My name is Teresa Martin, a senior AEC Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc. Ideate has spent time reviewing these new features and in this post, I will be covering the best new feature for those of you using the Revit to Navisworks workflow.
This year’s release of Navisworks Manage 2012, in addition to interface improvements, provides a long sought after feature: the ability to switchback to Revit.
One of the most useful features in Navisworks when working with either Autocad based products or Microstation has been the switchback feature. This feature allows the user in Navisworks to select an element and literally, switchback to the native software (typically a natively loaded dwg file) and make corrections as necessary. Navisworks will launch the Autocad file and zoom in the dwg to the element. This saves production staff huge amounts of time when working between Navisworks and Autocad based files.
As of version 2012, Navisworks will now switchback to Revit! This is huge! Users can now select an element and switchback to Revit to make changes. They will still have to re-export the Revit file as an updated NWC file to make changes, but having switchback as an available feature will save quite a bit of time.
The feature is also available from Revit to Navisworks in Revit 2012 under External Tools>Navisworks Switchback.
One last note, users can export from Revit 2011 to Navisworks 2012. However, if you use switchback, Navisworks will launch the Revit files using Revit 2012. This could be an issue for firms that are not ready to upgrade to Revit 2012 or have legacy projects. Be careful here! Once you upgrade in Revit, there is no going back as we all know!
Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2012 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2012
Teresa MartinAEC Solutions Application Specialist
Teresa is a graduate of Cornell University and has over 20 years experience in the architectural and construction industry. She has spent her career pursuing her interest in 3D modeling and computer-aided-design having worked alternately as a designer, project manager, CAD manager, 3D modeler and educator. Teresa currently develops curriculum and customized content as an Revit Implementation Expert. As a trainer in Revit, Navisworks, and Ecotect, Teresa brings her real-world experience to the classroom.
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