Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate 2010 User guide

Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010

User Guide

March 2009

©

reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December,

3December.com, 3ds Max, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD

Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk

Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch,

AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civil 3D, Cleaner,

Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Create>what's>Next>

(design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio,

Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Web Format, Discreet, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG Extreme, DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF,

Ecotect, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, Face Robot, FBX, Filmbox, Fire, Flame, Flint, FMDesktop, Freewheel, Frost, GDX Driver, Gmax,

Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK, IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT, Incinerator, Inferno, Inventor, Inventor

LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LandXplorer, LocationLogic, Lustre, Matchmover, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, Moonbox,

MotionBuilder, Movimento, Mudbox, NavisWorks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall,

Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, RasterDWG, Reactor, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, REALVIZ,

Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, Smoke, Softimage, Softimage|XSI (design/logo),

SteeringWheels, Stitcher, Stone, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, TrustedDWG, ViewCube, Visual, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual

Landscape, Visual Survey, Visual Toolbox, Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, Vtour, Wire, Wiretap, WiretapCentral, XSI, and XSI (design/logo).

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and/or Canada and other countries:

Backburner,Multi-Master Editing, River, and Sparks.

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of MoldflowCorp. in the USA and/or other countries: Moldflow, MPA, MPA

(design/logo),Moldflow Plastics Advisers, MPI, MPI (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Insight,MPX, MPX (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Xpert.

LightWorks, the LightWorks logo, LWA and LWA-Enabled are registered trademarks of LightWork Design Ltd. The LWA-Enabled logo, Interactive

Image Regeneration, IIR, A-Cubed, Feature-Following Anti-Aliasing and FFAA are all trademarks of LightWork Design Ltd. All other trademarks,

images and logos remain the property of their respective owners. Copyright of LightWork Design Ltd. 1990-2007, 2008.

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

Contains a modified version of Open CASCADE libraries. See the license file "OpenCascadeLicense.txt" in the Navisworks installation directory.

Source code is available from download.autodesk.com/us/navisworks/OpenCascade.zip.

Disclaimer

THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS

ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.

Contents

Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 What Is New in This Release? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 How to Get Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Use Communication Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Overview of Communication Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Specify Communication Center Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Use the Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Find Information in Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Use Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

How Help Topics Are Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Print Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Show and Hide the Contents Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Get More Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Learn the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Access Subscription Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

About Subscription Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Manage Files with Autodesk Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

View the Product Readme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Join the Customer Involvement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 3 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Prepare for Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

System Requirements for Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Understand Administrative Permission Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Locate Your Autodesk Navisworks Serial Number and Product Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Avoid Data Loss During Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Choose a Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Configure Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Install Multiple or Bundled Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Install and Run Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Install Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Launch Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

How to Launch Autodesk Navisworks in Another Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Add or Remove Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Reinstall or Repair Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Uninstall Autodesk Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Move to Autodesk Navisworks from a Previous Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Contents | iii

Install Autodesk Navisworks for Multiple Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Quick Start to Network Administration and Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Deployment Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Set Up Network Tools and Your License Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Distribute the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Distribute an Autodesk Navisworks Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Set Up a Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Preliminary Tasks for a Network Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Configure Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Your Deployment Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Choose a Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Create a Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Final Review and Complete Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Modify a Deployment (optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Point Users to the Administrative Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Uninstall an Autodesk Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Installation Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

General Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

How can I check my graphics card driver to see if it needs to be updated? . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

When performing a Typical installation, what gets installed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Why should I specify the Project Folder and Site Folder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

How do I share the Autodesk Navisworks settings on a site and project basis? . . . . . . . . . . 46

Where are my product manuals? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

How do I register and activate Autodesk Navisworks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Deployment Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Is there a checklist I can refer to when performing a deployment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Where should deployments be located? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Where can I check if service packs are available for my software? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

How do I choose between 32-bit and 64-bit deployments? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

What are information channels? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Licensing Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

What is the difference between a stand-alone license and a network license? . . . . . . . . . . 49

What is the benefit to using a network licensed version of the software? . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

What is Internet Explorer used for? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Networking Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Where do I find my server name? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

If I choose to create a log file, what kind of information does the log file contain? . . . . . . . 50

What is an administrative image (MSI) file? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

What is the impact of selecting all products to be included in the administrative image? . . . . 50

Uninstall and Maintenance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

When adding or removing features, how can I tell what features get installed by default? . . . 50

Is it possible to change the installation folder when adding or removing features? . . . . . . . 50

When should I reinstall the product instead of a repair? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Do I need my original disk to reinstall my software? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

