Navisworks QuantificationCopyright 2015 by Kevin Miller (kmiller@byu.edu)

IntroductionNavisworks can extract the quantities of materials from a 3D model as well as take measurements on 2D documents. Several key abilities that increase the usability of the software is the ability to map either data or numerical fields to the estimate, override values that are received from the model, and the ability to make custom data or numerical fields that can be used in the estimate.

This tutorial is designed to be used in a Preconstruction course that I teach at Brigham Young. While this tutorial does teach about Navisworks Quantification, it doesn’t teach every possible feature, rather it focuses on an estimating workflow that takes advantage of the Navisworks tool. If you are not enrolled in my course at BYU and would like the dataset for this tutorial, please email me and I will send you a link to the dataset.

Initial Setup OptionsTo initialize the Quantification tutorial, download the dataset from the link in BYU’s Learning Suite. Copy from the zip file the Quantification Dataset folder and place it in the Projects folder.

Open the MOB Arch 2015 Estimate.nwc file. (If you do not see the file, change the Files of Type to All Files. If you are prompted about external links, select Ignore All).

Once the file is open, on the Home ribbon Append the MOB Steel 2015 Estimate.nwc file.

On the Viewpoint ribbon, change the Render Style Mode to Shaded.

The reason for changing the mode is to allow for easy identification of model take-off. In Rendered mode, model colors do not change.

Press the Application button , select Options, expand Interface and select Display Units. Change Linear Units to Feet and change Decimal Places to 2. Press OK.

To make it so that selected items standout better, on the Options Editor window expand the Interface option and select Selection. Under Highlight Enable should be checked, Method should be Wireframe and Color should be set to Pink. Press OK.

For me, this makes it easier to identify the selected objects.

If you would like to increase the speed of walking around the model, on the Viewpoint ribbon, press the down arrow next to Navigate, and change the Linear Speed (ft/sec) to a higher number to move faster.

Model Alignment

On the Viewcube , double left click on the Front face.

Notice that the Architectural model is above the Structural Steel model.

To align the architectural and the structural steel models, follow the steps below:

1. If not open, open the Selection Tree window. The Selection Tree window is found, on the Home ribbon in the Select & Search area, select Selection Tree.

2. In the Selection Tree window, right click on the MOB Arch 2015 Estimate.nwc and select Units and Transform. Change the numbers to match the Units and Transform image to the right.

3. On the Selection Tree window, right click on the MOB Steel 2015 Estimate.nwc and select Units and Transform. Change the numbers to match the Units and Transform image to the right.

Double left click on the Viewcube and the project should zoom in close to where the project takes the bulk of the viewing area on the monitor.

Navigating the ModelBelow are a few tools that will help you navigate the models:

Select is a tool that is used to select individual objects in the model. If the CTRL key is held several objects can be selected at one time. The Select tool is found on the Home ribbon.

Select Box is a tool that allows several objects to be selected while dragging a box around the objects. The Select Box tool is found on the Home ribbon by pressing the down arrow under the Select tool. The objects must be completely within the box. The box is also of infinite depth meaning that it can and will select all objects within the box at any depth.

Once an object or set of objects has been selected, the Hide Unselected option becomes available allowing unselected items to be hidden.

Other useful navigation tools can be found on the Navigation bar. (It should be visible in the upper right corner of the navigation window) If it is not visible, select the View ribbon and then the Navigation Bar

. The tools below are found on the Navigation bar.

Orbit-- allows 3D rotation of the view by left clicking and holding the mouse button. Clicking and holding down the center roller button while in Orbit mode allows changes in elevation.

Zoom Box --allows the view to be zoomed into the box created by left clicking, holding and dragging a box over the desired zoom area.

Walk -- provides for navigation as if the individual were walking in the model. Pressing the left mouse button, holding and moving the mouse up in the navigation area moves the view forward. Moving the mouse left or right spins the view left or right.

Press and hold the roller button and move the mouse either up or down causes a change in elevation.

