Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 User Manual Autodesk, Inc.
Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009: User Manual Autodesk, Inc. Copyright © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. Revision 6.1.46140 Autodesk, Inc. reserves the right to make changes in specification at any time and without notice. The information furnished by Autodesk, Inc. in this publication is believed to be accurate; however, no responsibility is assumed for its use, nor for any infringement of patents or other rights of third parties resulting from its use.
Contents Part 1. Welcome to Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 .............................................................. 1 Chapter 1. New Features ..................................................................................................... 2 Part 2. Installation ........................................................................................................................4 Chapter 2. Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation ................................................................
Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 Perspective Camera ............................................................................................27 Orthographic Camera ...........................................................................................27 Collision Detection ...............................................................................................27 Gravity ................................................................................................................
Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 Highlighting Objects .....................................................................................................81 Chapter 16. Interface ...........................................................................................................84 The Main Interface Components ................................................................................... 84 The Menu Bar ...........................................................................................
Part 1. Welcome to Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 is a free 3D viewer for NavisWorks NWD and Autodesk DWF files. It offers an unrestricted interface for real-time navigation of even the largest 3D models complete with textures and materials, as well as animation playback, hyperlinks and saved viewpoints.
Chapter 1. New Features Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 contains a number of key enhancements for this release. Interface Enhancements • .NET GUI Modernization Up-to-date look and feel including new icons, improved control bar docking and tabbed control bars. • The Selection Tree Control Bar Shows the internal structure of the loaded NWD, allowing direct navigation through the tree list to required elements in the project. • The Properties Control Bar Shows all properties of a selected geometry item.
New Features • Microsoft Vista Support Full support for Microsoft's latest operating system. • 64-bit Support Support for 64-bit versions of both XP and Vista. File Formats • Autodesk DWF support Freedom is now capable of reading and displaying Autodesk’s DWF Design Review format.
Part 2. Installation This section provides step-by-step installation instructions for Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009.
Chapter 2. Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation This section provides step-by-step instructions about how to install Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 on your system. How to Prepare for Installation Before you install Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009, you must review the system requirements, understand administrative permission requirements, and close all running applications. After you complete these tasks, you can install Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009.
Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation Hardware and software requirements Open GL©-compatible 3D video card Printer or plotter Optional hardware Modem or access to an Internet connection Network interface card How to Understand Administrative Permission Requirements To install Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009, you must have administrator permissions. You do not need to have domain administrative permissions. See your system administrator for information about administrative permissions.
Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation 8. On the Begin Installation page, click Install to begin installation. 9. On the Installation Complete page, select View the Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 Readme if you want to launch the Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 Help system. 10. Click Finish. Running Freedom Assuming that you've followed the steps in the previous procedure, you can launch NavisWorks and start taking advantage of its new and updated features.
Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation file. You can attempt to fix this problem by reinstalling or repairing NavisWorks Freedom. The reinstallation or repair uses the features that were part of the installation type you chose when you initially installed the program. To reinstall or repair NavisWorks Freedom: 1. In the Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs. 2.
Quick Start to Stand-Alone Installation 5. When informed that the product has been successfully uninstalled, click Finish.
Chapter 3. Installation Troubleshooting This section outlines common issues and their solutions that may arise while performing a general installation of your product. What are the minimum system requirements? Before you install your product on a stand-alone computer, make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements.
Installation Troubleshooting To identify your graphics card driver: 1. Start Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009. 2. Click Help > System Info. The Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 information dialog box opens. 3. Review the information about your system including the graphics card driver and driver version, and click OK to close the dialog. Where are my product manuals? All documentation created for Autodesk products are built in two different formats: PDF and CHM.
Installation Troubleshooting If you uninstall the product, some files remain on your system such as files you created or edited. Your license file also stays on your workstation when you uninstall your product. If you reinstall on the same workstation, the license information remains valid and you do not have to reactivate the product.
Part 3. Working with Freedom Freedom enables you to explore project models without specialist design software or specialist skills.
Chapter 4. Overview The basis of Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 is its ability to walk through any size model in real time. NavisWorks guarantees a user-defined frame rate using a unique algorithm which automatically calculates which items to render first during navigation, based on the size of items and distance from the viewpoint. Items which NavisWorks does not have time to render are, therefore, sacrificed or "dropped out" in the name of interactivity.
Chapter 5. File Management To manage files, you can use both the File menu and the Standard toolbar. File Menu The File menu includes the following items: • New • Open • Open URL • Print • Print Preview • Print Setup • Recent Files • Exit New Files This option resets NavisWorks and closes existing files. To create a new file: • On the File menu, click New or • Click New on the Standard toolbar. Opening Files With Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 you can open .
