Navisworks 2011 TimeLiner by Layer

By Simon Jones, Autodesk Ltd, December 2010 Navisworks can automatically setup a TimeLiner sequences according to object layers. For example, here we have a simple model in AutoCAD:

This has just been created using solids and these have been assigned to the following layers. In order to represent the construction order, each task is represented by a layer with a two digit prefix:

Next, after using the NWDOUT AutoCAD command to create a NWD file, this can be opened in Navisworks:

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First off, lets use Presenter to render the view with the default settings:

Unfortunately, the default material renders everything black and if you had a black background you would not see it at all! The reason for this is the default ByLayer material in the Presenter Material palette that needs to be deleted:

Now when you render you should get better results:

To make the windows transparent, select them in the Selection Tree, and override the transparency:

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The render looks better still and we are ready to setup the construction sequence:

Before going any further, save the Navisworks model as an NWF file. This means you can export a new NWD file from AutoCAD without overriding the changes you have made in Navisworks, as the NWF simply references the NWD file. Next up, open the TimeLiner palette and you will also notice that the top level Selection Tree nodes match the layer structure setup in AutoCAD:

To assign tasks to each of these layers, right-click in the TimeLiner Tasks pane and select Tools -> Add task for each topmost layer:

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The TimeLiner Tasks list will now be populated according to the layers:

Each task has been given duration of a day and ordered according to the original layer order. Now you can switch to the Simulate pane and run the construction sequence:

If you switch back to the Tasks pane, you can fine tune the task dates:

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And you can also set the Tasks Types, for example, we could set the 02-Crane task as Temporary:

Save the file again as an NWF, and you can make changes to the model in AutoCAD and it will relink back in Navisworks to update the objects in the construction sequence.

For additional Navisworks information refer to the product webpages www.autodesk.co.uk/navisworks

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