Rolling the roller button without pressing changes the angle of the view. General consensus of those with whom I work state that the walk tool is the most common method used to move around the model.

Quantification

On the Home ribbon, select the Quantification tool .

This should open the Quantification window. Pin the Quantification window open so it doesn’t slide off the screen or can be pinned and then moved to a second monitor.

Project SetupSelect the Project Setup button on the Quantification window.

You will be prompted, Would you like to view Quantification getting started tutorials now?, Select Remind Me Later.

If for some reason you selected Never, the tutorials can be found by selecting Help in Navisworks.

The quantification Setup Wizard now appears on the screen.

For this tutorial, we will be making a catalog, or in other words, a database. Once you have created at catalog, you can reuse the catalog for future estimates. This process will be explained later.

If you want to create the catalog using Excel, you can. A template to do this is found at: http:// knowledge.autodesk.com/support/navisworks-products/downloads/caas/downloads/content/autodesk- navisworks-quantification-catalog-creation-template-2014.html

Select CSI-48.

Any of the catalogs could be selected, but this is the one that is used for the tutorial. Once you have started a catalog, it is a good practice to export it after the takeoff and use it as a starting point for a future estimate.

Select Next.

Select the Imperial units.

On the Setup Quantification: Select Takeoff Properties window, change the Model Volume to Cubic Yards.

Select Next.

Select Finish.

Before going on, Save the project in the Quantification Dataset\Navis Estimate.nwf.

Catalogs Items & Resources OverviewThe catalog is essentially the database file from which you will choose what items to include in the takeoff. In common terms, the catalog is like a store with the estimate being comparable to a shopping cart in the store where you place the items that you need for a project.

Inside the catalog there are two things that can be created: Items and Resources. Items are things like slabs, gypsum walls, and footings. The resources would be things like 3000 psi concrete, #4 rebar, forms, metal studs, gypsum board, etc.

For this tutorial, we are going to work under the assumption that the estimates that are typically performed are at the late design development (DD) stage of estimating. What this means is that the tutorial will estimate the CY of footings, the SF of wall, etc, but not go to the resource level of the catalog.

Item CatalogBy importing the CSI 48 catalog, the headings for the 48 divisions are brought into the catalog. Now items need to be added for the takeoffs that are going to be performed.

To open the Item Catalog select the Item/Resource tool.

Creating Groups for ItemsOn the Item Catalog, in the left column select item Concrete then select the New Group button AT the top of the window.

A new group subcategory appears under the concrete Item.

In the window next to the Item catalog click into the text box below Group Name and Change the Group Name to SOMD, the Work Breakdown Structure to 31.31 and the Description to Slab on Metal Deck.

Repeating the process above, creating the Groups listed in the table below. A new group may also be created by right clicking on the Parent Items, and selecting New Group.

WBS Parent WBS Group Name03 31.10 Continuous Footings03 31.30 SOG/Slab on Grade05 20.15 LH Joists05 10.15 HSS Steel08 10.00 Doors and Frames09 20.00 Wall Partition Systems

09 30.00 Ceramic Tile

Creating ItemsOnce specific groups are created, specific items need to be created to populate the groups. It is at the item level where the takeoff is performed.

Select the subgroup, SOMD in the Items window and then select the New Item button at the top or right click and select New Item.

For the Item Name and the Work Breakdown Structure use 2.5" LW W3x20, for the Description use 2.5” LW Concrete on W3x 20 GA Metal Deck. Change the color to Dark Gray by clicking on the color button with 20% transparency by using the slider next to the color button.

If you are mainly going to estimate from 2D documents, consider making the transparency 0% which will make it easier to see on the 2D documents. The Description field is also optional.

It may be easiest to copy and paste from the table below into Navisworks as you are creating the items.

WBS Parent

Item WBS Item Name / Description Color/Transparency

Item Calculation

For the Item calculations below, make the changes to the formula for the Volume or Area calculation.The Custom Item Calculation allows for the Volume or Area to be calculated based upon the length, width and height dimensions, yielding gross Area of walls rather than net area provided by the model. By using custom calculations, the dimensions can be overridden if necessary. The gray background is the variable field. Start the formula with the =.

