NavisWorks 2.4

SHEFFIELD, UK, January 22, 2003
NavisWorks Ltd., developers of interactive viewing technology and the leading 3D design review solution have announced the release of NavisWorks 2.4.

Available now, the latest NavisWorks release delivers support for SolidWorks 2003, CADPIPE 7 and CAD-Duct plus great improvements in our .DGN reader. This release is important, as much because it consolidates NavisWorks position as the practical way to access CAD data, as the enhancements in product and file format support it offers.

NavisWorks 2.4 is the last chapter in the NavisWorks 2 story of continual improvements in interoperability. NavisWorks now makes the "ideal world" proposition of everybody being able to visualize the design become a practical reality by simply allowing anybody to open and unite the major CAD formats and publish compact and secure files for distribution and review.

"NavisWorks 2, released in October 2001, was enhanced by supporting materials and textures to offer instant interactive review of more realistic 3D models. The Presenter product has proved to be very popular with CAD users because it satisfied their need for an affordable and easy to use visualization tool. With hindsight I believe it is the continual enhancement of NavisWorks ability to make CAD data easy to share between and beyond the design team that is the significant theme of NavisWorks 2." says Peter Thompson, Managing Director of NavisWorks Ltd. "Equipped with NavisWorks 2.4" continues Thompson "everyone involved in a project can access and benefit from CAD files and design data without the need for a CAD system. Organizations using NavisWorks experience no file format friction and can collaborate easily and affordably with the result that projects progress smoothly on time and on budget."

"NavisWorks." concludes Thompson "is an established product that really helps major organizations around the globe increase their effectiveness. We will continue to satisfy their needs and as we prepare to take the next big step in product development I am excited about the future for NavisWorks software and the potential of our file format to become a standard for 3D design review."

Support for SolidWorks 2003 is offered in this release and thus a solution to "more than 200,000 designers and engineers at more than 24,000 locations in over 100 countries" who use SolidWorks. NavisWorks 2.4 also adds support for CADPIPE 7 from AEC Design Group and improved our support for CAD-Duct with object property information available with the latest version.

Both Bentley and Intergraph users will benefit from the enhancements in NavisWorks 2.4. Our program of continual .DGN reader improvement has delivered a number of refinements that include support for PDS properties in reference files and faster conversion of planar B-Spline elements.

NavisWorks 2.4 provides the opportunity to open new territorial markets in 2003 and beyond and introduces a simplified Chinese localization for the Peoples Republic of China achieved with the valuable assistance of local partners Beijing Zhongke Fulong Computer Technology. NavisWorks 2.4 is localized for Japan, France, Germany and Russian in addition to Chinese.

For existing users with a NavisWorks Bond the upgrade to NavisWorks 2.4 is available free of charge and can be downloaded from the recently launched Bond holders web site. The NavisWorks Bond offers technical support and product upgrades for an annual investment from just 15% of the NavisWorks product purchase price. As NavisWorks do not offer upgrade purchases, buying a Bond is the easy way to minimize upgrade disruption and ensure that access to the latest NavisWorks design review solution is maintained. The Bond is only sold by Authorized NavisWorks Partners.

About NavisWorks

NavisWorks Ltd. develops and markets unique interactive viewing technology to enable the exploitation of the benefits of 3D computer models. NavisWorks products satisfy the need for an easy to use 3D design review solution. Offering effective visualization and interference checking for the extremely large design models particular to architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) projects; NavisWorks software can be used on a standard desktop or laptop PC by anyone involved in a project, including architects, clients, contractors, project managers, services engineers, consultants and sales people.