Compare two Versions of any CAD Files - The Navisworks Compare Tool

by Andy Davis

When working in a multi-disciplinary team, on a BIM project for example, you may be notified that a model files has been updated.  However, it may not be obvious just what has changed between the previous version of the file and the new one.  Fortunately, there is a simple way to identify the differences – and this will work for different versions of any two CAD files of most common formats.

The Navisworks Compare Tool

The Compare Tool in Navisworks enables you to look for differences between any two items that you select in the Selection Tree window. The items can be files, layers, instances, groups, or just geometry.

By appending two versions of the same CAD file into your Navisworks model, you can use this feature to identify the differences between different versions of the file.

Please download my white paper for more details and to see a couple of examples of the Compare tool in action.  

• Compare_Files.pdf800 KB