Viewpoint Generator

Before you start

The Viewpoint Generator finds the floor slabs in your model, works out a slab-to-slab section for every level, and saves a sectioned, framed viewpoint for each one. You preview every cut before anything is created.

You'll need:

• A grid system with levels in your model. The levels decide which viewpoints you get.
• A way to point BIMPulse at the floors: a search set that returns just the floor slabs, or the slabs selected in the model.
• A Navisworks file that has been saved, and an active BIMPulse license.

On the BIMPulse ribbon tab, click Viewpoint Generator. The window stays open while you keep working in Navisworks.

Find your floors

1. 1

   Pick a grid system and units

   Grid System: lists your model's grid systems in alphabetical order and starts on the first one. Units: sets how values are shown: Imperial for feet and inches, or Metric for meters.

2. 2

   Choose where the floors come from

   Set Floor Source: to one of these:

   • SearchSet: pick a set from the Search Set: list (type to filter it), then click Use Selected Search Set.
   • Manual: select the floor slabs in the model, then click Use Current Selection at the top of the window.
3. 3

   Wait for the preview to fill in

   BIMPulse measures each floor and matches it to the nearest level. The preview grid then shows a row for every level.

Review the preview

Each row is one level. Two checkboxes control what happens to it:

• Generate: create a viewpoint for this level.
• Anchor: use this level when working out section cuts. The top of each level's section is set by the next anchor level above it.

The two are separate on purpose. You can anchor a level so the cuts below it come out right, without creating a viewpoint for it. Levels where a floor was found start with both ticked.

Buttons above the grid tick rows in bulk:

• Viewpoints: Select All, Select None, Select Detected (levels where a floor was found), and Select Anchors (levels marked as anchors).
• Anchors: Include All and Include None.

Section and camera settings

Top Behavior options

• DisableTopPlane: no top cut on the highest anchor level.
• UseLargestFloorToFloor: cuts the highest level at its elevation plus the largest floor-to-floor height among your anchor levels.
• UseManualTopOffset: cuts the highest level at its elevation plus the Top Offset you enter.

Generate the viewpoints

Click Generate Viewpoints. BIMPulse creates one saved viewpoint for every row with Generate ticked, then shows a Viewpoint Generation Result message, for example Successfully created 24 viewpoints., with any errors listed underneath.

Each viewpoint:

• Has sectioning turned on, with a bottom plane at Bottom and a top plane at Top. A plane is left off when its value is blank.
• Is framed around that level's floor area, plus the Camera Offset.
• Is named after the level and its elevation, for example Level 01 (18'-0"). Level numbers are padded to two digits (Level 1 becomes Level 01, L1 becomes L01). Imperial elevations are rounded to the nearest half inch; metric ones show two decimals, such as 5.49m.

The viewpoints are added at the top level of your Saved Viewpoints, not in a folder.

Tips and troubleshooting

• The grid stays empty and Generate Viewpoints is greyed out: the selected grid system has no levels. Pick another grid system, or add levels to the model.
• Use Current Selection does nothing: nothing is selected in the model. Select the floor slabs first.
• Levels show No Floor Slab Detected: check that your search set returns only floor slabs. Floor detection reads up to 20,000 objects, so a set that returns the whole model can miss floors.
• A Top cut looks wrong: the Top of each level comes from the next anchor level above it. Check which levels are anchored, and check the Buffer.
• The result says 0 viewpoints were created: check that a Home view is set for the model in Navisworks, then try again.

If the Viewpoint Generator button is greyed out, see BIMPulse Not Showing in Navisworks.