Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blog

Photogrammetry for Construction?

I occasionally moonlight on another Autodesk Blog, BIM Toolbox, an interesting blog covering a range of AEC disciplines from our Northern European Technical team, there are some fascinating workflows and tips and tricks up there covering everything from computational design with Dynamo, civil design workflows, to data management tips and tricks, it's well worth a read, wherever you are in the world. Anyway a few weeks ago I posted an article there about a proof of concept I'd been working on, that I wanted to share further, how photogrammetry can be used in construction.

For those not aware of photogrammetry, it's basically where you take a number of photos and create a 3D model from them. Avid Autodesk fans may be aware of 123D Catch, a consumer application released a few years ago to allow anyone to do this on their smartphones, we also have Recap 360, part of which is the professional version of this service which allows you to do the same thing and bring it into various design applications. The workflow in the link below shows how you can use it to capture plant on site and run it in simulations against your 3D model. Let me know what you think!

Site Logistics with BIM and Photos

14 things you’ll be shocked you never knew about Autodesk Navisworks!

I've been travelling around a lot in the last year and met a huge number of you guys and girls at various events, we chat a lot about workflows, features of the program and how you first came to use it. However even now I find it surprising that I can show something new to even expert users that help with their day to day work. So in typical Buzzfeed style, here are 14 things you'll be shocked to know you can do with Autodesk Navisworks!!!!

1. Forget 3D, 4D, 5D 6 and 7D, did you know there's 2D support in Navisworks?

   It still shocks me that people don't know about this, so I'll shout it:- 
   NAVISWORKS HAS 2D SUPPORT!!!

   Now why is that important? Viewing a 3D file is great! It's revolutionised the way people work and coordinate with each other! However in the majority of cases, the main deliverable to the construction team on site is a set of 2D drawings, they provide additional detail you can't always get into a model, they're also a way of conveying information in a way familiar to that team. It's possible to save 2D sheets with a NWD alongside the 3D files with review, markup, viewpoints, sections, Timeliner animations then pass this to the wider team. One of the nifty features with 2D support is the ability to find the same item across other 2D sheets and the 3D models by using the 'Find Items in Other Sheets and Models' when right clicking an object. This has become even more important with 2D Quantification now in Navisworks, more on that soon.

   

2. You can create very quick quantification for building out resources and tracking changes in models.
   
   This video shows a quick workflow on how to do this, if you're an estimator you may want to do a more thorough takeoff using a preconfigured catalogue, but if you just need access to some quick quantities, Navisworks is also perfect for that.
   
   
   
   
3. You can colour up anything in the model based on properties using the Appearance Profiler

   In this case we have some Construction Progress Fields from BIM 360 Field that can be used to color up the latest state of the project before running Timeliner, allowing you to identify any problems on the critical path

   This could just as easily be used to quickly color up the different MEP systems for clarity, or phases of a project. Profiles and Search Sets can be moved from one project to the next saving time with set up.

4. You can load BIM 360 Glue projects straight into Navisworks

   It's simply a case of opening or appending the file from the BIM 360 tab in Navisworks 2015, meaning you'll always be using the latest coordinated file and able to run your latest advanced construction tasks without worrying about using the wrong version.

5. There are different ways to select items in the model

   My favourite is to use the Properties section of the Selection Tree, I also use this method to create quick searches and Search Sets, this video shows some more detail.
   
   

6. You don't even have to click on an item to view the properties of an item using Quick Properties

   You can view any properties in the model by hovering over them in the model, you just need to switch on Quick Properties and decide which properties you want to see.

   

7. You can select a number of items and just export their properties using the Selection Inspector

   If you haven't seen the Selection Inspector before, click on the icon on the Home tab, select a few objects and view the properties, again you can use the Quick Properties to decide which properties you need and then just export out a CSV of all those properties.

   

8. Navisworks now has an App Store!
   
   In Navisworks 2015 you can now start taking advantage of Autodesk's huge network of API developers who will be posting a series of free and paid extensions through the Navisworks App Store. Are you a developer yourself? You can upload your own apps and make them accessible to a wide user base, just head to the Autodesk® Exchange Apps Developer Center. A current favourite of mine is Properties+ which came about as part of customer feedback asking if there's a quick way to just view the properties you need rather than the multiple tabs of all the properties, this is the result, try it out, it's free!
   
   
9. Render Navisworks files in The Cloud
   
   For those of you using Revit, you will already know cloud rendering is easy, quick and gives amazing results, now it's available in Navisworks, meaning you can pull together all your files, no matter which application they came from and produce amazing renders. For example I'm no rendering expert but this Panorama took around 20 minutes to drag and drop some materials, send to the cloud and receive this impressive rendering back. You can also do illuminance studies in the cloud too!
   
