager - though it doesn't need to be; anyone can create a merged model, combining any combination of individual discipline models – you can think of merged models as being similar to an NWF in Navisworks, a project model referencing individual design models. And merged models will automatically update whenever the design teams update their constituent models. Everyone has immediate access to the latest federated model, without needing to wait for it to be curated and re-published, speeding up the entire coordination and collaboration cycle, and freeing up time for more value add pre-construction activities.

Construction Professionals

As mentioned above, anyone currently using Navisworks, can now access project models from Glue. Thereby ensuring they're working with the latest designs, they can perform advanced project analysis such as 4D simulation and quantification. Their Navisworks project NWF will be referencing the model data in Glue, so whenever they open the NWF it will bring down the latest model versions from Glue. Running Change Analysis in the Navisworks Quantification tool for example, provides an efficient workflow for identifying change between design iterations.

You can additionally append individual discipline models from Glue and create your own federated model in Navisworks, then Glue this back to the cloud server for access by all. Which brings me nicely onto…

Clients and Extended Team

BIM 360 Glue is exceptionally good at getting everyone on the same page, ensuring everyone is up to date, and sharing the same information. Whether you're a BIM guru or novice; in the office or the field; coordinating models or installing equipment, there's an app to suit your workflows. Clients for example can access the individual disciplines and federated models in the BIM 360 Glue mobile app for iPad. This provides continuous and consistent access to the latest models, providing transparency and ensuring buy-in and engagement from the client throughout the project.

Check out this Case Study from M Moser Associates to learn about how they are using BIM 360 Glue to deliver projects on time and within budget, with improved client engagement throughout the project.

Also visit the BIM 360 Glue website to find out more about the latest release, and try it for yourself with a Free Trial.

Updated Navisworks Hotkeys including Measurement specific shortcuts

I've just updated the hotkeys for 2014 including 'Ctrl + F8' for Quantification and some shortcuts specifically for the Timeliner and Measurement tools to significantly speed up reviewing. With the Measurement tool you want to use already selected: -

X	Lock to the X axis
Y	Lock to the Y axis
Z	Lock to the Z axis
P	Lock to a point perpendicular to a surface
L	Lock to a point parallel to a surface
Enter	Quick zoom to measured area
+	Use with Enter key to zoom in to measured area
-	Use with Enter key to zoom out of measured area

The + and – tools used with Enter are a great way to get accurate measurements and get close into the area you want to measure.

Read the full Navisworks Hotkey blog post here.

What else is new in Autodesk Navisworks 2014?

We really have been busy this last year. As well as the headline new features in Navisworks 2014, there's plenty more 'under the bonnet' to speed up your workflows and make you more productive.

• Sectioning improvements, the Fit Selection tool allows you to select items that the section plane or box will fit to
• Clash Detective (Autodesk Navisworks Manage only)
  • Preserve Clash Highlighting when exporting Viewpoint reports allows you to save Viewpoints with the same view you see in the results tab including redlining. These Viewpoints can also be seen in Simulate and Freedom
  • Color highlighting of the clashing elements which can be customized
  • Comment column in the results to shows if a Clash has a comments and how active the clash is
  • Clash Filters allow you to filter down to clashes only involving selected items
  • Clash Report Filter allows you to only report on those filtered items
  • Save explicit views related to a clash result
• Timeliner
  • Export Selection Sets of the items attached to each task
  • Support for Primavera P6 v8.2 Web Services
  • Support for Microsoft Project 2013
• File formats
  • AutoCAD 2014    
  • AutoCAD Architecture 2014
  • AutoCAD MEP 2014
  • Autodesk Plant 3D 2014
  • Autodesk Inventor 2014
  • AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014
  • Revit 2014
  • Autodesk 3ds Max 2014
  • Improved IFC 2x3 support
  • Faro SDK 5.1
  • Exporters for Graphisoft ArchiCAD 14, 15 and 16

There's also some new features in design application Revit that will improve interoperability between the two packages.

