Advanced Viewing and Export with OdaBimNvApp
ODA’s OdaBimNvApp is more than just a standard viewer that ships with ODA BimNv SDK. It offers a range of advanced tools designed for in-depth navigation, rendering customization, and flexible export—making it a powerful solution for reviewing .nwd, .nwc and .nwf data. This post highlights key features that help users get the most out of the application.
Lighting Modes: Customize Scene Illumination
OdaBimNvApp supports multiple lighting modes, accessible via the toolbar:
No Lights
Headlights
Scene Lights
Full Lights
Each mode provides different lighting conditions for better visualization of your model.
Saved Viewpoints: Switch Between Predefined Views
If your file contains saved viewpoints, you can navigate to them via:
View → Views
This opens a structured dialog displaying all available viewpoints in a hierarchy. Selecting one will update the current view in the scene. Example saved views might include:
“internals”
“rear drive”
More information is available here:
🔗 Saved Viewpoints Guide
Additional Viewing Tools
FPS Counter
The frames-per-second indicator is displayed in the bottom-right corner of the viewer for quick performance tracking.
WCS Model Display
To toggle the World Coordinate System axes on screen, use:
View → WCS
This shows the coordinate triad in the lower-left corner for better orientation.
GPU Cutting Planes
If the file includes section definitions, you can activate cutting planes using the toolbar button. For example, box clipping can be visualized in real time.
Documentation:
🔗 Working with Sections
Fixed Frame Rate
To maintain a consistent frame rate during viewing:
Go to Tools → Options → Fixed Frame Rate
Set the desired FPS via View → File Options → Speed
You can specify any value between 1 and 60 FPS.
Read-Only Dialogs (Preview Features)
Several dialogs are currently read-only, but may become interactive in future releases. These include:
Culling Element
Headlight Element
Geo Data Viewer (View → Geo data)
These dialogs allow inspection of file metadata and environment settings.
Export and Save Options
OdaBimNvApp includes multiple export features to extend the use of your models:
Save as NWD (Latest Version)
Use File → Save As to resave the current file, preserving view settings directly from the viewer.
Export Timeliner to CSV
For construction sequence analysis, export Timeliner data using:
Tools → Export TimeLiner CSV...
This uses the NwTL2CSVExport.tx extension module, which can also be used independently.
Export to Collada (.DAE)
To export the model into Collada format, select:
File → Export To Collada
This uses the TD_ColladaExport module and allows integration with external platforms.
OdaBimNvApp continues to evolve with powerful features for both technical and presentation use. Stay tuned as we expand viewer capabilities to support even more complex workflows.