Beyond Design is your one-stop blog for the construction industry, BIM & technology. Stay ahead on the latest industry trends, receive tips & tricks and receive updates on what is happening with Autodesk construction workflows. From preconstruction to field management, Beyond Design has you covered.
Just wanted to provide an update for SmartPlant 3D (.vue) file format support in Navisworks.
On Friday we published updates to the 2016, 207 plugins and published a new 2018 version of this popular plugin for Navisworks. The update incorporates fixes for some customer reported issues, as well as bringing the loader in line with the latest version of Navisworks. The plugin is available to all Navisworks customers with an active subscription (which must be associated with your Autodesk ID to allow downloads – speak to your account admin if you can’t access), and is available with immediate effect. More detail is available on the app store.
Here are the direct links to the Navisworks app store:
It seems like 2017 is a huge year for birthdays at Autodesk, earlier this year Autodesk celebrated its 35th 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 24th 2017.
More details to follow in the coming days, and get a teaser here
Annual product launch is always a busy time of year for the Navisworks team and this year has been no different. We've completed some interesting projects this year, so here we would like to introduce them to you in some detail. You've asked us to improve our connectivity and our interoperability and we heard you! Navisworks 2018 continues to improve our BIM workflow integration, with a particular focus on Revit, Recap 360 and IFC. Underpinning this are three key themes that describe our approach to developing Navisworks:
Current
Making sure that Navisworks stays up to date with the latest file formats and data types (e.g. we recently added extensive IFC improvements; and added support for .vue format)
Integrated
Integrating Navisworks with Autodesk cloud solutions (e.g. Navsiworks integration with BIM 360 Glue), plus integration with other Autodesk desktop solutions and complementary suites products (e.g. we invested in Navisworks integration with Revit via the underlay feature for Revit 2018; integration with Recap 360 Pro).
Quality
Fixing blocking bugs and significant regressions.
Revit 2018 & Navisworks 2018 – together at last!
Two years ago, with the release of AutoCAD 2016, we introduced the ability to bring your Navisworks model directly into the design app. Ever since, we have been working closely with our friends in the Revit team to offer the same capability with the release of Revit 2018. Using the 'Coordination Model' feature you will now be able to open NWC & NWD files and import them using model origin or shared coordinates. Once in Revit you can visualise the coordination model in plan, elevation, section or 3D view.
This was a major project that required us to fold Navisworks components (aka Navisworks Core Engine) directly into the Revit codebase.. We think it was worth the effort - now you can bring all the 60+ supported Navisworks formats directly into your Revit projects, with the ability to work with the same huge datasets that you can in Navisworks. Best of all, this performs the same as Navisworks and wont cripple your working environment in Revit.
This workflow could fundamentally change how your project teams collaborate. Rather than the design team or supply chain working independently and then coordinating with other team members after they have produced their designs, the Revit user will now be able to design within the context of the whole project view. This is a big step towards the holy grail of 'clash avoidance' – project team members creating coordinated, clash free data as a seamless part of the design and detailing process.
Further to this, the Revit folks are very excited that this unlocks the "direct context" workflow, where huge models, such as the city of Berlin shown below, can now be used as context for your projects at a scale that was previously impossible!
Fabrication parts in Navisworks
Autodesk continues to invest in building out our fabrication and detailing capability on the Revit platform to extend design development through fabrication level of detail and coordination to installation on site. Navisworks is a key part of this workflow, and we introduced support for the new Revit Fabrication parts properties as part of the 2018 release.
IFC Interoperability Enhancements
IFC is an increasingly important format and there are some significant improvements wrapped into the 2018 release. A completely new IFC file reader is integrated within Navisworks, which leverages the work that the Revit team have done in support of IFC.
This doesn't mean that we now only support IFC from Revit (as some of you have asked). Now, Navisworks has the benefit of parity with Revit because we are using the same open source code to handle IFC files. This translates to greater consistency for your workflows and illustrates our investment into the support of the open source format.
You still have the option of using the older Navisworks IFC reader, but from 2018, the Revit IFC reader is now the default. Direct benefits of this include support for additional IFC property and object types, such as IFCSpace and IFCZone, plus PSets and improved IFC hierarchy handling. In addition, more than 80% of our backlog of IFC bugs were addressed.
Some of you will know that we introduced this as in its first release as an update last year. Since then, we have worked directly with our customers and made improvements to the handling of property data and organisation. We continue to listen out for more, so keep the feedback coming!
