Quick Extraction of Quantities from Navisworks
I got this question asked in one of my recent trainings on how can we quickly extract some quantities from Navisworks without spending time on setting up the Quantification workbook and project.
It is actually possible using a really powerful tool called Selection Inspector, which unfortunately is not used that often. Here is the procedure for doing this. In this example, I want to get the total length of the columns and beams in this project. But this could pretty much work for any quantities, including Concrete Volumes, and so on.
1. Click on one of the elements you want to extract and make a note of the property that needs to be extracted. In my case, I want to extract the Element > Length property for all beams and columns in this project.
2. Create search sets to search and select all the items you want to extract. In this case, I have created search sets to select all the beams and columns that I want to take off.
Tip: It is important to create search sets and not selection sets so if the model updates, the search sets will pick up all the new items as well.
2. Press F12 to display the Options Editor dialog box.
3. In the left pane of the dialog box, expand Interface > Quick Properties and select Definitions, labeled as 1 in the figure below.
4. From the right pane, click Add element, labeled as 2 in the figure below.
5. Add the property you want to extract, refer to step 1 above. In this case, I have added the Element > Length property, labeled as 3 in the figure below.
Tip: Sometimes there are multiple Length properties under the Element category. You need to make sure you select the right Length property. If it is not the right property, you will not see any values in the Selection Inspector window shown in Step 8 below.
6. Click OK in the dialog box.
7. From the Home ribbon tab, invoke the Selection Inspector tool, as shown below:
The Selection Inspector window shows the Element Length column, in addition to the default Item Name and Item Type columns.
8. Hold down the SHIFT or CTRL key and select all the search sets you created to extract properties; the Selection Inspector window shows the lengths of each section, as shown below.
Tip: The units in which the quantities are displayed are set up as the display units in the Options Editor dialog box.
9. To export these properties, click on the Export button on the top right of the Selection Inspector window and then select Export CSV, as shown below:
10. Save the CSV file.
11. The figure below shows the Selection Inspector window showing the volume of all the concrete for floors on a high rise building using the Element > Volume property:
