Discover the different methods of exporting files from Revit to Navisworks, along with their unique advantages and disadvantages. Learn how to seamlessly import RVT files directly into Navisworks, convert files, and organize them in a systematic way.
Key Insights
- The article provides a detailed guide on how to import and export files from Revit to Navisworks, focusing on three primary methods: directly opening RVT files into Navisworks, exporting to DWG from Revit, and exporting to NWC format from Revit.
- Upon importing an RVT file into Navisworks, the program automatically searches for a 3D view called Navisworks. The imported file can contain multiple layers or levels with all the hosted elements, organized by Revit family category, family type, and instance.
- Navisworks allows for the easy appending of files, with the ability to hide and unhide models as needed for efficient navigation and clarity. The program also imports shaded properties of some materials, although these details are not imported with the DWG format.
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Welcome back to the Navisworks video series. In this video we'll be covering how to import and export files from Revit to Navisworks, and this video will be divided into three parts because there are a few different ways to export from Revit into Navisworks, and we'll be looking at all three of them and the benefits and drawbacks of using each of these methods. The first method we'll be covering is opening RVT files directly into Navisworks and letting Navisworks convert the files for us.
The second we'll be looking at how to export to DWG from Revit, and then the third way we'll be looking at how to export to NWC format from Revit. Now to open a file into Navisworks that is in RVT format, just go to the application button and select open, and you'll want to navigate to your lesson 2 folder. We'll be looking at bim361-arc.rvt. What Navisworks will do is in the background convert the RVT file into NWC file and then open it straight onto screen.
Once it's done converting and opening you'll see something that looks like this. Now it's important to note that when you import an RVT file into Navisworks, Navisworks automatically looks for a view, a 3D view called Navisworks, and we'll see that in this file we actually do have a 3D view called Navisworks already, and Navisworks has imported it and converted that one view into a viewpoint. You should also note that Navisworks also imported the grid lines, and if you take a look at your selection tree, expand the bim361-arc.rvt file, and you'll see that we have a series of levels, and these levels are layers that contain all of the hosted elements.
So casework on level 2 would be under level 2, and then all of the casework is organized by Revit family category. And then we have the family type, and underneath the family type we have, excuse me, we have the families, and then underneath the families we have the family type, and then instance. You can append files much like we did before with our Bath City model by going to the home tab and selecting the append button.
In our lesson 2 folder you'll find a bim361.mep file. Let's append that to our bim361-arc. Once the file loads in, you can navigate around and see if that file has loaded properly, and one quick check that I like to do is to turn off the architectural model and just look at the MEP model, and I'm doing that by selecting the model that I want to hide, and then you can push CTRL H on your keyboard, or you can right-click and then go to hide.
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You'll see that that MEP model that's in our selection tree has all three of the trades shown at once, and you'll see that we also have a Navisworks view that's being imported as a viewpoint. To turn the architectural model back on, just select it and hit CTRL H. Now let's go ahead and append our structural model.
You'll see that the structural model will show the base of the building, and we can take a simple view at just the structural by selecting both the architectural. I'm holding down CTRL and selecting the MEP, and then I'm hitting CTRL and h to hide, and there's our structural model in the correct position. We can turn the MEP model back on by itself, and notice that it's in blue right now.
That's because I have it selected. To deselect, just hit escape. Just another quick note.
I'm turning on the architectural just for this demonstration. With the RVT import, the shaded properties of some of the materials are imported as well. So you can see that we have some of the materials around the window frames.
The windows are transparent and have some kind of color on them. And you'll notice that when we do the DWG, that that information will not be imported. This file is currently not saved.
Right now it says it's called untitled. Let's save this model by hitting the save button, and in your lesson 2 folder, I'd like you to save this as FIM 361, and we're going to call this one Revit. So BIM 361-Revit, and the file extension is going to be nwf.
That's about all there is to importing your file from RVT. In the next video, I'll be covering how to import these files using the Autodesk DWG format.