I thank everyone for attending my webcast where I presented some new and enhanced features of AutodeskNavisworks 2025.
The webcast covered the following topics:
- The new Home Screen
- Enhanced Properties interface
- Civil Alignments
- Enhanced Dataset
- Clipping Revit models
I then demonstrated these topics in Navisworks.
The new Home Screen
The Home Screen provides consistency among other Autodesk products, such as Civil 3D, Revit, InfraWorks, AutoCAD and its verticals, etc. It offers the following features:
1. Open an existing file or project.
2. Create new Navisworks project.
3. Review and open recent documents.
4. Access Help (online).
5. Open various online tools and support.
6. Browse to Autodesk Docs.
7. Tiles (or list) of recently opened projects.
8. Search for files / projects.
Enhanced Properties interface
- Enhanced properties to investigate full range of properties for selected items in Navisworks. These properties are divided by categories accessed through a series of tabs. One can add custom fields in form of User Data Tabs. (See Q&A section regarding this).
- There are various settings for configuring the Properties panel, in terms of single lists vs category tabs, automatically zooming to selected items, etc.
- Ability to step through selected objects and zoom to object.
Civil Alignments
In Civil 3D, Roadways are known as corridors and are composed of Alignments. In Navisworks, when importing or appending Civil 3D drawings, you can navigation along such roadways / alignments. In order to be able to view such alignments, a Civil 3D Object Enabler (or the Civil 3D program itself) needs to be installed.
This feature was introduced last year. One can step along road or “drive”. There are various settings for controlling camera, target, speed, etc. One can toggle viewing the alignments on or off. (See Q&A section regarding this).
Enhanced Dataset
Because Civil Alignments are now part of our ASCENT 2025 Navisworks guide, the dataset had to be revised to include Civil 3D objects (and requires the Civil 3D Object Enabler). With these Civil 3D objects, surfaces now contain multiple materials for pavement, sidewalks, grass, curbs, etc. resulting in a more visually rich environment.
Prior releases of datasets for ASCENT guides contained only AutoCAD drawings exported from Civil 3D with limited options for materials.
Clipping Revit models
One can display grids within a Revit model in Navisworks, either above the selected level or below it, or display all grids. Now in Navisworks 2025, one can now also clip the Navisworks model along these grid lines, either above or below the grid level or both. This offers easy views of different floor levels.
Conclusion
For some time now there had been little development in the Navisworks program. But starting with last year’s release, new and improved features were introduced. This webinar covered these features and demonstrated their practical use in demonstrations. Click below to revisit the webinar:
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Q&A
Below are two questions that came up during the webcast. At the time I couldn’t come up with answers, but with some research I am now able to provide definitive answers.
Q: For the warranty tab on one roof can you copy and paste that tab onto the other roofs? (During the demonstration I created a “warranty tab” from the User Defined Tab feature).
A: No, these tabs have to be created for each individual object to be part of the properties. I have seen some add-ons to Navisworks that allow for such functionality to “bulk-add” such user-defined properties, but Navisworks “out-of the-box” does not have this.
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Q: The Alignments are hard to see - can you change the styles of the alignments?
A: Yes… and No! One doesn’t change the appearance of the object or the layer as one typically would do in Navisworks, but in the Options Editor>Interface> Civil 3D Alignments, as shown below.
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