• Construction Parts can now be generated from Wall Foundations, Slab Edges, Fascias, and Gutters, making Timeliner Simulations even more accurate. This is on top of Walls, Floors, Roofs, Ceilings, Structural slab foundations, Structural Framing, Columns, Structural Columns which are already supported, see the link for more information about Creating Construction Parts in Revit.
• Revit Switchback improvements, where a new 'Navisworks Switchback' view is created in Revit, you can modify the Visual Style and Detail Level and Shadows of this view and switchback will use these settings
• Displaced views (like your own exploded view) can be exported to Navisworks, using these in combination with Switchback will make the navigation of complex models even easier. I've had some fun with this already, blowing the roof off our Sheffield office (see below)
• Materials from the Revit material library are also brought through, also shown in the image below

Anyway, you'll be able to get hold of this in the next couple of weeks, let us know on Twitter and Facebook which features you're most looking forward to.

What’s new in Navisworks 2014? Part 1

You may have noticed we've been pretty busy behind the scenes here at Autodesk, a few weeks ago at TED we launched a new logo which signals a change in direction from Autodesk as more than just a software company for engineers, with the transition to mobile and cloud the way everyone interacts with software is changing, and we hope to be leading the way with this transition. We know many of you over the last few months are using the BIM 360 Field and Glue products, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about users of our flagship products like Autodesk Navisworks, with new and improved features and increased links to workflows in the cloud.

The key new features in Navisworks 2014 are

• Quantification – Get accurate model based quantities from your BIM model, allowing you to track changes between model revisions, perform destructive and constructive take offs and assign material and labor resources to items in the model. Many more details are to follow in a series of blog posts explaining how to use the new tool and a recommended workflow getting you quickly up to speed with model based quantification.

• Autodesk rendering – The same rendering engine found in our other flagship products is now available inside Navisworks, allowing you to use consistent Autodesk material libraries, and collate models from various disciplines and sources to create even more compelling visual

• Measurement tools – Improvements to the measure tool allow you to more easily work out what you are measuring and snapping to, have the flexibility to lock to a particular axis or surface, and zoom quickly to an area to select a measurement point.

• You'll hear lots about point clouds this year with 2013 being the year Point Clouds will be used by more than just those with very expensive equipment. The capabilities of the new 'Autodesk ReCap' engine will astound regular point cloud users as we'll be able to handle models much larger than you previously could. You'll be able to measure and snap more accurately against point clouds, and link your 3D virtual BIM model to a real life 'Reality Captured' point cloud, this will allow new design and construction workflows. AutoCAD^®, A

• Clash detective* has improvements to the user interface to allow you to change the colors and display of clashed objects, better manage saved viewpoints and overrides, access to comments in the results tab, and better filtering and reporting on those filtered results, you'll also remember this blog post about Clash Rules, well we've now made it easier for you to reduce the number of false positive clash results, meaning you can work only on the clashes that matter.
  *only available in Autodesk Navisworks Manage

Don't forget, you can also view your NWD models on the free Autodesk BIM 360 Glue mobile iPad app.

There's also EVEN MORE FEATURES on this second What else is new in Autodesk Navisworks 2014 blog post.

You'll be able to access the new 2014 products with subscription within the next couple of weeks, and look out on this blog for more detail on how to use these new features and unlock the power of the cloud with BIM 360 Glue and Field over the coming weeks.

Managing Multiple Clash Tests

In this, the next of our series of blog posts about making the most of Clash Detective, we're going to cover the use of multiple clash tests. Now that we have shown you how to use rules to minimize false positives and use grouping, filtering and sorting to manage the results of each individual test, we're going to talk about how you would want to scale this up to a project level and use and manage multiple tests.

Depending on your role and industry you may have different schools of thought on the best way to do this, and there is no 'correct way', just what works best for your project, the level of input needed from various stakeholders, and the timescale you need to do this in. Here I'm going to go through a few of these schools of thought to give you a few options that may work for you.

Clash the BIG stuff first

In a project where you are bringing many disciplines into a single digital mock up, you will want to make sure that the 'big' things don't clash, as these will be the things that cost the most money to put right. Generally this will be structural work, but it may include underground pipes, tunnels, sewers, or existing structure that cannot be touched or moved. Then you can move through the disciplines to the work that can be more easily and cheaply changed.

