Extract Navisworks

The Gateway can extract data from a variety of input sources located in either a local File System or an Amazon Web Services (AWS) in an S3 Bucket. The details of the particular source to be read by the project are defined in the extract configuration in the <input> element, via the source parameter, for example, <Input source="FileSystem">.

Note: The values of the source attribute can be a case-insensitive representation of either "FileSystem" or "S3".

The input sources from where the Gateway can extract data are as follows:

• Navisworks (.NWD files)

• AutoCAD 3D (AutoCAD .DWG/.DXF 3D models)

• IFC (Industry Foundation Classes)

• PCF (Piping Component Files)

• STEP files

• Microstation 3D (.dgn files)

The Gateway can extract .NWD (Navisworks Document) input files.

Note: An NWD file serves as a snapshot of the current state of a model within Navisworks. It contains all model geometry along with Navisworks-specific data, such as review markups. It compresses the CAD data, reducing the file size by up to 80% compared to the original. These files are compact, snapshot-like representations of models, making them ideal for sharing and collaboration in the context of Navisworks projects.

Navisworks files are highly compressed, hence a moderate-sized NWD file can contain an extreme number of elements which require a lot of memory to process and may result in a large ZGL file that is too big to be imported into AIM. When this is likely, two types of warnings may be logged, therefore when processing large files, it is good practice to open the log file to decide whether the Gateway process is likely to take too long to process due to not enough RAM or should be canceled if the expected ZGL is too big to be imported into AIM.

• When the estimated maximum memory level is too large the warning will be of the form:

  "The input NWD model has 909 million faces which will require about 182 GB of free RAM to process normally. It might still process with less free RAM but will then take much longer to process, or it might fail to process."

• When the estimated output ZGL file size is likely to be too big:

  "The output ZGL model will be about 15 GB which may have issues loading into AIM."

  Notes:

• You need to remove any password protection from NWD files, via Navisworks Manage, before processing in the Gateway.

• Missing XDATA from original AutoCAD models: Navisworks doesn't support the import of XDATA attributes while importing AutoCAD models, therefore they are also absent when importing the Navisworks models into AIM.

• Units displayed in Navisworks may be different: in Navisworks Manage the displayed units can be controlled through the 'Options Editor' tab, but this doesn't change the units stored in the NWD file, hence when extracted by the Gateway they will have the same equivalent value but may be in units different to those displayed in Navisworks.

• Conversion of hexadecimal values to decimal: Navisworks values that are in hexadecimal format (for example, handle values imported from AutoCAD models) are imported as their equivalent decimal values when imported by the Gateway.

• User Data Attributes in Navisworks files: In Navisworks, users can add their own custom attributes to any item in the model scene, as User Data tabs. They are extracted like any other attribute.

• Navisworks creates and maintains a set of attributes for each element within an NWD model, categorized by tabs. The ones most pertinent to tag identifications are Name and PersistentId under the "Item" attributes tab. To enhance the uniqueness of these attributes (for example, another tab may also have a Name attribute) the tab name "Item_" is added as a prefix to these two attributes, resulting in attribute names "Item_Name" and "Item_PersistentId". In addition, when any other attribute name (for example, Type) exists under multiple property type tabs (for example, Item, PDMS), these also have their tab name added as a prefix to ensure uniqueness (for example, Item_Type, PDMS_Type).

To specify how to extract the .NWD data:

1. Click Extract to display the Extract Navisworks: <ProjectName> field.

2. Select the type of Input Source from the drop-down box.

   

   For FileSystem:

3. Define the Input Path for the location of the input files (.NWD files), either typing directly or use the Browse File Path to select a single file or Browse Folder Path to select a folder of files.

4. Select Save Settings.

   For S3:

   To configure the extractor for S3 Bucket as input source:

5. Define the elements in S3 Credential Details section. For more information, see Accessing an AWS S3 Bucket.

6. If you want to test connection to S3 Bucket, click Test Connection. The result of the test is displayed in the bottom left status bar.

7. Click Save Settings to save the settings.

   

Conditional Processing

Large input models can cause problems during processing and loading results to AIM, which is 9 GB if the model is being replicated in 3DVS. The size of the output ZGL file can be estimated based on the number of facets that would be produced during extraction, from the input model. The processing can be cancelled due to any of three possible conditions:

• maxFacesNumber - natural numbers (0, 1, 2, ...)

• maxZglSizeGB - positive floating point numbers

• maxMemoryUsageGB - positive floating point numbers

For example:

<ProcessingConditions maxFacesNumber="1000000" />

You can set any combination of conditions in one configuration, for example:

<ProcessingConditions maxFacesNumber="1000000" maxZglSizeGB="9" />

Further processing will stop if at least one of configured values will be predicted to be exceeded. An appropriate error will be reported.

