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NavisWorks Simulate - 2012
User Guide
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Autodesk NavisWorks NavisWorks Simulate - 2012 User Guide

Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 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 Simulate 2012 . . . . . . . . . 1
What Is New in This Release? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
How to Get Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Find Information Using InfoCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Overview of InfoCenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Search for Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Access Subscription Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Use Communication Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Save and Access Favorite Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Use the Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Specify InfoCenter Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Get More Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Learn the Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
View the Product Readme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Join the Customer Involvement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Prepare for Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
System Requirements for Stand-Alone Installation . . . . . . 30
Install Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Understand Administrative Permission
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
iii
Locate Your Autodesk Navisworks Serial Number and
Product Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Avoid Data Loss During Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Choose a Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Install Multiple or Bundled Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Install and Run Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 . . . . . . . 36
Install Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Launch Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
How to Launch Autodesk Navisworks in Another
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Add or Remove Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Repair Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 . . . . . . . . . 42
Uninstall Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 . . . . . . . . 42
Move to Autodesk Navisworks from a Previous Release . . . . . . 43
Install Autodesk Navisworks for Multiple Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Quick Start to Network Administration and Deployment . . . . . 44
Deployment Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Set Up Network Tools and Your License Server . . . . . . . . 50
Distribute the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Distribute an Autodesk Navisworks Product . . . . . . . . . 54
Set Up a Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Preliminary Tasks for a Network Deployment . . . . . . . . 55
Choose a Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Your Deployment Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Create a Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Modify a Deployment (optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Point Users to the Administrative Image . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Uninstall an Autodesk Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Installation Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
General Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
How can I check my graphics card driver to see if it needs
to be updated? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
How do I switch my license from stand-alone to network
or network to stand-alone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
When performing a Typical installation, what gets
installed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Why should I specify the Project Folder and Site
Folder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
How do I share the Autodesk Navisworks settings on a
site and project basis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
How do I change which exporter plugins are
installed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
How do I register and activate Autodesk Navisworks? . . . . 75
When should I reinstall the product instead of repairing
it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
iv | Contents
When I uninstall my software, what files are left on my
system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Deployment Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Is there a checklist I can refer to when performing a
deployment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Where should deployments be located? . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Where can I check if service packs are available for my
software? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
How do I choose between 32-bit and 64-bit
deployments? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
What are information channels? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
What are additional deployment configuration
options? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Licensing Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
What is the difference between a stand-alone license and
a network license? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
What is the benefit to using a network licensed version
of the software? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
What is Internet Explorer used for? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Networking Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Where do I find my server name? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
If I choose to create a log file, what kind of information
does the log file contain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
What is an administrative image (MSI) file? . . . . . . . . . 82
What is the impact of selecting all products to be included
in the administrative image? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
How should I configure a network license server for a
firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Uninstall and Maintenance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
When adding or removing features, how can I tell what
features get installed by default? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Is it possible to change the installation folder when adding
or removing features? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
When should I reinstall the product instead of a
repair? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
When I uninstall my software, what files are left on my
system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 3 Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Start and Quit Autodesk Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Automatically Save and Recover Autodesk Navisworks Files . . . . . . . 86
Command Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Parts of Autodesk Navisworks Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Application Button and Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Quick Access Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Contents | v
Ribbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Tooltips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Keytips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Navigation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
The Classic User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Scene View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Dockable Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Status Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Undo/Redo Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Autodesk Navisworks Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Default Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Navigation with the Wheel Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Autodesk Navisworks Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Location Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Graphics System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Display Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Search Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Gizmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Chapter 4 Work with Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Native File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Compatible CAD Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Supported CAD File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Supported Laser Scan File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Use File Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
3DS File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
ASCII Laser Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Bentley AutoPLANT File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
CIS/2 File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
DWG/DXF File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Overview of Object Enablers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
DWF/DWFx File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
DGN File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Faro Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
FBX File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
IFC File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
IGES File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Inventor File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
JTOpen File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Leica Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
MAN File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Parasolid File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
PDS File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Pro/ENGINEER File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Riegl Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
vi | Contents
RVM File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
SAT File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
SketchUp SKP File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
STEP File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
STL File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
VRML File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Z+F Scan File Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Use File Exporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
AutoCAD File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Add the ARX Plugin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Use the ARX Plugin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
CAD Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Revit File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
MicroStation File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Load the MDL Plugin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Export Files from the Key-In Command Line . . . . . . . . 202
Export Files from the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Customize the DGN File Exporter Options . . . . . . . . . 204
Viz and Max File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
ArchiCAD File Exporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Manage Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Open Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Create Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Save and Rename Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
2D and Multi-Sheet Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Add Sheets/Models to the Currently Opened File . . . . . . 213
Project Browser Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Work with 2D and Multi-Sheet Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Add Geometry and Metadata to the Current
Sheet/Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Complex Datasets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Append Geometry and Metadata to the Current
Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Delete Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Adjust Units and Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Refresh Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Merge Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Email Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Receive Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Batch Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Use Batch Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Command Line Options for Batch Utility . . . . . . . . . . 235
View Scene Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Chapter 5 Explore Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Navigate a Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Contents | vii
Orientation in a 3D Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Product-Specific Navigation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Navigation Bar Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
SteeringWheels Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Classic Navigation Modes and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Overview of ViewCube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
ViewCube Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Reorient the View of a Model with ViewCube . . . . . . . 277
Set the View Projection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Home View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Examine Individual Objects with ViewCube . . . . . . . . 283
Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Overview of Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Reposition and Reorient the Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . 285
Control the Display of Navigation Tools on the Navigation
Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Overview of SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Wheel Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
View Object Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Tour Building Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Full Navigation Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
2D Navigation Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
3Dconnexion 3D Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Set Camera Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Control the Field of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Position and Focus Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Navigation Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Head-Up Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Reference Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Control the Realism of Your Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Crouching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Third Person View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Chapter 6 Control Model Appearance and Render Quality . . . . . . . . 317
Control Model Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Select Render Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Full Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Shaded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Wireframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
viii | Contents
Hidden Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Add Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Full Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Scene Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Head Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
No Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Select Background Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Adjust Displaying of Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Snap Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Control Render Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Use Culling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Make Objects Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Control Rendering of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Adjust Scene Rendering During Navigation . . . . . . . . . 331
Accelerate Display Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Adjust Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Stereo Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Chapter 7 Review Your Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Select Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Interactive Geometry Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Selection Tree Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Selection Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Set Selection Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Set Highlighting Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Hide Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Find Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Find Items Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Quick Find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Find All Sheets and Models Containing the Selected Object . . . . . . 356
Find Items in Other Sheets and Models Window . . . . . . . . . 357
Create and Use Sets of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Sets Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Create and Manage Selection and Search Sets . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Compare Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Custom Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
External Database Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Manipulate Object Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Transform Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Contents | ix
Change Object Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Reset to Original Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
Measure Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Measure Tools Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Measuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Comments, Redlines, and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Use Comments, Redlines, and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Comments Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Redline Tools Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
View Redlines and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Tags Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Edit Comments and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Edit Redlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Find Comments and Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Find Comments Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Quick Find Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Find Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Manage Comment and Tag IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
Link Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
Display Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Customize Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Add Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Find and Follow Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Manage Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Quick Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
SwitchBack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Appearance Profiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Chapter 8 Use Viewpoints and Sectioning Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Create and Modify Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Overview of Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Saved Viewpoints Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Save Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Recall Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Organize Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Edit Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Default Viewpoint Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Share Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Sectioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Enable and Use Section Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Customize Section Plane Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
Move and Rotate Section Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Link Section Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
Enable and Use Section Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
x | Contents
Chapter 9 Record and Play Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Create and Edit Viewpoint Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Play Animations and Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Share Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
Chapter 10 Work Within a Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Collaborate Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Collaboration Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Chapter 11 Share Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Print Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Print Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Print Current Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Import Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Search Criteria Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Search Set Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
PDS Display Set Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
PDS Tag Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Viewpoints Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
Export Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
3D DWF/DWFx Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Google Earth KML Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Autodesk FBX Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
Export Images and Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
Export an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
Export a Rendered Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
Export an Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
Piranesi EPix Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Current Search Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Search Set Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Viewpoints Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Viewpoints Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
TimeLiner CSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
PDS Tag Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
Chapter 12 Animate Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
Overview of the Animator Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Animator Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
The Animator Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
The Animator Tree View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
The Animator Timeline View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
The Manual Entry Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
Scripter Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Contents | xi
The Scripter Tree View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
The Events View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
The Actions View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
The Properties View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
Create Object Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
Work with Animation Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
Work with Animation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Add Animation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Update Animation Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
Manipulate Geometry Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Work with Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Work with Section Plane Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Work with Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Capture Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Edit Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
Play Animation Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
Add Interactivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Work with Animation Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Work with Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Work with Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
Enable Scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