When I uninstall my software, what files are left on my system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Chapter 4 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Start and Quit Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Automatically Save and Recover Navisworks Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Command Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Parts of Autodesk Navisworks Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Scene Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Dockable Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Undo/Redo Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Autodesk Navisworks Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Default Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Customize the Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Autodesk Navisworks Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Environment Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Location Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

iv | Contents

Display Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Search Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Get a Whole-Project View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Chapter 5 Work with Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Native File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Compatible CAD Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Supported CAD File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Supported Laser Scan File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Use File Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

3DS File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

ASCII Laser Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Bentley AutoPLANT File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

CIS2 File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

DWG/DXF/SAT File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

DWF File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

DGN File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Faro Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

IFC File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

IGES File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Inventor File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

JTOpen File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Leica Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

MAN File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

PDS File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Riegl Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

RVM File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

SketchUp SKP File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

STEP File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

STL File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

VRML File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Z+F Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Use File Exporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

AutoCAD File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Revit File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

MicroStation File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Viz and Max File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

ArchiCAD File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Manage Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Open Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Create Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Save and Rename Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Complex Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Refresh Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Merge Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Email Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Receive 3D Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Chapter 6 Explore Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

View Scene Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Navigate a Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Orientation in 3D Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Navigation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Navigation Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

View All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

View Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Contents | v

Control the Realism of Your Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Crouching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Third Person View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Head-Up Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Chapter 7 Control Model Appearance and Render Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Control Model Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Select Render Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Add Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Select Background Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Adjust Displaying of Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Control Render Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Use Culling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Control Rendering of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Adjust Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Stereo Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Chapter 8 Review Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Select Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Interactive Geometry Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Set Selection Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Set Highlighting Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Hide Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Find Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Find Items Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Quick Find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Create and Use Sets of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Selection Sets Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Create and Manage Selection and Search Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Compare Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Custom Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

External Database Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Manipulate Object Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Transform Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Change Color and Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Reset to Original Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Measure Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Measure Tools Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Measuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Comments and Redlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Add Comments and Redlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Review Comments and Redline Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Link Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Display Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Customize Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Add Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Find and Follow Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Manage Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Smart Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

SwitchBack to AutoCAD and MicroStation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Chapter 9 Use Viewpoints and Sectioning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Create and Modify Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Overview of Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Saved Viewpoints Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Save Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Recall Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

vi | Contents

Organize Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Edit Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Default Viewpoint Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Share Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Sectioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Enable Section Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Position and Use Section Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Link Section Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Enable and Use Section Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Chapter 10 Record and Play Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Create and Edit Viewpoint Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Play Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Share Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Chapter 11 Work Within a Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Collaborate Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Collaboration Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Chapter 12 Share Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Print Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Print Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Print Current Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

PDS Tag Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

PDS Display Set Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Viewpoints Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Search Criteria Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Search Set Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Export Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Piranesi EPix Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

PDS Tag Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Autodesk DWF Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Google Earth KML Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

TimeLiner CSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Export Images and Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Viewpoints Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Current Search Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Search Set Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Viewpoints Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Chapter 13 Animate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Overview of the Animator Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Animator Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

The Animator Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

The Animator Tree View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

The Animator Timeline View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

The Manual Entry Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Scripter Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

The Scripter Tree View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

The Events View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

The Actions View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

The Properties View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Create Object Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Work with Animation Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Work with Animation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Add Animation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Update Animation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Manipulate Geometry Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Work with Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Work with Section Plane Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Contents | vii

Work with Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Capture Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Edit Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Play Animation Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Add Interactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Work with Animation Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Work with Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Work with Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Enable Scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Chapter 14 Create Photorealistic Visualizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Overview of the Presenter Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Presenter Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Use the Presenter Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Photo-Realistic Scene Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Use Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Materials Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Apply and Remove Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Organize and Manage Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Edit Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Advanced Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Use Presenter Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Lighting Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Add and Position Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Organize and Manage Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Edit Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Shadow Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Advanced Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Soft Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Physically Accurate Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Volumetric Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Image-based Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Use Presenter RPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

RPC Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Use Presenter Rendering Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Effects Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Background Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Foreground Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Use Presenter Rendering Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Rendering Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Rendering Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Predefined Rendering Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Auto Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Use Presenter Texture Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Use Presenter Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Rules Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Predefined Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Custom Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

The Presenter Rules Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Chapter 15 Simulate Construction Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Overview of TimeLiner Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

TimeLiner Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Tasks Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Links Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Configure Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Rules Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Simulate Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Select Link Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Field Selector Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Simulation Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Overlay Text Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350

viii | Contents

TimeLiner Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Create Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Edit Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Attach Tasks to Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Attach Tasks Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Use Rules to Attach Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Validate Project Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Link to External Project Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Supported Scheduling Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

