Compare

Compare shows the capture you are standing in beside something else: another date of the same spot, or the BIM model. The two share one set of controls; only the right-hand pane differs.

Download and Info in the topbar act on the pane with the orange outline, the active one. Brighten Up brightens both. Click a pane to make it active.

Two dates

The reason to capture a site again and again is to see what changed. Compare puts two dates on screen at once, locked to the same spot, so the difference is the only thing you have to look for.

Opening Compare

Click Compare on the tool rail. The viewport splits in two, and each pane carries its own date.

Drag the divider between the panes to give one more room. It goes all the way to either edge; a pane pushed off completely can be brought back from the edge it went to.

Click the X at the top right to close Compare.

1. This pane's date - Apr 8, 2024, framing only; See other dates changes it.
2. The other date - Dec 5, 2025, the finished window; Change picks another date.
3. Dual Camera, Single Camera, TwinLens - side by side; one pane; or a lens of the other date inside this one.
4. Close Compare - back to one view.

Choosing the two dates

The left pane shows the date you were already on, with See other dates beside it. The right pane opens on the nearest other capture and carries Change.

1. Click See other dates or Change on the pane you want to move.
2. Pick a date from the list. Only dates that have a capture of this spot are offered.
3. That pane moves to the new date; the other stays where it is.

If the spot has only one capture date, the right pane says No Capture Data and offers Pick a second capture. There is nothing to compare against until the level is captured again.

Dual Camera, Single Camera, TwinLens

The control that changes how the two dates are drawn is not in a header. It is a small vertical pill on the divider, halfway down, with three buttons, always in this order:

The active button is filled blue.

TwinLens

TwinLens is the one worth learning. Instead of two panes you get one full-width view of the base date, and a floating lens that shows the same spot on the other date. Line the lens up over a wall and you are looking at that wall on two dates in one frame, at the same scale.

1. The lens - the other date at the same spot.
2. Drag handle - move the lens over what you want to check.
3. Opacity - blend the lens with the view behind it.
4. The lens's date - Dec 5, 2025.

Notes while comparing

The Notes panel stays open in Compare, and note pins are drawn on both panes. That is usually the point: you find a difference, then raise a note on it without leaving the comparison. See SpatialNotes - leave and find notes.

The BIM model

BIM puts the design model beside what was actually built: same position, same direction, one pane each. Is it where the drawing says? becomes something you look at rather than measure.

Opening BIM

Click BIM on the tool rail. The capture stays on the left and the model loads on the right; while it loads, the pane says so. The model file's name is at the top left of the pane, with Change to pick another.

BIM works against the aerial model too, which is the fastest way to check a whole building rather than one room.

The toolbar at the top right of the BIM pane holds, in order: Measure, Section Analysis, Model Structure, Properties, Maximize and Settings. On a project with BIM Timeline turned on, Schedule joins it; see BIM Timeline - the schedule on the model.

1. BIM - with Compare open, puts the model in the second pane.
2. The capture - the Apr 15, 2026 point cloud.
3. The model - the Navisworks file, turned to the same angle.
4. Model tools and Close - measure on the model, more options, or close the model pane.

Choosing what the model shows

Model Structure lists every layer in the model as a searchable tree. Each row is one file - architectural, concrete, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and so on - with the number of elements in it and an eye icon that turns it on and off.

This is how you cut a model down to the trade you care about. Turn off everything except the mechanical layers and a ceiling comparison becomes legible in a way the full model never is.

1. The model tree - every category and element in the file; expand a row to see what is inside, or search it.
2. A selected element - highlighted in the list and in the model at the same time.
3. Eye icons - hide or show a category or a single element.
4. The element in the model - drawn highlighted where it sits.

Looking at one element

Click an element in the model and Properties shows what the model knows about it: its identifier, name and type.

1. Properties - the element's name and its model data: identity, type, workset and the rest the file carries.
2. The element - the one the properties belong to.

Cutting the model open

Section Analysis clips the BIM pane: Add X Plane, Add Y Plane, Add Z Plane or Add Box. A plane slices the model along one axis; a box confines it to a region. Use it to get inside a floor without hiding it layer by layer.

1. More options - where Section Analysis is found.
2. The section plane handle - drag the arrow to move the cut.
3. The model, cut - everything above the plane is removed so the inside shows.

Overlaying instead of splitting

The same three buttons sit on the divider here. TwinLens draws the model in a lens over the capture, rather than beside it. For checking whether something is in the right place, the overlay usually reads better than side by side.

1. The lens - the model drawn at the same spot as the capture behind it.
2. Opacity - fade the model to see the capture through it.
3. The model in the lens - Architecture (1).rvt.

When the model is large

The BIM pane's Settings are grouped as Configuration, Navigation and Appearance. On a heavy model, start with Performance Optimization: turn off shadows, use progressive display, or set a target frame rate.

When the model will not load

A DWG-backed view can report that the DWG viewer is not connected. That is a session that has not started, not a broken file; the message says what to do.

If the pane says Failed to load BIM models, the file may not have finished processing, or its format may not be supported. Try again later; if it keeps failing, the design file needs to be uploaded again in the Library. See Project Setup.

Changes from 4.0