03.31.10 100 Continuous Footing Light blue Volume=Length*Width*Height/27

03.31.30 100 5” Concrete Slab Light Blue/20%05.20.15

05.10.15

3209240406x06x.625

32LH0924LH04HSS 06 x 06 x 5/8

Red/20%

08.10.00 100200210220300

3’0” x 7’ 0” Single Panel Door HM Frame3’0” x 8’ 0” 3/4 HR Single Panel Door HM Frame3’0” x 8’ 0” 1 HR Single Panel Door HM Frame3’0” x 8’ 0” Wood Door Single Panel Door HM Frame3’8” x 8’ 0” 3/4 HR Single Panel Door HM Frame

Brown/20%

09.20.00 2ms-1L1L 3ms-1L1L 6ms-1L1L

2 1/2" metal stud partition w/1 layer 5/8" gyp. ea. Side3 5/8" metal stud partition w/1 layer 5/8" gyp. ea. Side6" metal stud partition w/1 layer 5/8" gyp. ea. Side

Green/30% Area=Length*HeightArea=Length*HeightArea=Length*Height

09.30.00 100 Ceramic Tile Blue/20%Once all the item placeholders are created in the catalog, final preparations can be made to perform the takeoff.

Close the Item catalog window.

Performing TakeoffViewing what you want to estimateTo be able to visually verify model taken off items in the navigation window, the color of the model will be changed to white and the walls made 50% transparent.

On the Selection Tree right click on the MOB Arch 2015 Estimate.nwc file and select Override Item, Override Color. Select the color White. Now change the Steel model to white.

On the Selection Tree on the MOB Arch 2015 Estimate.nwc expand the Selection tree so you can see Walls. Right click on Walls select Override. Change the transparency to 50%.

I have found that if everything is changed to 50% transparency, it becomes difficult to see the floors and ceilings etc. which loses the spatial feeling when moving around the model.

In this tutorial, selected Doors, Walls, Slabs and Joists will be taken off. To make viewing of the selected items easier, the remaining objects on the model will be hidden.

On the Selection Tree, expand the MOB Arch 2015.nwc model by clicking the plus sign and select all the families (sub-items ) except for Doors, Floors, Structural Framing, and Walls by selecting each name while holding the control key.

Your selection window should resemble the one above.

On the Home ribbon, select Hide .

Select the entire MOB Steel 2015 Estimate.nwc model and Hide it.

The model should now only show objects that will be part of the takeoff.

Count Takeoff (doors)To see all the doors in the model, on the Selection Tree select Doors within the Arch model.

The doors should be visible as pink wireframe rectangles throughout the model. The doors that are going to be taken off are the Single_Plain Panel_Hollow Metal Frame1 doors.

On the Selection Tree expand the Doors family and select and expand (Press the +) the Single_Plain Panel_Hollow Metal Frame1 group of doors.

Take a minute and navigate around the model. Navigation of the model provides the opportunity to understand the location of the doors designated as Single_Plain Panel_Hollow Metal Frame1.

On the Quantification Workbook, select the 1 HR doors that were created in the catalog, WBS item 210.

On the Selection Tree, expand Doors and then the Single_Plain Panel_Hollow Metal Frame1 subsection of doors select the 3'-0" x 8'-0" 1 HR doors. Right click on 3'-0" x 8'-0" 1 HR and select Quantification and select Takeoff to 3’0” x 8’0” 1 HR Single Pane Door HM Frame.

On the Quantification window, on the lower right hand portion of the window should be listed the doors.

Repeat the same process for the 3’0” x 8’0” Wood Doors.

For the 3’0” x 8’0” ¾ HR doors, select and hold the group from the Selection Tree and drag it to the correct item on the quantification window. Drag and Drop is another method for takeoff.