Recap 360 and Reality Capture workflows
Bring your Navisworks model directly into the ReCap 360 Pro desktop product (see the reality capture team's blog here). This lets you visualize your as-designed data from Navisworks directly alongside your as built data in Recap 360 Pro 'Real Views', enabling a set of quality and progress-checking workflows by comparing planned and actual datasets. Alternatively, if you want to bring your ReCap models into Navisworks, the current integration will now support filtered ReCap points. This lets you work with a subset of the point cloud data, so speeding up review and verification workflows by importing just what you need for your process.
This video highlights the possibilities for construction workflows where progress scanning is blended with the as-designed data for immediate review and coordination purposes that will benefit the entire team.
General fixes, product stability and performance enhancements
We continue to invest in the stability, performance and quality of Navisworks – the new 'optimize on load' function has a dramatic impact on file size when working with previous versions of Navisworks as many of you still are. One customer reported that a Navisworks 2016 file of 4.7gb was reduced to just 200mb using this function– saving them several minutes every time the model was opened. We always encourage you to work with the latest versions, hopefully this is another reason why that's such a good idea!
Navisworks and BIM 360
Using Navisworks together with Glue, Field and Layout opens up real value for construction teams. By leveraging the power of 'connected BIM' – where the desktop and the cloud work in unison, project teams can realise great savings in time and cost through greater collaboration and anytime, anywhere access to the as-designed data you create in Navisworks. This year we further simplified that workflow, by integrating the Field connection directly into the ribbon interface for Navsiworks. Now its even easier to pull field data through your project by connecting to BIM 360, and bring in progress or commissioning data into your Navisworks model for your analysis workflows.
Final thoughts…
So, that's the Navisworks 2018 release. We hope you find the additions and improvements useful.
This year Amar spoke at Autodesk University about the Autodesk Desktop App, and showcased a new experience for updating our products, integrated into the desktop and providing a smoother way to access updates releases and the like. Navisworks 2018 is part of that, and as the business as a whole transitions into a subscription model as well, we're looking into delivering more frequent updates and less 'big bang' annual releases that we have traditionally done. Whilst this changes the way we deliver updates, hopefully you can see from above that we're continuing to work on the themes we've set out.
And of course in addition to our own work we continue to maintain our API. Navisworks alongside BIM 360 has an extensive API and we have many customers and partners that are building on the core product. We've seen many partners realise many workflows this way, and the Navisworks app store has several examples of some great functionality that leverage the API for specific workflows.
As always, we look forward to your feedback. Thanks and enjoy this release.
Want to showcase that amazing project you've been working on for weeks/months/years/as long as you can remember (*delete as appropriate). The AEC Excellence awards have come around again and we're looking for you to submit the amazing work we know you do! Introduced back in 2012 to recognize BIM in Infrastructure projects, this world-renowned competition now includes Infrastructure, Building, Construction, and Sustainability categories that showcase innovations using connected BIM workflows and Autodesk software.
Awards include 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes in each category, which makes this your chance to show off your truly inspirational projects. You know, the ones you're most excited about, like projects that use augmented reality, virtual reality, drones, generative design, computational design, and more—in short, your best design efforts using BIM workflows and Autodesk technology!
As well as all the free publicity across AEC publications and through us, HP and Construction Dive, you could win a brand-new HP workstation, a trip to Autodesk University Las Vegas 2017, and recognition at the Autodesk University Awards Ceremony. And, of course, you'll receive a beautiful trophy you can show off to colleagues and clients once you return.
Take for example, 2016 winners, this amazing project, the Vamma 12 Hydropower dam in Norway, it not only was a feat in physical engineering, it also used only 3D models, not a 2D sheet in sight. It also used mobile technologies like BIM 360 on site to reduce potential communication errors and ensure everyone was working from the latest versions, and used extensive reality capture and 4D to reduce risk in complex operations.
The deadline for entry is June 23, 2017. Finalists for each category will be announced in August, and then winners will be announced at the AEC Excellence Awards Ceremony at Autodesk University Las Vegas 2017 in November.
Navisworks has long been a place to aggregate models and data into one place for advanced design review and clash detection. One of the key ways to get value from Navisworks is ensuring as many object properties are included in the model as possible. This blog explains the process to include additional properties from Bentley AECOsim in Navisworks thanks to our ANZ consulting team, special thanks to Quoc Pham for putting this together.
