Project Templates for Clash Detective

I saw this post on AUGI the other day, which hits on my primary motivation for starting this blog – creating a place where Navisworks users can come to find more information, a few pearls of wisdom if you like, suggested workflows, interoperability with other products, and so on.

Now I'm not suggesting that I have all the answers, in fact as the guys on AUGI here suggest, if everyone contributed a cool tip or trick, then we could quickly build up a great knowledge base. So if you want to contribute, please use the link on the left and Submit a Tip. Alternatively, if there's an area of the Autodesk construction products you'd like to know more about, why not Suggest a Topic.

One of the tips in this AUGI thread is to create a project template with all of your defined clash tests using an NWF. There is also another method that I believe will achieving the same result, using functionality that you may not be aware of:

1. Create Search Sets to categorize your project model.

   

2. Create a batch of clash tests, defined using Search Sets (in the Select tab), and set test types, tolerances and ignore rules. Name each test so that you can differentiate them.

   

3. Export the Clash Tests from the application menu, creating an XML file. This is your clash template file.

   

4. Now, whenever you start a new project, after appending all of your models, you can import your clash template file.

   

   This will import the full batch of clash tests (with each clash test pre-defined along with rules etc.) with the added bonus of also importing all of the Search Sets you defined.

   

   NOTE: As your initial tests are defined by Search Sets, they themself are defined by model properties, coming from Revit for example. In order for this workflow to work for you, it assumes that you'll be working on similar projects, with the same authoring applications being used to create the models – without this, the search sets would need to be updated to point to the relevant properties. Either way, as Paul Jordan says, this can save you a ton of time.

Comments

[Paul Jordan]

I know what you mean Paul, as I've been working through this giant project I'm on, I've been making Powerpoint presentations, Word documents, you name it because by the time I get back to starting another project, I'll have forgotten everything I had to do on this one to get things going in the right direction.

There are a LOT of things I have to do outside of the NavisWorks side of things but, still using the NavisWorks information such as clash report spreadsheets, file lists of drawings in the models, etc.

Some of those tasks are only done once a week and the setup is only done once per building. Luckily this project has 7 buildings so I get to remember how to do it several times.

The blog is looking good, don't forget about those of us that can't update to the latest and greatest!

[Paul Walker]

Hey Paul, I'm glad you like the site - we certainly hope it doesn't die a slow painful death, or worse, disappear without a wimper. After working on Navisworks for 10 years now, I've a head full of knowledge and still learning all the time – I’m still waiting for someone to invent a brain-download product, but until then, I guess I’ll just have to keep typing! In response to your 2008/2012 scenario – look out for a post on this!

[Paul Jordan]

Hey lookie there, I'm famous on the Internet!!

Great site guys, I hope you can keep it up and not go into the Blog Wasteland of Blogs that started out great and died a slow death.

I've already picked up a few tips on here.

Just like Revit For Breakfast said, there's not a lot of info out there for the serious NW'ers amongst us.

Things like Timeliner and creating animations is something I doubt I'll ever have time to work with. I'm currently managing 7 facilities in NW Manage and thankfully no one has asked for pretty animations.

I definitely would like to see my company move to 2012 products but, we still have some 2008 Autocad users out there and if we bump to 2012, we won't be able to install 2008 on any more machines in that division.. ARRggghh..

I'll add you to my bookmarks. I wish the RSS feed you mentioned would work but, I think those are disabled by corporate security as it says it doesn't exist..