Assign the rest of the doors in the Single_Plain Panel_Hollow Metal Frame1 group to the appropriate items in the catalog.

On the Selection Tree, collapse the Doors (Press the – next to Doors)

Wall Area Takeoff (partitions)The wall type that will be taken off for this tutorial are A2A, A3A and A6A. To view all information on the wall types, On the Selection Tree, expand Walls, Basic Walls, and Partition A2A and select one of the Basic Walls.

Open the Properties window, Home, Display, Properties. Resizing the window may be helpful to view all the tabs of information. Even after resizing the Properties window, arrow buttons in the upper right corner may be necessary for navigation between tabs.

On the Properties window, select the Revit Type tab.

In the Description row it states, 2 1/2" metal stud partition w/1 layer 5/8" gyp. ea. Side.

This information informs the estimator of what is included in the A2A wall system. Many times the Properties window can provide additional information which may be useful for model take-off.

Drag the Partition A2A from the Selection Tree to the correct item on the Quantification Workbook.

Note the Quantification Workbook next to the item 2 1/2” metal stud partition w/1 layer 5/8 (), notice that next to the wall description in () it states how many objects have been included in the take-off.

Repeat the process with A3A and A6A.

Consider walking around the model now and notice which walls have been taken off and which walls haven’t been taken off. One of the things I like about performing takeoffs from the model is the ability to visually see what has been taken of and what hasn’t.

After performing the takeoff described above, select the first Basic Wall under the Partition A3A wall type and drag it to the appropriate location in the Workbook.

As you try to assign it the error below appears:

Navisworks tracks which objects have been included in the taken off and will warn you if you try to include objects a second time to the same location in the Quantification Workbook, If you drag the same object to a different item in the Workbook, NO warning appears.

Select NO on the warning window that appears.

Review the rollup quantities for the walls.

Remember that these quantities by default are the net areas of the wall rather than the gross area of the walls and since we changed the calculation method in the item catalog, we now have the gross area of the walls.

Collapse the Walls group on the Selection Tree.

Slab Area Takeoff (building slabs)On the Selection Tree, Expand Floors, Floor.

Select the Concrete – 5” group of objects. As you look at the model observe that the ground level floor is select in the Pink wireframe.

Drag the Concrete – 5” group from the Selection Tree to the correct location on the Quantification window item 5” Concrete Slab.

Expand the 2.5” LW Concrete on W3 x 20 GA Metal Deck and then observe where these slabs are located in the project by clicking on each “Floor” item under the 2.5” LW Concrete on W3 x 20 GA Metal Deck.

The 1st Floor object is the second floor, The 2nd Floor object is the 3rd Floor and the last Floor object are actually two slab objects located on the roof level.

For this tutorial, only takeoff the first two floors to the catalog. Click each floor separately while holding the CTRL button and then drag them to the appropriate location.

Collapse the Floor group on the Selection Tree.

Lineal Takeoff (LH Joists)Since there is structural steel found in both the Architectural and Steel models, a comparison needs to be made between the models to see if there is any duplication between the models. On the Arch model, hide all the families except for the Structural Framing family.

Unhide the Steel model by clicking on the steel model and then clicking the Hide button

Now Override the color of the Structural Framing in the Arch model to Orange.

With only the steel visible with each model, spend a minute and review the model to view if the steel is unique or a duplication.

After reviewing the model, it appears the steel has been duplicated. For the tutorial, work from the understanding that it is duplication and that the Steel model is correct and that the architectural steel is a place holder. Therefore, we will hide the Architectural Structural Framing family.

On the Selection Tree, under the MOB Arch 2014 Estimate.nwc, select the Structural Framing.

Right click and select Hide.

For the joist takeoff, expand the MOB Steel 2015 Estimate, the Structural Framing family and Jois Type 4. This takeoff consists of the two joist types below.

24LH770 use 24LH04

32LH770 use 32LH09

Expand each joist grouping and select the Jois Type 4. See the graphic to the right.

