CamelGraph (previously Dyncamelo) — Dynamo-style visual programming for Navisworks
CamelGraph was called Dyncamelo until version 0.51.0. It is the same program, with the same node library, the same .dyc graph files and the same free personal-use copy; the old web addresses keep working.
CamelGraph brings the node-canvas workflow that Dynamo made famous in Revit to Autodesk Navisworks 2024–2026. Wire nodes together on a canvas, watch data flow from outputs into inputs, and let the dataflow engine run your graph against the live Navisworks document — no code, no macros, no SDK boilerplate. It installs as an add-in for Navisworks Manage or Simulate 2024–2026 and adds a BIMCamel ribbon tab. There are two copies of the same program: a free download for personal use, and a professional copy that is coming soon on the Autodesk App Store.
Search a federated model by property, color-code it by system, bulk-create selection sets, dump quantities to CSV or Excel, triage clashes by rule and push them out as BCF 2.1, enrich elements from a spreadsheet, batch-generate viewpoints — each workflow is a graph you save as a small versioned .dyc file, reopen on the next project, and share with the team.
Two copies, one program
Personal use — free
Download CamelGraphSetup.exe from this page or from the GitHub releases page. It covers learning, hobby projects and research, and charities, schools, universities, public research bodies and government institutions, under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. The installer, the About window and the start screen of this copy are marked "Personal use". No account, no trial timer.
Professional use — coming soon on the Autodesk App Store
Work at a company, a consultancy or a design office, or a paid project or product, is professional use. That copy will be sold in the Autodesk App Store with a commercial licence from BIMCamel and updated by the store. It is not available yet, and the store listing will show the price and the terms.
Which copy do I need?
Is your use professional — work at a company, a consultancy or a design office, or inside a paid project or product? Then you need the professional copy, which is coming soon on the Autodesk App Store. Are you learning it, running a hobby project or doing research, or are you a charity, school, university, public research body or government institution? Then the free personal-use download is yours. The text of the licence is what counts; this is a summary, not legal advice. If you are not sure whether your use is professional, assume it is.
The source is public on GitHub under the same licence — source-available, not OSI-certified open source. Releases up to v0.45.1 were published under Apache 2.0 with the Commons Clause; copies downloaded then stay under that licence (texts).
What the add-in does
- A node canvas docked in Navisworks — a Dynamo-like editor with a searchable node library, drag-to-wire connectors, pan/zoom, notes, groups, and watch nodes that show live values. Manual and Automatic run modes.
- 589 nodes deep into the Navisworks API — properties and QTO extraction, custom property writing, Find-Items-grade search, selection sets, color / transparency / hide overrides, transforms, saved viewpoints, clash triage, BCF 2.1, grids, TimeLiner, tables, and CSV / Excel export (365 general + 224 Navisworks nodes as of v0.51.0).
- Instant library search — index-backed, debounced, relevance-ranked flat results; tree expansion survives the search, and right-click → Find in Library jumps from a canvas node to its entry.
- A real dataflow engine — eager evaluation, topological execution, and dirty propagation: change one slider and only its downstream nodes re-run.
- Replication (lacing) like Dynamo — feed a list into a scalar input and the node maps over it: Shortest by default, Longest and Cross-Product per node.
- Clash deltas and BCF 2.1 exchange — group clash results by status or grid intersection, rename in bulk, snapshot a run and diff it against the next (new / resolved / persisting), then export the topics as .bcfzip and import the answers back.
- Excel and custom properties round-trip — native .xlsx read/write with no Office dependency, spreadsheet-to-model joins, and user-defined property tabs that are searchable, schedulable, and travel with the NWF/NWD. Source design files are never touched.
- Fails soft — a failing node surfaces a per-node Warning or Error state; it never crashes the graph run or Navisworks. Write nodes are real Navisworks actions, so Undo applies.
- Portable graphs and zero-touch node packs — graphs save as versioned, diff-friendly JSON (.dyc); your own nodes are one public static C# method tagged [NodeName], dropped as a DLL into the Packages folder.
How to install
- Download CamelGraphSetup.exe — a single graphical installer served straight from the official CamelGraph GitHub release (always the latest version), with the SHA-256 checksum published alongside it. The installer is not code-signed, so if Windows SmartScreen appears, click More info → Run anyway.
- Click Install — the app bundle goes into %APPDATA%\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins for the current user (no admin rights) and an entry is registered in Windows Settings → Apps. Files the installer writes carry no downloaded-file mark, so Navisworks always loads them. A zip with install-dyncamelo.bat is published alongside for scripted rollouts.
- Start Navisworks Manage or Simulate 2024–2026 and open a model — a BIMCamel ribbon tab appears with a Visual Programming panel, and the CamelGraph button toggles the editor as a dockable pane.
