Navisworks for Beginners Course

My team have many years of experience of using model review tools for design reviews and construction planning. We want to share our knowledge with You to make it easy for You to quickly become familiar with using model review tools. In our first online course, we focus on using Navisworks Manage and Navisworks Freedom.

This was my first online training or e-learning course. This course is designed so that You?have fun, learn?new skills?and?share?your e-learning experience with your peers. The course is intended to be interactive and You should complete challenges along the way to get learn the skills.

If you have taken the course, even only one or two modules, please share your thoughts, feedback, comments, questions and suggestions on future content in the comments below. Please share this article with your colleagues so that they can also register and learn more about model reviews.

Join the Navisworks for Beginners Course

Here are the instructions for accessing the new e-learning module for reviewing models in Navisworks. This is an instructional style training and requires each participant to actively contribute by completing some challenges and to provide their comments on each activity.

To participate fully in the course, you will need Navisworks Simulate or Navisworks Manage installed on your PC. You can also follow the course using Navisworks Freedom viewer but you will not be able to complete all of the challenges along the way.

The course can be completed in under two hours or can be done over a number of visits. We encourage everyone to participate and comment as much as possible.

The comments and feedback we receive will help us fine tune the course materials and add extra information or modules if needed.?

Click HERE to access the course

During this course, we will show you how to navigate in Navisworks models, find design issues or potential construction problems, how to share your findings with others, and many more Navisworks tips and tricks.?This is an active social learning experience. All your contributions, comments and ideas are very welcome and we encourage you to ask questions and?HAVE FUN!

There are 8 modules in this course. Each module includes video instructions, detailed explanations and a challenge for You to complete to practice your new skills.

1 Quickly learn how to?walk, run & fly?in models

Whether you are new to 3D or an experienced BIM user, You need to learn some tricks for navigating through models. In this module, we will show you how to access the Navisworks navigation tools and which techniques to use for getting around a project. After you watch the video, which shows you the methods for getting around a model, have a go yourself by taking on our?Car Park Challenge?which involves finding sports cars and construction equipment parked in a concrete podium structure.

2 Easily?append all?types of models into a Federated Model

In this module, You will learn how to create a federated model by appending different discipline models together in Navisworks Manage. When you start Autodesk Navisworks Manage, a new empty “Untitled” Autodesk Navisworks file (.nwf) is automatically created for you. To add model files,?You can append geometry and data from the selected files to the currently open Navisworks file.

3 How to create albums of?Viewpoints

To make everyone's life easier in navigating around a project, sharing information and highlighting any issues, You will need to create an album of Viewpoints. In this lesson You will learn how to save and name a?Viewpoint, organize a set of viewpoints into a folder (Your Album), change background,?change render styles and adjust perspective view angles.

4 Sections - Sharpen Your Knives - It's time to chop up a model

As project models get more complex and more detailed, it's useful to be able to slice the Navisworks models into sections and cut-away boxes to be able to focus on key areas. In this module of the course You will learn about section planes, section boxes, how to move, rotate and focus them on certain areas.

5 Measure - If You can't Measure it, You can't Manage it !

Did You know there are 6 different ways to measure a Navisworks model? In this lesson You will learn how to measure lengths (a few different ways), angles and areas. You are able to save the measurements as Redline Viewpoints for review at a later date. Another handy trick is to be able to measure the shortest distance between two objects or the perpendicular distance between sloping or inclined objects.

6 Redline Markup - Get Your Red Pens & Highlighters ready ...

It's time to draw clouds, write your comments, highlight design issues and assign tasks to the engineers and trades to using comments on your Viewpoints. Finding a design or construction problem is often the easy part of reviewing models. Deciding which issues take priority, assigning someone to resolve an issue and making your communication clear and concise is the art of redline mark-ups. The red pen is very important for architects, engineers and construction managers.?You might prefer a red Pentel Sign Pen or You might like to use a red sharpie.?Redlining in a model is a crucial part of BIM Design Review and Constructability reviews.

7 Select Elements - Pick 'n' Mix ... how do you find the one You want

You can select objects by picking them individually, grabbing a handful inside a window or by using the model directory, aka the?Selection Tree. Once You have a selection of objects, you can change their colour or their transparency. You can make them disappear and re-appear at the push of a button !

8 Search Sets - searching for a needle in a hay stack ?

Being able to quickly search through a federated model and find objects or data is a core skill of conducting model reviews. We recommend that You set up a suite of regular search criteria for your project that You can use over and over again for finding what you need. The search functions are not just based on the names of an object or a file, You can find elements by searching their properties and BIM data or information included in the models as parameters or data fields.