Reducing tolerances in steps

Another way to work through clashes is to look at those which need most movement to resolve first, and then reduce the tolerances of the clashes. Typically you would run these as multiple tests so you can see if any changes to the model reintroduce larger clashes e.g. Setting up 'Architecture vs MEP > 1ft', 'Architecture vs MEP 1ft to 6in', 'Architecture vs MEP 6in to 3in', 'Architecture vs MEP 3in to 0', 'Architecture vs MEP insulation'. Here you can work to varying tolerances at once and then set up additional clearance clashes to ensure there's enough room for insulation, or gaps needed for access, looking at each test with the aim of 'getting to zero' then working on the next tolerance.

By level or section

Working through a project level by level, or splitting up the model into sections such as wings of a hospital or groups of rooms, can allow you to show visible progress in coordination meetings and split the work into bite size chunks, or you can work through basement levels that will be built first then work through higher levels whilst the project is already underway. New features like Revit Grids and Levels appearing in the clash results will help you refine the clash results to a precise location in the building. You should ensure that if you use this method that you cover the overlap between levels and also ensure that you test against objects not assigned to a level, or that you cover multiple sections.

Pre-fabricated comes first

There's a number of reasons why this is a good idea. If something has been fabricated off site then the likelihood is that it cannot be changed later, or if it can, could it be done more cheaply with less risk in a factory environment than on site. There's may also be longer lead times with pre-fabricated goods than with other components that can be created or assembled on site, getting these finalized as early as possible prevents delays later on.

Ad hoc tests

There'll usually be a need for testing 'on the go' with unusual or site specific scenarios or just sanity checks against issues that need to be double checked when in doubt, we encourage you to use these in addition to some formalized testing. If you have some sort of order to the rest of your testing that covers the majority of common scenarios then you should only need to do a few ad hoc tests to make sure everything else is covered. If you find most of your tests are ad hoc for each project then it may be worth taking some time out to work out if there is a way to provide some order to the madness.

Here's the next of our video playlist showing you how to create and use multiple playlists.

It is likely that your eventual approach will be a combination of some or all of these methodologies or some completely different ones, do you have different ways of managing your tests? We'd love to hear from you, any feedback you can give us will be passed to our development team for future consideration. Just email beyond.design@autodesk.com with how you do things.

Service Pack 2 now available for Autodesk Navisworks 2013

A service pack is now available for Autodesk Navisworks 2013 products. You can download and install the Autodesk Navisworks 2013 Service Pack 2 from our website

If you have experienced any of the following issues then we recommend you upgrade to the Service Pack 2

• Performance issues when working with a large volume of selection and search sets.
• Issue where some commands appear disabled after dragging a selection set to a folder.
• Unhide command didn't work at the folder level for sets hidden in folders.
• Crash when trying to drag a set into a folder.
• Area/Volume properties from Revit Drawings not available.
• Inventor models are rotated at 90-degrees.
• A number of unexpected crashes in Clash Detective
• Unhide All taking much longer when Clash Detective is open.
• Not possible to rename a Clash result after a drag and drop.
• Clash groups expand unexpectedly.
• Renaming results in the Clash results grid performance issues. 
• Resolved a performance issue where loading a model is extremely slow when Timeliner is open.
• 2D measurement start, end and difference values are incorrect.
• Cancelling or closing the options editor using keyboard shortcuts retains options.
• Cinepak Codec for 64 bit is now available.
• CSV export from Selection Inspector now available

Please select the relevant 32 or 64 bit version for Manage, Simulate or Freedom. This can be installed on each individual machine which already has Navisworks 2013 installed, included in the installation, or included in a deployment, the readme contains more instructions.

Should you have any issues installing the service pack, please use the Installation and Licensing forums which are monitored by Autodesk experts.

UPDATE: After a couple of queries we just want to confirm that Service Pack 2 contains all the fixes from Service Pack 1, meaning you do not need to install that separately. 

Building the Death Star, The Autodesk Way – Autodesk University 2012

Inspired by this post by Jason Dodds from 2009, I'll be at this year's Autodesk University at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, talking all about Star Wars. Well sort of…

Imagining a world where Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine had Autodesk tools to hand and fully embraced the concept of BIM, not only could the lives of countless stormtroopers been saved during construction, but they could have saved the Death Star from destruction completely.