- Open Getting Started - Math and Watch from the start screen (it needs no model) and press Run — the Watch nodes show 32 and Area = 32. The other examples are under File → Sample Graphs.
Requirements
Autodesk Navisworks Manage or Simulate 2024–2026 on Windows. The installer ships everything compiled — nothing to build, and the per-user install needs no admin rights. So far only Navisworks Manage 2024 has been seen running CamelGraph in the field; 2025, 2026 and Simulate are built and installed the same way but not yet confirmed. The clash nodes need Manage, because Simulate has no Clash Detective. Uninstall from Windows Settings → Apps → CamelGraph for Navisworks, or rerun the setup and choose Remove.
The node library
CamelGraph ships 589 nodes across 46 categories — from Math, Logic, String, List, Table, Dictionary, Color and Excel through the Navisworks side: Search, Properties, SelectionSets, Appearance, Transform, Viewpoints, Clash, Exchange (BCF 2.1), Grids, TimeLiner and Export. The full node-library reference documents every node — description, input ports (name, type, default value), output ports and search tags — searchable and browsable in full.
The CamelGraph wiki
The CamelGraph wiki has the long version: installing and removing it, building a first script, the editor and the node library, how-to guides (clash report, BCF, Excel, quantities), the Script Player, an FAQ and troubleshooting. Its node library lists every node with its inputs and outputs, one page per category.
Example files
14 ready-made .dyc graphs, downloadable below — the same files ship inside CamelGraph (File → Sample Graphs), each with teaching notes on the canvas telling you what to edit.
- Getting Started - Math and Watch — Two sliders multiplied into an area, shown in a Watch node and formatted into a text report — the classic first graph. Expected results: 32 and Area = 32.
- Table Summary from Text — Pasted CSV text becomes a table, grouped by category with a count, a total and a maximum, sorted largest first and shown in a Watch Table and as Markdown. Expected first row: Wall, 3, 10000, 4500.
- Color Elements by Property — Finds every item whose property text contains a search string and paints it; List.Count reports how many matched.
- Export Properties to Excel — Search results become a worksheet — item names as the header row, three picked properties per item, written with Excel.WriteToFile.
- Bulk Selection Sets from Values — One live search set per distinct value of a property (default: Element › Level), filed under a folder in the Sets window.
- QTO Rollup by Category — Sums a numeric property (default: Element › Volume) grouped by another property and writes the rollup to an Excel workbook.
- Clash Triage and BCF Export — Groups a clash test's results by status and exports them as BCF 2.1 issues, plus a summary CSV of every test. Needs Navisworks Manage.
- Clash Group Viewpoints per Test — For every result group of every clash test: isolates the group's clashing elements, colours each clash's first element red and its second green, and saves a viewpoint named after the group in a folder named after its test. Needs clash tests that have run and have groups.
- Isolated Viewpoints per Item — A search finds items and a recipe — isolate, zoom, save viewpoint — is replayed once for every item: one saved viewpoint per element, framed on its own item and named from it.
- Spotlight Viewpoints per Item — The same per-item loop, dressed for presentation: ghosts the whole model, highlights the current item in a colour you pick, zooms to it and saves a viewpoint that keeps its own look.
- Isolated Viewpoints (Loop) — The same isolate-zoom-save result built from ordinary nodes: whatever sits between Loop.Item and Loop.Collect runs once per item, so you are never limited to a pre-built set of actions.
- Section Box Viewpoints per Group — Clusters the current selection into touching groups, then for each group applies a padded section box, zooms to the group and saves a viewpoint named Group n in a Group Views folder.
- Floor Opening Fall-Hazard Map — Slices the model at a level, reads the real floor and equipment mesh, finds the openings fully enclosed by floor and grades each by how far its centre is from the nearest edge. Writes a heat-map PNG and saves a viewpoint for every opening whose widest gap reaches your threshold.
- Floor Openings Needing Handrails — Part 1 measures each selected item to its nearest handrail and flags those with none close by; part 2 finds the widest plan gap between an opening and the equipment through it. Part 2 is self-contained and reports 0.8.
Frequently asked questions
Is CamelGraph the same as Dyncamelo?
Yes. CamelGraph is the new name of Dyncamelo: the same program, node library, .dyc graph files and free personal-use copy, renamed to give it a name of its own. Versions up to 0.48.0 carry the old name; version 0.51.0 and newer use CamelGraph throughout (the installer is CamelGraphSetup.exe, and the ribbon button and window say CamelGraph). Installing it replaces an older Dyncamelo install and keeps your settings and scripts. The old web addresses on bimcamel.com keep working.
Is CamelGraph free?
For personal use, yes. The copy you download from this page or from GitHub is free for personal use — learning, hobby projects and research, and charities, schools, universities, public research bodies and government institutions — under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0, with no account and no trial timer. For professional use (work at a company, a consultancy or a design office, or inside a paid project or product) there is a separate copy with a commercial licence from BIMCamel, sold in the Autodesk App Store and updated by the store. That copy is coming soon. It is the same program in both; only the licence and where you get it differ.
