There are many in the industry who use programs other than Autodesk Navisworks to set a timeline for their projects. However, they may very well wish to use Navisworks for the Timeliner simulation and have this in lockstep with their external timeline.

The solution to this is relatively simple. In the case where a Datalink can not be established, a CSV export can help.

It is a good idea to look at the columns from the Timeliner as a guide, and then to import the external file such that the columns can be mapped to the correct Navisworks columns. One item that is not shown in Navisworks is the Synchronization ID and this must be managed in the file.

After the timeline is established, all that remains is to attach elements to the tasks to simulate them.

If you need help adopting Autodesk Navisworks in your practice, please contact Micrographics so we may be of assistance.