Hi @deanatsafe, @kailinatsafe  

Thanks for all the work done to add support for Navisworks, it will probably become one of my most used readers.

I have been trying out the Tech Preview of the Navisworks Reader, and I have some questions about elements in the selection tree hierarchy. I understand that because it is still in development, the reader will undergo changes, so I’m interested in understanding the reader’s behavior.

For example, the reader does not read ‘instanced groups’ but instead reads as a composite object inside the instance, so it loses all the group level properties (such as REVIT, GUID, Element, Level properties).

Similarly, it reads multiple geometries within a layer/level as a single fme_collection, so when they are disaggregated, they inherit the properties (e.g. GUID, Materials and Timeliner properties) of the layer and not their original geometry properties.  

Hello @edualarcong, your feedback is greatly appreciated! we will look into these questions and reach out with an update soon! Until then, Kailin

Hello @edualarcong, thanks for your patience! I believe the Navisworks Reader will try to read as much as much as possible, and try to present it in a reasonable manner within FME.

Because of this, some elements are manipulated slightly due to the formats hierarchical nature (there are elements with properties and child elements with geometry which we attempt to combine). However, we try to stay as true to the information presented by our third party library as possible. 

If there are specific issues you’re seeing, I recommend sharing some sample data so we can see the behaviour and dig into it together. This way, we can explore why its happening and make improvements if needed. If you need to submit data privately, please consider submitting a support case with us. Hope this helps, Kailin.

Hi @kailinatsafe 

thanks for your reply.

Sure, I was interested in understanding this child aggregation behavior for different elements. From experiences of complex BIM models from different software, we are used to seeing different behaviors in the Selection Tree. https://help.autodesk.com/view/NAV/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-BC657B3A-5104-45B7-93A9-C6F4A10ED0D4

For example, the way REVIT and Smart Plant 3D manage translucent “reserved volumes” (e.g. for walking, operating space, ...) is different, so combining child elements can create merged geometries of equipment and their volume spaces. Another example is the TimeLiner properties for 4D simulation, where properties are defined at different levels (geometry, composite object, group, ...) to represent events in a construction schedule, thus combining elements will create significant problems.

I will work to provide some sample data for a support case that might be of assistance.

Regards,

Edu

Hello ​@edualarcong, after a bit more investigation, we became aware of some unintended behaviour in the current reading process. We have filed an issue (FMEENGINE-84674) to investigate and hopefully improve the situation. Will keep you updated, Kailin.