I'll be talking about contingency planning using Navisworks and Microsoft Project, creating time based clashes for temporary works, using Revit construction parts to build an accurate schedule and linking animations to Timeliner for powerful presentations, all things that apply to building projects on this planet as well as flying death machines in space. I'm having a great time spending my weekends and evenings modeling Tie fighters in Inventor and futuristic looking curtain wall panels in Revit (I live a life of simple pleasures!), and hope that as well as learning how you can use the Building Design Suite more effectively, you'll enjoy geeking out with me in a couple of months' time.

You can now register for Building the Death Star, The Autodesk Way which is filling up quickly.

If you register for Autodesk University before October 14^th you'll save $500, those associated with education get a heavily discounted rate too.

If you need to convince your boss to let you go to Autodesk University, use this "Convince Your Manager Toolkit" to find plenty of useful ammunition, and plenty of reasons for them to go to. And a couple of funny posts appeared on the Revit Forum Blog about how to tell you wife or husband that you're going to AU2012.

See you in Las Vegas!

Grouping, Filtering and Sorting Clash Results in Navisworks

Once you have used rules to get rid of false positives and concentrate on the areas you actually care about, you'll still potentially have hundreds of results to sort through either individually or in coordination meetings. Using the grouping, filtering and sorting features you'll be able to easily look at clashes in a certain area, group similar issues together, and filter out the issues that aren't relevant to the meeting you are in.

Grouping

Using the grouping options you can collect issues together that affect specific contractors, specific types of issues, related issues or just to help order the work you will be doing.

Grouping will count a group of clashes as a single issue, so you may want to select a beam, right click and "Group Clashes Involving Item", this will then allow you to deal with all clashes involving that beam as a single issue whilst you consider whether to move the beam, or the objects clashing with it. You can then select the group header to see all clashes in that group, by using the display settings Transparent Dimming and Auto Reveal you can see where these are in relation to each other and work out the next course of action.

Grouping items by grid intersection or by level can be an easy way to split up work between several members of a team. And using Filtering and Sorting you can quickly get together similar types of issues and group these together for further investigation.

Filtering

Filtering is a great way to refine the results you have visible, much in the same way as you may use the filtering tools in a search engine to get from 1,000,000 results for videos of a "cute kitten" to the 20 relevant ones from the last week.

For example if you have created a Search Sets for different duct sizes, you can reduce the number of visible results between the Mechanical and Steel work by selecting a duct size then using the "Filter by Selection" button (). The filter by selection option can also be used to look at clashes involving a single pipe or beam.

By right clicking in the results pane you can also 'Quick Filter' the results based on who a clash is assigned to, it's current status, or with Revit 2013 models, filter objects by the level they are on.

Sorting

You can sort the columns in the Results tab to gain clearer visibility of the results, for example you can prioritize rework by sorting the Distance column to work out which issues will need the most movement of an object, or to look through the list of who is assigned to each clash. Using this in combination with filtering can quickly narrow down the most serious issues that need to be addressed first.

I hope this provides some more insight in best practices for using Clash Detective and if you have any other topics or tools you would like us to cover, please email us or contact us on Twitter.

Using Clash Rules in Navisworks to reduce False Positives

To many the single most valuable tool in Navisworks is Clash Detection. I've seen many different figures from $5,000 upwards as the average cost of fixing an issue on site as opposed to resolving the issue first in your virtual model.

However managing the process of tens of thousands of potential clashes can be daunting and time consuming. It doesn't have to be; this is the start of a series of blog posts about getting the most out of clash detection in Navisworks, and this first post is a comprehensive guide to setting up clash rules to reduce false positives.

First up, a video with an introduction to Clash Detective Rules: -

So Clash Rules can allow you to ignore clashes that you aren't currently interested in, aren't real clashes, or are issues with 'unfinished' work which you will review later. Here are some more details about each pre-defined rule.

• Ignore Items in same layer

  This will ignore any clashes between objects on the same layer as the selection, if you are not sure what level the layer is, look for this icon () in the Selection Tree. For example, if you wanted to ignore clashes on the same level from a Revit 2013 file.

• Ignore Items in same group/block/cell
  This will ignore any clashes between objects in the same group, block or cell as the selection. A group can be a block definition from AutoCAD files or cell definition from MicroStation files - look for this icon () in the Selection Tree.
• Ignore Items in same file

  This will ignore items within the same file, so if your model contains multiple CAD files and you just want to check for clashes against other files then select this option. It can be used when you are assuming that a file will be self-clashed in the future. For example, you want to check your Level 2 Mechanical File that isn't yet complete against the structural work. This will ignore any clashes within that Mechanical File.