Navisworks supports Bentley AECOsim .DGN file format. Not all the AECOsim properties are available through the standard translation, by using DataTools you can link the metadata to the model.
First export the model from Bentley AECOsim as an NWC or import it into Navisworks
Bentley AECOsim Structural and Architectural model elements
Modify the Options located in the Menu Browser > Options > Model > Performance > Collapse on Convert, set to None.
Note: If you do not do this you will have multiple Element ID's.
Bentley AECOsim Mechanical, Hydraulic and Electrical
Modify the Options located in the Menu Browser > Options > Model > Performance > Collapse on Convert > Select All Objects.
Import the property data using Datatools and ODBC drivers
This previous blog about Navisworks DataTools should help you understand the feature. The following example applies it to a project where our client had multiple AECOsim models that needed to be appended into Navisworks and retain metadata.
Export model properties from Bentley AECOsim
Click on the Building Designer > DataGroup – Building Components > Open Data Group Explorer…
In the DataGroup Explorer select the Export drop down list and select Export All Instances to Excel.
Once exporting has completed the Excel file will be created.
Open Navisworks Manage, Append the model.
Run DataTools, the DataTools dialog box will appear.
Create a new DataTools Link, the Edit Link will appear.
As per the image below:
Set up the Connection, click on Setup and follow the prompts.
Input the appropriate SQL string. In this case Select the Walls Table where we are looking at Element ID as the key.
To add the fields, double click on the right pane. Type in the name of the Excel Field name and required Display Name.
Once completed click ok, and make sure that the DataTools Link is checked.
To get this information into BIM 360 Glue you can save the file as an NWD and simply upload to BIM 360 Glue. You can automate the process of loading these file and saving NWD's by using the Batch Utility to run this process overnight, then upload the file in the morning. This same process can work to get other data into Navisworks associated with a file.
One of the main uses for laser scanning in construction has been checking your 3D CAD and BIM against the real world situation, to check some refurbishment work will fit or the next trade can install their HVAC run rather than turn up onsite and not be able to work. It has long been possible to do this within Navisworks, and more recently with the introduction of Recap, also within Revit. Both of these do the job, but are still in the hands of the specialists.
Towards the end of last year the Recap team snuck out quite a big update, allowing you to view Navisworks NWD models alongside the 360° panoramic Realviews within Recap. These are the easy accessible way to access the point cloud, think of Google Street View in your laser scan!
So what does this mean? Well you can bring your files from over 50 different file formats together in Navisworks (or via BIM 360 Glue), and save out an NWD file. This can then be "Attached" in Recap (make sure the scan and model files are on the same coordinate system), whenever you then go into one of the Realviews, you'll be able to see the models alongside the images captured by the scanner with correct depth being applied (so items in front of the model are shown as that).
The video below is courtesy of Faro and BAM Construct who worked together on seeing what this new feature could do on a real life project.
Tips related to Navisworks and Recap Realview
To check the coordinates in Navisworks open the Measure dialog (View > Window > Measure Tools) and when you make a measurement the coordinate will show.
To check the coordinates in Recap you should see the coordinates in the lower left corner as you hover over the view.
To change the coordinates of the Navisworks model use there are a number of ways, the Measure Tool is my preferred method
You only need to do fancy renderings to win bids right? Show off to the client how their shiny new project is going to look?
A common misconception about rendering is that it's a way to get a computer generated model as close to the real thing as possible, and it takes a really long time, so therefore it's only for the most important people, the clients. Well it can do, I know several releases of Navisworks ago our standard advice for getting a high quality render out was set it up then go home for the night, and hope for the best that it would all be ready in the morning and you wouldn't run out of memory or find your hardware blue screened on you.
Now I know a few of you are nodding your head at this and many of you have probably already started to embrace A360 Cloud Rendering, a way to send your model to us, get on with other work, then receive a link to a nice shiny render in your email. Once you have done a render it's pretty easy to change settings and re-render it bigger or a different type of render such as a panorama, and even easier to download it or share it with your company or the wider world. You can also send up to cloud rendering directly from within AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, Fusion 360 and 3DS Max or upload AutoCAD and Fusion 360 files to the Rendering in A360 website.
So what has all this got to do with Health and Safety? Well one of the biggest challenges with implementing a health and safety policy is ensuring everyone understands what is being asked of them, this could be due to terminology, interpretation of documents, or simple language barriers as we see on projects around the world. Visual communication is essential to getting a point across, so using renderings, visualisations and anything to back up potential dangers or ensure that workers understand their restrictions before they go on site is something that should be embraced.
