Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blog

BIM 360 and Navisworks underlay in AutoCAD 2016!

The new releases of AutoCAD take a big step forward in improving design quality and speeding up coordination. For many years the standard way of working with multiple stakeholders has been the humble xref, bringing someone else's file into your environment and designing around it. This allows you to avoid clashes by designing with the other trades and other user's files in context. This process tends to involve others providing their released working files via data management solutions on an occasional basis, normally at project milestones.

With the AutoCAD 2016 release (including AutoCAD based products such as Civil 3D, CADmep, Advanced Steel and AutoCAD MEP), you'll be able to load a Navisworks NWD or NWC file as an xref, or alternatively a live BIM 360 Glue project! But what does that mean for you?

Working with Navisworks and BIM 360 Glue allows you to work in a more organized process. We often see people working with xref's that can be weeks or even months out of date. This can lead to design work taking place in the same space where another trade has already done their work but only since the last released file. This leads to clashes further down the line where two trades have designed objects in the same place. When this needs to be rectified, perhaps weeks later, the designer will have to spend time familiarising themselves with the area again and why they made the decisions they did. By loading the weekly coordination model you minimize the risk of designing objects in the same physical location as someone else and therefore speed up the design process and the need to make changes, which saves the entire design team time and money.

In AutoCAD 2016, you will also see improved performance, the Navisworks viewing engine, that was built from the ground up to optimize performance on large models. Now integrated into AutoCAD, you'll be able to view the referenced Navisworks/BIM 360 file as a separate process to the design files, speeding up performance of navigation and allowing AutoCAD to get on with what the product does best, design!

So in a Navisworks environment, your VDC, BIM, design manager or coordinator can collect all the files together in a single place, save them as an NWD, and load as an xref to get on with designing. My personal favourite feature is the ability to set transparency on the file which means you can see where you are in relation to the surrounding design without it getting in the way.

To see how the new functionality with AutoCAD 2016 works with BIM 360, watch the video below:

If you're using BIM 360 Glue, this can speed this work up even further. If your design teams are "gluing" their models on a daily basis or more frequently, then what are the chances of you accidentally designing and creating a clash? You also have the benefit of loading the pinpoint locations of any clashes speeding your resolution up even further.

This is not Clash Detection, this is Clash Avoidance!

Note: This is only supported on 64 bit systems

Chewie, We’re Home! #empireBIMcrew Videos and presentation from AU and BSL

There's only one topic of conversation in the office this morning, how many times have you seen it?

If you have no idea what I'm on about, you need to stop what you are doing for 2 minutes and watch this.

Back now? How many people just clicked on it to watch it again? Thought so!

Anyway, as a massive Star Wars fan (geek), I've been far too giddy about this for too long as anyone who follows me on Twitter will realise. So last night I was ready to publish a blog about the cool new features in AutoCAD using Navisworks and BIM 360 technology, but immediately realised that will have to wait till next week… Priorities!

I've been lucky enough to present a couple of Star Wars themed classes at Autodesk University in Vegas and more recently BIM Show Live in the UK about workflows between products, using Star Wars themed datasets. I wanted to share some of the videos created for these presentations. The last presentation was about how Han and Chewie (I can't believe Chewie got the best line in the trailer!), had to renovate the Millennium Falcon after winning it from Lando. So first up, design review in BIM 360 Glue: -

Then quickly setting up Search Sets for advanced Navisworks use, with help from a familiar friend…

Setting up custom properties to collect in BIM 360 Field…

Point Cloud Analysis in Autodesk Revit using the Point Layout add in, guess who ran into this wall…

And finally we found the Millennium Falcon at Pinewood studios using Infraworks 360

There's lots more videos in the full Autodesk University Star Wars Youtube playlist and the AU presentations with lots of tips and tricks are below: -

The #empireBIMcrew Strikes Back

Building the Death Star the Autodesk Way (includes video of presentation)

Thanks to everyone who helped me pull together datasets, from Dace Campbell and his USB charing GNK to David Light and his amazing Revit RFA of the Falcon and many more!

Are You Using Navisworks 2015 Tools?

Budgets are tight and time to put together a good training program is scarce. Let’s look at the Navisworks 2015 features to help you maximize your efficiency with the current product features.  As a past BIM/CAD manager, I know how important it is to prove to your manager that the team is using its program investment to the fullest. 

So let’s sharpen our skills with key features in Navisworks 2015: integrated 2D & 3D quantification and takeoff, cloud rendering, Recap improvements, and a few performance improvements.

Integrated 2D & 3D Quantification

Integrated 2D & 3D quantification provides a new method for generating quantities from and alongside a model.  It also provides the opportunity to go from highly detailed models to virtually no details while still enabling proper quantity takeoff. This flexibility provides powerful quantification tools to benefit the pre-construction process when using BIM.  

