During the Pergunte ao TI Lab! event, which took place in early December 2016, at TI Lab's own venue in São Paulo, architect and training center director João Gaspar answered a question about the difference between the Navisworks and Solibri software.
In the video, the main functions of each software and their uses are explained.
Navisworks and Solibri have distinct uses
Even though they share some similar functions, such as quantity takeoff, it's clear that the programs aren't direct competitors. They're meant for different uses.
While Autodesk's software is geared toward project coordination, management, and construction planning, Solibri, which was acquired by Nemetschek, focuses mainly on model quality control, based on checking design rules programmed by the architects, designers, and/or engineers involved in the project.
As such, each program comes into play at different moments in the BIM project coordination and clash detection process, as explained in the
course offered by TI Lab on the subject. To learn more about the course, click
here.
The architect also discusses other interesting aspects: the origin of each program, its history, the use of .bcf files (
BIM Collaboration Format), plugins that are needed or no longer used, costs, online platforms, and software directly related to the use of each one.
There are other programs, besides the ones mentioned in the video, that also handle construction scheduling linked to CPM (
Critical Path Method) editing software, such as MS Project and Primavera. For example, the
4D Virtual Builder plugin for SketchUp is an accessible and efficient tool for this purpose. To learn more about this plugin, check out this post
here.
Curious? Want to know more? Watch the video!
