One of the tasks of a BIM manager is to coordinate and review a building during the construction phase. Navisworks give us the ability to visualize a building through 3D geometry, but sometimes too much 3D gets in the way.
Problem:
If you are auditing the MEP, the architectural elements obscure your view of other elements. To picture the Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, or Fire protection elements, you spend a lot of time selecting and hiding the architectural elements’ categories; such as walls, floors, doors, windows, ceilings. You still need to know where those architectural elements are, right? You could create several selection sets of different architectural elements and set their transparencies high enough to see “through” them. But then you get a wire-type visibility mode that is still difficult to interpret.
Solution:
Before you export your architectural Revit model out to an NWC, export each one of the floor plans as a 2D DWG, with only walls, doors, windows, room names and numbers visible. Import that DWG floor plan in to your Navisworks model at the correct elevation + 1”. The 1” keeps the CAD file from having the “Moiré Effect” ( a visual perception that occurs when viewing a set of lines or dots that is superimposed on another set of lines or dots).
Now you can navigate in the model with ease, not bumping into walls or doors. You won’t have to hide architectural elements to see the services in the floors, walls or ceilings. During the review, it’s good to know your location in the building at any time. Now, just look down! This works well when transitioning between clash results too.