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NavisWorks Freedom - 2012
User Guide
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Autodesk NavisWorks NavisWorks Freedom - 2012 User Guide

Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012
User Guide
April 2011
©
2011 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be 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
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.
This User Guide was last updated on 11 April 2011.

Contents

Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 . . . . . . . . . 1
What Is New in This Release? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
How to Get Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Find Information Using InfoCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Overview of InfoCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Search for Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Access Subscription Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Use Communication Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Save and Access Favorite Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Use the Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Specify InfoCenter Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Get More Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
View the Product Readme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Join the Customer Involvement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Prepare for Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
System Requirements for Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . 21
Install Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Understand Administrative Permission
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Avoid Data Loss During Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
iii
Choose a Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Install Multiple or Bundled Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Install and Run Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 . . . . . . . 27
Install Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Launch Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
How to Launch Autodesk Navisworks in Another
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Repair Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 . . . . . . . . . 31
Uninstall Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 . . . . . . . . 31
Installation Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
General Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
How can I check my graphics card driver to see if it needs
to be updated? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
How do I switch my license from stand-alone to network
or network to stand-alone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
When performing a Typical installation, what gets
installed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Why should I specify the Project Folder and Site
Folder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
How do I share the Autodesk Navisworks settings on a
site and project basis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
When should I reinstall the product instead of repairing
it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
When I uninstall my software, what files are left on my
system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Uninstall and Maintenance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
When should I reinstall the product instead of a
repair? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
When I uninstall my software, what files are left on my
system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Start and Quit Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Parts of Autodesk Navisworks Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Application Button and Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Quick Access Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Ribbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Tooltips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Keytips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Navigation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
The Classic User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Scene View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Dockable Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
iv | Contents
Undo/Redo Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Autodesk Navisworks Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Default Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Navigation with the Wheel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Autodesk Navisworks Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Location Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Display Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Search Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Gizmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Chapter 4 Work with Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Use File Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
NWD Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
DWF/DWFx Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Manage Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Open Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Create Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
2D and Multi-Sheet Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Project Browser Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Chapter 5 Explore Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Navigate a Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Orientation in a 3D Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Product-Specific Navigation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Navigation Bar Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
SteeringWheels Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Classic Navigation Modes and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Overview of ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
ViewCube Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Reorient the View of a Model with ViewCube . . . . . . . 143
Set the View Projection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Home View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Examine Individual Objects with ViewCube . . . . . . . . 149
Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Overview of Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Reposition and Reorient the Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . 151
Control the Display of Navigation Tools on the Navigation
Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Overview of SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Wheel Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
View Object Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Tour Building Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Contents | v
Full Navigation Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
2D Navigation Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
3Dconnexion 3D Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Set Camera Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Control the Field of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Position and Focus Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Navigation Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Head-Up Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Reference Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Control the Realism of Your Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Crouching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Third Person View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Chapter 6 Control Model Appearance and Render Quality . . . . . . . . 181
Control Model Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Select Render Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Full Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Shaded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Wireframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Hidden Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Add Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Full Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Scene Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Head Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
No Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Select Background Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Adjust Displaying of Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Snap Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Control Render Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Use Culling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Make Objects Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Control Rendering of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Adjust Scene Rendering During Navigation . . . . . . . . . 194
Accelerate Display Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Adjust Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Stereo Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
vi | Contents
Chapter 7 Review Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Select Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Interactive Geometry Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Selection Tree Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Selection Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Set Highlighting Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Hide Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Find Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Quick Find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Find All Sheets and Models Containing the Selected Object . . . . . . 212
Find Items in Other Sheets and Models Window . . . . . . . . . 213
Use Sets of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Reset Object Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Reset to Original Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Measure Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Measure Tools Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Measuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Comments and Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
View Comments and Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Comments Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
View Redlines and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Link Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Display Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Customize Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Find and Follow Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Reset Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Quick Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Chapter 8 Use Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Modify Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Saved Viewpoints Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Recall Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Organize Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Edit Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Chapter 9 Play Back Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Play Animations and Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Chapter 10 Work Within a Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Collaborate Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Contents | vii
Collaboration Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Chapter 11 Share Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Print Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Print Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Print Current Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Chapter 12 TimeLiner Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Overview of TimeLiner Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
TimeLiner Playback Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Simulate Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Play Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Simulation Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Overlay Text Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Chapter 13 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Background Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Collision Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Default Collision Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Edit Viewpoint Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
File Options Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Culling Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Orientation Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Speed Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Headlight Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Scene Lights Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
InfoCenter Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
General Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Communication Center Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Autodesk Channels Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Balloon Notification Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
RSS Feeds Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Options Editor Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
General Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Undo Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Locations Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Interface Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Display Units Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Selection Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Measure Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Snapping Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Viewpoint Defaults Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Links Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
viii | Contents
Quick Properties Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Developer Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Display Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
3Dconnexion Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Navigation Bar Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
ViewCube Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
User Interface Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Model Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Performance Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
NWD Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
NWC Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Chapter 14 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Contents | ix
x

Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012

1
Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 software is the free viewer for NWD and DWF files. Use Navisworks Freedom to extend the whole-project view to all project stakeholders, helping to improve communication and collaboration. Multi-disciplinary models created in building information modeling (BIM), digital prototype (DP), and process plant design applications can be combined into a single integrated project model and published into the NWD format using Autodesk Navisworks Manage or Autodesk Navisworks Simulate software. The published file provides access to model hierarchy, object properties, and embedded review data, including viewpoints, animations, redlines, and comments.
™

What Is New in This Release?

Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 contains many new features and enhancements.
User Interface
Easy access to commonly used review and navigation tools to increase review productivity.
■ The Viewpoint tab now includes the Navigate pane, providing access to
tools such as walk, pan, zoom, and orbit; SteeringWheels tracking menus, 3Dconnexion 3D mouse, and the realism settings.
1
Autodesk File Format Support
Autodesk Navisworks now offers 2D DWF and multi-sheet DWF support, allowing you to open, review and explore your 2D datasets alongside your 3D models. Importantly, the 2D view is integrated with the 3D environment ­this enables you to select a component in the 3D model and then to find and review the same component in a 2D representation (such as a floor plan or section) providing you with the most appropriate view of the data for the task that you are undertaking. When working with the FBX visualization file format you can now achieve an accurate transfer of materials, textures and lights when importing or exporting data between Autodesk Navisworks and other FBX compatible applications.
■ Support for opening 2D/3D DWF and DWFx files. See DWF File Reader.
■ Support for exporting 3D DWF and DWFx files. See Export 3D DWF/DWFx
Files.
■ Multi-sheet file support. See 2D and Multi-Sheet Files (page 100).
■ 2D/3D Object Association support. See Find All Sheets and Models Con-
taining the Selected Object (page 212).
■ FBX consistent material support for lights, materials, and textures. See FBX
File Reader.
Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 Enhancements
■ The Review tab now contains Measure tools supporting field access to
dimensioning and area calculation.
2 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012
■ You can now open 2D DWF, and multi-sheet DWF files, as well as NWD
files.
■ A Gantt View is now available during 4D TimeLiner simulations.
Miscellaneous Enhancements
■ Enhanced support for the
■ 3D mouse through an extended interface. See 3Dconnexion 3D Mouse
(page 164).
■ Communication Centre now supports live updates.
■ New avatars to be used in a variety of roles ranging from construction
workers and safety professionals, to office workers. Since avatars can vary
What Is New in This Release? | 3
per viewpoint, you can easily show how project stakeholders will interact with a specific phase of the project in the relevant context.

How to Get Assistance

There are various ways to find information about how to use this program, and multiple resources are available.