• Ignore Items in same composite object

  A composite object () is a group of geometry that is considered a single object in the Selection Tree. For example, a window object might be composed of a frame and a pane, or a cavity wall may be made of several layers. This rule would ignore any clashes between the two parts of the same object, For example, the window pane and the frame may be modeled so that the parts touch or overlap. This rule would ignore clashes between them.

• Ignore Items in previously found pair of composite objects

  This is one of the most useful rules to reduce the number of false positives. Whereas 'Ignore Items in the same composite object' will ignore clashes between parts of a single object, this will ignore multiple clashes between different composite objects. For example, if you have a window and pane composite object and a cavity wall composite object, this will report a single clash between the window and the wall rather than multiple clashes between the window frame and the leaves of the wall and the window pane and the leaves of the wall.

• Ignore Items in coincident snap points

  This covers any items found clashing that have snap points that coincide, for example pipe runs and fittings that have snap points at the end of center lines. Navisworks will draw a cylinder as a series of triangles to improve performance (try Hidden Line mode to see how they are drawn). Depending on the faceting factor of the cylinder, some of the triangles may clash with each other, even if the pipe or fittings would fit snuggly if this was drawn as completely round.

Here's a few examples of which rules you may want to use, and when.

• If you are using a cavity wall in your model which is made of several layers; outer leaf, insulation, inner leaf, plasterboard, you can use the rules "same composite object" to reduce clashes from touching leaves, and "previously found pair of composite objects" to count any clashes with the wall as a single clash rather than four.
• If you are running a check of a pipe run with fittings you can use the rules "coincident snap points" and "previously found pair of composite objects" to reduce clashes reported between fixtures and the pipes and within the fixtures.
• If you are looking to check for major clashes between pipes and structure on an early pass, you probably don't want to look for clashes within each model. Use "same file" and "previously found pair of composite objects" to avoid looking within a file of the same discipline and only report a single clash result wherever one discipline intersects a composite object made of several parts.

In a future blog we'll go into more detail about creating your own rules, why you would want to, and how to do it, if there's anything you want to know about rules, leave a comment or use the links on the left to email us.

Service Pack 1 now available for Autodesk Navisworks 2013

UPDATE: Service Pack 2 is now available from our website which contains all the fixes below and more.

A service pack is now available for Autodesk Navisworks 2013 products. You can download and install the Autodesk Navisworks 2013 Service Pack 1 from our website

If you have experienced any of the following issues then we recommend you upgrade to the Service Pack 1

• File refresh not working after Options changed
• Timeliner 'Find Unattached Items' not working
• Inconsistencies in Clash grouping
• Google Earth model exported from Navisworks placed below surface
• Construction Parts in Revit Linked Files not working
• Save back to earlier Navisworks versions from Batch Utility
• Faro files loaded in at the wrong orientation
• Re-running clash tests with Isolation > Hide Other selected in Results tab, results are classed as resolved
• Merging Clash data inconsistencies
• Changing the selections in the Select tab in Clash causes Tolerance to revert to previous value
• Dates linked to from DataTools are displayed as previous days date in Properties window
• Sort button is disabled when there are items in Sets window.
• 'Cut, paste, copy' context menu not appearing when right clicking on Sets name.
• Selecting multiple Search Sets is not updating the Current Search
• Properties for piping and pipe supports from CADWorx 2013 not appearing
• Navisworks closing unexpectedly when: -
  • when linking to Microsoft Project file
  • when selecting a property in Freedom
  • in certain graphics card drivers
  • after refreshing during Autosaving
  • in Search and Selection Sets dialog
  • when machine locked or a screensaver is running
  • using the Simulate tab in Timeliner

Please select the relevant 32 or 64 bit version for Manage, Simulate or Freedom. This can be installed on each individual machine which already has Navisworks 2013 installed, included in the installation, or included in a deployment, the readme contains more instructions.

Should you have any issues installing the service pack, please use the Installation and Licensing forums which are monitored by Autodesk experts.