Syncing Navisworks clashes with Revizto Follow
Overview
Prerequisutes
Basic principles
Parameters of the section box
Status mapping settings
Configuring default stamp/assignee per each test
Clash group assignee override
Screenshot settings
Clash matching settings
Troubleshooting
Overview
The main idea of the "clash sync" feature is to have Navisworks clash groups represented as issues in Revizto issue tracker. This provides the following benefits:
- Clashes are always accessible to all Revizto project members.
- Each clash group can be assigned and tracked until it gets resolved, using the full functionality of Revizto issue tracker.
- You can set up reports and configure dashboards to analyze clashes.
- The issue tracker has a switchback functionality, which allows users to quickly navigate to the clashes in the authoring tools.
This article describes the prerequisites of the clash sync, recommended workflows, reference information on all of the provided options, and troubleshooting.
Prerequisites
Before you start using the "clash sync" feature, ensure that the following conditions are met:
- You are using a cloud or shared location Revizto project.
-
The Revizto project ideally (but not necessarily) should contain the models used for clashing. The geometry can be published to Revizto from Navisworks, authoring tools, or via IFC.
That will allow you to view the clashes in the 3D model and not just on a screenshot.
- The person running the clash sync must have the "Sync Navisworks clashes" access rights in the Revizto project.
- The computer running the clash sync must have Revizto and Revizto plug-in for Navisworks installed.
- Clashes can be synced from a single Navisworks model, or from multiple Navisworks models. If you are syncing clashes from cloned Navisworks models (e.g. one model split by levels), ensure that clash tests were not cloned with the model. Clash tests can only be cloned by import/export in order to be correctly supported by Revizto.
Basic principles
To run clash sync, in the Navisworks ribbon, on the Revizto tab, go to Sync Clashes.
This will open a dialog showing the list of all clash tests available in the model.
You can either sync entire tests, or select individual clashes or clash groups to be pushed as issues.
Clashes that were previously pushed into the issue tracker are displayed as selected and disabled. They will be synced every time you sync clashes. For each of those clashes, the sync includes updating the status of the linked issue or clash (or both), updating the screenshot, and pushing the assignee from Revizto to Navisworks. The rules of the sync will be described further.
When new clashes are pushed to Revizto, each clash group and each ungrouped clash produces its own Revizto issue. We strongly recommend that you use a clash grouper tool before pushing the clashes to Revizto. Having individual clashes pushed into issue tracker makes the process barely manageable. Revizto is known to support such clash groupers as Flypaper Sherlock, iConstruct Clash, iConstruct Pro, and BIM42 group clashes. Other groupers may work as well, but are not guaranteed to.
You can configure a status mapping to define which clashes are pushed as issues and which aren’t, depending on their status in Navisworks. Mapping also defines the rules of the sync for the clashes that were pushed to Revizto.
Each test allows you to configure a default stamp or assignee. All newly created issues will either have all fields populated from a selected stamp template, or will be assigned to the specified person.
Before clicking on the Sync button, make sure to select all new clashes that you want to be pushed to Revizto. Usually you would just select some or all clash tests.
All of the options of the clash sync are described below.
Parameters of the section box
When a clash is synced into the issue tracker, an automatic section box is generated for the issue representing that clash.
You can control the size of that section box by setting the "Section box size" parameter. Allowed values are 100% to 400%. This applies only to newly created issues.
You can also enable the setting "Align box with levels", which overrides section box height to be defined by a level of the clash and a level above the clash. This setting uses Navisworks model’s levels as a reference.
Status mapping settings
Status mapping, validate geometric conditions after sync
See Explaining advanced status mapping dialog.pdf.
Close issues missing from Navisworks
Sometimes your Navisworks workflow would require compacting your clash tests. When you compact a clash test, all Resolved clashes are removed from the Clash Detective. If those issues were pushed to the issue tracker, they might stay Open forever. To avoid that scenario, there is an option named "Close issues missing from Navisworks". For each clash test that you sync, it checks whether it can find any issues in the issue tracker that are associated with this test but missing from Navisworks. If such issues are found, they get automatically closed in the issue tracker during the clash sync.