   
10. Did you know you can create cache files automatically overnight?
    
    What's the best way to save time whilst files are loading, get them to cache whilst you're asleep! It'll save you time and money every morning! You can automatically create an NWD every week to give a snapshot of where the project is up to. Make sure you run Navisworks as an Administrator and run the Batch Utility, you can then set up your automated tasks using the Windows Task Scheduler.
    
    
11. You can create Time based clashes to ensure you have enough clearance on site for moving objects

    This would help with getting large machines or loads through a site, for example this video shows how moving an escalator through a 3D model would allow you to identify problems before you get to site. More information on linking animations to Timeliner Tasks can be found in this blog post

12. You can see your model with 3D glasses!

    If you have supported hardware you can enable Stereo viewing. More information on Stereo Viewing in Navisworks can be found on the blog.

13. You can link to a database or spreadsheet if you ever need more properties

    There's more information on how to do this in an older blog post How to Link a Database using Navisworks Datatools

14. Autodesk has great IFC Support

    In fact we have huge support for the IFC file format across Autodesk, look at our Interoperability page at www.autodesk.com/ifc for more information about our IFC certifications across Autodesk products and support of COBie with a COBie exporter from Revit which completed the COBie challenge with top honours in 2013 and 2014.

Cue shocked Taylor Swift photo

And a cute animal picture for no reason whatsoever

Via cute-baby-animals.tumblr.com

If you want to see anything in more depth, send us an email on [email protected]

 

Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) for Autodesk Navisworks

One of the quickest ways to improve your productivity is to learn a few shortcuts, I don't know where I'd be without Alt tabbing through windows or Ctrl tabbing on my internet browser, hopefully some of these will leave you time for an extra coffee during your day!