In the example below we have a model that includes a terrain and site plan from Infraworks exported as an FBX, alongside a bridge created with Civil 3D, Revit and Dynamo, all imported into Navisworks. Then I simply moved to the cabin of the crane and press Render in Cloud, you can then decide to export still images, panoramas or stereo panoramas (for use with Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard). This can be a much easier way to get the site team to understand what they need to do or what the site may look like than using 2D drawings or upskilling them in navigating 3D models.
Dynamo is a visual way of doing complex tasks, it has been around for a couple of years now and it is certainly better known for geometry manipulation and form finding processes -
did you know that it can be of great help also in the construction as well?
Dynamo is an open source visual programming platform supported by Autodesk and available as a free Revit plugin. Dynamo is shipped along with Revit since version 2016 R2, but you can always download the latest version from dynamobim.org as well, where you will also find a plenty of tutorials, videos as well as a user forum.
Basically, Dynamo provides a direct access to the Revit programming interface for non-programmers among us. It is based on a library containing pre-scripted elements which can be connected together visually in order to accomplish a certain task.
Collision management is one of the main benefits for the construction industry to move from 2D to 3D and BIM, and Navisworks offers some very powerful tools for tracking and managing these, which is surely nothing new for you. Dynamo can help you to create a very smooth workflow between Navisworks and Revit, as you can see in the following video:
This is a great use case that demonstrates the real power of Dynamo by giving you the full access to the Revit API without the need for programming skills. You can download the datasets used in the video above here.
In the future posts we will discuss collision management and other usecases for the Dynamo in the construction process in more detail.
The step from detailed design to construction in a Building Information Modeling (BIM)-enabled workflow is a challenge for many design offices and construction companies. In many situations, designs need to be changed after contractors have reviewed the models on constructability. In this class, you will discover how you can involve computational design in this process. You will learn how to use the Dynamo extension to automate all kinds of custom tasks in Revit software to make your design constructible. You will get inspired by the wide range of possibilities the Dynamo extension offers to create your own model check and to automate the creation of construction elements.This session features Revit, Dynamo Studio and Navisworks Manage
By the way, this year there will be 50(!) Dynamo sessions at the AU – which shows that this topic is getting more and more important for all areas.
The AEC industry is ripe for disruption by Augmented Reality. I recently gave a "Pecha Kucha"-style presentation about Augmented Reality at the Autodesk XSummit, where I provided a brief overview and history of AR through the lens of AEC. (My co-presenter, Joel Pennington, looked to the future, where AR platforms will empower the next generation of designers and makers.) Below is a loose transcript of portions of that presentation… enjoy!
AR Overview
Inspiration for AR comes from a variety of sources, from heads-up displays in the military, to the great science fiction stories of the 20th century; from the first industrial uses in manufacturing, to video-overlay AR in sports broadcasting. Augmented Reality has captured the imaginations of people seeking a better interface for designing and creating.
Let's be clear: AR is not VR. Unlike Virtual Reality, which fully immerses participants in an artificial environment, AR enhances the experience of the real world by incorporating contextual information when and where it is needed. By mixing the real and the virtual, AR will be more integrated into our everyday lives than VR, and a much larger market opportunity.
A key characteristic of AR is the spatial overlay of digital information on the physical world. AR is ideal for making comparison. Remember these puzzles? They challenged us with: "Spot the eight differences," but in the real world, we're asked harder questions, like: "Are there any differences, and if so, how many?" AR can help.
There are two kinds of AR hardware interfaces: displays for the head and displays for the hand. In the last decade, both form factors have evolved, from customized to commoditized. The broad availability of head-mounted displays, mobile phones, and AR-ready tablets, allows companies like Autodesk to focus on making software tools for AR.
For professionals in manufacturing and AEC, AR fits well into a lean story. Lean is about providing the right "stuff" to the right people, in the right place and time. AR is a technology that supports this approach, providing the right information in the right place.
History of AR in Construction
Let's look at the development of AR since the turn of the century, as applied to construction. The "Magic Book" was a landmark project that introduced and popularized the use of black square, optical markers for tracking virtual objects. It featured the first published AR construction documents, complete with pictures, text, and mixed reality experiences to guide the assembly of a chair.