Now look at the Properties window, on the Revit Type tab.

The field Wt is the weight field. The Wt field does not automatically map to the ModelWeight field. This mapping can be created in Navisworks.

Property MappingOpen the Item Catalog.

On the Item Catalog window, select the Property Mapping tool.

On the Property Mapping tool, Press the + button and then select the fields for each column as shown below. If you type the first letter of every field name, navigation in the dropdown menus becomes faster.

Press OK to close the Property Mapping.

Once complete with the Property Mapping, change the Weight formula in the Item Catalog, for the 24LH04 and the 32LH09 items, to: =ModelWeight*Length

Complete the takeoff the items by dragging the 24LH04 and the 32LH09 found under Jois Type 4 to the appropriate items in the catalog.

Workbook ColumnsOn the Quantification Workbook, you can see every object that was taken off or you can see the rollup totals.

Often it is beneficial to turn off columns on the Workbook so only the relevant information is displayed. To turn on or off columns on the workbook, right click on the headings of the columns and select Choose Columns…

On the Choose Details Columns, only display the columns shown in the image above.

After making the adjustments, select OK to close the window.

Data Verification and correctionBefore moving on, now is a good time to do a check on the information that has been taken off.

On lower right hand portion of the Quantification Workbook, there is a lot of information that so far has been ignored. It is time to spend a couple of minutes reviewing what information is there.

In the Quantification workbook, in the Items left column select the 24LH04. Look in the lower right window and notice that the ModelWeight is 10 lb, meaning 10 lb/ft. Now select the 32LH09. Notice the ModelWeight is 10 lb.

It doesn’t make sense that both joist would have the same weight being so different in size. The 10 lb/ft is incorrect.

The correct weight for the 24LH04 is 12 lb/ft and for the 32LH09 the correct weight is 21 lb/ft.

One of the wonderful things about Navisworks, that as an estimator, I can override the information coming from the model.

In the Quantification Workbook, in the Weight column for the 32LH09 type 21 on the first row of the Individual Objects. Then with the mouse, select the first cell under the Weight heading and holding the left button drag down, highlighting all the cells in that column. Right click on the column and select Fill Down, and all the values should change to 21. The calculated Weight is now correct for each member.

Measure TakeoffOccasionally, there are objects in the model that lack dimensional information. One example of this is found in the Architectural model. On the Selection Tree in the Arch model, under the Structural Foundations is Structural Foundation 1. This is a footing that doesn’t contain a length, width or height as a property.

This footing is located near the left end of the building. If the footing is selected in the Selection Tree, then the footing should be highlite in the model making it easier to find.

Orient the view to something like the image below.

On the Review ribbon, select the Measure tool. Measure the height of the footing. As the cursor is over corner, the cursor should change to an X. This helps to make sure the measurement is correct. The measurement of the height should be 2.5 feet.

Now measure the length of the footing. The length should be 22.42 feet.

It may be easier now to rotate the view and look at the footing from the bottom to measure the width of the footing. Now measure the width of the footing. The width should be 6.00 feet.

On the Quantification Workbook, change the columns that are visible to: Status, WBS, Object, Length, Width, Height, Volume.

Drag the Structural Foundation 1 to the Continuous Footing item in the Quantification workbook.

Now enter the dimensions into the appropriate fields and the volume of the continuous footings will calculate.

2D Takeoff DWF2D takeoff is critically important to be able quantify anything that has not been modeled. One of the new features in Navisworks 2015 is the ability to do 2D takeoff from DWF files (and PDF files if you are on Subscription). This section focuses on DWF takeoff, the following section will use a PDF.

To open the Project Browser window, go to the View ribbon, select Windows, and place a check mark next to Project Browser.

To open the DWF file, on the Project Browser window, select the Import Sheets & Model tool and browse to the location of the data set. Select the MOB Arch 2015 2D Sheets.dwfx file and press the Open button.

Select Sheet A02.02.