Find Information Using InfoCenter

You can use InfoCenter to search Autodesk Navisworks help file for information. You can also easily access product updates and announcements.
Overview of InfoCenter
You can use InfoCenter to search for product-related help, display the Subscription Center panel for subscription services, display the Communication Center panel for product updates and announcements, and display the Favorites panel to access saved topics.
You can use InfoCenter to:
■ Search for information in the main product Help through keywords (or
by entering a phrase)
■ Access subscription services through Subscription Center panel
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■ Access to product-related updates and announcements through
Communication Center panel
■ Access saved topics through Favorites panel
To display the InfoCenter box in a collapsed state, click the arrow to its left.
To rearrange the topics displayed on a panel
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Subscription Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button.
2 Click and drag a category or group header to the desired position.
TIP To keep the Subscription Center, Communication Center, and the
Favorites panel expanded, click the push pin icon in the bottom-right corner of the panel.
NOTE You can rearrange categories within a group, but you cannot move them into other groups.
Search for Information
You can enter keywords or a phrase in the InfoCenter box to search for information.
How to Get Assistance | 5
When you enter keywords or a phrase in the InfoCenter box, you search the contents of the main Autodesk Navisworks Help file.
Keyword searches produce better results. The results are listed on the Help Search tab. Click a topic to display it in help.
When you use InfoCenter to search for information, you can use the following special symbols in your query to refine or expand it. These symbols can be used alone or can be combined.
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 find “publish”. Also, “anno*” will find “annotative”, “annota­tion”, “annoupdate”, “annoreset”, and so on.
Replaces a single character. For example, “cop?” will find “copy”, but not “copybase”.
Adds grammatical form variations to a keyword when added at the beginning or end of a word. For example, “plotting~” will find
“plots”, “plotted”, and so on. Also, “~plot” will find “preplot”, “replot”, and so on.
When performing the exact phrase search, use double quotation marks (" ") to enclose words that must appear next to each other in the specified text string. For example, enter "specify units of measurement" to find only topics with all those words in that order. You can also use the previously mentioned symbols in a text string that is enclosed in double quotation marks.
To search the main Help file for information
1 In the InfoCenter box, enter a keyword or phrase.
2 Click the Search button.
The main Help file opens, and the search results are listed on the Help Search tab.
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Access Subscription Center
Subscription Center displays links to information about subscription services such as product enhancements, personalized web support from Autodesk technical experts, and self-paced e-Learning.
If you are a subscription member, you can access subscription services by
clicking the Communication Center button in the InfoCenter box, and then clicking a Subscription Center link. To learn more about Autodesk subscription membership, visit http://www.autodesk.com/subscriptioncenter.
About Subscription Center
With Autodesk Subscription, you get the latest releases of Autodesk software, incremental product enhancements, personalized web support from Autodesk technical experts, and self paced e-Learning. Subscription services are available to subscription members only.
By clicking the Communication Center button in the InfoCenter box, members have access to the following options (under Subscription Center):
■ Subscription status. Checks your subscription status.
■ Create support request. Provides direct one-to-one communication
with Autodesk support technicians. You receive fast, complete answers to your installation, configuration, and troubleshooting questions.
■ View support requests. Tracks and manages your questions and
responses through Autodesk's state-of-the-art support system.
■ Edit Subscription Center profile. Sets up and maintains your
subscription account.
■ View e-Learning catalog. Features interactive lessons organized into
product catalogs.
■ e-Learning Lessons. (For subscription members only.) Each lesson is
15-30 minutes and features hands-on exercises, with an option to use a simulation instead of the software application. You can use an online evaluation tool that identifies gaps in skills, determines what lessons will be most helpful, and gauges learning progress.
How to Get Assistance | 7
Subscription Resources and Privacy
Subscription resources provide interactive product features over the Internet. Each time you access subscription resources (such as e-Learning or Create Support Request) from Communication Center in an Autodesk product, product information (such as the serial number, version, language, and the subscription contract ID) is sent to Autodesk for verification that your product is on subscription.
Autodesk compiles statistics using the information sent to subscription resources to monitor how they are being used and how they can be improved. Autodesk maintains the information provided by or collected from you in accordance with Autodesk's published privacy policy, which is available at
http://www.autodesk.com/privacy.
To open the Subscription Center
1 Click the Communication Center button in the InfoCenter box.
2 On the Communication Center panel, under Subscription Center,
click the subscription resource you want to access.
NOTE Subscription Center is not available to all product users. If subscription resources are not available in your product, your product is not entitled to subscription benefits.
Manage Files with Autodesk Vault
If you are a subscription customer, you have access to Autodesk Vault, a file management tool that provides a repository where documents and files are stored and managed.
Autodesk Vault gives you more power to manage files and track changes. Versioned copies of master files are maintained, allowing you to easily revert to earlier versions of files. You can check files out for editing and later check them back in. The master copy is never directly edited.
Autodesk Vault consists of two required components: the Autodesk Data Management Server and the Vault Client. Optionally, you can also install the Vault Office Add-in.
For information about using the Vault, refer to the Vault Help system.
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TIP The main components for the Autodesk Vault can be downloaded from the Autodesk Subscription site.
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
You can click the Communication Center button to display links to information about product updates and announcements, and may include links to RSS feeds.
Whenever new information is available, Communication Center notifies you by displaying a balloon message below the Communication Center button in the InfoCenter box.
Communication Center provides the following types of announcements:
■ Autodesk Channels: Receive support information, product updates, and
other announcements (including articles and tips).
■ RSS Feeds. Receive information from RSS feeds to which you subscribe.
RSS feeds generally notify you when new content is posted. You are automatically subscribed to several default RSS feeds when you install the program.
■ 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).
■ 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.
How to Get Assistance | 9
You can customize the items that display on the Communication Center panel. For more information, see Specify InfoCenter Settings (page 16).
Communication Center Online Policy
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.
Communication Center sends the following information 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 unique Customer Involvement Program (CIP) ID if you are
participating in the CIP program
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 at http://www.autodesk.com/privacy.
To open Communication Center
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
To receive new information notifications
■ Click the link in the balloon message to open the article or announcement.
Save and Access Favorite Topics
You can click the Favorites button to display saved links to topics or web locations.
