Free Autodesk File Viewer

Autodesk has released a new free file viewer that reads about 50 file formats. This is a online/cloud based viewer with a very simple user interface. The file formats supported are:

• 3DM
• 3DS
• ASM
• CAM360
• CATPART
• CATPRODUCT
• CGR
• DAE
• DLV3
• DWF
• DWFX
• DWG*
• DWT
• EXP
• F3D
• FBX
• G
• GBXML
• IFC
• IGE
• IGES
• IGS
• IPT
• JT
• MODEL
• NEU
• NWC
• NWD
• OBJ
• PRT
• RCP
• RVT**
• SAB
• SAT
• SESSION
• SIM
• SIM360
• SKP
• SLDASM
• SLDPRT
• SMB
• SMT
• STE
• STEP
• STL
• STLA
• STLB
• STP
• WIRE
• X_B
• X_T
• XAS
• XPR

Opening a file is as simple as dragging or selecting a file to open.

Once the file has been opened, you have some basic navigation and query tools.

The one feature that I think makes this viewer stand out of the collaboration functionality. It allows multiple users to view a model simultaneously as well providing a chat window. A link to share the models can be sent via email. 

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Creating Navisworks Template File

If you work with Navisworks, then you probably have noticed that it does not provide a built-in mechanism to create template files like AutoCAD or Revit. What can be done though is creating an empty .NWF file with dummy or empty linked files that can be replaced later. 

1. Start a new Navisworks file and save the .NWF according to your naming conventions.
2. Append dummy or blank files into the project that following your naming conventions. These dummy files should be stored in a folder structure with the .NWF file.
3. Create your search sets, clash sets, etc.
4. Save the template.

When you start a new project, copy the entire folder structure of the template to the project location. Replace the dummy files with the actual project files. If by chance the dummy file and the actual project files names are different but are the same discipline or organization structure, this can be corrected easily. When you open the .NWF, you should receive a message "Can't resolve external reference," which will allow you to browse to the new file you updated.  This new file can have a different file name or reside in a different location.  After you resave the NWF file, it will then link to this updated file. All your search sets, clash sets, etc will update accordingly.

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Autodesk A360 Collaboration for Revit Demo