File Management or • Click Open on the Standard toolbar. Note: The standard Open dialog use of Shift and Control keys allows multiple files to be selected and appended to the current set of models. Opening Files via URL With Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 you can open NavisWorks published .nwd files via the Internet. Having uploaded your .nwd file to a web server, this file can then be opened directly from within NavisWorks.
File Management The maximum image size is 2048x2048 pixels. The Properties button controls printer-specific ink and paper settings. Previewing Printouts Before you print out a copy of the model you are working on, you may wish to see how it will appear. Previewing a model before printing: 1. On the File menu, click Print Preview. 2. Use Zoom In and Zoom Out to do just that with the preview image. 3. Click Print, OK to confirm and print the image, or click Close to return to NavisWorks.
Chapter 6. Converting Files With Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009 you can open .nwd (published NavisWorks Data) and .dwf files. File Readers • .nwd • .dwf NWD Files .nwd files are files published by NavisWorks Publisher and are snapshots of the model at a certain time. DWF Files Autodesk's DWF (Design Web Format) was specifically developed by Autodesk as a file format for architects, engineers, and GIS professionals to share design data.
Converting Files Setting the .dwf file reader options: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. Expand the File Readers node in the Options Editor dialog box, and click the DWF option. The DWF page is displayed. 3. Enter the Faceting Factor (the value must be greater than 0). The higher the value, the more NavisWorks will facet rounded entities and therefore the smoother they will appear. See Faceting Factor for more information. 4. Enter the Max Facet Deviation.
Chapter 7. Navigating NavisWorks enables intuitive and interactive navigation around your 3D models at a guaranteed frame rate. The nine navigation modes give you complete flexibility to navigate around the model in real time. In addition to these navigation modes, there are selection and measuring tools that further facilitate the interrogation of model data. The navigation tools allow you to do things such as focus on objects and change the view parameters.
Navigating Pan Orbit Examine Fly Turntable Walking Walk mode enables you to walk through the model on a horizontal plane ensuring that "up" is always "up". To walk through a model: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Mode > Walk or • Click Walk on the Navigation Mode toolbar. Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, spins the camera left and right and moves it forwards and backwards. Holding down the Shift key speeds up this movement.
Navigating • Click Look Around on the Navigation Mode toolbar. Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, looks left, right, up or down. Holding down the Shift key speeds up this movement. Holding down the Control key rotates the camera around its viewing axis. Zooming Zoom mode enables you to zoom into and out of the model. Cursor up zooms in and cursor down zooms out. To zoom: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Mode > Zoom or • Click Zoom on the Navigation Mode toolbar.
Navigating To pan a model: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Mode > Pan or • Click Pan on the Navigation Mode toolbar. Dragging the left mouse button pans the model up, down, left and right. Holding down the Shift or Control keys, or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode. Orbiting The orbit mode enables you to orbit the camera around the model, ensuring that "up" is always "up". The camera always orbits around the focal point of the model.
Navigating • Click Examine on the Navigation Mode toolbar. Dragging the left mouse button, or using the cursor keys, rotates the model about. Holding down the Shift key or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode. Holding down the Control key, temporarily puts this mode into normal Pan mode. If the mouse is moving when you let go of the button, the model keeps spinning! Click on it to stop. Holding the Shift key allows you to zoom in and out.
Navigating Dragging the left mouse button left and right, or using the left and right cursor keys, spins the turntable left and right respectively. Holding down the Shift key or spinning the mouse wheel, temporarily puts this mode into normal Zoom mode. Holding down the Control key, temporarily puts this mode into normal Pan mode. Spinning the mouse wheel, or using the up and down cursor keys, tilts the turntable up and down, like the tilt bar.
Navigating Viewing Everything This function dollies and pans the camera so that the entire model is in view, which is very useful if you get lost inside a model or lose it completely. Sometimes on doing a View All, you seem to just get a blank view. This is usually because there are items that are very small in comparison to the main model located a long way away from the main model.
Navigating • Click Focus on the Navigation Tools toolbar Perspective Camera Uses a perspective camera to view with. To select a perspective camera: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Tools > Perspective Camera or • Click Perspective on the Navigation Tools toolbar. Orthographic Camera Uses an orthographic camera to view with. To select an orthographic camera: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Tools > Orthographic Camera or • Click Orthographic on the Navigation Tools toolbar.
Navigating Collision detection is only available when in either the walk or fly navigation mode. To activate collision detection: • In Walk or Fly navigation mode, on the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Tools > Collision Detection or • Click Collision Detection on the Navigation Tools toolbar. or • Press D to toggle collision detection on/off.
Navigating Gravity This function only works in connection with collision detection. Where collision detection gives you mass, gravity gives you weight. As such, you (as the collision volume) will be pulled downwards whilst walking through the model scene (gravity is only available when in the walk navigation mode). This allows you to walk down stairs, for example, or follow terrain.