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Any link that displays on the Subscription Center or Communication Center panel can be marked as a favorite.
A link marked as a favorite displays a star icon on the Subscription Center panel or the Communication Center panel.
To display the InfoCenter Favorites panel
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button.
NOTE The links displayed on the Favorites panel are organized into the same groups or categories from which they were added.
To save a link in InfoCenter as a favorite
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Subscription Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
2 Click the star icon that is displayed next to the link that you want to
save as a favorite.
To remove a favorite link from the InfoCenter Favorites panel
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button to display the Favorites
panel.
2 Click the star icon that is displayed next to the link that you want to
remove from the Favorites panel.
Use the Help System
You can click the Help button to display topics in Help.
You can get much more benefit from the Help system when you learn how to use it efficiently. You can quickly find general descriptions, procedures, details about dialog boxes and palettes, or definitions of terms.
The Help system contains complete information about using this program. In the Help window, you use the left pane to locate information. The tabs
How to Get Assistance | 11
above the left pane give you several ways for finding the topics you want to view. The right pane displays the topics you select.
To display topics in Help
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Help button.
How Help Topics Are Organized
Most topics in this Help system have three tabs above the right pane of the Help window. The tabs display different types of information.
■ Concept tab. Describes a feature or function. When you click the
Concept tab, the Help Contents list in the left pane of the Help window expands and highlights the current topic. The Contents tab displays the structure of the Help on that topic. You can easily display nearby topics by clicking them in the list.
■ Procedure tab. Provides step-by-step instructions for common procedures
related to the current topic. After displaying a procedure, you can click the Procedure tab to redisplay the current list of procedures.
■ Quick Reference tab. Lists reference information related to the current
topic.
When you click a different tab, the topic remains the same. Only the type of information displayed—concept, procedures, or quick reference links—is different.
Search in Help
Use the Help 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.
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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, “anno*” will find “annotative”, “annotation”, “annoup­date”, “annoreset”, and so on.
Replaces a single character. For example, “cop?” will find “copy”, but not “copy­base”.
Expands the tense of the word at the begin­ning 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 specified,
How to Get Assistance | 13
AND is used. For example, the query spacing border printing is equivalent to spacing AND border AND printing.
ResultsExampleSearch for
“tree view” AND “palette”Both terms in the same
topic
viewpoint OR animationEither term in a topic
nwd NOT nwcThe first term without
the second term
user NEAR menuBoth terms in the same
topic, close together
Topics containing both the words “tree view” and “palette”
Topics containing either the word “viewpoint” or the word “anima­tion” or both
Topics containing the word
“NWD”, but not the word “NWC”
Topics containing the word “user” within eight words of the word “menu”
NOTE The |, &, and ! characters do not work as Boolean operators. You must use AND (also +), OR, and NOT (also -).
Find Information in Help Topics
The tabs on the left side of the Help window provide different methods for finding information.
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.
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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 ~.
■ 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.
To find a specific word or phrase in the currently displayed Help topic
1 Click in the topic text and press CTRL+F.
2 In the Find text box, enter a keyword or phrase.
3 Click Next. If the keyword or phrase is located, the topic scrolls to display
the result.
Print Help Topics
The quickest way to print the current topic is to right-click within the topic and click Print.
The Print button on the Help toolbar provides these print options:
■ Print the selected topic (recommended)
■ Print the selected heading and all subtopics
NOTE When you select the second option, you may get numerous printed pages, depending on how many subtopics the currently selected topic contains.
How to Get Assistance | 15
To print a Help topic
1 Display the topic you want to print.
2 Right-click in the topic pane. Click Print.
3 In the Print dialog box, click Print.
To print a selected heading and all subtopics
1 Display the topic you want to print and make sure that the Contents
tab is displayed.
2 On the Help toolbar, click Print.
3 In the Print Topics dialog box, click Print the Selected Heading
and All Subtopics.
4 Click OK.
Show and Hide the Contents Pane
You can control the size of the Help window.
Use the Hide button on the Help toolbar to shrink the Help window to a compact size by hiding the pane that contains the Contents, Index, and Search tabs. The compact window size is best for displaying procedures while you work.
Use the Show button to expand the Help window to display the pane that contains Contents, Index, and Search tabs. The expanded window size is best for locating and displaying conceptual and reference information.
Specify InfoCenter Settings
You can specify general and Communication Center settings in the InfoCenter Settings dialog box.
In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, you can specify the following settings:
■ General. Your current location, frequency for checking new online content
and option to turn on or off animated transition effects for the InfoCenter panels.
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■ Communication Center. Set the maximum age of the articles displayed
on the Communication Center panel.
■ 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 transparency and the display time of the balloon.
■ RSS Feeds. RSS feed subscriptions. You can add or remove RSS feeds. RSS
feeds generally notify you when new content is posted.
To specify the channels to display in the Communication Center panel
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Subscription Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button.
2 Click the InfoCenter Settings button.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click Autodesk
Channels.
4 In the right pane, select or clear the channels you want to display in the
Communication Center panel.
5 Click OK.
To specify InfoCenter balloon notification settings
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Subscription Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button.
2 Click the InfoCenter Settings button.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click Balloon
Notification.
4 In the right pane, select or clear the options to turn balloon notification
on or off.
5 Enter the number of seconds to set the length of time for balloon
notifications to display.
How to Get Assistance | 17
6 Enter the transparency value of the balloon or set the value using the
slider.
7 Click OK.
To add an RSS feed to Communication Center
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Subscription Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
2 Click the InfoCenter Settings button .
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click RSS Feeds.
4 In the right pane, do one of the following:
■ Click Add.
■ Right-click anywhere in the right pane. Click Add.
5 In the Add RSS Feed dialog box, enter the location of the RSS feed you
want to add. Click Add.
6 In the InfoCenter - RSS Feed Confirmation dialog box, click Close.
7 Click OK.
To remove an RSS feed from Communication Center
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Subscription Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button.
2 Click the InfoCenter Settings button.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click RSS Feeds.
4 In the right pane, do one of the following:
■ Click Remove.
■ Right-click an RSS feed. Click Remove.
5 In the InfoCenter - Remove RSS Feed dialog box, click Yes.
6 Click OK.
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Get More Help