Since that humble beginning, the construction industry has become enamored by AR. We've had prototype projects, demonstrating accurate wall framing without a tape measure, with a mobile projector as an "AR flashlight." That led to AR on active construction sites, with large-scale markers and ruggedized tablets to visualize building components like a staircase in context and at full scale.
AR in AEC Today
Today, each party in the AEC industry uses AR in different, but complementary, ways in the lifecycle of a building. AR enables owners, architects, and contractors to compare the as-is, the as-intended, and the as-built conditions, and they're doing so with a variety of software. We must extend our every-day BIM tools to include AR, in order to support this cycle, and remain competitive in the AEC market.
For example: architects use AR to visualize their designs in context, whether displayed full scale on a project site, or scaled-down onto physical study models. Designers are also using AR to support in-person, collaborative design reviews.
AR gives anyone on a project team easy access to data-rich models regardless of their experience with BIM tools. Contractors are now using AR for rapid, intuitive layout and installation without paper drawings or survey equipment. They also use it for quality control, to understand where work may be installed incorrectly.
Finally, for building owners, a promising use case for AR is the "ultimate stud finder," to reveal hidden construction conditions. They also use AR for facilities maintenance, overlaying meta-data on building equipment and systems to get status updates in real-time. There is no shortage of software tools we should enhance with AR, to provide AEC professionals a complete 21st-century software ecosystem.
AR for AEC Tomorrow
The next generation of designers and makers – and, make no mistake: they are coming to replace us – will have much higher expectations, and lower tolerance, for human-computer interfaces that behave and respond intuitively. In the near future, it will not be sufficient to "bolt on" an AR module or functionality to our software tools, but rather reinvent them entirely as AR platforms that support design and making at its core.
Even as Augmented Reality becomes a household name, the current state of AR leaves much to be desired. There is a time and a place for everything, and AR is a vital piece of delivering the right information in the right place. The AEC industry is begging for AR solutions, the hardware to support AR is within reach. Autodesk and its customers must collectively demand and invest in augmented reality. If you don't, someone else will!
Today we launch Industry Collections, it's a new way of thinking about how to access software and is a perfect fit for construction. Based on a term license they allow you to easily scale up and down during the course of a construction project and include contingent employees in software planning.
So what does the new AEC Collection include? And what advantages do each of these offerings bring to my construction project?
AutoCAD, verticals, and AutoCAD 360 Pro – As a common platform used throughout the industry, this suite of AutoCAD products allows you to access and create documentation and share detailing with all partners on the project team
Revit – The leading BIM tool to create construction parts, access schedules and convert designs to fabrication parts for coordination
AutoCAD Civil 3D – The best tool for road, rail and earthworks detailing, cut and fills, landscaping and getting to machine control
Navisworks Manage – Create federated models from over 50 file formats and run Clash Detection, Construction Simulation, Quantification, Design Review and Rendering
Vehicle Tracking – For analysing site movements in advance and ensuring trucks, cranes and large vehicles can move around site
3DS Max – For those high end visualisations to help with winning planning, buy in from stakeholders, or winning tender bids
Formit 360 Pro – A conceptual design tool for buildings that links to Revit that allows you to create site layouts on the PC or mobile device
Infraworks 360 – A conceptual design tool for infrastructure that links to Civil 3D that allows you to create construction site layouts, traffic simulations and visualisations
Insight 360 – Run sustainability analysis and verify that any significant changes in materials you make won't affect the end result
Recap 360 Pro – Use reality capture laser scanning and photogrammetry to better understand existing conditions and verify as built conditions
Rendering in A360 – Create quick and easy high quality renders and panoramas from Revit and Navisworks
Structural Analysis – Do easy structural analysis to help with foundation design decisions
Online Storage – As we work in an 'always connected' world, being able to access models, drawings from office or site
So with an AEC Collection, does my team have everything we need?
Not included in the package but worth considering for construction needs are:
BIM 360 – A full suite of products built around the needs of a contractor, covering cloud enabled coordination, 3D layout, quality checks, safety programs, commissioning and production planning
Point Layout – To get coordinate information to total stations seamlessly from the design and review packages and bring back for as built analysis to speed up and reduce rework
Stingray – To 'gamify' 3D construction project data to improve understanding and health and safety on site
Want to know more? Read this FAQ and contact your reseller for more information about Industry Collections, how to get hold of them, and introduce new workflows to your firm.
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