AS125109 How to Use Dynamo to Visibly Show Navisworks Clashes into Revit Felix Tan Stantec Ryan Wells Stantec Learning Objectives Learn how to simplify a coordination workflow between Navisworks and Revit Learn how to easily locate Navisworks clashes in Revit using a Dynamo script Learn how to use a Revit Schedule to highlight clashes Learn how to add comments to the clash schedule for coordination Description The combination of Revit and Navisworks software is a great Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment for model authoring and clash coordination. The workflow of using these software systems is straightforward. Once the clash results are out, we can use the Switchback tool from Navisworks Manage to locate those clashes back to Revit. However, having to simultaneously highlight the exact location of those clashes in the Revit file is challenging. In this class, we will show how we can use a Dynamo script to locate those clashes in Revit by using a sphere family that can be scheduled and highlighted in the model for quick viewing. Finally, we ll add comments in the sphere family schedule to communicate these updates back to the rest of the team. Speakers Felix Tan is the BIM Manager of Stantec, a multi-disciplinary firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His professional involvement is in the architectural field that spans over 20 years. Half of his experience focuses more in design and construction in the Philippines where he got his architectural license. While the other half is in Canada as a BIM specialist. He is a seasoned technical specialist who provides project teams with strong leadership that will enable them to start and maintain high quality BIM projects. He has worked extensively with multidisciplinary teams in the recreational, commercial, health, and education projects. He s an effective trainer with excellent consulting skills. Organizer of a BIM users group in the Vancouver office. His goal is to help develop a knowledge-sharing culture in their office. Ryan is a BIM Manager at Stantec, a global multi-discipline consulting firm. His decade-plus of professional experience has been in Architecture on a variety of building types, leveraging building and design data to develop and improve workflow, productivity, and accuracy. A BIM advocate and technology devotee, he strives to deliver innovative solutions. 1 16
Identify the issue In one of our BIM projects we hired a company who are experts in Navisworks clash detection to run clash tests to all our models. They came back with a 4-inch-thick binder report! Who would want to go page by page and check each of those clashes and try to confirm them back in the model one at a time? It s a waste of time doing this manually; there should be a quicker way, digitally, where we can locate each of those clashes all at once. We are graphic person and seeing where those clashes are in my model would be helpful. We don t want to look at Clash reports. We want to see the clashes themselves. Solution Good thing a passionate BIM Wizard named Cesare Caoduro (who happens to be an AU speaker himself) created a simple Dynamo script to accurately locate Navisworks clashes back to Revit, using a sphere shaped generic model, as a marker or a pointer. As we all know Navisworks has the power to detect multiple clashes, including their exact x, y, and z coordinates in the model, and export them as a report (using an XML file format). We will use that information and leverage it by using Cesare s Dynamo script, an Excel file, and the sphere family to locate them back to our Revit model. We didn t stop at just locating those clashes but we will also use Revit s power to create Schedules to organize and eventually add more metadata to our Clash spheres. We can do this by adding Revit Parameters specifically for Generic Models like the date of clash, the person to assign this clash to, priority or urgency of the clash, and many others. We want to put enough information on them to make it as collaborative a tool as possible. Our goal here is to make the Clash Sphere and the Revit Schedule our coordination tool for the project team to use. Prepare NWC file from Revit 1. In Revit, open a new 3D view of your model and make sure all appropriate object categories are shown. Save this 3D View as Navisworks Export. 2 16
