Navisworks Freedom 2009 vs. Autodesk Design Review 2009

[diesellam]

Since both of these free programs can open up the 3D DWF file, my question is which program do you typically ask your clients or consultants to use when you share/exchange the information?

I personally like the Autodesk Design Review 2009 very much. That "white outline" of the cross section is really cool when trying to demonstrate where that cut essentially occurs, it really emphasizes where the cut is. Can Navisworks freedom does things like this?

The only thing I don't like about ADR 2009 so far is the inability to print it a high quality PDF file, like the way you can from Revit directly (pump up the dpi all the way up to 600 dpi.)

I would love to hear professionals like you guys who can share your thoughts on these 2 products, thanks in advance.

[RobertB]

Navisworks Freedom does not allow you to freely section the model, whereas Design Review does. We use Freedom only to view models where the full version of Navisworks is used in project coordination.

IOW, they both have their uses, andvantages, and disadvantages. We just use the best tool for the task, given that we have different tasks.

[gdb]

I was just using NavisWorks Freedom this morning and looking for cross section capability. As good as NavisWorks Freedom is to navigate models that is a fairly large deficiency that functionality is not included. Hopefully it will be soon.

[mitch.cornelius]

My biggest problem with Design review is the difficulty in navigating large models. Ona large project, Navisworks works fine but Design review can be very clunky.

[diesellam]

So in other words, if Navisworks Freedom 2009 has the section capability, we can pretty much disregard the Autodesk Design Review 2009.

I think the section tool in ADR 2009 is so useful to discuss where the conflict is, especially during the online meeting situation.

Hopefully this will be added to the Navisworks Freedom 2010 version.

[steve.perkio]

Are you trying to use Freedom Viewer for coordination meetings?

That is what I gather from your quote below, if that is the case, you're behind the curve.

Are you a Coordinator, or MEP Manager?

What field are you in?

Perk

So in other words, if Navisworks Freedom 2009 has the section capability, we can pretty much disregard the Autodesk Design Review 2009.

I think the section tool in ADR 2009 is so useful to discuss where the conflict is, especially during the online meeting situation.

Hopefully this will be added to the Navisworks Freedom 2010 version.

[diesellam]

I'm a BIM coordinator of a general contractor firm.

Most of the files I've been getting are created by some 3rd party softwares. They saved them as .dwg files. Then I imported those .dwg files in Revit. And I can either export them as a 3D DWF or export them to Navisworks.

I've been playing the ADR 2009 and Navisworks Freedom 2009. It seems to me that the cross section tool is a very powerful tool to make the viewers recognize exactly where the conflicts are. And I do agree with the other people saying that it's faster to navigate in Freedom when the model is getting bigger. So I was saying if Freedom has this cross section tool, then it may not be necessary to use ADR 2009 anymore since that's the only the thing Freedom can't do for the time being.

[dgorsman]

No question for us, Freedom all the way. We use the licensed Review for, well, reviews. Sectioning isn't a huge deal, if something is in the way it gets set to transparent or hidden as required before publishing, or a separate NWD file is created. The big thing for us for Freedom over 3D DWF (and even Freedom v5.x) is the properties - clients can inspect components as required.

I don't think ADR has "Bob", either. Not totally reliable, but he's a decent enough judge of whether somebody will have access to parts of the plant.