Navigating • Hold down the Space bar to turn crouching on. Releasing it will turn it off again. Third Person View This function allows you to view from a third person perspective. When third person is activated, you will be able to see an avatar which is a representation of yourself within the 3D model. Whilst navigating you will be controlling the avatar's interaction with the current scene.
Navigating • Click Align X on the Navigation Tools toolbar. Aligning With The Y-Axis This function toggles between Look From, Left and Look From, Right views. To align the viewpoint with the y-axis: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Tools > Align Y or • Click Align Y on the Navigation Tools toolbar. Aligning With The Z-Axis This function toggles between Look From, Top and Look From, Bottom views.
Navigating up vector. To straighten the camera: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Navigation Tools > Straighten Set World Up These functions set the world up vector to align with the selected orientation. To set the world up vector to the current view: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Set World Up > Current View.
Navigating 3. Modify the Scale translation value if you want to increase or decrease the speed of translation. 4. Modify the Scale rotation value if you want to increase or decrease the speed of rotation. 5. Select the Default navigation mode from the drop-down list. This will be used when no valid navigation mode is currently selected.
Chapter 8. Selecting Items With large models it is potentially a very time-consuming process to select items of interest. NavisWorks makes this a much simpler task by providing a range of functions for quickly selecting items both interactively and by searching the model manually and automatically.
Selecting Items By default there are four tabs, called Standard, Compact, Properties and Sets: • "Standard" displays the default tree hierarchy, including all instancing. • "Compact" displays a simplified version of the "Standard" hierarchy, omitting various items. You can control the level of complexity of this tree using the Select options (see “ Selection Options ” for more information). • "Properties" displays the hierarchy based on the items' properties.
Selecting Items There are several different tree icons representing the types of item that make up the structure of a model: A model, such as a drawing file or design file. A layer or level. A group, such as a block definition from AutoCAD or cell definition from MicroStation. An instanced group, such as an inserted block from AutoCAD or cell from MicroStation. If in the imported file the instance was unnamed, NavisWorks names the instance to match its child's name. An item of geometry, such as a polygon.
Selecting Items As standard, this mode is mutually exclusive to the navigation modes so that when you are selecting, you cannot navigate and vice versa. Note: When using a SpaceBall in conjunction with the standard mouse control, the SpaceBall can be configured for navigation and the mouse for selecting. See “ Using a SpaceBall ” for more information. Select mode allows you to click on an item in the main navigation window to select it.
Selecting Items • Select None Deselects everything in the model. • Invert Selection Every selected item becomes deselected and vice versa. • Select Multiple Instances Selecting an item then selecting Multiple Instances will select all instances (sometimes called insertions) of that geometry group that occur in the model. • Select Same Name Every item with the same name as the selected item will also be selected.
Selecting Items When you click on an item in Select mode, NavisWorks doesn't know what level of item to start selecting at - do you mean the whole model, or the layer, or the instance, or group, or just the geometry? The selection resolution tells NavisWorks what level in the selection tree to start selecting items at by default. The options are: • Model Selects the whole model. • Layer Selects all items on a layer. • First Object Selects the first item in the selection tree path that isn't a layer.
Selecting Items The Selection page is displayed. 3. To set the color that selected items are displayed in, click the Color button. The default highlight color is blue. Alternatively, clear the Enabled check box to disable selected item highlighting (items won't change color when selected). 4. In the Pick Radius box, enter the radius, in pixels, that an item has to be within in order for it to be selected. 5.
Chapter 9. Finding You can run simple manual searches of the model by item property. To do this: • On the Selection Tree, click the Properties tab, and click the saved property search in the list. The corresponding model geometry is selected in the main Freedom window. Properties The Properties control bar shows all the properties of a selected item. Properties are categorized into categories such as Item and Material and this control bar has a tab for each property category of the selected item.
Finding Developer page of the Options Editor dialog box.
Chapter 10. Editing Most editing is done from the Edit menu, which includes the following items: • Undo • Redo • Select • Hidden • Required • Unselected Hidden • Reset All Undo/Redo You can undo or redo your actions in NavisWorks. The Edit > Undo and Edit > Redo menu item states what type of action you will undo/redo. To undo an action: • On the Edit menu, click Undo or • Press Ctrl-Z or • Click Undo on the Standard toolbar Repeat as many times as required or your options allow.
Editing or • Press Ctrl-Y or • Click Redo on the Standard toolbar Repeat as many times as required, or your options allow. Undo Options You can set the amount of space you wish to allocate to the undo buffer. The default settings should be adequate for most normal usage. Setting undo options: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. Expand the General node in the Options Editor dialog box, and click the Undo option. The Undo page is displayed: 3.
