Export part of a Navisworks (Section box)

[fpensa]

Hi everybody,

Does anybody know a way to export only visible parts of a Navisworks model (with a section view active)? I read that the FBX export or the DWF export might do the trick but it does not seems to work (it exports the whole model). I'm open to use paid plugin or third party application if anybody got one to propose (I'm already aware of iConstruct tough)

Thanks,

[Mohamed-Nassar]

Hello, i think because this featured made for whole model, not for viewpoint but u can export this View point as Pictures if u need to Render also  u can use Autodesk Rendering cloud it's very helpful also

[fpensa]

thanks for the reply but I need to import the sectioned 3D model elsewhere, I don't need a picture of it nor a render

[Mohamed-Nassar]

You can select all elements u need to export then delete non selected elementa, now you can go export what u need

[fpensa]

I don't think you can, in Navisworks you can only delete whole models or simply hide singles elements. Hiding elements won't exclude them from the NWD export, they'll be simply hidden by default in the NWD but still there

Moreover, I need to export sectioned elements; for example, a large slab might be only partially included in my sectioned view, so I don't want the entire slab to be exported in the new file

[mpriestman]

I'm afraid you cannot export partial geometry using section planes from Navisworks. When exporting to FBX, you can exclude hidden objects, but it won't "cut" any geometry.

There maybe be third-party plugins that do this, but I'm not aware of any.

Michael

[fpensa]

I am, iConstruct do this, but it's a fairly large software with several tools, and I only need his "iView Exporter" tool, so I was wondering myself if there's any plugin that only does that...

[darioWVFGH]

I think the best way is if you are working on Revit, is to create a 3D view there and export it as Navisworks file.

[guillefvillar]

This really should be a feature

[brett_parkerLUEP7]

This is currently something we are actively working on. Currently in development and thus unable to target a release currently. 

Coming...

Regards

[guillefvillar]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Sæmorr]

It depends if you just don't want other people to see the hidden parts but be there (equal to not being able to disable nor move the section box), or you want to actually delete unseen content from the nwd file. Probably the latter will involve actually modifying the geometry which gets cut out. For example if a piece which has certain weight and gets cut by the section box, would you like to display the old size or the new one only from the part which is visible? That would apply to area, lenght, so on so depends which one you want to display. Or maybe both:

• Original properties
• Trimmed properties

Maybe you don't want other people to see the original properties, or you do...

[brett_parkerLUEP7]

NWD export is now in early development and testing; for export we currently have the following options;

• Exclude hidden items - Select this check box if you want to remove hidden objects from the NWD on publish. Unticked, hidden objects with still be displayed in the selection tree as hidden.
• Embed ReCap and texture data - Select this check box if you want to embed externally referenced files, including textures and ReCap files into NWD on publish. This enables you to password-protect referenced files. Any textures applied to the published file are saved in a folder with the same name as the published file. You can choose how the ReCap files get embedded by using the Options Editor (File Readers > ReCap page).
• Prevent object property export - Select this check box if you don’t want to include object properties that come from native CAD packages in the published file. This enables you to protect intellectual property.

Looking for early input for potential other use cases and options...

Regards

[Jan-TSpD]

Hi, is this option already available in 2024 version?

regards, Jan

[brett_parkerLUEP7]

No this is currently in active development.

[ahashash]

This is exciting news! Any idea when it will be deployed? 

[brett_parkerLUEP7]

This is looking likely to be Navisworks 2026. We are a few weeks away from Navisworks 2025 and noting the code changes required it is likely wont be until next year...

We are investigating what could be possible sooner.

[camilo.copete]

Hi there, any update on this? 

[brett_parkerLUEP7]

This is planned and in development for Navisworks 2026. Therefore this will not be available until next year.

Regards

[darioWVFGH]

Awesome! Thank you! Many times we receive requests of just a part / floor/ room of our federated models and we don't feel the need to share the whole project. I appreciate the added feature! Thanks! D