Navisworks vs. SimScale

Navisworks is a key tool if doing any 3D model coordination with other trades. It will allow you to view your model content with others to know for certain that your design is accurate and can be assembled. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make this process easy.

Incentivized

For a small company, SimScale is a great fit. It allows me to gain the use and support of higher-end software analysis on demand without the traditional high cost. This is super convenient for a company that does occasional design and analysis. Since the computing is cloud-based it also allows me to process large and detailed models without the high hardware cost that can be required. One potential drawback is that the design information is stored on someone else's server. For some industries and companies this would be a deal-breaker.

Incentivized

• Model Viewing, the navigation tools are really easy to use for walking through the model, especially if viewpoints are set up for key locations.
• The take-offs work really well and can be very quick and easy if the model was built right.

Incentivized

• Material non-linear analysis.
• Geometric non-linear analysis.
• Meshing.

Incentivized

• Need more options for clash detection, e.g. clash between only the top and bottom faces of an element
• For applying different appearance profiles users need to remove previous sets first. Which is not good. They should just provide an ON/OFF button
• The use of Section planes are bit tricky for new users, they should add options like Revizto

• Learning from tutorials is great, but limiting. The online help is a must.
• Some simulations take a lot of time, but at least it's not on your PC.
• Sometimes the software times out due to the server.

Incentivized

I had a great experience with SimScale but we only used the software for a short period of time to complete the current design requirements. It is not a software that we would continually subscribe to. Next subscription event would occur when there is a design requirement to do so.

Incentivized

Autodesk owns Navisworks, and it seems to have a pretty good support network. A lot of the troubleshooting or support information is provided through an online database, so you most likely would not be getting any personal attention with your issues. Since there are so many users for Navisworks, there is a lot of information on the web.

Incentivized

Navisworks is a master tool if we want to do any 3D model coordination with any trade of a building. It allows us to view our model content with all elements to visualize and understand for certain where our design stands in terms of accuracy and how all things can be assembled on site. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make BIM process easy.

Incentivized

SimScale is much faster to spin up on than OpenFOAM. Ansys CFD tools are much more expensive! Both tools require expensive computing equipment to run, which SimScale does not!

Incentivized

• The software is very easy to use and quick to master, most users can navigate a building or model within a few short sessions, but there is enough depth to use it as a serious productive tool.
• The software cost of Navisworks Manage is a barrier to smaller companies, and has been a limitation on some of our projects that not all members could use the full functionality. However there is still enough functionality in even the free version to assist with smooth communication between team members.

Incentivized

• It has allowed us to increase our service offering which has lead to additional work.

Incentivized