Editing 5. Click OK to set these options or Cancel to exit the dialog without setting them. Hiding Items This command hides the current selection and allows you to hide and reveal items by toggling on and off. Note: In the selection tree the object will appear gray when hidden. Hiding an item: 1. Select the item(s) that you want to hide (see Chapter 8, Selecting Items for more information on how to do this). 2. On the Edit menu, click Hidden or Click Hidden on the Selection Tools toolbar.
Editing Hiding Unselected Items This command hides all items except those currently selected so that they are not drawn in the main view. The command allows you to hide and reveal the hidden items by toggling on and off. Note: In the selection tree the items will appear gray when hidden. Hiding all non-selected items: 1. Select the item(s) that you want to remain visible (see Chapter 8, Selecting Items for more information on how to do this). 2. On the Edit menu, click Unselected Hidden.
Chapter 11. Display Modes The Rendering Styles toolbar controls the appearance of the model in the main navigation window. From here you can control the lighting effect, the rendering type and enable or disable the different types of primitives drawn. Linked with the display options (see “ Display Options ” later in this chapter) and file options (see “ File Options ”, this enables you to fully control the appearance of the NavisWorks main navigation window.
Display Modes • Click No Lights on the Rendering Style toolbar. Head Light This option uses a single directional light located at the camera that always points in the same direction as the camera. You can set the head lights properties using Head Light options. To turn on the head light: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Lighting > Head Light or • Click Head light on the Rendering Style toolbar.
Display Modes 3. Move the sliders to affect the ambient and head light intensities. You will see the effect your changes have on the scene in the main navigation window, as long as head light is selected as the rendering style. 4. Click OK to set these options or Cancel to exit the dialog box without setting them. Scene Lights This option uses whatever lights are defined in the model, or two default opposing lights, if none are available.
Display Modes • On the Viewpoint menu, click Lighting > Scene Lights or • Click Scene lights on the Rendering Style toolbar. Scene Lights Options Sliders are available to change the intensity of the scene's lights. The Ambient slider controls the general overall brightness of the scene when scene lights is selected as the rendering style. Note: Changes made in Scene Lights options will not be visible unless you have selected the Scene Lights rendering style. Changing scene light intensity: 1.
Display Modes 3. Move the slider to affect the ambient intensity. You will see the effect your changes have on the scene in the main navigation window, as long as scene lights is selected as the rendering style. 4. Click OK to set these options or Cancel to exit the dialog box without setting them. Full Lights This option uses lights that have been defined with the Presenter tool.
Display Modes • On the Viewpoint menu, click Lighting > Full Lights or • Click Full lights on the Rendering Style toolbar. Render Modes The four render modes affect how the items are rendered in the main navigation window. The spheres below demonstrate the effect that the render modes have on their appearance. In order from the left, these are full render, shaded, wireframe and hidden line.
Display Modes or • Click Shaded on the Rendering Style toolbar. Wireframe Render This option renders the model in wireframe. As NavisWorks uses triangles to represent surfaces and solids, all triangle edges are visible in this mode. To select wireframe render: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Rendering > Wireframe or • Click Wireframe on the Rendering Style toolbar. Hidden Line Render This option renders the model in hidden line.
Display Modes • On the Viewpoint menu, click Display > Surfaces or • Click Surfaces on the Rendering Style toolbar. Lines As well as turning all lines on and off, it is possible to change the width of the lines. See “ Display Options ” for details on how to do this. To toggle the rendering of lines on or off: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Display > Lines or • Click Lines on the Rendering Style toolbar.
Display Modes or • Click Snap Points on the Rendering Style toolbar. Text Text is the 3D text saved in the scene. To toggle the rendering of text on or off: • On the Viewpoint menu, click Display > Text or • Click Text on the Rendering Style toolbar. Background Color This option allows you to select or mix a background color for the main view. Setting the background color is equivalent to setting a Plain Background on the Effects tab of the Presenter dialog box.
Display Modes perpendicular to the screen. NavisWorks uses the near and far clip plane to maximize the resolution of the model on screen. The near and far clip plane boxes dictate constraints for the near and far culling planes. Setting culling options: 1. On the Tools menu, click File Options. 2. In the File Options dialog box, click the Culling tab. 3.
Display Modes 4. In the Near Clip Plane area, check the Automatically generated check box to tell NavisWorks to constrain the near plane to give the best view of the model it possibly can. Alternatively, uncheck this box to manually constrain the near clip plane. NavisWorks will put the near clip plane no further than the value you type into the Furthest distance box. 5.
Display Modes The defaults take the positive Z-axis as Up and the positive Y-axis as North. 3. If the models orientation is different to the defaults, enter XYZ values to correctly position the Up and North directions. 4. Click OK to accept your changes, or Cancel to return to NavisWorks without accepting them. Speed Options The basis of NavisWorks is its ability to walk through any size model in real time.
