Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blog

Happy 20th Birthday Navisworks – Announcing the launch of Design Night Sheffield!

It seems like 2017 is a huge year for birthdays at Autodesk, earlier this year Autodesk celebrated its 35^th birthday, Revit celebrated its 15 years' anniversary since acquisition, and now Navisworks is celebrating a double header!

20 years ago, today, the first code was committed to the original commercial release of Navisworks in Sheffield in the UK; and 10 years ago, Autodesk completed its acquisition of NavisWorks Ltd.

Back then NavisWorks was primarily used as a viewer for large files rather than what it is today, but much of that technology and principles are also found in other tools you may use every day like AutoCAD, Revit and BIM 360.

Tim Wiegand, the brains behind NavisWorks, was working on these problems for three years before anything commercial was produced; as architect of the wider BIM 360 portfolio today he had this to say about the anniversary: -

"Whenever I think about the impact Navisworks has had, I find it hard to believe that it all started in the corner of a scruffy University research lab, and that at least some of the code I wrote then is still in the product somewhere."

Peter Thompson, Managing Director of NavisWorks Ltd 10 years ago, and now Senior Director for Building and Product Design here at Autodesk, said: -

"Everywhere I go, every customer interaction I have, any time I talk about workflow, (and without me volunteering that I used to work at the company) NavisWorks is mentioned as THE key product that makes a project work. Still, to this day."

To celebrate these anniversaries, we're announcing the first ever Design Night Sheffield! Part of a global movement of celebrating design and making in all its forms we're really pleased to host this event at the beautiful Old Post Office in Sheffield, now the Sheffield Hallam University Institute of Arts on Tuesday October 24^th 2017.

More details to follow in the coming days, and get a teaser here

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]

 

Navisworks 2014 Hotfix Released

A hotfix has been released for Navisworks 2014 and is now available for download from the Autodesk Website.

NWF refresh issue hotfix

This hotfix is designed to resolve an issue where Navisworks Manage and Simulate may close unexpectedly when refreshing a NWF. Please note, this hotfix requires Navisworks 2014 Service Pack 1 to be installed.

The hotfix can be downloaded from here: Navisworks 2014 SP1 NWF Refresh Hotfix.

Welcome to Beyond Design, the blog for contractors to get the most out of BIM

Hello everyone! Welcome to the refreshed Beyond Design blog. As the construction industry grows and technology on-site advances rapidly, we realize that the reasoning behind Beyond Design when we started it two years ago is already becoming outdated, so the changes we make today should reflect this. The intention of the blog still remains the same; to give you the information and the tools to better manage projects, increase productivity, improve workflows and we want empower you to get the most out of the products you use every day.

Beyond Design will expand to cover the following topics: taking technology into the field, industry trends, new tools, tips and tricks and much more. Beyond Design is now your one-stop blog for construction information!

What's changed you ask? Aside from a refreshed look and feel, we have added more authors with expertise in a wide range of relevant fields. Say hello to:

• Anthony Governanti, Technical Marketing Manager for Construction with experience across Autodesk's portfolio in the construction, architecture, and infrastructure segments
• Pete Billante, Product Manager for BIM 360 Field who has worked to develop BIM 360 since inception
• Thomas Schwaiger, Technical Consultant for BIM 360 Glue with a background in data management
• Sunny Hira, Industry Marketing Manager with an emphasis on the construction industry

As well as Paul and myself, whose roles have shifted since we first started

• Paul Walker, Product Manager for BIM 360 mobile solutions
• Lee Mullin, Solutions Engineer for Construction across Northern Europe

There's more detail about all four under the Author's section.

We also want to say a special hello to new our followers from the BIM 360 Field blog. We would love to hear from you and you can contact us at [email protected].

Thanks,

Lee, Paul, Sunny, Anthony, Pete & Thomas

Dancing on the ceiling in Navisworks

We had a bit of an unusual request today, how do you defy the laws of gravity? Obviously in the real world it's going to take a budget of millions to reach the edge of the atmosphere and float away. In Navisworks though, it's a bit simpler. Gravity itself we can't change, it will always be pulling you down, instead you just need to change where 'Up' is. You can do this by right clicking in Navisworks main view, Viewpoint > Set Viewpoint Up and then setting the axis you want as your 'Up'. This could be a good way to investigate a ceiling run, or inspect the façade on the side of a building.

As Lionel Richie once sung, oh what a feeling, when you're walking around your 3D Navisworks model on the ceiling!

Hope that helps, any more tips, you'd like to share, use the links on the left to email us.

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.

Invitation to our beta program for Navisworks Hubble

We'd like to invite our Navisworks users to our Hubble beta program. This is great chance to get early access to our next software release, understand how the new features can benefit your workflows and provide us with input, feedback and suggestions for improvement. If you are interested in participation then please sign up using the link below with a valid work email address (i.e. not Gmail, Yahoo etc.) and completing a short survey.

 Navisworks Hubble Beta program

Tips and Tricks - Autodesk Graphics in Navisworks

I like to consider myself as a bit of an expert when it comes to using Navisworks. I've been using it almost every day for over seven years, you tend to know it inside out in that time. Occasionally however you find something out where you kick yourself for never having tried something out, that moment happened on THEbar, the 'genius bar' of Autodesk experts at Autodesk University 2012 where one of my colleagues pointed out this tip.

In your normal viewing mode, how do you get from this: -

To this?

It's fair to say that it does make models look more appealing!

Here's how to do it, open Options (F12) and Interface > Display, switch off Auto-Select and change the system from Presenter to Autodesk

Then go into Interface > Display > Autodesk in the options.

Switch on Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, change Shader Style to Phong (there are other options), and change the Multi Sample Anti Aliasing (MSAA) Level to '4x', higher will significantly affect performance.

Obviously this view isn't for everyone, and may not have the same performance on larger models, but it may help in reviews where you are looking for management buy in.

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.