NavisWorks 2009 & Revit 2009

[Jason Grant]

Is there any reason you can not just have the plugin for export in revit without having to own NavisWorks or is it I just can not find the install?

From my view it looks like they are essentially forcing NavisWorks users (contractors and others) to own Revit so that they can convert a Revit File or they are forcing architects to buy NavisWorks so that they can send files to others. They are all the same company... they should have a plugin or be built into Revit already for this. It is like saying that you can not export to autocad(dwg) without having autocad. Everyone would think this is rediculous.

I'm in a large company so we own both programs anyway but I would think this could be hard on a smaller company.

[david.kingham]

Unfortunately there is no free exporter and I had requested this pre-Autodesk, I should file a support request again, as should everyone else, if enough people request a free exporter they may actually pay attention.

The options right now are to export from Revit to dwg, ifc or dwf (dwg being the best) and bring that into NW which is not a great option imho, nwc files are much more robust and reliable

[TroyGates]

Does the 30-day trial version of Navisworks install the Revit exporter? And if it does, will it continue to export after the 30-day trial?

[mcuevas]

I agree, everyone in the industry is pushing collaboration between architects and contractors and between different disciplines. The fact that one has to buy the software to export that type of file is insane! It wouldn't be such a problem if the software didn't cost so much either....

[D.Williams]

Does the 30-day trial version of Navisworks install the Revit exporter? And if it does, will it continue to export after the 30-day trial?

As of the version prior to 2009, it did install the exporter, but after the 30 day trial it went kaput - giving an error when you clicked on the export function.

[mcervantes]

UPDATE: 11:25 AM

Solution:
We had installed Revit 2009 after Navis 2009 and once I updated the .ini file for Revit to include the external commands in the tools menu, it started to work just fine.


As a side note, I would agree with comments above to allow individuals to export to an nwc file without having to own Navisworks. Not being able to do so will kill the benefit of using Navisworks as a collaboration tool for BIM becuase I would anticipate most companies would not want to pay for both programs just to be able to export the model.
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10:39 AM--
I am having the same problem as Jason Grant and have both Revit 2009 and Navis 2009 on network license. Any updates to this?

My export from Revit 2008 to Navis 2009 worked just fine.

Thanks,

Michael Cervantes
Steinberg Architects

[Jason Grant]

Michael,

I found that if you go to add/remove programs on your control panel, select Autodesk NavisWorks Manage 2009 and click change remove. You will then get a box that allows you to Add or Remove Features. Select that and scroll down to Revit 2009, check the box and it will install the plugin in Revit for the Export to Navisworks.

Let me know if you have any issues with this. Don't know why it did not do this automatically but this worked for me. Just make sure you close Revit before doing this.

[anthony.foster-davis]

I am using Revit Architecture 2009 and when I go to the add/remove programs and follow the steps it does not give me the option for Revit Architecture...only Revit Building 9.0. Does this mean I need to have Revit Bulding 9.0 to export NWC files into NW?

[Jason Grant]

You need to own NavisWorks Manage to get the export to .NWC

If you own that then you need to go through the add/remove programs for NavisWorks to get the plugin installed. It is not found on the Revit 2009.

I would urge everyone to send a message to Autodesk stating that it is imperative for them to add the plugin by default within Revit at a minimum. It would be nice though if you could just import a Revit file from within NavisWorks but who knows when that will happen. They already have a working plugin... you should not need to buy an additional piece of software to use it.

[david.kingham]

Add this to the end of your Revit.ini file which is located here C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program

[ExternalCommands]
ECCount=1

ECName1=NavisWorks
ECClassName1=NavisWorks6.LcRevitExportCommand
ECAssembly1=C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk\NavisWorks\2009\nwexportrevit2009\nwexportrevit2009_6.dll
ECDescription1=File exporter for NavisWorks 2009

If you already have any external commands you need to change the ECCount and the number after ECName, etc. to coincide with how many you have.