Display Modes NavisWorks does not have time to render are therefore sacrificed or "dropped out" in the name of interactivity. These items are, of course, rendered when navigation ceases. The amount of drop-out depends on several factors including: hardware (in particular graphics card and driver performance), as well as the size of the NavisWorks navigation window and the size of the model.
Display Modes 3. Select the number of frames per second to be applied to the rendered display of the model. 4. Click OK to set these options or Cancel to exit the dialog box without setting them. Display Options Use these options to control several aspects of the NavisWorks main navigation window display to suite your preferences and setup. Setting display options: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. Expand the Interface node, and click the Display option. The Display page opens. 3.
Display Modes interactive navigation. This may have an effect on performance - especially if your video card does not support hardware accelerated OpenGL - and so by default transparent items are only drawn when interaction has ceased. 6. Select the Guarantee Frame Rate check box to enable the NavisWorks engine to maintain the user defined frame rate set on the Speed tab of the File Options dialog box (see “ Speed Options ”). By default the target rate is maintained while moving.
Display Modes 2. Expand the Model node, and click the Performance option. The Performance page is displayed: 3. Memory. Select the Auto check box for NavisWorks to automatically calculate the maximum memory that may be used. This will take the lowest of your available physical memory or address space, less that required for your Windows operating system. Alternatively, clear this option and manually enter the limit. 4. Merge Duplicates.
Display Modes item has properties or materials unique to itself, then collapsing would endanger this information, and therefore it will not be collapsed. Select the Create Parametric Primitives check box to enable creation of parametric models (models described by formulae not vertices).
Display Modes default, the Basic profile is used. 4. Select the Smoothed Textures check box if you want textures to look smooth but take longer to render. Clear it if you want textures to appear pixelated but render faster. 5. Select the Filtered Textures check box if you want to turn on mipmapping. This will improve the appearance of textures in the distance. 6. Clear the Interactive Materials check box if you want to turn off texture display during navigation.
Display Modes 15. Select Hardware Marble check box to display hardware rendered marble materials in realtime. This can only be utilized on a machine with an OpenGL 1.5 compliant graphics card. Hardware Shading also needs to be enabled. 16. Click OK to set the options or Cancel to exit the dialog box without setting them.
Chapter 12. Viewpoints Viewpoints are snapshots taken of the model as it is displayed in the scene. Viewpoints may include a variety of comments and redline tags, which have been previously added to a viewpoint. You cannot create viewpoints in Freedom, but you can use any of the viewpoints and viewpoint animations saved in the model. Viewpoint animation typically contains both the user movement through the model and views of the model.
Viewpoints The Viewpoints control bar is shown above. To open it, • Click Viewpoints on the Workspace toolbar. Icons are used to represent different elements: represents a folder which may contain all other elements (including other folders). represents a viewpoint saved in orthographic mode. represents a viewpoint saved in perspective mode. represents a viewpont animation clip. represents a cut inserted into a viewpoint animation clip.
Viewpoints You can edit by hand any current viewpoints attributes, including camera position, field of view, and speed of motion. All entries are measured in scene units (see “ Units ”). Editing a viewpoint 1. To edit the current main navigation viewpoint, go to Viewpoint > Edit Current Viewpoint. The Edit Viewpoint dialog box is displayed. 2. Set the camera position's x-, y- and z- coordinates using the Position boxes. 3.
Viewpoints 4. Enter the Vertical Field Of View and Horizontal Field Of View. If the units are set to degrees, then these numbers should be between 0.1 and 90 and if in radians, between 0.002 and 3.124. See Field Of View for more details on what field of view means. 5. Enter the Roll of the camera about its viewing axis. This value is not editable where the world up vector stays upright (i.e. in walk, orbit and turntable modes). 6.
Viewpoints 9. • In the Viewer, Height text box, enter a value for the height of the collision volume. See “ Collision Detection ”. • In the Viewer, Eye Offset text box, enter a value for the distance below the top of the collision volume, where the camera will focus upon when auto zoom is activated. • Select the Third Person, Enable check box to view from a third person perspective.
Chapter 13. Animation In NavisWorks there are two types of animation: • Object animation • Viewpoint animation Viewpoint animation contains pre-recorded user and camera movements in the model. Object animation contains pre-recorded object movements in the model. You cannot record any animation in Freedom, but you can play back animations saved with the model. If there are any animation scripts, you can switch them on and interact with animated objects.
Animation Animation Position slider - controls the current playback position. Animation Position - indicates the current playback position in seconds. Available Animations - allows you to choose the animation to play. Toggle Scripts - enables/disables animation scripts in your file. Playing Back Animations You can play back both pre-recorded object animation and viewpoint animation in the main navigation window.