2D quantification tools in Navisworks Manage and Navisworks Simulate add more powerful quantification to the coordination model.  The introduction of 2D takeoff enabled integrated 2D, multi-sheet files, and 3D quantification for multi-format project datasets. With this feature you can generate accurate quantities for the resources required on your projects using a combination of models and sheets. 

The power of the 2D quantification takeoff allows you to mark up line geometry on a floor plan or other worksheet. The markup will then appear as an object in the quantification workbook, displaying properties such as area, perimeter or length. You can trace linear markups to measure a wall or the perimeter of a room, or use area tools to record the extent of a surface, such as a floorspace. You can also place markup pins on 2D sheets to perform a count takeoff.

The Polyline Markup tool lets you measure single or multiple line segments, while the Rectangle Polyline Markup tool lets you measure rectangular line segments.  The Area Markup tool lets you measure free form areas which can be useful to measure irregular room or corridors.  The Rectangular Area Markup tool lets you measure rectangular line segments, for instance, to measure a room’s wall perimeter. Each rectangle polyline markup that you draw will create a takeoff object in your Quantification Workbook, calculating the length and or perimeter.

Several editing markup tools enhance the management of markups.  The select tool lets you select one or more markups that you have made for editing.  You can use the CTRL key to select multiple markups, and, once you have selected a markup you can move, delete, or copy it.

If your sheets don’t have a scale associated with them you can use the Custom Scale tool to manually add a scale to your 2D sheet.

With the addition of 2D takeoffs, we made improvements to the Efficient 3D Takeoff.  You can now drag parent groupings or an entire selection tree from your Selection Tree window onto an item in your Quantification Workbook.

This enables a single-click takeoff of large quantities of model objects.   You can add notes or comments to the objects in the Quantification Workbook and by using the Property Mapping dialog; you can create associations between the object properties in your design files and the takeoff properties in Navisworks.

For a close look at this feature including training, check out On-demand webinar: Using Quantification in Navisworks® for Better Results and the AU class CO5078: Estimating with Navisworks® Quantification.

Cloud Rendering

Another key feature in Navisworks 2015 is cloud rendering.  To access this feature, sign into Autodesk 360.  If you need to sign up for an account, click on Free Trial and follow the directions.  Once you have signed up, you are on your way to taking advantage of virtually infinite computing power in the cloud to create high resolution renderings in a fraction of the time, and without the need for expensive hardware.

Cloud rendering enables you to render images using the Autodesk cloud, allowing your personal computer to save space for other tasks – helping you and your organization work faster and smarter. With this feature, you can render not only in Navisworks, but also in AutoCAD, Revit, and Fusion 360 from any computer.

With Rendering in Autodesk 360, you can:

• Perform solar studies of designs in progress, to understand the effects of insolation and shading during the day.
• Create panoramas, so you and your clients can navigate through the scene interactively.
• Perform illuminance simulations of scenes, to better understand the effects of natural and artificial lighting.
• Apply background environments to rendered scenes.

You can use rendering to see preview images while you develop your project with Autodesk software.  For more information, check out Rendering in A360 Webinar: How to Use Cloud Rendering in Navisworks®.

Recap Improvements

The last feature in Navisworks 2015 that we will look at is integration with the ReCap. ReCap allows you to work more efficiently with point cloud data in your coordination and pre-construction workflows.  It allows you to capture and integrate reality data directly into your design process with ReCap Reality Capture software and services. ReCap works with Autodesk suites so you can start your design with accurate 3D data and full photo-quality context rather than a blank screen.  More to come about ReCap in an upcoming Beyond Design post.

With the enhanced Navisworks and ReCap integration, you can select between Conversion Mode options which include:

• Project Link – each ReCap project is treated as a single object within Navisworks
• Scans – each ReCap scan is treated as a single object within Navisworks
• Voxels – each voxel (sub-group of points within a 3 dimensional space) is treated as a single object

You will also notice improved performance with Scans and Voxels options.  Setting the Conversion Model to Scans or Voxels will allow greater granularity when working with point cloud data. For instance, accurately identify where a clash is located by undertaking clash detection.  The Set Interactive Point Size will allow you to determine the display size of points as you navigate through your model. Larger point sizes will give your scans an improved feeling of solidity.

The On Publish Embed Xrefs option allows you to determine how you want ReCap data to be treated when including point clouds in your published NWDs.

The embed Xref option allows you to:

• Disable – turn off the option to include ReCap data
• Have fast access – tour recap data will be viewable as soon as the NWD is opened, your file size will be larger
• Compressed – your ReCap data will need to decompress when you open NWD, but your NWD will be smaller

With these improvements you can handle models much larger than you previously were able to, allowing for new design and construction workflows. 