Important notes: Check your Visibility/Graphic Overrides and verify model categories are selected accordingly. If your model is Work-share enabled, make sure all the appropriate Workset Visibility Settings are all set to Use Global Setting (Visible). Unless otherwise you require a different setting. 2. In Revit, click Add-Ins External Tools Autodesk Navisworks. Use the free NWC Export Utility to export your Revit model to an NWC file version. Download the free utility here https://www.autodesk.ca/en/products/navisworks/autodesk-navisworks-nwc-export-utility Note: This option is not available in Demo/Viewer mode. If you are not in demo mode, but do not have access to the Autodesk Navisworks menu, check if editing view is set to normal, and the modify tool is selected ( Modify). 3 16
3. In the Export scene as dialog box, enter the name for the Navisworks file, and browse to the desired save location. 4. Click Save to export the file, or Cancel to return to the application without exporting it. Note: Linked files are not included when exporting to NWC file format Learn more about Revit to Navisworks workflow and best practices. 1 Best Practices in Autodesk Navisworks. 2 Run clash test. Use Navisworks Manage to run clash test. Get results. Then export report as xml 1. In Navisworks Manage, open the NWC files created earlier in Revit. 1 Autodesk Knowledge Network - Workflow: Using Revit and Navisworks 2 Autodesk University - CM6974-L - A Navisworks Template to Clash Them All by Andrew Brahney 4 16
2. Run your clash test using the Clash Detective tool. a) If the Clash Detective window is not already open, click Home tab Tools panel Clash Detective. 3 3 Autodesk Knowledge Network - To Run Clash Tests 5 16
b) To add a new clash test: From the Clash Detective window click Add Test button c) Click the Test 1 panel expansion button and rename accordingly. For this example, we are naming it L2_STRUCT vs HVAC based on a clash test for Structural components against Mechanical components (such as Ducts, etc.) on Level 2. Make sure to select all the appropriate Revit Model name and its Model Categories. 6 16
AS125109 How to Use Dynamo to Visibly Show Navisworks Clashes into Revit To run all the tests in Tests panel, click the Update All button. To run a single test, select it in the Tests area, right-click and select Run, or click the Select Tab, and click the Run button. Review the clashes. From the Clash Detective window go to Results Tab and confirm clash results. 7 16
Export Clash Report to XML From Report tab under Contents panel select the following items by clicking on their checkboxes: Summary, Clash Point, Date Found, Item ID, Grid Location From the Report tab again under Output Settings, the Report Type should be the Current test and the Report Format should be XML. Click the Write Report button and save the XML Report file to your project folder. Repeat these steps as needed for any additional tests. When you perform clash tests in Navisworks Manage, it comes up with all the individual clashes. However, in most cases, there are items that are involved in more than one clash. In that case, you can group them logically based on the 8 16
items that you will edit. This reduces the total number of clashes that are displayed and helps the users editing the model back in Revit. 4 Best Practices in Autodesk Navisworks Clash Detective 5 Export report as xml Open the XML-base.xlsx (will be provided in the class file) and import your XML file. Go to cell A:2 and click to highlight. Right-click your mouse to open the Excel content menu. Hover to XML > and click Import. From the Import XML window select your XML file that you created from Navisworks and click Import. (Note: only one XML is allowed at a time) Confirm the data transfer and Save As your Excel file with an appropriate name (e.g. L2_STRUCT vs HVAC _<date>) Create a Revit Clash Coordination Model We recommend creating a new Revit model to link all disciplines models accordingly. Note: Link only models that were used in the Navisworks Clash Detective earlier. This new Revit file will be used as the Clash Coordination Model. We have provided a Revit template for you to use (ClashSpheresTemplate_R17.rte) complete with the Clash Sphere Generic Models Family and the Clash Coordination Revit Schedule. Otherwise you can use your own company-provided 4 Autodesk Knowledge Network - Grouping Clashes in Navisworks Manage 5 Autodesk University - CR3226-L - When Models Clash by Michael N. Smith and C.W. Driver 9 16