Chapter 14. Reviewing The reviewing tools available in NavisWorks are: • Commenting • Hyperlinks • Smart Tags Commenting Multiple comments can be attached to any item in the Viewpoints control bar (see “ The Viewpoints Control Bar ”), or to any item in the Selection Sets control bar (see “ Selection and Search Sets ”). You cannot record any comments yourself in Freedom. The Comments control bar allows you to view all comments attached to one of these sources.
Reviewing or - viewpoint animation. - tag. Hyperlinks Hyperlinks are an extremely useful review tool to allow you to access non-graphical information through the graphical interface of NavisWorks. Hyperlinks are categorized so that you can switch them on and off by category, and they can be anything internal (such as a viewpoints or selection set) or external (such as a web page, script, or spreadsheet) to NavisWorks.
Reviewing or • Click Tools > Hyperlinks on the menu bar. Following Hyperlinks To follow a hyperlink, simply click on it in the main navigation window. If multiple hyperlinks are attached to an item, the default hyperlink will be followed. Hyperlinks Options Setting hyperlinks options: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. Expand the Interface node, and click the Hyperlinks option. The Hyperlinks page is displayed: 3.
Reviewing float in 3D space just in front of their attachment points to the items. If this box is unchecked, then all hyperlink icons are drawn in 2D over the top of the all geometry. Note: In 3D mode hyperlinks can become hidden by other objects in the scene when you are navigating. 6. Enter the maximum number of icons to draw in the main view in the Max Icons box. 7. Hyperlinks can be drawn with leader lines (arrows) pointing to the attachment point on the item that the hyperlink is attached to.
Reviewing do exactly that - only draw hyperlinks that have a comment attached to it, so that you can see any areas of issue in the model. See “ Commenting ” for more information on comments. 4. Use the Icon Type field to specify how to display the hyperlink. Select Icon to use a default hyperlink icon in the main view. Select Text to use the hyperlinks description as a tooltip style text box in the main view instead of an icon. 5.
Reviewing to display categories in a tabular format. Click List View to display categories in a list format (the same way as the standard categories are shown). Click Records View 4. Use and to display categories as records. to navigate between the categories. If you selected Records View, this is the only way to move between the records. 5. Use the Visible check box to switch a category on or off in the main view. 6. Use the Icon Type field to specify how to display the hyperlink.
Reviewing Smart Tags Options Setting smart tags options: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. Expand the Interface node, and click the Smart Tags option. The Smart Tags page is displayed. 3. Select the Hide Category check box if you do not want to see category names included in the smart tags tooltip. 4. Click OK to set the options or Cancel to exit the dialog without setting them.
Reviewing 3. Choose the way smart tag definitions are shown in the Options Editor: Click Grid View to display definitions in a tabular format. Click List View to display definitions in a list format. Click Records View 4. Use and to display definitions as records. to navigate between the definitions. If you selected Records View, this is the only way to move between the records. 5.
Chapter 15. Object Manipulation You cannot modify object properties in Freedom but you can adjust the way currently selected objects are highlighted in the main navigation window. Highlighting Objects To get a clearer view of geometry objects in the main NavisWorks window, you can use the Options Editor to adjust the way in which the current selection is highlighted.
Object Manipulation • Tinted To adjust highlighting: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. Expand the Interface node in the Options Editor dialog box, and click the Selection option. The Selection page is displayed.
Object Manipulation 3. Locate the Highlight area, and select the Enabled check box to turn on highlighting of the selected items. 4. Use the Method drop-down list to select the type of highlighting you want (Shaded, Wireframe or Tinted). 5. Click the Color button to select the highlight color. 6. If you selected Tinted in the Method box, use the slider to adjust the Tint Level. 7. Click OK to set these options or Cancel to exit the dialog box without setting them.
Chapter 16. Interface The NavisWorks interface is intuitive and easy to learn and use. It contains a number of traditional Windows elements, such as toolbars, control bars, and dialog boxes. 1 - Menu bar 2 - Toolbars 3 - Navigation window 4 - Control bars 5 - Status bar The Main Interface Components This section briefly describes the main interface components. The Menu Bar The Menu bar contains all commands available in NavisWorks, grouped together by similar or 'like' functionality.
Interface When a menu has a right-pointing arrow, such as , there is a submenu associated with that choice. When a menu item is followed by a series of dots, such as , there is a dialog box associated with that choice. The Toolbars NavisWorks toolbars provide quick access to frequently used commands. Every button on a toolbar includes a tooltip, which describes the function the button activates. Placing the mouse over a button displays a brief instruction on how to use this feature in the Status bar.
Interface Note: Holding down the CTRL key when moving a control bar prevents it from auto docking. Using the Docking Tool When you drag a control bar or a window pane from its current location towards a new destination on the interface, a docking tool appears. The docking stickers point towards the four edges of the interface. When the control bar you are dragging is close to the place where you want it to dock, move the mouse over the corresponding area of the docking tool.
