Mastering Object Overrides in Navisworks: A Comprehensive Guide

Welcome back to the Navisworks video series. In this video, I'll be covering Object overrides, and we'll be using the BIM 361 Complete model that we've been using since Lesson Two, and that model is in.nwf format. I'm actually going to switch to my Navisworks file set (.nwf) format because we have so many files in this one directory.

So there we go, 361 Complete. Now, when we exported to.nwc format from Revit and then imported into Navisworks, we received a number of materials and colors from the Revit file, like so. We can actually save these colors and materials in one Viewpoint and then go to another Viewpoint and change those colors—such as assigning one color for the entire plumbing model and another for the mechanical model. This can be useful if we're exploring a building and want to visually distinguish which component belongs to which model or trade.

Before we begin changing our objects, let's save a Viewpoint of our home view. Right-click on the Saved Viewpoints panel and select Save Viewpoint. We'll call this one Home—Full Render. By "full render, " I’m referring to the Viewpoint property for the Render Style mode, which is currently set to Full Render.

Right-click on Home—Overrides and select Update. Next, right-click on the Viewpoint we just created and select Edit. At the bottom, we have an option to save attributes—make sure to check the box labeled Override Appearance.

Now we’re going to be working with Object overrides, specifically Appearance overrides. To save those changes to the current Viewpoint, that option must be checked. This will save all changes made to objects in a new Viewpoint while keeping the original Viewpoint with its default overrides. Right-click on the Viewpoints panel again and select Save Viewpoint. Name this one Home—Overrides.

---

We’ll do the same with this new Viewpoint: check Override Appearance, and let's begin editing the model’s appearance. For the architectural model, select the model, right-click, then go to Override Item → Override Color. Assign it a color of white and hit OK. Then change the Render Style to Shaded.

Now select the architectural model again, right-click, and go to Override Item → Override Transparency. Slide the transparency to mostly transparent and hit OK. To deselect, press Escape. You'll now see that the architectural model is faded slightly, allowing you to view the structure and internal components of the building.

To save this Viewpoint, right-click on Home—Overrides and select Update. If you ever want to switch back to the full render, just select the appropriate Viewpoint. To return to the transparent white architectural model, select Home—Overrides.

Now let's change the colors for some of the other models on the left. For the structural model, right-click, go to Override Item → Override Color, and assign it gray—or better yet, a darker shade of gray.

---

For plumbing, assign a light blue color. For mechanical, assign lavender. And for electrical, assign orange.

Now, if you navigate through the model, it's easy to distinguish electrical components (orange), mechanical systems (lavender), and plumbing (light blue). You’ll also see plumbing components such as sinks and, over by the restrooms, you’ll see that water closets are also in light blue.

Don’t forget to right-click on Home—Overrides and select Update to save the Viewpoint. Now you have a neat little tool—a Viewpoints-as-tools method—for quickly switching between colors and render styles on the fly. Go ahead and save this model.

And that’s about all there is to overriding object styles. This should help us when we begin our clash detection.

---