Chapter 13 Create Photorealistic Visualizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Overview of the Presenter Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Presenter Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Use the Presenter Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Photo-Realistic Scene Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Use Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Materials Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Apply and Remove Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Organize and Manage Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
Edit Presenter Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Advanced Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
Use Presenter Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Lighting Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Add and Position Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
Organize and Manage Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Edit Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Shadow Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Advanced Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Soft Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
Physically Accurate Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
Volumetric Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
Image-based Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Use Presenter RPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
RPC Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
xii | Contents
Use Presenter Rendering Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Effects Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Background Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
Foreground Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
Use Presenter Rendering Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Rendering Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Rendering Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Predefined Rendering Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
Auto Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Use Presenter Texture Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Use Presenter Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Rules Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Predefined Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Custom Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
The Presenter Rules Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
Chapter 14 Simulate Construction Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
Overview of TimeLiner Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
TimeLiner Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
Tasks Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Data Sources Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Configure Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Simulate Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Choose TimeLiner Columns Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
TimeLiner Rules Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Field Selector Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Refresh from Data Source Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Simulation Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Overlay Text Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
Appearance Definitions Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
TimeLiner Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
Create Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Edit Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Use Gantt Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639
Attach Tasks to Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640
Attach Tasks Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
Use Rules to Attach Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642
Validate Project Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Link to External Project Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
Supported Scheduling Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
CSV Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Add and Manage Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Import Data from an External Project Schedule . . . . . . 650
Edit a Data Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
Delete a Data Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654
Contents | xiii
Build Tasks from Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
Synchronize Tasks with Project Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
4D Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
Play Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
Configure Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Simulation Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Simulation Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
Add Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
Add Animation to an Entire Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Add Animation to Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
Add Scripts to Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
Chapter 15 Use the Autodesk Vault Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
About the Autodesk Vault Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Launching the Vault Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
Log into a Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666
Log out of a Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
Understanding the Working Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
Check Out a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Get Files from a Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670
Refresh a Vaulted File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Check a File into a Vault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Undo File Check Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
Vault Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Log In Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Check In Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674
Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Select Vault Location Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Create Folder Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
Select File Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
Chapter 16 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
Animation Export Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
Appearance Profiler Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
Background Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
Collision Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
Convert Object Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
Culling Options Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
Customize Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
Toolbars Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
Commands Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687
Default Collision Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688
xiv | Contents
Edit Key Frame Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
Edit Link Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692
Edit Viewpoint Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692
Export Rendered Image Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
File Options Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696
Culling Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696
Orientation Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698
Speed Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698
Headlight Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
Scene Lights Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
DataTools Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699
Units and Transform Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
Image Export Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
InfoCenter Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702
General Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Communication Center Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Autodesk Channels Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Balloon Notification Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
RSS Feeds Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
New Link Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
Options Editor Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706
General Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706
Undo Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
Locations Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
Auto-Save Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
Interface Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
Display Units Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Selection Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
Measure Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
Snapping Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Viewpoint Defaults Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Links Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712
Quick Properties Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714
Developer Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
Display Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
3Dconnexion Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
Navigation Bar Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
ViewCube Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721
SteeringWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723
User Interface Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
Model Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
Performance Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726
NWD Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728
NWC Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728
File Exporters Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
DWG Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
Contents | xv
Revit Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
DGN Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Viz/Max Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737
Publish Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738
Piranesi EPix Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740
QTVR Object Movie Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Section Plane Settings Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Chapter 17 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749
xvi | Contents
Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate
1
2012
Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 software provides advanced tools for and powerful features to help you better communicate project information. Multidisciplinary design data created in Building Information Modeling (BIM), digital prototype, and process plant design applications can be combined into a single, integrated project model. Comprehensive 4D scheduling, animation, and photorealism capabilities enable users to demonstrate design intent and simulate construction, helping to drive insight and predictability. Real-time navigation combines with a review toolset to support collaboration among the project team. Entire project models can be published and viewed in NWD and DWF™ file formats to provide valuable digital assets during and after construction.

What Is New in This Release?

Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012 contains many new features and enhancements.
Installation
The installation screen provides links to the installation options, deployment options, installation tools and utilities. You also have the option of selecting the DWG file readers that require installation, plus the exporter plugins that you require and the Autodesk Navisworks Freedom viewer.
1
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.
■ The gizmos have been updated, making it easier to manipulate objects and
section planes.
■ Section planes have also been enhanced to provide greater visual feedback
of their position and orientation.
2 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
■ Selection sets can now be created faster with the addition of the Save
Selection option (Home tab ➤ Select & Search panel).