Interface In the right-hand corner of the Status bar there are four performance indicators, that give you constant feedback as to how NavisWorks is performing on your machine. • The progress bar under the left hand icon (pencil) indicates how much of the current view is drawn, i.e. how much drop-out there is in the current viewpoint. When the progress bar is at 100%, the scene is completely drawn, with no drop-out. The icon will change color when it is working.
Interface 3. Choose the Linear Units from the list. You should be able to choose the exact format you wish. 4. Choose the Angular Units from the list. 5. Enter the number of decimal places you want to see throughout the interface for your units in the Decimal Places box. If the unit chosen is a fractional unit, rather than decimal unit, then you have the choice of what level of fraction to display the units from the Fractional Display Precision drop-down list. 6.
Interface 3. Select the Show Internal Properties check box to display additional object properties. Note: Now the Geometry tab and Tranform tab will be shown in the Properties control bar for the associated models and items. 4. Click OK to set the profile or Cancel to exit the dialog box without setting it. Search Directories NavisWorks searches for a variety of configuration files in subdirectories of three standard directories.
Chapter 17. Tools The Tools menu in NavisWorks gives access to a series of useful tools and options.
Chapter 18. Options There are two types of options: File Options and Global Options. These are both accessed from the Tools menu. File options are saved in NavisWorks files (.nwf or .nwd) and reinstated when opening it. Global options, on the other hand, are set for all NavisWorks sessions. File Options To get to the File Options dialog, go to Tools, File Options. You will get a tabbed dialog box offering one of the following five file options: • Culling. See “ Culling Options ”. • Orientation.
Options 3. In the Project Directory field, browse to the directory that contains the NavisWorks settings specific to your project group. 4. In the Site Directory field, browse to the directory that contains the NavisWorks settings standard across the entire project site. 5. Click OK to save the changes or Cancel to exit the dialog without saving them. Note: When you run NavisWorks for the first time, the settings are picked up from the installation directory.
Options 3. Enter the desired number into the Maximum Recently Used Files to specify how many file shortcuts NavisWorks can remember. By default, shortcuts to the 4 most recently opened files can be displayed. 4. Click OK to save the changes or Cancel to exit the dialog without saving them. Global Options These options are persistent across NavisWorks sessions and are not saved into NavisWorks files. The Options Editor can be accessed via the Tools menu, or it can be launched as a separate application.
Options Options can be exported and imported, making it quick and easy for project managers, or systems administrators, to ensure the NavisWorks settings on all machines are identical. Configuring Global Options The options are presented in the dialog box in a hierarchical tree structure. The following categories are available: • General • Model • Interface • File Readers General Options You can configure: • Buffer Size. See “ Undo Options ”. • File Locations. See “ Location Options ”.
Options You can configure: • NavisWorks Performance. See “ Performance Options ”. Interface Options You can configure: • Display Units. See “ Units Options ”. • Selection and Highlighting Parameters. See “ Selection Options ”, and “Highlighting Objects”. • Hyperlinks. See “ Hyperlinks Options ”. • Smart Tags. See “ Smart Tags Options ”. • Profiles. See “ Profiles ”. • Display Parameters. See “ Display Options ”. • SpaceBall Parameters.
Options 3. Select the check boxes for all options you want to be exported (or 'serialized'). If an option cannot be exported, it is greyed out. Note: To quickly select/deselect all options for a given category, use the top-level check boxes. For example, selecting the General check box, instantly selects all options under this node. 4. Click OK to export the settings. 5. In the Save As dialog box, enter a name for the settings file.
Options 6. Click Save. 7. Click OK to close the Options Editor. To import Global Options: 1. On the Tools menu, click Global Options. 2. In the Options Editor dialog box, click the Import button. 3. In the Open dialog box, browse to the folder containing the settings file, select it, and click Open.
Options 4. Click OK to close the Options Editor.
Chapter 19. Getting Help The Help menu gives you access to useful resources about your system, your product and the documentation. NavisWorks comes with full context-sensitive help as well as user guides in Adobe Acrobat™ .pdf format. The Help menu contains: • Help Topics • What's This? • NavisWorks on the Web • Customer Involvement Program • System Info • About NavisWorks If the online documentation and help does not answer your query, try www.autodesk.com/support.
Getting Help In the Contents tab, select an item to view its contents. Expand and contract the chapters and sections (identified with a book icon) using the plus and minus icons to the left of them. The contents of the selected item will be displayed in the right hand pane. The Index tab has a full index of all NavisWorks help topics. Select the topic you are interested in learning more about from the list, then click Display. The selected topic will be displayed in the right hand pane.
