Part #2 – Sets

Sets are a big part of clash detection in Navisworks, they can make the difference between a great clash report and one that is a waste of time. Simply clashing one model against another is not going to give you great results in most instances. Say for example you clash an architectural model against an electrical model, that’s all you need to do right? Wrong. Every electrical item that is recessed into either the wall or ceiling will be reported as a clash which this actually isn’t a clash, you end up with a time consuming administration overhead to manually approve clashes that shouldn’t have been reported on in the first place. This post will help you get your head around sets and how to make them work for you.

Selection sets are a group of objects selected either from the view window or from the selection tree window. You can manage sets from the sets window, if your sets window isn’t visible on screen, head to the View tab, and from the Windows button, select Set from the list.

 

 

The Sets window allows you to manage your search and selection sets within Navisworks.

Below is a description of each of the buttons in the Sets window.

	Save Selection is used to save the current selection.
	Save Search is used to save the current search.
	New Folder allows you to create a new folder to group sets under.
	Duplicate is used to create a copy of the saved items.
	The Add Comment is used to add comments to the saved sets.
	Delete is used to delet the selected set.
	The Sort button is used to arrange the saved sets in alphabetical order.
	The Import/Export button is used to import and export the saved sets.

When you run a search in the find items window, the search results will be highlighted in blue in the view window, as well as in the selection tree window.

When you select an object or a group of objects, they will be displayed in the Selection Inspector window along with their properties.

	The Show Item button is used to view the selected object in the display window. The display will zoom in on the selected items when you click this button.
	The Deselect button is used to remove objects from the selection inspector window.
	The Export button will export the selected item to a *.CSV file.
	Save Selection allows you to save the selected objects as a selection set.
	Quick Properties Definitions allows you to add properties to the selected objects in the view window.

Now that I have explained the functions of each of the window elements, I’ll show you how to put them to use.

Using the Find Items window, you can search for elements based on specific information. In this instance, I have searched for all air terminals located on level 1. The find items window will allow you to search for elements based on the element properties which includes user parameters.

 

 

Once I have the correct elements selected based on my search, I can create a selection set in the Selection Inspector.

 

 

I now have a selection set named Level 3 – Air Terminals in my Navisworks model.

Following the same method, I have created a selection set of all the lights on level 3. In the next installment, I’ll explain tolerances and how they affect your clash results.