Appearance Profiler
The Appearance Profiler allows you to set up custom appearance profiles based on sets (search and selection) and property values, and use them to color-code objects in the model to differentiate system types and visually identify their status. Appearance profiles can be saved and used on other projects, or shared between other Autodesk Navisworks users.
See Appearance Profiler (page 435).
What Is New in This Release? | 3
TimeLiner
The TimeLiner tool has been enhanced to provide you with greater control and flexibility when working with 4D simulations. A new interface and integrated, editable Gantt chart allow you to create, edit and communicate your construction schedule more effectively. The new TimeLiner API allows you to extend and tailor the 4D toolset to meet your project and business requirements.
4 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
■ The Tasks, Gantt View and Rules tab are now consolidated into a single
Tasks tab.
■ A column chooser allows you to select your preferred grid layout from
three default options or by choosing your own columns.
■ The interactive Gantt Chart lets you manipulate dates in the schedule
by dragging and positioning tasks, start and end dates.
■ A Gantt View is now available during 4D simulations on the Simulate
tab.
■ An ability to quickly add and edit tasks in a project schedule.
■ An ability to filter tasks by their status.
■ An ability to import / export TimeLiner rules for re-use.
■ New TimeLiner .NET API. Using the API you can now obtain a list of
tasks, task types, simulation types and data sources; add, edit and delete tasks, task types, simulation types and data sources and modify their properties; subscribe to events that will be triggered when the GUI or other API users make changes to tasks, task types, simulation types and data sources.
See Overview of the TimeLiner Tool (page 603).
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 -
What Is New in This Release? | 5
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
(page 178).
■ Support for exporting 3D DWF and DWFx files. See Export 3D DWF/DWFx
Files (page 487).
■ Multi-sheet file support. See 2D and Multi-Sheet Files (page 212).
■ 2D/3D Object Association support. See Find All Sheets and Models Con-
taining the Selected Object (page 356).
■ FBX consistent material support for lights, materials, and textures. See FBX
File Reader.
Extended Support for Revit
A number of interoperability improvements to Revit / Autodesk Navisworks workflows increases your productivity when working with both applications.
■ Revit SwitchBack allows you to quickly transition between views in
Autodesk Navisworks and Revit for easy navigation and location of elements. See Revit SwitchBack (page 434).
■ Support for Revit Construction modelling enables you to pass your
construction parts into Autodesk Navisworks for 4D simulation.
■ Support for Revit linked files.
■ Support for Revit split regions.
■ Support for Revit properties including areas, volumes and points.
6 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
See Revit File Exporter (page 199).
Vault Integration
Autodesk Navisworks now offers integration with the Autodesk Vault data management toolset. Autodesk Vault offers a comprehensive environment for managing the large volume of data that is generated on your projects.
■ Retrieve/save data.
■ Check in/check-out data.
■ Manage file versioning and the relationship between NWF files and design
data.
See Use the Autodesk Vault Add-In (page 665).
General Integration Enhancements
■ Support for Google Sketchup v7 .skp files with backwards compatibility.
■ TimeLiner now offers support for Primavera P6 v7 web services.
■ Support for Pro/Engineer .prt, .asm, .g and .neu file formats.
What Is New in This Release? | 7
■ Point cloud server support. Autodesk Navisworks now supports the retrieval
of data from external point cloud engines for display within your Autodesk Navisworks model. The tool is implemented as an extension to the existing NWCreate API. A simple generic example and a customized example demonstrating connection to Z+F LFM server are available within the NWCreate API resources.
Autodesk Navisworks Freedom 2012 Enhancements
■ The Review tab now contains Measure tools supporting field access to
dimensioning and area calculation.
■ 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.
8 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
Miscellaneous Enhancements
■ Enhanced support for the
■ 3D mouse through an extended interface. See 3Dconnexion 3D Mouse
(page 298).
■ 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 per viewpoint, you can easily show how project stakeholders will interact with a specific phase of the project in the relevant context.
■ Ongoing implementation of Autodesk Navisworks .NET API.
What Is New in This Release? | 9

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
■ 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.
10 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
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.
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.
How to Get Assistance | 11
DescriptionSymbol
?
~
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.
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.
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
12 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
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.
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.
How to Get Assistance | 13
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.
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.
14 | Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Navisworks Simulate 2012
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