Navisworks 2013 – Revit Grids and Levels support

Late last summer in Sheffield in the UK, a number of us huddled around a computer screen for an early prototype of the ability to import Revit Grids and Levels into Navisworks. We knew then that this was going to be one of those enhancements that will save you Navisworks users, valuable minutes and hours trying to get to a certain location in the model, or plain just trying to understand where you are! This is the sort of thing we get excited by, the things that smooth out your workflows, allowing you to get on with the tasks that matter to you, without wasting time getting lost in a complex model, or painstakingly creating AutoCAD grids and overlaying them in your Navisworks scene.

The video below provides an overview of this feature:

For those of you that can't access YouTube here's some more detail about the feature…

Navisworks reads the Grids from your Revit models – either via opening the RVT in Navisworks, or NWC Export from Revit – and display the grid at each reference Level (also defined in Revit). We can bring them in from multiple Revit models, so if you're working with multiple disciplines, for example, and they happen to have a differing grid system, then you can select which grid system you want to work with in the View toolbar.

Here you can also choose whether to show the grid, or not, and define the way in which you view them. Using the Mode, you can view a single grid on the level above or below, both above and below, display at all levels, or have the grid fixed at a specified level – this is particularly effective when used in conjunction with a section plane (creating a horizontal slice through the building), as the grid can remain on the floor slab when you're orbiting above the services, for example.

You can modify how these grids are displayed through the Options on the main menu or by selecting the small arrow in the bottom right of the panel.

Here you can select the color of the level above and the level below which changes as your camera changes position, and the other levels if you have them displayed. You can also change the label font size and whether you want levels hidden behind other geometry to display by using X-Ray Mode.

Let's have a closer look at the grids and levels themselves, here we have 3 main things to look at: -
A – The line references are displayed at the edge of the window meaning you will always know where you are.
B – Hovering over a grid intersection will bring up the Grid Reference and the Level allowing you to quickly check the location of an item.
C - The Head Up Display when switched on will now display the closest grid intersection and the closest level below the current camera position allowing you to quickly see where you are in the model.

These will only work in Perspective mode; in Orthographic you will only be able to see grids and levels when viewing the model in plan or elevation (i.e. selecting a face on the ViewCube).

As useful as it will be to know where you are in a model, I think the biggest value of this functionality is when going through Clash Results and grouping issues, as we now also bring the data of the level and grid reference for each Clash Result, allowing you to sort the results by level and grid reference - this will also come through to your reports.

We'd love to know what you think and any other questions you have about this release, please leave a comment or contact us using the buttons on the left.

Comments

[Lee Mullin]

Hi DanS_34

This will only work with Revit 2013 and Navisworks 2013.

[DanS_34]

Lee,
very novice user to Revit. How does one export a .nwc file containing the grid lines. I've installed the export plug in for navis in Revit 2012 but when exporting no grid lines are showing up when viewing the .nwc file in Navis 2013.
thanks for the help.

[MarkDietrick]

Lee,

This is a wonderful and very needed feature - thanks! I was hoping that element properties might have a reference to grid lines that they may be connected to (mainly columns and beams) which would make it possible to create search sets to tie to sequencing tasks per bay. Looks like this info isn't in the element properties thought (unless I'm missing something).

Thanks again.

[Lee Mullin]

Thanks Mike, I've added this as an enhancement request with development.

[Michael L. Maloney]

Lee, my only issue with Grids is the inability to "EDIT" them, by that I mean moving the GRID BUBBLES away from the buildings..........Same thing with LEVEL Names..they are too close.

M

[Michael L. Maloney]

Lee, even though I love the new tools mentioned here, the biggest pain that I have, and I mentioned this in the NW Beta Testing, is the inability to "EDIT" the grids, i.e., I mean the inability to move the Grid Bubbles our further away from the Physical Model of the buildings..............they are too close to the buildings. Nee a way to 'extend' or grip edit the bubbles to move away.

Mike

[Lee Mullin]

Thank Patrick, I'll pass this on, I know it's something we're particularly proud of this year.

[Pvillella]

LOT of people VERY happy!

Patrick Villella
AEC Technical Consultant
CADsoft Consulting

[Pvillella]

Lee, nice post and very good explanations of these welcome new features.
I want to give a shout out to the dev team that listened to customer feedback and gave us the ability to easily view the Revit grids and levels in Navisworks. You've made a