Keyboard Shortcut	Description
PgUp	Zooms to view all objects in the Scene View.
PgDn	Zooms to magnify all selected objects in the Scene View.
HOME	Takes you to Home view. This keyboard shortcut only applies to the Scene View windows. This means it will only work when this window has focus.
ESC	Deselects everything.
SHIFT	Used to modify the middle mouse button actions.
CTRL	Used to modify the middle mouse button actions.
ALT	Turns the keytips on or off.
ALT + F4	Closes the currently active dockable window when it is undocked, or exits the application if the main application window is active.
CTRL + 0	Turns on Turntable mode.
CTRL + 1	Turns on Select mode.
CTRL + 2	Turns on Walk mode.
CTRL + 3	Turns on Look Around mode.
CTRL + 4	Turns on Zoom mode.
CTRL + 5	Turns on Zoom Window mode.
CTRL + 6	Turns on Pan mode.
CTRL + 7	Turns on Orbit mode.
CTRL + 8	Turns on Free Orbit mode.
CTRL + 9	Turns on Fly mode.
CTRL + A	Displays the Append dialog box.
CTRL + D	Toggles Collision mode. You must be in appropriate navigation mode (that is, Walk or Fly) for this keyboard shortcut to work.
CTRL + F	Displays the Quick Find dialog box.
CTRL + G	Toggles Gravity mode.
CTRL + H	Toggles Hidden mode for selected items.
CTRL + I	Displays the Insert File dialog box.
CTRL + M	Displays the Merge dialog box.
CTRL + N	Resets the program, closes the currently open Autodesk Navisworks file, and creates a new file.
CTRL + O	Displays the Open dialog box.
CTRL + P	Displays the Print dialog box.
CTRL + R	Toggles Require mode for selected items.
CTRL + S	Saves the currently open Autodesk Navisworks file.
CTRL + T	Toggles Third Person mode.
CTRL + Y	Reverses the last operation performed by the Undo command.
CTRL + Z	Reverses the last performed operation.
CTRL + PgUp	Displays the previous sheet.
CTRL + PgDn	Displays the next sheet.
CTRL + F1	Opens the Help system.
CTRL + F2	Opens the Clash Detective window.
CTRL + F3	Toggles the TimeLiner window.
CTRL + F4	Toggles the Rendering window (Autodesk Rendering or Presenter depending on graphics system).
CTRL + F5	Toggles the Animator window.
CTRL + F6	Toggles the Scripter window.
CTRL + F7	Toggles the Tilt window.
CTRL + F8	Toggles the Quantification window.
CTRL + F9	Toggles the Plan View window.
CTRL + F10	Toggles the Section View window.
CTRL + F11	Toggles the Saved Viewpoints window.
CTRL + F12	Toggles the Selection Tree window.
CTRL + HOME	Dollies and pans the camera so that the entire model is in view.
CTRL + Right Arrow	Play selected animation.
CTRL + Left Arrow	Reverse Play selected animation.
CTRL + Up Arrow	Record viewpoint animation.
CTRL + Down Arrow	Stop playing animation.
CTRL + Space	Pause playing animation.
CTRL + SHIFT + A	Opens the Animation Export dialog box.
CTRL + SHIFT + C	Opens the Export dialog box and enables you to export current search.
CTRL + SHIFT + I	Opens the Image Export dialog box.
CTRL + SHIFT + R	Opens the Export Rendered Image dialog box.
CTRL + SHIFT + S	Opens the Export dialog box and enables you to export search sets.
CTRL + SHIFT + T	Opens the Export dialog box and enables you to export the current TimeLiner schedule.
CTRL + SHIFT + V	Opens the Export dialog box and enables you to export viewpoints.
CTRL + SHIFT + W	Opens the Export dialog box and enables you to export viewpoint report.
CTRL + SHIFT + HOME	Sets current view as Home.
CTRL + SHIFT + END	Sets current view as Front.
CTRL + SHIFT + Left Arrow	Takes you to the previous redline tag.
CTRL + SHIFT + Right Arrow	Takes you to the next redline tag.
CTRL + SHIFT + Up Arrow	Takes you to the first redline tag.
CTRL + SHIFT + Down Arrow	Takes you to the last redline tag.
F1	Opens the Help system.
F2	Renames the selected item, when appropriate.
F3	Repeats the previously run Quick Find search.
F5	Refreshes your scene with the latest versions of currently loaded model files.
F11	Toggles Full Screen mode.
F12	Opens the Options Editor.
SHIFT + W	Opens the last used SteeringWheel.
SHIFT + F1	Enables you to get context-sensitive help.
SHIFT + F2	Toggles the Sets window.
SHIFT + F3	Toggles the Find Items window.
SHIFT + F4	Toggles the Find Comments window.
SHIFT + F6	Toggles the Comments window.
SHIFT + F7	Toggles the Properties window.
SHIFT + F10	Opens a context menu.
SHIFT + F11	Opens the File Options dialog box.
With the Measurement tool 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
With the Timeliner tool selected.
ESC	Cancels the current edits.
F2	Starts editing the selected field.
ANY CHARACTER	Starts editing the selected field.
RIGHT ARROW	Moves the selection to the next right field, unless the current field is in a tree column that can be expanded. In this case, it expands the row.
LEFT ARROW	Moves the selection to the next left field, unless the current field is in a tree column that can be expanded. In this case, it expands the row.
UP/DOWN ARROW	Selects the row above/below the current row
SHIFT+UP/DOWN ARROW	Extends the selection to the row above/below the current row.
CTRL+UP/DOWN ARROW	Moves the current row up/down without changing selection.
HOME	Selects the first row.
SHIFT+HOME	Extends the selection from the selection anchor to the first row.
CTRL+HOME	Moves the current row to the first row without changing selection.
CTRL+SHIFT+HOME	Adds the rows from the current row to the first row to the selection.
END	Selects the last row.
SHIFT+END	Extends the selection from the selection anchor to the end.
CTRL+END	Moves the current row to the last row without changing selection.
CTRL+SHIFT+END	Adds the rows from the current row to the last row to the selection.
PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN	Selects the row one page above/below the current row.
SHIFT+PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN	Extends the selection one page up/down.
CTRL+PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN	Moves the current row one page up/down without changing the selection.
CTRL+SHIFT+PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN	Adds one page up/down from the current row to the selection.
*	Expands the entire subtree, starting from the current cell.

Which ones do you use most in a day? Or have you learnt any new ones? Or do you want to tell us what you're doing with your extra few minutes in the day? Leave a comment below and tell us.

Navisworks Help now also available online

There's a lot of information out there on the internet and sometimes it can be difficult to know where to find the answers you're looking for. With this in mind we recently published our product help online, meaning that you can quickly find all the answers that you're looking for.

You can access the product help using the following links:

Navisworks Manage

Navisworks Simulate

Navisworks Freedom

This online help contains comprehensive information on how to use all aspects of Navisworks, and gives you an understanding of both the features that you use regularly, and those that you may be less aware of.

You can use the Table of Contents to navigate your way through the topics, and find information about the features that you're interested in. Alternatively you can use the help books as tutorials, and work your way through them all to learn about the full functionality of Navisworks – why not teach yourself to be a super-user!

You can also use the Index and the Search tabs to find specific information that you're looking for.

The content is structured in a logical manner that fits in with your workflows. Overviews of concepts are detailed under the Concept tab. Click the Procedure tab and you'll be taken to a list of related procedures. The Quick Reference tab gives you information on items in a specific window, such as buttons, icons or context (right-click) menus.

Using the buttons in the top right of the online help as displayed in this image, you can show the topic you are currently viewing in the contents, save the topic to your favorites which can be invaluable if you use topics regularly, go back to the home tab, or email a link to a colleague.

