NWF File Creation Best Practice - Revit or NWC

[Jonathan Pitt]

Hi all, I know this has probably seems like Navisworks 101, but I'm looking for a little bit of advice on best practice for creating my NWF file.

Is it best to open my MEP central model in Navisworks and then save this as the NWF file?

I can see the advantage of always having an absolutely latest version of our model visible in the NWF file. Are there any disadvantages of using the Revit file over an exported NWC file?

After this how do you append other companies models, Revit or NWC?

Cheers,
Jon.

[Monkey With No Name]

I've always linked the rvt file straight into Navis. I was recently asked for a nwc so they could link it to Navis and when I asked why do you want me to do extra when you can just link the rvt file, they said they Navis can't link rvt files. It appears a few versions ago you couldn't and they hadn't realised you now could. This maybe why people are still asking for nwc files.

When linking the rvt file a nwc file is still created, so I am assuming Navis is doing that process rather than you manually doing it from Revit. Whether that makes it longer to load the rvt file each time I don't know.

Someone did tell me it is bad practice because rvt files don't always load correctly but I've had no experience of that. Their experience could be down to user error as the Navis settings for Revit File import are by default set to Navisworks View. This means it looks for a 3D view in your rvt file that contains "Navis". If this view is set to medium detail or has elements hidden, they will not come in as you want.

Setting that to Whole model brings everything in but takes significantly longer.

[Jonathan Pitt]

Having played around with my NWF file now I think I would prefer to keep all external files as NWC.

Having just one Revit model in there makes opening the NWF file painfully slow. Adding other Revit files, especially ones that aren't live, seems like a waste of time.

[steve.perkio]

Opening Navisworks .nwf is slow and it's selfish to only append the .rvt files. Let me explain:

Providing only a .rvt file forces everyone downstream (during the BIM process) to append the .rvt and take the time (sometimes more than 10 minutes) to crunch out the inevitable .nwc (multiply this by each participant for time spent waiting) plus us users may not get the correct view as noted in the above post.

Exporting a local .nwc from Revit is quick and provides a small file that can be appended or posted for multiple trades/disciplines to append to or refresh in their .nwf.

As a longtime Navisworks user and 3 year Revit user please trust me that this process is best for overall practices.

Regards,
Perk

[dgorsman]

The thing about loading from Navisworks (vs. exporting an NWC) is that the NWC should only be regenerated when the source file is newer. If you have a very busy model then yes - someone else opening the NWF will force the NWC file(s) to be recreated. If NWCs are being recreated despite the models being unchanged, then its time to check (and share) the NWC creation settings under Options.

On the other hand, deliberately exporting NWC files can be done on an independent schedule, and at a finer level of model division (assuming things are actually separated). For example on a previous monster-sized project we had a computer generating fresh NWDs (yes, but the process is virtually identical) on an hourly basis; the master NWF pointed at those files rather than the live model.

Something else that has an effect on load time is Append vs. Merge. Append can result in delays, as the same objects are loaded over, and over, and... Merge checks for identical items and skips loading them if they are already present. The only case where I can see Append being useful is for comparing models where you don't want the duplicates skipped, so I always advocate using Merge even if there isn't any chance of duplicates just to get everyone in the habit of doing it right.

[Hockley91]

Well, I feel it's a lot faster to just export the .nwc file from Revit. It took forever and a day to just open the .rvt file straight from Navisworks. Also, it appends the model in a fragmented way in the selection tree. I think there's more control in the export .nwc options in Revit. Additionally, an .nwc file is created by default when the .rvt file is appended. So, if you like the way the file information is presented by appending an .rvt instead of an .nwc then stick with what works for you.

We export all of our .nwc files from Revit for the design models. We have a naming system in place so we just overwrite the .nwc in our working files directory whenever we get an updated model. We also color all the different systems in the model as well. Whenever there is an update to the model, we can see an area that has changed because that section of changed model will have it's source color on it.

Our subcontractors utilize various software packages and they deliver to us as a .dwg the majority of the time. occasionally, we will get a .rvt or .ifc model. We append those directly and a .nwc file is created. We upload an .nwd model after every BIM coordination meeting. They can utilize that model as they wish. We never share our working files with our subcontractors. That includes the .nwf file as well. We will only share the .nwd.

Adam

[steve.perkio]

Thanks, something new for me to learn.
You've helped me quite a bit over the years, I owe you a Beer & Burger!

Perk

Something else that has an effect on load time is Append vs. Merge. Append can result in delays, as the same objects are loaded over, and over, and... Merge checks for identical items and skips loading them if they are already present. The only case where I can see Append being useful is for comparing models where you don't want the duplicates skipped, so I always advocate using Merge even if there isn't any chance of duplicates just to get everyone in the habit of doing it right.

[DAVEDD]

Hi all, I know this has probably seems like Navisworks 101, but I'm looking for a little bit of advice on best practice for creating my NWF file.

Is it best to open my MEP central model in Navisworks and then save this as the NWF file?

I can see the advantage of always having an absolutely latest version of our model visible in the NWF file. Are there any disadvantages of using the Revit file over an exported NWC file?

After this how do you append other companies models, Revit or NWC?

Cheers,
Jon.

The entire point of Navisworks Simulate and Manage is that they can read almost anything, bringing together 3D DWG, NWDs, NWCs, RVTs, DGNs, and stuff from anywhere, like Solidworks, Inventor or IFC files. It's about the settings of the file readers in Navisworks.

Navisworks Simulate & Manage can be set when Appending an RVT file to read one of three options, (1) Navisworks view, (2) first 3D View and (3) the entire project. In file readers, set this to Navisworks view. Then in each RVT to be appended, create a 3D view called "Navisworks" and make sure this view is only and exactly what you want appended - remove layers, linked CAD, linked RVT—whatever - add filters too, just get it the way you want it. Now when you append the RVT to Navisworks, it will only deal with the Navisworks view. You can set options for other file types too!

Appending a 2022 RVT into a 2022 NWF is superfast with a Navisworks view because they are version-aligned (same year) and it's not bringing in multiple links of the same CAD etc. that you get with first 3D view and the entire project options.

If you have a more recent version of Navisworks than Revit, appending will be super slow. In that case, if you can't revert to an older version of Navisworks or a newer version of Revit, an NWC method might be a workaround hack—but you will lose full control because the Navisworks View in 3D that you set up will lose all your view control settings.

It is different when there is a considerable central file and worksets via worksharing (as compared with stand-alone or one-person/ single discipline Revit files), but generally speaking, the NWC method is probably now considered largely unnecessary and a habit hangover from a decade ago that may even be written into procedures. It's always worthwhile revisiting procedures in consideration of the advances in the software imo

You can use the NWC that is created (NWC is a cache file like BAK is to DWG) when you append to NWF or NWD. You can also get a plug-in for Revit that exports an NWC out (this was popular in the old days when everything was painfully slow).

Central file