apply material to surfaces in Navisworks

[huntersc75]

Hi,

This might seems like a easy question, but I am just starting to use Navisworks presenter function and was wondering how to apply materials to surfaces of a selected 3d object? e.g. I have a cabinet made of steel and there is a glass panel in part of the door. When I modelled it I just created the whole model as one item so when I select it I can only apply material to the whole thing not seperate parts.

Surely I dont have to model every part that I want to apply material to?

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
huntersc75

[pauljordan]

If you don't tell your software (be it Revit, NavisWorks, Autocad Arch, etc..) that the door is made of wood, steel, or bamboo, and you have a glass panel in the middle of the door... How is the software going to know about the panel?

And please don't call me Shirley..

[huntersc75]

Hi,

No my question is not the idea of applying material it is how do I define an area in Navisworks to apply material to just one surface. Like in Autocad I can say that 1 side of a cube could have a different material than the other sides. But in navisworks I only get the option of selecting the whole 3D object and cannot just select one surface of the object.

So this is what I mean I hope I dont have to model in every part. I use a dorr as an example if I have modelled it as one 3d object then how do I apply brass material to the handle yet keep the door in wood material?

BR
Scott

[dgorsman]

Have a look at the selection tree. Materials are applied to selections in the tree (at higher or lower levels, depending on the selection resolution), so if its not individual items in the tree you can't apply individual materials. This is different to other programs (e.g. AutoCAD) which allow the application of materials to faces rather than the object as a whole, but Navisworks is built around the object concept not a face concept. That does have a number of advantages, such as being able to apply brass material to all handles, glass to all glass objects, and so on.

You *might* be able to apply materials to objects in AutoCAD then use that material inside Navisworks.

[sbrennan]

If the object is a "cube" in the software it was created, then you have no way. This a solid model (Like a brick)
Alternatively, the object could be a surface model (Like a cardboard box). This would allow you to select an individual face.

I'm still exploring how to assign materials within Navisworks and can't get it working (but, I just started). What about a similar color for the one face?

Also, keep in mind that if it's an item that's being clashed against, you may see a significant increase in clashes, as each face is separate, therefore a separate clash.