CSV Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Add and Manage Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Add Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Edit Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Delete Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Build Tasks from Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Synchronize Tasks with Project Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

4D Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Play Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Configure Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Simulation Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Simulation Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Add Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Add Animation to an Entire Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Add Animation to Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Add Scripts to Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Chapter 16 Autodesk Navisworks Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

File Options Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Culling Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Orientation Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Speed Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Head Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Scene Lights Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

DataTools Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

File Units and Transform Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

New Link Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Edit Link Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Edit Viewpoint Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Options Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

General Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Undo Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Locations Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Environment Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Communication Center Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Auto-Save Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Model Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Performance Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

NWD Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

NWC Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Interface Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Display Units Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Selection Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Measure Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Snapping Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Viewpoint Defaults Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Hyperlinks Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Smart Tags Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Developer Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Display Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

SpaceBall Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

ViewCube Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Contents | ix

File Readers Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

3DS Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

ASCII Laser Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

CIS2 Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

DGN Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

DWF Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

DWG/DXF/SAT Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Faro Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

IFC Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

IGES Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Inventor Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

JTOpen Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Leica Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

MAN Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

PDS Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Riegl Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

RVM Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

SKP Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

STEP Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

STL Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

VRML Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Z + F Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

File Exporters Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

DWG Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Revit Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

DGN Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Viz/Max Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Tools Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Presenter Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

TimeLiner Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Scripter Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Animator Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Default Collision Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Collision Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Convert Object Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Culling Options Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Customize Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Toolbars Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Commands Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Customize Keyboard Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Edit Key Frame Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Publish Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Background Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

QTVR Object Movie Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Export Rendered Image Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Image Export Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Animation Export Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

x | Contents

Welcome to Autodesk

Navisworks Simulate 2010

Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 software provides dynamic 4D schedules and

real -time visualization that enables design and construction professionals to share

and combine output for clear, descriptive content that helps demonstrate design

intent and validate decisions. Entire projects can be replicated with dynamic,

photorealistic views and 4D construction schedules to demonstrate options and

predict consequences. Project models can be published in NWD and 3D DWF

™

formats for free viewing.

1

2 | Part 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010

What Is New in This

Release?

Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 contains many new features and

enhancements.

Installation

The installation screen provides links to the installation options, deployment

options, installation tools and utilities, documentation and language settings.

When installing the product you can select to install either the 32-bit or 64-bit

version. You also have the option of selecting the DWG file readers that require

installation, plus the exporter plugins that you require.

NOTE If you are installing the product on a 32-bit operating system the 64-bit install

options are inaccessible.

User Interface

Changes to the Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 interface more closely align

the product with Autodesk standard interface and navigation toolsets.

■ ViewCube. The ViewCube is an on-screen widget, shaped like a cube, that

rotates as you orbit your 3D scene and provides you with feedback about your

current camera viewing angle in relation to the model world. See “ViewCube”

on page 152.

■ SteeringWheels. SteeringWheels are task-based floating tool palettes that travel

with the cursor to minimize tool access time. SteeringWheels provide access

to different navigation tools grouped into various wheels depending on the

navigation task and user skill level. See “SteeringWheels” on page 133.

1

3

■ Button menus. In Autodesk Navisworks, some toolbar buttons exist in mutually-exclusive groups of which only one at a

time can be selected. These buttons are now grouped under drop-down menus to improve accessibility and decrease screen

clutter.

■ Artificial horizon. You can now place your model against a fixed artificial horizon so that it appears more realistic and does

not float in mid air. The background of the 3D scene is split across the horizontal plane giving the effect of a sky and the

ground. The resulting artificial horizon gives you an indication of your orientation in the 3D world. See “Select Background

Effect” on page 170.

TimeLiner

Changes to the TimeLiner tool support improved integration with third-party planning tools, and make adding and editing

dates more intuitive.

■ Copy and paste TimeLiner dates.

■ Import and export support for the CSV file format.

■ Attach a selection to multiple TimeLiner tasks.

See “Overview of TimeLiner Tool” on page 335.

Measurement

Numerous improvements to the measurement tools allow greater accuracy when calculating dimensions and distances between

objects in your Autodesk Navisworks model.

■ Measure Shortest Distance. When measuring the distance between two objects, Autodesk Navisworks can now calculate

and display the shortest distance between the selected objects.

■ Measure distance between center lines of parametric objects.

■ When measuring distances you now have the option of converting measurements into redlines. The end markers, lines,

and dimension labels of your current measurement are converted into a redline and stored in the current viewpoint.

■ When measuring an angle, Autodesk Navisworks now displays a measurement arc.

4 | Chapter 1 What Is New in This Release?