These settings are optional, hence if not configured then processing will not be interrupted.

Note: The project setting 'timeOut' works independently, meaning that if processing continues it can still be interrupted after a specified time has passed.

Conditional processing can also be set in batch mode. In this case, you can add the appropriate parameters to the command line:

• For maximum number of faces: -maxFacesNumber or -mf.

• For maximum output ZGL file size (in GB): -maxZglSizeGB or -mz.

• For maximum memory usage (in GB): -maxMemoryUsageGB or -mm.

An example:

AVEVA.NET.Gateways.Data3D.exe -cp “project.xml” -mf 1000000 -mz 9 -mm 60

The configuration is not available in the GUI, so must be added by editing the extractor configuration file.

Note: If you only want to generate a report of the input file structure, set one of the values to '0'. This will interrupt processing, but you will get a log file with useful information about the model.

Example setting:

(Extractor configuration file) <ProcessingConditions maxFacesNumber="0"/>

(batch mode) AVEVA.NET.Gateways.Data3D.exe -cp “project.xml” -mf 0

Generating 3D Model Viewpoints

Overview

AIM supports the creation and re-use of viewpoints that allows users to quickly return to a specific view of a 3D model. The Gateway for 3D Data supports the transfer of Viewpoints from Navisworks .nwd models into AIM viewpoints, enabling consistent visualization and review workflows.

This is done via JSON files with the suffix "_viewpoint.json", written to the same file location as configured in XGL Loader and are loaded into AIM via the Import Controller where the AIM viewpoint Author is set to "Gateway Extracted". There is no limit to the number of Viewpoints per model which are all defined in one JSON file per model.

Notes:

• The viewpoint JSON file can define the context as part of the modelFullId. This context value is obtained from the model's context in the EIWM. In this case the Load EIWM configuration should have Data Output Type set to 'EIWM'.

• If the Load EIWM configuration sets the Data Output Type to 'NONE' or if the Project Context is set to empty, then the context set in the Viewpoints Json file for modelFullId is set to empty. In this case, the AIM import process will derive the context from the Package.

Viewpoint Data Structure

The JSON file contains both model reference data and Viewpoint definitions:

• modelFullId
  Specifies the full name of the 3D model including Context ID and model name.

• defaultViewpoint
  Indicates the unique ID (GUID) of the Viewpoint that should be set as the default.

• viewpoints
  An array of Viewpoints associated with the model. Each Viewpoint includes:

  • name – Viewpoint name

  • id – Unique identifier (GUID)

  • viewstate – Camera definition including:

    • 3D Camera position

    • Camera orientation (pitch and yaw)

A 3D model can contain zero, one, or multiple viewpoints. If present, the first extracted viewpoint is automatically set as the default, unless default viewpoint information is read from the source model.

Unique Identifier Handling

Viewpoint IDs are based on original GUIDs from Navisworks. If a GUID is missing:

• The Gateway generates a deterministic ID based on available Viewpoint’s properties.

• A warning is recorded in the log.

Logging

The Gateway logs provide insight into the extraction process:

• Total number of extracted Viewpoints

• Names of Viewpoints (if in Verbose logging mode)

• Warnings related to missing GUIDs or data limitations

Limitations

The following limitations apply to Viewpoints generated by the Gateway:

Unsupported Viewpoint Types

• Viewpoints located in the Animation folder in Navisworks are ignored. If these are needed then you should move them out of the Animation folder for them to be extracted by the Gateway.

Unsupported Folder Structure

• Viewpoints can be grouped into folders in the source data, but the Gateway delivers them as a flat list and information about folders is not visible in AIM.

Supported Viewpoint Properties

Currently, only the following Viewpoint properties are supported:

• Camera position

• Camera orientation

Unsupported Properties

The following data is not included in the extracted Viewpoints:

• Camera projection (perspective or orthographic)

• Field of view (FOV)

• Object visibility (hidden/selected elements)

• Sectioning (planes or section boxes)

• Lighting and rendering modes

• Geometry display settings (surfaces, lines, points)

• Markups and comments

Orientation Conversion Limitation

Due to AIM system constraints, full camera orientation is reduced to a 2-Degree-of-Freedom (2-DOF) orientation, that is, yaw and pitch but excluding roll. This means:

• Camera tilt (roll) is not preserved

• Some Viewpoints may appear slightly rotated or misaligned

• Differences are more noticeable in top, bottom, or angled views

When this occurs, the Gateway logs a warning indicating the loss of full orientation fidelity.

Please refer to the AIM documentation for viewer capabilities.