Getting Help Customer Involvement Program The Customer Involvement Program (CIP) is a program that dramatically improves the way Autodesk designs software and measures performance and quality. It lets customers be involved in helping make Autodesk products better meet their needs and the needs of the larger community of users. CIP automatically collects information about software features usage, system configuration and software errors from those customers that choose to participate.
Part 4. Using TimeLiner Playback In this section you will learn how to play back a TimeLiner construction sequence in Freedom.
Chapter 20. Overview of TimeLiner The TimeLiner tool adds 4D schedule simulation to Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009. In NavisWorks, TimeLiner has a playback-only option, allowing any externally created project data to be simulated, but no changes to be made to that data. Working with the TimeLiner Window By default, the TimeLiner window floats in the main NavisWorks window.
Overview of TimeLiner end date. Actual start date equals Planned start date and Actual end date before Planned end date. Actual start date after Planned start date and Actual end date equals Planned end date. Actual start date before Planned start date and Actual end date before Planned end date. Actual start date after Planned start date and Actual end date after Planned end date. Actual start and end dates only. Planned start and end dates only.
Overview of TimeLiner will step back a single step size. Reverse Play Pause will play the simulation backwards. will pause the simulation at the time you press it at. You can then look around and interrogate the model, or step forwards and backwards through the simulation. To continue playing from where you paused, just press Play again. Stop will stop the simulation playing and rewind back to the beginning. Play will play the simulation from the currently selected time.
Overview of TimeLiner The TimeLiner window displays the tasks as they are carried out, and the main NavisWorks window shows the sections of the model added or removed over time, in accordance with the task types.
Glossary Glossary of technical terms relating to Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom 2009. Display Terminology Average Frame Rate This shows the current measured frame rate, averaged over the last second. Average Frame Time This shows the time taken to render the last frame. Average Triangle Rate This shows the rate at which triangles are being rendered and is a measure of how well your graphics card is working. Culling Culling is a process for determining items not to draw during the render of a scene.
Glossary .nwc Cache Files When any native CAD file file is opened or appended, NavisWorks creates a cache file (.nwc) if the write cache option is set. When the file is next opened or appended, NavisWorks will read data from the corresponding cache file rather than re-converting the original data if the cache is newer than the original file. If the original file is altered, NavisWorks will re-create the cache file when it is next loaded. Cache files speed up access to commonly used files.
Glossary surface is reduced to flat facets. For most applications and file formats, you have control over the level of faceting that takes place. All items, no matter what their size, will use the same faceting factor and so have the same number of sides to curved entities. Therefore, you need to experiment a little with different values to account for the size that these items will appear on screen. The faceting factor must be greater or equal to 0, where 0 results in the faceting factor being turned off.
Glossary These are terms specific to NavisWorks that are used in relation to selecting items. Composite Objects A composite object is a group of geometry that is considered a single object in the selection tree. For example, a window object might be made up of a frame and a pane. If a composite object, the window object would be both the frame and the pane and be selected all at once. Instances An instance is a single object, which is referred to several times within a model, for example a tree.
Glossary time). Camera-Centric Navigation modes in which the camera is moved around the model (c.f. model-centric). Field of View The field of view of a camera is the angle that the camera can see. A large field of view will fit more into the view, but will look distorted and a small field of view will tend to make the view more flat, tending towards an orthographic view. There are two fields of view in NavisWorks vertical and horizontal.
opening URL, 16 reading , 18 finding , 41 properties , 41 flying , 24 focusing , 26 frame rate , 58 guaranteed, 61 full lights , 51 full render , 52 Index Symbols 3D motion controller , 32 A animation , 71 animations playing , 72 G gravity, 29 B background color , 55 H hardware acceleration, 60 head light , 48 options , 48 help , 99 About , 101 NavisWorks , 99 online , 100 System Info , 101 topics , 99 what's this? , 100 hidden line render , 53 hiding items , 45 unselected , 46 hyperlinks , 74 displayi
Index shaded , 52 wireframe , 53 rendering styles , 47 required items , 45 reviewing commenting , 73 N navigating , 20 examining , 23 flying , 24 looking around , 21 modes , 20 orbiting , 23 panning , 22 spinning , 24 walking , 21 zooming , 22 zooming to a box , 22 navigation tools , 25 NavisWorks published files , 18 NWD files , 18 S scene lights , 49 options , 50 search directories , 89 search sets , 38 searching (see also finding ) selection commands , 37 all, 37 invert, 38 multiple instances, 38 none
Index U undo , 43 options , 44 units , 87 options , 87 V viewing everything , 26 selected items , 26 viewpoints align X , 30 align Y , 31 align Z , 31 control bar , 66 editing , 67 preset , 30 recalling , 66 W walking , 21 wireframe render , 53 world up vector , 32 Z zooming , 22 to a box , 22 114