This option heavily relies on the group and test matching algorithms. If you are using iConstruct Clash, you should make sure that you have your "Match tests by" setting equal to "GUID or name (iConstruct Clash)." Also we recommended that you set "Match groups by" to "Subclashes within the same test."
Configuring default stamp/assignee per each test
In the Sync Clashes dialog, you can configure a default stamp or a default assignee per each test. It always affects only newly created issues. Changing this setting for a test won’t affect the clashes that were already pushed into the issue tracker.
If you configure a default stamp for a test, all newly created issues from that test will be created with the fields specified in the selected stamp template (except for the "Stamp" and "Title" fields; the assignee can also be overridden for each clash group). In the issue tracker, those clashes won’t be displayed as stamps—they will look like standard clashes. If you need to filter out clashes by stamps, your stamps should also contain tags for that purpose.
If you configure a default assignee for a test, all newly created issues from that test will be assigned to that person (if not overridden in the clash group).
When a default stamp/assignee is not set, each clash from that test will be assigned to the user who is performing the clash sync (except clashes with assignee overrides).
If you define a default stamp/assignee for "All tests", this value will be inherited by all tests that don't have their own default value specified.
Clash group assignee override
When a clash is pushed into the issue tracker for the first time, the clash assignee that is set in Navisworks is taken into consideration. If that field has an email address of a Revizto project member, this clash will be assigned to that person, even if the test of the clash has a different value set in the default stamp/assignee.
Example.
- Clash 1 assignee in Navisworks is set to "c.monroe@example.com".
- Clash 2 assignee is empty.
- Clash 3 assignee is "j.doe@example.com".
- Clash 4 assignee is "John Doe".
- All of those clashes belong to clash test "Test 1", which has a default assignee for the clash sync = "Michael Jenkins (m.jenkins@example.com)".
- John Doe (j.doe@example.com) is a member of the Revizto project, while Carl Monroe (c.monroe@example.com) is not invited to that project.
After syncing those clashes to Revizto for the first time, they get the following assignees in Revizto:
- Clash 1 is assigned to Michael Jenkins (m.jenkins@example.com)
- Clash 2 is assigned to Michael Jenkins (m.jenkins@example.com)
- Clash 3 is assigned to John Doe (j.doe@example.com)
- Clash 4 is assigned to Michael Jenkins (m.jenkins@example.com)
Screenshot settings
Import markups for clash groups
When a clash is pushed into the issue tracker, it is assigned a screenshot. Unfortunately, Navisworks doesn’t provide the ability to read positions and markups of the clash groups.
By default, the "Import markups for clash groups (requires xml report file)" option is disabled. Screenshots for clash groups are generated by the Revizto plug-in inside Navisworks at the time of clash sync. This method is generally not recommended because the screenshots take a long time to generate, and they usually don’t provide good visual feedback due to random camera angles and visibility settings.
The alternative way is to provide an XML report of the clashes, which you can run manually within Navisworks prior to the clash sync. That way it is significantly faster, and it uses the same screenshots that you see in the Clash Detective tool, also displaying the markups if present.
To create an XML report in Navisworks, open the "Clash Detective" tool and switch to the "Report" tab. Ensure that the following options are included (see the screenshot below) and click "Write Report".
Once you have the XML report, go to the Revizto clash sync dialog and ensure that the "Import markups for clash groups (requires xml report file)" option is selected.
Then, after you click the "Sync" button, you will be asked to specify the path to the XML file.
If you use XML files, ensure that you generate an XML report every time before you sync the clashes. That will ensure that all clashes have up-to-date screenshots.
Update screenshots
Every time you sync a clash, you can specify the rules on how issue screenshots get updated in the issue tracker. This affects only clashes that were already pushed to the issue tracker. Newly pushed clashes always get an initial screenshot.
The following options are available:
If clash changed (default option)
Updates screenshots of the clashes that were changed in Navisworks since the last clash sync, with an exception of clashes that had their markups edited within Revizto (the last screenshot or markup change was made at Revizto side).
The clash group is considered "changed" if any of the following operations were performed:
- The status of the clash group changed in Navisworks.
- The status of any of the subclashes changed in Navisworks.
- New subclashes were added.
