Getting Started with Navisworks

Introduction

Navisworks is a 3D design review product made by Autodesk. It allows users to combine files from various 3D and BIM formats into a single view. Depending on the license level, users can review the models in one space, perform 4D time simulations, and detect clashes.

FME 2024 and newer supports reading this format. This article will serve as an introduction to Navisworks in FME and showcase how to do a simple integration.

There are three basic types of Navisworks files:

1. NWF(.nwf): an index of all the model files that are used in Navisworks; it contains a pointer to the files that are all shown in the same model space. FME will try to follow the links in the file.
2. NWD(.nwd): stores all the Navisworks-specific data for all the models in the project.
3. NWC(.nwc): A file containing the cache of the files used in Navisworks.   

To follow along with the tutorial please download the following files: 

• Navisworks to SKP workspace
• Naviswork models
• Data files

Step-by-step Instructions

Reading in a Navisworks File

This section will show you how to inspect a Navisworks dataset in the Data Inspector. These files were converted from Revit to IFC before being imported into Navisworks. Looking into the folder holding the files shows a .nwf file, which points to the two IFC files, and two .nwc files, which can also be read into FME. 

1. Start FME Data Inspector and Open the Dataset

Open FME Data Inspector, click Open Dataset, or use the File > Open Dataset menu option.

In the Select Dataset to View dialog, select Autodesk Navisworks for the Format and select the office_final.nwf file as the Dataset. Click on the Parameters button.

Here is an overview of the options available:

Specify Models to Read: Here, you can select which models to read as feature types by ticking and unticking each feature type. This is especially useful if you want to examine only specific files.

Materials: You can point the reader to a texture folder if you wish to use custom textures.

Additional Attributes to Expose: You can expose additional formats and FME attributes for transformations by clicking the ellipsis button here.

Click OK twice.

2. Examine the File

This is what the file looks like when viewed in the Data Inspector. The office building and terrain are combined and imported through the Navisworks .nwf file. 

Note that the format attributes will differ depending on the formats in which the files were initially made. When reading in a Navisworks .nwd file, the attributes change depending on the original file's data format. 

Converting a Navisworks file to SketchUp

This section will showcase how to build a workflow to convert from a Navisworks .nwd file showing a basic airport terminal to a Trimble Sketchup .skp file, while maintaining some of the attributes as tags in the final Sketchup file. This file was originally an IFC file opened in Navisworks, and exported as an NWD file. 

1. Add Autodesk Navisworks Reader

Start FME Workbench. On the Start Page, select New Workspace to create a blank canvas.

In the Add Reader dialog, select Autodesk Navisworks for the Format and select airport_final.nwd file as the dataset, and select a ‘Single Merged Feature Type’ for the workflow option.

Click OK

2. Add an AttributeCreator Transformer

Add an AttributeCreator transformer. Set the output attribute to sketchup_layer_name, and the datatype to buffer.

Click OK

3. Add an AttributeManager Transformer

Add an AttributeManager transformer to the canvas, and connect the output port of the AttributeCreator to it.

Find sketchup_layer_name in the Input Attributes, click on the arrow next to value, and select conditional value.

Set the conditional values as:

Click OK twice. Leave all the other attributes.

4. Add a GeometryPropertySetter Transformer

Add a GeometryPropertySetter transformer to the canvas. Connect the output port of the AttributeManager to the input. Double-click on the transformer, and in Traits from Attributes, click the arrow, press Select Attributes, and select sketchup_layer_name.

Click OK, and then click OK again. All other parameters will be left as default.

4. Add a SketchUp Writer

Add a Trimble Sketchup write to the canvas. Specify the folder you want to write to. Click OK, then set the file name for your Sketchup file. 

Connect the Set output port of the GeometryPropertySetter to the writer input. 

5. Run the Workspace and Inspect the Results.

Run the entire workspace and view the results in SketchUp. You will see that the properties that we set earlier are now tags in SketchUp.

Data Attribution

The office building used here originates from open data made available by Nordic Sustainable Construction. The data was made available under the Creative Commons License. Safe Software created the airport terminal.