You can access several additional sources of help.
■ Use Communication Center. Display the Communication Center
panel for product updates and announcements.
■ Press F1. Displays context-sensitive reference information.
■ Click the Help button in many dialog boxes. Displays reference
information for the dialog box.
■ View the product Readme. Displays late-breaking information about
this product.
Other resources help you get information about Autodesk products and assistance with your questions about this program.
■ Autodesk website. Access http://www.autodesk.com.
■ Local support. Check with your dealer or Autodesk country/region office.

View the Product Readme

You can find late-breaking information about this software in the Readme.
It is suggested that you read through the Autodesk Navisworks Readme for information about recommended hardware, updated installation instructions, and known software problems. The Readme file is available from the product’s program group on the Windows Start menu.

Join the Customer Involvement Program

You are invited to help guide the direction of Autodesk design software.
If you participate in the Customer Involvement Program (CIP), specific information about how you use Autodesk Navisworks is forwarded to Autodesk. This information includes what features you use the most, problems that you encounter, and other information helpful to the future direction of the product.
See the following links for more information.
■ Learn more about the Autodesk Customer Involvement Program: ht-
tp://www.autodesk.com/cip
How to Get Assistance | 19
■ Read the Autodesk Privacy Statement: http://www.autodesk.com/cipprivacy
When you join, you will be able to view reports that can help you optimize your use of Autodesk Navisworks.
To turn the CIP on or off
1 On the InfoCenter toolbar, to the right of the Help button, click the
drop-down arrow.
2 Click Customer Involvement Program.
3 In the Customer Involvement Program dialog box, select to start or stop
participating.
4 Click OK.
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