For more information, check out: Building Design Suite Workflow: Reality Capture Using Autodesk Recap and Navisworks®, “ReCap for Construction" with Revit & Navisworks® - ReCap Webinar Series #2/1.  These videos will cover workflows with ReCap, Revit and Navisworks.

Additional Performance Improvements

Check out more performance enhancements of Navisworks 2015 here and make sure you are using the current features and capabilities to their fullest potential.

Training resources can be hard to find. Remember, if you are a Subscription Member, you can access the Autodesk Knowledge Network, providing plenty of training classes that will help make your team the best it can be.

Thank you to everyone in our Navisworks community, we appreciate your input.  Please keep the ideas coming!

Revit to BIM 360 Glue improvements

It's fair to say I get overly excited about small improvements in our products, and this is one I've been waiting for a few months for.

When pushing a model from Revit to Glue historically we have created a lightweight DWF file to push up to BIM 360 Glue, this minimises the bandwidth used rather than uploading the entire Revit model, and allows you to run the faster iterative design review more quickly. In the latest release of the Revit exporter in BIM 360 Glue we now give you the option to push to DWF or the Navisworks NWC file format.

You may be wondering why you may want to use NWC to push to Glue instead of DWF as you always have. The main areas of improvement are: -

• Viewing of materials has improved, any materials that come from the standard materials library will be available to view on any machine which already has the library installed, e.g. current versions of Revit, AutoCAD or Navisworks. Note: This isn't currently available through the iPad.

• Improved colour support, this is important for your MEP especially to help easily define between HVAC and sprinklers for example.
  
  
• Improved object names and model tree hierarchy, This will allow you to identify similar elements or look at items by Level or floor as you have had in Navisworks for years. Also the naming convention in DWF typically picks up the Element ID of the object, NWC just has this information as a property, reducing the chance of confusion and making it easier to create Sets for BIM 360 Field and when you open the live file in Navisworks.

• Improved Property support, the NWC file will bring through properties in the same way as Navisworks allowing you to access a wider range of properties. You'll also see that you can access different groups of properties within the model using the dropdown. So you can quickly find information about Phasing, or materials of that item.

 

• This also improves the way you can map properties for BIM 360 Field. With improved naming of items and the fuller range of properties available you can right click and Create an Equipment Set from any item or Property, which can then be used in BIM 360 Field to collect information against that item.

Of course you can still use DWF for existing projects or for specific requirements but we think you'll like the improvements available by using NWC with BIM 360 Glue.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Quantification is for so many more than just the estimators

Quantification in Navisworks has now been available for around 18 months and during that time I've shown it to many customers, whilst there are obvious benefits for the estimators and quantity surveyors, the people who seem most excited about the possibilities are not in those teams, why?

A typical Bill of Quantities can take weeks to build, verify and validate, this can be dead time for planners, site managers and buyers who need to make rough estimates in the meantime of quantities needed for purchases, transportation needed for planning and many more tasks on any construction project. Whilst not dismissing the BoQ, as it's an essential document for contractual reasons and verified accurate quantities, Quantification from models can free up essential resources at a key period and empowers many more in the supply chain to make better informed decisions when it is relevant to them. It allows for the extraction of key information from the model and project, a key principle of BIM, which allows you to utilise the model for many purposes.

As with many other parts of the Autodesk portfolio, working with a single tool can solve a business need, working with multiple tools together can solve multiple needs to people who have never seen the need for BIM in their workflows before. These videos demonstrate the first in a series of potential powerful workflows that can help site managers, planners, buyers and more utilising Quantification and various other tools in the Autodesk Construction portfolio.

Remember you can quantify from Revit files, DWFx, DWF and IFC out of the box, a PDF reader is available through the App Exchange, and you can easily map more quantities by using Takeoff Mapping on the Item Catalog Toolbar.

A quick video demonstrating how you can use your construction simulation to look at the Quantities associated with task start dates from Timeliner by using drag and drop

A video allowing you to check the quantities of undelivered items which may allow you to check for appropriate storage, or just verify what is missing.

Navisworks Quantification using 2D sheets and 3D models, also loading PDFs

Navisworks Quantification based on an existing catalogue

Let us know what you think, and if there's other workflows you think it could be used for or would like to see.

Autodesk University 2014 is upon us! The force is strong with this one!

It's not long to go now, 2 weeks and we'll all be at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for Autodesk University 2014!

The good news, alot of you have signed up for my class, a follow up to the popular Star Wars themed class in 2012, "CO6968 - The #EmpireBIMcrew Strikes Back", talking about the renovation of the Millennium Falcon using BIM 360, Point Layout and Recap. So many of you have signed up, it's now full, so thank you, can't wait to see you there!