template. You just need to import the Clash Sphere family and our Clash Coordination Revit Schedule. 1. From Revit, click the Application Menu, go to New and select New Project using the ClashSpheresTemplate_R17.rte template. 2. Start linking all the models. If you plan to workshare-enable this model make sure that each linked model is placed on its own Workset (e.g. Link_Arch, Link_Struc, Link_Mech, Link_Elec) 3. Note: Assign appropriate Worksets for the Clash Spheres (e.g. Clash_Level01, Structural_vs_Mechanical) Use Dynamo Player to locate the clashes using the Clash Spheres Family To use Dynamo Player, Click Manage tab Visual Programming panel select Dynamo Player. Specify the default script directory of the Dynamo Player by browsing to a location on your local network or hard drive. On first launch, Dynamo Player opens a default list of Dynamo scripts. On the Dynamo Player dialog, click. In the Browse to Folder dialog, navigate to a directory containing the Dynamo script - Clash Detection Workspace.dyn. Click OK to specify the currently viewed directory as the source for the Dynamo Player. To view the windows directory of the Dynamo Player, click. Note: If changes are made to the files in Windows, the Dynamo Player window must be refreshed. Click to see the most recent files and their status. 10 16
Make sure to link Excel Spreadsheet file. From Revit, go to Manage tab > and select Dynamo From Dynamo, open the Clash Detection Workspace.dyn script and click the File Path node and browse to the Excel file we created from the XML. Click save. How to use Dynamo Player 6 Click Run and confirm the Clash Spheres are placed in the Revit model. Review Clash Sphere locations. 6 Autodesk Knowledge Network Dynamo Player (video) 11 16
Open a 3D view (or a Plan view, Section view) to view the Clash Spheres. Use Revit Schedules to display the clashes and communicate with your team We re not going to get into schedule creation 7 or how to create and manage Shared Parameters; again, we need to assume a basic level of ability here. Using the template as a starting point will give you all the pieces you need. Once the Dynamo script is run and the clash spheres are created in your model, the sphere schedule will populate. From there, the Model Manager needs to do the following: Assign a priority to each clash Assign each clash to a modeler Provide a comment to guide the modelers toward a resolution Follow up and ensure each completed clash resolution is satisfactory 7 Autodesk Knowledge Network Creating a Schedule or Quantity 12 16
The clash sphere family is a basic sphere with specific shared parameters. The ones we ve found to work simply and effectively are as follows: Active: yes/no checked means this clash has yet to be addressed; controlled by Completed: =not(completed) Clash comments: Text notes from Model Manager to responsible modeler describing remedy Clash name: Text as listed in Navisworks; defaults to Clash1, Clash2, etc. Can be overridden to be more specific Clash recipient: Text name of modeler responsible for addressing clash Completed: yes/no checked by modeler responsible for addressing clash once complete; toggles Active: =not(completed) CoordinationPriority: Integer priority identified by Model Manager; 1 = highest, 3 = lowest Date found: Text date of clash from Navisworks Element ID: Text clash sphere s element ID Status: Text clash status from Navisworks Additional parameters 8 can be added to the family to host manually controlled metadata, or additional parameters can be mapped via Dynamo to other Navisworks data points. 8 Autodesk Knowledge Network Create Family Parameters 13 16
The Sync with Central or Landing Page contains some basic model and team information along with the clash schedules. This is a clear location for the info, making the status of the clashes obvious for everyone: The Master clash sphere schedule lists all clash objects, sorted and quantified by priority. A few of the parameters have been conditionally formatted to apply colour, which helps to draw the team s attention: 14 16
The conditional formatting 9 is basic; you can change the cell fill colour, based on a single condition for each parameter. Specific user-filtered schedules can be created to highlight clashes for individual team members to address: `These can be customized to the users preference, using any parameter and colour. 9 Autodesk Knowledge Network Specify Conditional Formatting for a Schedule 15 16
Jump to clashes from schedules From the schedule, using Highlight in Model the user can jump to each clash location, update the model, then check the Completed parameter to close the loop on their clashes. This will be reflected in each schedule, depending on how the filters and formatting are applied. It s up to you whether you keep the completed clashes, or purge them all out ready for the next round. If you keep them, you can use View Filters 10 to only show the Active clashes: Helpful References: Shoutout to Cesare Caoduro the mastermind behind all this. He created the dynamo script, the sphere family, the base Excel spreadsheet template. We just enhanced it. I salute him for doing a great job. 10 Autodesk Knowledge Network Apply a Filter 16 16