■ When measuring an area, Autodesk Navisworks now displays a dotted line to indicate the closure path for the area.

See “Measuring” on page 212.

Sectioning

Improved support for quick and accurate analysis of models using the sectioning toolset.

■ Create a user-defined section box to display only geometry within the defined section box.

■ Align section planes to specific faces of an object or line.

See “Sectioning” on page 244.

Auto-Save

You now have the option of automatically saving your work at regular intervals.

See “Automatically Save and Recover Files” on page 53.

Communication Center

The Communication Center allows the Autodesk Navisworks and Autodesk team to notify you of product-related updates

and announcements.

See “Use Communication Center” on page 7.

File Format Support

■ Support for JT file format, supporting most geometry types and object attributes. See “JTOpen File Reader” on page 100.

■ Support for CIMSteel Integration Standards (CIS/2). See “CIS2 File Reader” on page 93.

Miscellaneous Enhancements

■ Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2010 is available for full 64-bit installation.

■ Manual override option allows you to specify the distance of Near and Far Clipping Planes. See “Use Culling” on page 174.

■ When entering invalid values in the Options Editor, you are notified of the error.

■ You can now configure site and project folders at install time, making deployment across an organization easier. See “Select

the Project and Site Folder Paths (optional)” on page 40.

■ Upgrades to the Autodesk Navisworks rendering engine (LADS) provide improved support for PNG transparencies and

improved rendering consistency.

■ Improved Revit support for: shared coordinates, rebars, True North, views, and viewpoints exported from Revit 9 and later.

| 5

6 | Chapter 1 What Is New in This Release?

How to Get Assistance

There are various ways to find information about how to use this program, and

multiple resources are available.

Use Communication Center

Communication Center provides up-to-date product information,

software updates, product support announcements, and other

product-related announcements.

Overview of Communication Center

Communication Center provides up-to-date product information,

software updates, product support announcements, and other

product-related announcements.

Communication Center is an interactive feature that must be

connected to the Internet in order to deliver content and

information.

Each time Communication Center is connected, it sends your

information to Autodesk so that you receive the correct information.

All information is sent anonymously to Autodesk to maintain your

privacy.

The following information is sent to Autodesk:

■ Product name (in which you are using Communication Center)

■ Product release number

■ Product language

■ Country/region (specified in the Communication Center settings)

■ Your subscription contract number (if you’re a subscription

customer)

Autodesk compiles statistics using the information sent from

Communication Center to monitor how it is being used and how

it can be improved. Autodesk maintains information provided by

or collected from you in accordance with the company's published

privacy policy, which is available on http://www.autodesk.com/privacy.

Whenever new information is available, Communication Center

notifies you by displaying a balloon message below the

Communication Center button on the InfoCenter box.

2

7

Communication Center provides the following kinds of announcements:

■ Product Support Information. Get breaking news from the Product Support team at Autodesk, including

when Live Update maintenance patches are released.

■ Subscription Announcements. Receive subscription announcements and subscription program news, as well

as links to e-Learning Lessons, if you are an Autodesk subscription member (available in countries/regions

where Autodesk subscriptions are offered).

For more information about Autodesk Subscription, see “Access Subscription Center” on page 13.

■ Articles and Tips. Be notified when new articles and tips are available on Autodesk websites.

■ Live Update Maintenance Patches. Receive automatic notifications whenever new maintenance patches are

released from Autodesk.

■ Featured Technologies and Content. Learn more about third-party developer applications and content.

You can customize the items that display on the Communication Center panel. For more information, see

“Specify Communication Center Settings” on page 8.

To open Communication Center

■ Click the Communication Center button on the Standard toolbar in the upper right-side of the application.

Menu: Help ➤ Communication Center

To receive new information notifications

■ Click the link in the balloon message below the notification icon on the Status bar.

To turn off Balloon Notifications

■ Right-click the notification icon on the Status bar, and click Disable Balloon Notifications.

Specify Communication Center Settings

You can specify Communication Center settings in the Options Editor.

In the Options Editor, you can specify the following settings:

■ General. Your current locations, how often to check for new online content, and maximum age of the

displayed articles.

■ Autodesk Channels. Channels to display in the Communication Center panel as well as the number of articles

to display for each channel.

■ Balloon Notification. Notifications for new product information, software updates, and product support

announcements. Also, you can customize the display time of the balloon.