A common item that is not modeled is floor coverings. Assume that the ceramic tile in the bathrooms (rooms 2117 & 2115) was not modeled.

On the Quantification Workbook, expand Finishes, Ceramic Tile and select the Ceramic Tile item.

A new tool bar is available on the Quantification Workbook. Select the Area Tool.

Now measure the SF of the bathrooms. Right click when you are done with a room.

If the Area column is not available in the Quantification Workbook, right click on the column headings and select the Area column.

2D Takeoff PDF 2015 Subscription Customers onlyIf you are an Autodesk Subscription customer, go to the Autodesk Apps Exchange

or http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/NAVIS/en/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3apdfreader_windows64%3aen and download the PDF reader plugin. You will need to sign into the website and then the Subscription App button will change to free and then download and install the app. The app enables PDF takeoff inside of Navisworks.

If the Project Browser window is not open, To open the Project Browser window, go to the View ribbon, select Windows, and place a check mark next to Project Browser.

In Navisworks on the Project Browser window, select the Import Sheets and Models tool. (the tool highlighted on the image to the right.)

Browse to the location of the dataset and select and open the MOB Arch 2015.pdf.

Double left click on Page 1 in the Project Browser window and then takeoff can be performed on sheet A02.01 which is the first floor plan.

Select the Ceramic Tile item on the Quantification Workbook and then

select Area takeoff .

The following message may appear.

If it does, select Adjust Sheet Scale. This option provides the user to adjust\verify that the scale is correct before performing takeoff.

The Set Scale by Measurement window opens so a custom scale can be set. With this window open, pan and zoom around the drawing until you find a measurement that can be scaled.

Then left click to start scaling the dimension and then left click again at the end of the dimension.

An Enter Value window now opens. Enter the length of the line that was scaled. Any inches will need to be enter as decimals and select the Unit as Feet.

Press the Finish button and now takeoff can occur.

Now takeoff the ceramic tile in the bathrooms on the first floor.

To return to the model views, in the Project Browser, select MOB Arch 2015 Estimate.nwc.

Exporting to ExcelOn the Quantification window, select the Import/Export tool and select Export Quantities to Excel.

Browse to \projects\Quantification Dataset and save the file as Quantification Tutorial.

Open the File after exporting the quantities.

On the spreadsheet that opens, look at the various tabs.

The tab that is a quick summary of the takeoff is the Groups Pivot Table tab. To see summarized quantities you can use the minus button to summarize the quantities however you would like to see them.

If you already are using Excel for estimates, this sheet could be the basis of a lookup table from which quantities could be obtain automatically obtained and priced from an Excel estimating database.

Exporting the Catalog

To export the catalog, on the Quantification Workbook window, select the Import/Export tool and then select Export Catalog to XML.

Export the Catalog to the Quantification Dataset folder that contains all the documents for the tutorial. Name the catalog New Catalog.xml. That is the default name.

Save the file.

DWF File TypesWhen working in a 2D and 3D environment, there may be advantages to using the DWF file format because of the linking between the 2D and 3D objects in a single DWF file.

To illustrate this, make a new Navisworks project.

Now open the MOB Arch 2015 Estimate.dwf file.

Override the model color to white and make the walls transparent as described above.

On the Quantification Workbook, select Project Setup…

On the Setup Quantification: Select Catalog window, select Browse to a catalog and then Browse to the location where the catalog was exported, select the New Catalog file and press Open.

Select Next, then select Finish.

To illustrate how the linking works, the A2A, A3A, and A6A wall types will be taken off.

On the Selection Tree, expand the model, expand Segment, expand Walls and expand Basic Wall.

Drag the A2A, A3A and the A6A wall types from the selection tree to the appropriate location in the catalog.

Walk through the model to verify that a bunch of walls have been taken off.

On the Project Browser, open Floor Plan: Level 02. Green highlighting should be visible for the walls that were taken off from the model.

If the green is not visible, on the Quantification Workbook, select the Control the Appearance tool, and select Reapply Quantification Appearance.