- Some of the old subclashes were removed.
All except manual
Updates screenshots of all clashes, with an exception of clashes that had their markup edited within Revizto (the last screenshot or markup change was made at Revizto side).
All
Updates screenshots of all clashes.
No
Doesn’t update screenshots.
Clash matching settings
The following options are available:
Match groups by
Depending on your clash grouping workflow in Navisworks, it may happen that you or your automatic clash grouper explodes some or all of the clash groups, and then recreates them from scratch. However, in most cases you want the new groups to match already created issues if they have the same subclashes. In that scenario Revizto can’t recognize clash groups by their unique ID numbers (GUID), since they get changed.
The following options are available:
Match groups by subclashes within the same test
By default, clash groups are matched by subclashes within the same test. When a clash group is not found in the issue tracker by its unique ID, Revizto uses a special algorithm that scans all issues pushed from the current clash test. If it finds a clash group that has similar subclashes, this is considered a match. Since the number of subclashes might vary between syncs, it tries to find a group with the maximum number of matching subclashes.
Match groups by GUID only
If you can guarantee that your clash groups never get exploded or regrouped, you can use the option to match groups by GUID only. However, in most cases you won’t need to use that option and it is only needed if the default option is not working well enough for you.
Match tests by
Some clash groupers (for example, iConstruct Clash) can recreate clash tests on a regular basis. Revizto’s logic relies heavily on the clash test identification; it is needed for many different purposes. Therefore, Revizto has two different options on how we identify and match clash tests.
Test matching happens when:
- Groups are matched by subclashes within the same test at the beginning of the sync.
- Issues missing from Navisworks get closed for all tests that get synced (optional).
- The default stamp or assignee is set or applied in the clash test.
The following options are available:
Match tests by GUID only
This is the default option, which works for most cases except using "iConstruct Clash" clash grouper. Tests are matched by their GUIDs.
Problems may only arise if you are syncing clashes from multiple Navisworks models (for example, you have a building split by levels) that were made by duplication. In that case tests in different models might have identical GUIDs, which might lead to sporadic issue closing (see the Close issues missing from Navisworks option). In that case you will need to recreate the tests by exporting them, deleting them, and then importing them back.
Match tests by GUID or name (iConstruct Clash)
This option is mostly for those who use iConstruct Clash. This tool recreates all clash tests from scratch every time a grouping operation is run, therefore we can’t rely on test GUIDs and have to rely on test names instead.
If you are using multiple Navisworks models (e.g. a building split by levels) to sync clashes, ensure that all files have differently named clash tests. For example, you can add a postfix to each test name to store the model name there, like "Arch vs Elec lvl 1", "Arch vs Elec lvl 2", and so on.
Troubleshooting
Q: The clash sync is taking too much time to complete.
A: Try using the Import markups for clash groups option. That way Revizto plug-in won’t spend time on generating clash screenshots and it might dramatically reduce the sync time.
Q: When I sync clashes from a Navisworks file, all clash issues from another Navisworks file get Closed (no duplicate issues are created).
A: Most likely you have the Close issues missing from Navisworks option selected, and clash tests from different files are matched as a single test.
If you have the Match tests by GUID only option selected, your Navisworks files were duplicated and they now have identical clash test GUIDs. To resolve the issue, publish your clash tests from all but one Navisworks files, then delete them in Navisworks, and then import them back. That will generate new GUIDs for the clash tests and the conflict will be resolved.
If you have the Match tests by GUID or name (iConstruct clash) option selected and you need it because you use iConstruct Clash, ensure that all of your Navisworks files have differently named clash tests. E.g. you can add a postfix to each test name to store the model name there, like "Arch vs Elec lvl 1", "Arch vs Elec lvl 2", and so on.
Q: When I sync clashes from Navisworks, the sync creates duplicate issues.
A: If you have the Match groups by GUID only option selected, this most likely happens because you or your clash grouper explode and recreate the clash groups before each sync. Try using the Match groups by subclashes within the same test and Match tests by GUID only options (or Match tests by GUID or name (iConstruct Clash) for iConstruct Clash users). Before you start the sync, ensure that you deleted all duplicates from the issue tracker to avoid unpredictable behavior.