For those specialist fabrication contractors there's the MEP & Structural Fabricator Forum on the Monday, this $300 one day event is sold out, but if you are interested in attending let us know and we'll see if we can find paid access. I'll be speaking with Matt Potts from the Fabrication team about how "Utilizing the Cloud" can help your workflows, we'll be showing some of the workflows between our fabrication products and the world of BIM 360!

For those on Twitter I'll be tweeting from @leeroyb, and feel free to post your favourite Star Wars links using the #empireBIMcrew Twitter hashtag. I also have a Pinterest board of some of my favourite Star Wars pictures, use the hashtag #empireBIMcrew. Also follow @AutodeskU and #au2014 for the latest on the conference.

Don't worry if you can't be there, key sessions will be shown live and there's a wealth of classes that will be available after the event at au.autodesk.com

Most of us from the blog will be there, whether it be at the returning Construction Zone, Answer Bar, Demo Theatre or generally roaming the corridors, feel free to come up and say hi!

Win a trip to Autodesk University 2014!

LOVE BIM?

Tell us how you are pioneering BIM in your organization for a chance to be one of four lucky winners to attend Autodesk University 2014 in Las Vegas! Check out what some of our BIM champions are saying right now:

Daniel Brandenburg of Integrated Building Solutions tells us “The advanced capabilities that BIM provides allows me to coordinate with all disciplines a lot easier, faster, and more accurately. This product has saved my company and I, lots of time! I could see BIM becoming the standard. Keep up the awesome work Autodesk!”

Dennis Hopper of GE Healthcare says “Our model library is growing. Trying to explain or describe a 2D dwg as 3D is becoming a thing of the past.”

Andre Roy of EBC Inc mentioned “We're starting to integrate BIM 360 for our next big project, an art gallery. We're working hard (the BIM team) to show the company how important it is to go forward with these tools and how much of a leader we can be in construction in Canada by having the BIM tools helping all along the project for planning, interacting, all in real time, saving money and handing over great buildings to proud new owners.”

We can’t wait to hear your story by Monday, November 3rd at www.destinationBIM.com.

 

On-demand webinar "How to Use Cloud Rendering in Navisworks"

We recently invited you all to this webinar where we showed you how to create stunning renders from Navisworks using A360 cloud rendering. Don't worry if you couldn't make it - we've recorded and made it available here. Sit back, learn and go render!

 

 

Free Webinar: How to Use Cloud Rendering in Navisworks

Wednesday September 24th at 10am PST/1pm EST. Register here.

Join me (Thomas Schwaiger) for a webinar on using Navisworks Simulate and Manage with Autodesk A360 Cloud Rendering. You will learn about streamlined workflows for creating renders for your whole-project model.

This session will teach you how to:

• Quickly create stunning renders of your multi-disciplinary models
• Employ easy-to-use render settings including geographic location
• Make use of improved consistent material support

Register for this FREE webinar here.

See below for some examples of renderings from Rendering Pro of the week.   

Click here for more information about the many features of Rendering in Autodesk A360.

Autodesk® Exchange Apps Hackathon September 20-21

You may have noticed in the top right corner of most of your Autodesk applications a little X, ever tried clicking it? It'll take you through to the Autodesk Exchange App Store for your product, this year we launched our Navisworks App Store, where developers from all over the world can upload their apps and make them available to the world.

For example currently on the newly released Navisworks 2015 App Exchange there are free apps like Properties+ to summarise which properties you see in your view, a PDF reader for Navisworks, allowing you to add many more drawings to your Quantification project, Prokon Timeliner Wizard to help create Timeliner entries, to a trial of Surveyor which can be used to report on properties in the model and from a database.

We know quite a few of you have built little plugins, and used the API to extend the use of Navisworks, Revit and AutoCAD over the years, we're encouraging you to join our online Hackathon on the 20^th and 21^st September. Allowing you to publish these apps and be in with a chance of receiving up to US$100 per app published and win one of eight iPad minis!

The Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon will run from 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on Saturday, September 20 to 4:00 p.m. September 21.  Anyone can participate from anywhere in the world and at any time both before the event and during the Hackathon days.  The Hackathon is a free event and offers a cash reward for apps published (up to 5 apps).  You can also participate in the "Cloud App" and "Sustainability App" competitions for a chance to win an iPad mini. Autodesk has assembled a great line up of industry and product app development specialists to lead interactive discussions and sessions on architecting apps for the Exchange store as well as how to use a new Autodesk API such as one of our web service APIs. Great for those looking at extending the use of BIM 360 Glue and Field, more info on those API's can be found on the 360 View Blog.

For full details and registration and visit the Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon event pages.