2011

Table Of Contents

Work with Files

In Autodesk Navisworks you can open files originated from a variety of CAD

applications.

You can combine these files together, and create a single Autodesk Navisworks

file with a whole-project view of your model. This file brings together geometry

and data created by multi-disciplinary teams, and enables you to explore and

review complex models in real-time.

Native File Formats

Autodesk Navisworks has three native file formats: NWD, NWF, and

NWC.

NWD File Format

An NWD file contains all model geometry together with

Navisworks-specific data, such as review markups. You can think of

an NWD file as a snapshot of the current state of the model.

NWD files are very small, as they compress the CAD data by up to

80% of the original size.

NWF File Format

An NWF file contains links to the original native files (as listed on

the Selection Tree) together with Navisworks-specific data, such as

review markups. No model geometry is saved with this file format;

this makes an NWF considerably smaller in size than an NWD.

NWC File Format (Cache Files)

By default, when you open or append any native CAD or laser scan

files in Autodesk Navisworks, a cache file is created in the same

directory and with the same name as the original file, but with an

.nwc file extension.

NWC files are smaller than the original files, and speed up your

access to commonly used files. When you next open file or append

file in Autodesk Navisworks, the data is read from the corresponding

cache file if it is newer than the original file. If the cache file is older,

which means the original file has changed, Autodesk Navisworks

converts the updated file, and creates a new cache file for it.