Filter and Investigate Clashes

Spatial coordination is mainly conducted in the viewer, where you can filter, group, and investigate clashes. You can also save your filter and group configurations as a clash check to reuse later. There are different ways to access clashes in the viewer:

  1. Open the desired models in the viewer, either by selecting them in the Models tab or by opening a view from the Views tab. Once inside the viewer, use the Clashes button on the left to open the clashes panel. On the Clashes panel, you can either:

    • Select a clash check using the drop-down list at the top of the panel. Clash checks are saved configurations that can be selected for quick re-use.
    • Select which content you want to view clashes between.

  1. The clash grid:

    • Click a numbered cell to view the clash groups between that pair of models in the viewer. Clash results will automatically load and be displayed for the two models.

    • Click a model listed in the vertical column to view all clash groups affecting that model in the viewer.

      Note: When a row is selected that contains more than two models, use the Clashes panel to select which content you want to view clashes between.

      Tip: Use the Models and Clashes buttons to the left of the panel to switch between a list of clash groups and the affected models. You can also use the Issues button to view any issues associated with the selected models.

Select content to clash

When you have the Clashes panel open in the viewer, and have more than two models open, you must choose which content you want to view clashes between.

  1. On the Clashes panel, use the Selection A drop-down list to choose the model you want to view clashes against.

    Objects from this model are displayed in red when there is a clash present.

    Tip: We recommend setting Selection A as the model that is most likely to need to be modified to address any clashes.

  2. Use the Selection B drop-down list to choose the models you want to check the Selection A model against.

    Once you've chosen the Selection B model, clash data will start to load.

Note: Only models supported for clash will be available in the Selection A and Selection B drop-down lists.

Filter and group clashes

There are three main ways you can filter for specific clashes in the viewer. These methods can be used in combination to provide in depth filtering and analysis.

To use the options in the Clashes panel in the viewer, once you've selected the content you want to clash:

  1. Use the Show clashes... option to filter the clashes by a specified tolerance value. Tolerance is a specified distance by which two objects can intersect, but not be classified as a clash.

    1. Click the More menu and choose from the following options:

      • Below a value - Show only those clashes that are caused by an intersection less than a specified value.
      • Above a value - Show only those clashes that are caused by an intersection greater than a specified value (default).
      • Within a range - Show only those clashes that fall within a specified range of intersection values.
      • Units - Choose either inches or millimeters as the units.

    2. Enter a value or value range in the text field to filter the clashes.

      For example, select the Above a value option, select inches for the units, and then enter 10 in the field. This filters out all clashes caused by an intersection of less than 10 inches. This would allow you to focus on the clashes caused by larger intersections, which have the potential to be more problematic.

      Note: Any Filter and group settings applied to clashes on this page don't persist on other pages, for example when using the Issues or Views tabs. To save the applied filters and groups for reuse, save them as a clash check.

  2. Click the link below Group clashes by to specify clash groupings by multiple common or model properties, including extended properties.

    Note: The link will be named according to the property that clashes are currently grouped by.

    1. In the Group clashes by dialog, use the Add properties section to specify the properties you want to create clash groupings based on.

      Note: The properties that are available will depend on the model chosen as Selection A.

    2. Search for or browse to find the required properties, and then click the add icon to add a property, or the Delete icon to remove a property. You can add up to 10 properties to the grouping.

      Tip: Systems, types, and layers are typically used in CAD to group objects with related function or location. They are defined in the parent software that the models are created in, therefore the options available depend on the model file type. It may be useful to view clashes using these groupings, as related objects are likely to be affected by the same clashes.
      Note: Currently, system and type properties only work for English.

    3. Use the Grouping order section to specify the order of the properties in the grouping hierarchy. Drag the properties, or hover over them to use a text field or stepper arrows, to move the properties up or down the list.

    4. Click Apply to apply the clash grouping and close the dialog.

      Note: Model objects which don't contain any of the applied properties will show as in the clash list.

  3. To save the specified content, filter, and group settings as a clash check, click Save clash check. See Saved clash checks for more information.

Investigate clashes

When you've opened clashing models in the viewer, and filtered and grouped them as needed, you can use various tools to investigate the geometry causing the clash in the context of the surrounding models. You can also create issues from clashes to mark them for further investigation or indicate that a design change is needed.

  1. Use the viewer toolbar to control the view, take measurements, and inspect model properties.

  2. Right-click objects in the model, and right-click again to use the options in the context menu:

    • Show properties: Displays properties of the selected objects.

    • Isolate: Isolates the selected objects by making the rest of the models transparent.

    • Hide selected: Hides the selected objects from view.

    • Show all objects: Shows all objects in the models.

    • Focus: Zooms the view on the selected objects

    • Pivot: Uses the selected objects as a pivot point.

    • Clear selection: Clears the selection

    • Section:

      • Section Box: Uses the selected object as a box to section the models.
      • Section Plane: Uses the selected object as a plane to section the models.
    Tip: You can also use Ctrl/Shift+Click to select multiple objects in the model.

  3. Click a highlighted clash in the model or click a checkbox next to a clash group in the clashes panel to select it. If necessary, expand a clash group to select individual clashes:

    The total number of clashes in the models being viewed is displayed at the top of the clashes panel. Click this number to return to a top-down view of all the clashes, or click the checkbox next to the number to select all clashes.

    If you select individual clashes or clash groups, the number of selected clashes is displayed in brackets next to the total.

    Tip: You can also click the name of a clash or clash group in the left panel to isolate it in the viewer without selecting it:

    To view all clashes again, press Esc, or right-click in the viewer and select Show all objects.

  4. When you have selected some clashes, you can either mark them as Not an issue or create an issue for further investigation.

  5. Click the X in the top-right corner to exit the viewer and return to the clash grid.

  6. Use the Closed tab to view clashes marked as Not an issue, and the Issues tool to view clashes marked as an issue and track the changes being made to resolve the clash.

Parent page: Clash Detection