Let us know what you think about the new online help by adding a comment below.

Linking Animations to Timeliner tasks

A quick Monday morning update. One of the most powerful ways to use Navisworks is to use features in conjunction with each other. Time-based clashing, search sets and the appearance profiler and linking animations to Timeliner. There's a long list of ways and reasons why you might want to link an object or set of objects in a Timeliner task to an Animation, opening doors at the right time, moving panels for a snazzy animation, rotating a crane into position amongst others.

Here's how you do it.

1. Create an animation using Animator, an object moving, rotating, changing scale or a combination of these.
2. In the Tasks tab in Timeliner, change the Column Set to Extended, this will make all the Advanced columns available.



3. Select an Animator Scene/Animation in the Animation column to link the object to.
4. In Animation behaviour, decide whether you want to 'Scale' the Animation to the length of the Task, 'Match Start' to the beginning of the task, or 'Match End' of the task. Just remember how long your animation is in comparison to the task, Animation default units is seconds, Timeliner can be days or weeks, meaning you might want to scale it to the length of the task.



5. Easy as that, we'll talk about some ways in which you might want to use this feature over the next few weeks.

We welcome any feedback on how you use this, or questions about why you would use this, just use the links in the left column to contact us.

Free Excerpt from new "Mastering Autodesk Navisworks 2012" book

We know you love freebies; we saw how many of you downloaded the free ground planes we offered a few weeks ago. Well here's another one, a few pages from the newly released 'Mastering Autodesk Navisworks 2012' book by Jason Dodds and Scott Johnson. Both these guys have years of experience working with Navisworks in the field with you guys, implementing workflows, pushing the limits of the product and doing things we didn't even realize Navisworks could do!

We've saved an important part of the book for you. Lots of people ask how they should work with NWC, NWD and NWF files for their workflow, these pages explain a little more about what each file format is, how it is used and a more detailed typical workflow, something many people would pay thousands of dollars for a consultant to do for them! Download these pages here

Now if you think that's a valuable bit of information then you should get yourself a copy of the book from here: -

Mastering Autodesk Navisworks 2012

I've got a copy sat here next to me and just picked up a couple of handy things about Timeliner I never knew, I'd tell you what they are but you'll have to get the book to find them out yourself!

Creating Smooth Animations

If you haven't already seen this, John has some great tips here on rendering animations in Navisworks. A nice touch rendering his clash results too!

I wanted to add to this with a quick tutorial of my own, showing how you can create smoother animations using Animator.

Isn't Animator for Object Animation? Well, yes, but you can also animate the camera too. And the interactivity of the Animator timeline gives you much more control over the animation. Let me explain…

1. Create an Animator Camera - the Animator camera timeline is defined by keyframes (similar to how John used Viewpoints in his tutorial).
2. Create your Base Keyframes - you can either create the keyframes directly in Animator, or you can import your base keyframes from an existing Viewpoint Animation (particularly useful if you record your navigation, such as walking, or using the turntable/constrained orbit).
3. Edit the Duration – you can drag the keyframes along the timeline to reposition them (the last one defines the overall animation duration). This also provides a means of moving any keyframes in-between the first and last, speeding/slowing that particular section – this level of control is much, much more difficult (practically impossible if I'm honest) to achieve in the Saved Viewpoints window. Moving keyframes closer together will speed up the transition between them; moving them further apart will slow the transition down.
4. Review the Animation – you can easily move the playhead (vertical black bar) to any position on the timeline then click Play to quickly review the edits you're making.

The above will create decent results, but you're still left with very linear transitions between each keyframe. I use an additional step to smooth these transitions out.

5. Insert Intermediate Keyframes – move the playhead approx. half way between two keyframes (as you drag the playhead, you'll see the main view update). Use the navigation modes to adjust the current viewpoint. This could be as simple as walking backwards a bit; or you may want to Pan the camera, use Look-Around, etc. Capture this intermediate view as another Keyframe.

Now when you playback the animation, this additional keyframe will help to smooth out the transition. Depending where your first and last keyframes are, you may want to add more intermediate frames, but 1 will usually be enough. Take a look at the full tutorial:

There are all sorts of effects that you can create using the timeline in this way. For example, if as part of a fly past you want to slow down (Matrix slow-bullet style) to highlight something important, then move the playhead to the point of focus…

…and create few keyframes around this focal point (e.g. F1, F2 and F3).

Then stretch them out along the timeline.

The camera will transition at normal speed between position A and F1, then slow down between F1, F2 and F3, then return to normal speed again between F3 and B.

Try it out for yourselves. I'd love to hear your feedback. Or why not post your results to YouTube and share the fruits of your labor with us all J