To specify general settings for Communication Center

1 Open the Communication Center panel, and click Options.

2 In the Options Editor, expand the General node, and click the Communication Center option.

3 On the Communication Center page, select the country in which you are working. This is used for tailoring

location-specific Communication Center content.

4 Use the Check for New Online Content drop-down list to specify the desired frequency. By default,

Communication Center checks for new content every 4 hours.

5 To remove old content, select the Hide Old Content check box, and use the After box to set the number of

days after which old content is hidden. The default value is 14 days.

8 | Chapter 2 How to Get Assistance

6 Click OK.

To specify the channels to display in the Communication Center panel

1 Open the Communication Center panel, and click Options.

2 In the Options Editor, expand the General node, expand the Communication Center node, and click the

Autodesk Channels option.

3 On the Autodesk Channels page, select the Subscribed check boxes for all channels you want to display.

4 Click OK.

To specify balloon notification settings

1 Open the Communication Center panel, and click Options.

2 In the Options Editor, expand the General node, expand the Communication Center node, and click the

Balloon Notifications option.

3 On the Balloon Notifications page, use the Enable Balloon Notifications check box to turn balloon notification

on/off.

4 In the Display Duration box, enter the number of seconds to set the length of time for balloon notifications

to display.

The default value for the balloon display time is 5 seconds.

5 Click OK.

Use the Help System

You can get much more benefit from the Help system when you learn how to use it efficiently.

The Help system contains complete information about using this program. In the Help window, you use the left

pane to locate information. The tabs above the left pane give you several ways for finding the topics you want

to view. The right pane displays the topics you select.

Find Information in Help

The tabs on the left side of the Help window provide different methods for finding information.

To locate a specific word or phrase in the current topic, click in the topic text and press the CTRL+F keys.

Contents Tab

■ Presents an overview of the available documentation in a list of topics and subtopics.

■ Allows you to browse by selecting and expanding topics.

■ Provides a structure so you can always see where you are in Help and quickly jump to other topics.

Index Tab

■ Displays an alphabetical list of keywords related to the topics listed on the Contents tab.

■ Accesses information quickly when you already know the name of a feature, command, or operation, or

when you know what action you want the program to perform.

Search Tab

■ Provides a keyword search of all the topics listed on the Contents tab.

■ Accepts the Boolean operators AND (+), OR, NOT (-), and NEAR.

■ Accepts the wild cards *, ?, and ~.

Use the Help System | 9

■ Allows you to perform a search for a phrase when the phrase is enclosed in double quotes.

■ Displays a ranked list of topics that contain the word or words entered in the keyword field.

■ Arranges the results alphabetically by title or by location if you click on the Title and Location column

headings.

Use Searches

Use the Search tab to find relevant topics based on keywords that you enter.

The basic search rules are as follows:

■ Type your keywords in uppercase or lowercase characters; searches are not case-sensitive.

■ Search for any combination of letters (a-z) and numbers (0-9).

■ Do not use punctuation marks such as a period, colon, semicolon, comma, hyphen, and single quotation

marks; they are ignored during a search.

■ Group the elements of your search using double quotation marks or parentheses to set each element apart.

Use Wild Card Characters

You can use the following wild card characters in any keyword:

DescriptionSymbol

Replaces one or more characters when

used at the beginning, middle, or end of

*

a word. For example, “*lish”, “p*lish”, and

“pub*” will all find “publish”. Also, “an-

no*” will find “annotative”, “annotation”,

“annoupdate”, “annoreset”, and so on.

Replaces a single character. For example,

“cop?” will find “copy”, but not “copy-

base”.

?

Expands the tense of the word at the be-

ginning or end of a word. For example,

~

“plotting~” will find “plots”, “plotted”,

and so on. Also, “~plot” will find “preplot”,

“replot”, and so on.

Search for Phrases

When searching for a phrase, use double quotation marks (" ") to enclose words that must appear next to each

other in the specified sequence. For example, enter "specifying units of measurement" to find only topics with

all those words in that order. If you don't use the quotation marks around that text, Help finds all topics containing

any one of the listed words, that is, all topics containing "specifying", all topics containing "units", all topics

containing "of", and all topics containing "measurement".

TIP If you can’t find the information you need through a search, try using the Contents tab.

Use Boolean Operators

With the AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR operators, you can precisely define your search by creating a relationship

between search terms. The following table shows how you can use each of these operators. If no operator is

10 | Chapter 2 How to Get Assistance

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Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate 2010 User guide

Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate 2010 User guide

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