Which copy do I need?
Is your use professional — work at a company, a consultancy or a design office, or inside a paid project or product? Then you need the professional copy, which is coming soon on the Autodesk App Store. Are you learning it, running a hobby project or doing research, or are you a charity, school, university, public research body or government institution? Then the free personal-use download is yours. The text of the licence is what counts; this is a summary, not legal advice. If you are not sure whether your use is professional, assume it is.
Where can I get the professional copy?
It is not available yet. It will be sold in the Autodesk App Store, with a commercial licence from BIMCamel, and the store listing will show the price and the terms. The free download is marked "Personal use" in the installer, the About window and the start screen. Questions about professional use before the store copy is there: [email protected].
Is the source public? Is it open source?
The source is public on GitHub under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0: you can read it, change it and share it on those noncommercial terms. Because of the commercial-use restriction it is source-available, not OSI-certified open source. Releases up to v0.45.1 were published under Apache 2.0 with the Commons Clause; copies you already downloaded stay under that licence, and its text is kept in the repository under docs/licenses.
Which Navisworks versions does it support?
Autodesk Navisworks Manage and Simulate 2024, 2025 and 2026, on Windows. A Navisworks add-in must be compiled against the API of the release it runs in, so the installer ships a build for each supported year and Navisworks loads the matching one automatically. So far only Navisworks Manage 2024 has been seen running CamelGraph in the field; 2025, 2026 and Simulate are built and installed the same way but not yet confirmed — Help > Run Self-Test checks the nodes against your own model. The clash nodes need Manage, because Simulate has no Clash Detective.
What about Navisworks Freedom?
Navisworks Freedom does not load third-party add-ins, so CamelGraph needs Manage or Simulate 2024, 2025 or 2026.
Why does Windows warn about the installer?
The installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning. Choose More info, then Run anyway. A SHA-256 checksum file sits next to every download, so you can check what you downloaded first — in PowerShell: Get-FileHash .\CamelGraphSetup.exe -Algorithm SHA256.
Does it modify my model?
Only when you wire a write node — and then it edits the Navisworks document exactly like the equivalent manual command: color / transparency / hide overrides, selection sets, saved viewpoints, custom property tabs, transforms. Your source design files (RVT, IFC, DWG) are never touched; what CamelGraph writes lives in the NWF/NWD. Read-only workflows — search, properties, QTO, CSV / Excel / BCF export — change nothing.
Can I undo what a graph did?
Yes. Write nodes perform real Navisworks actions, so Navisworks' own Undo applies — a color-override run is exactly like Item Tools → Override Color, and one Undo reverts it. Graphs can also clean up after themselves: Appearance.Reset clears overrides and ModelItem.ResetTransform removes transform overrides.
Does a bad node crash Navisworks?
No. A failing node surfaces a per-node Warning or Error badge with the full message; downstream nodes wait until it is fixed, everything else keeps its results, and Navisworks keeps running.
Do I need Dynamo or Revit installed?
No. CamelGraph is a self-contained Navisworks add-in with its own node editor. If you already know Dynamo the concepts transfer directly — nodes, wires, lacing, watch nodes — but nothing from the Revit world is required.
How many nodes are there?
589 in 46 categories as of v0.51.0: 365 general-purpose nodes (math, logic, string, list, table, dictionary, color, date, file and Excel, report and workflow nodes) plus 224 Navisworks nodes covering search, properties and QTO, selection sets, appearance, transforms, viewpoints, clash, BCF 2.1, grids, TimeLiner and exports. The full catalog is documented node by node.
What is a .dyc file?
The saved graph — a small, versioned JSON document holding nodes, wires, input values, notes, and lacing settings. It stores no results, so a loaded graph recomputes against whatever model is open; one graph serves every project. .dyc files diff cleanly and belong in source control. Since v0.46.0, a graph opened from a file asks before it runs if it contains nodes that run programs, use the network, or delete, move or overwrite files, and a graph saved with Automatic running is not run when it is opened.
Does CamelGraph send anything anywhere?
The only network request CamelGraph makes by itself is a once-a-day look at GitHub for the number of the newest release. It carries no information about you or your models, and Settings > Privacy switches it off. Nodes you put in a graph, such as Web.Get and Web.Post, reach the network only when you run them.
Can I extend it with my own nodes?
Yes — zero-touch node packs. Write a public static C# method, tag it with [NodeName] and [NodeCategory], drop the compiled DLL into the Packages folder, and it appears in the library. No base classes, no SDK boilerplate.
Where can I download it?
From this page — the download button serves CamelGraphSetup.exe, the graphical installer for personal use, straight from the official CamelGraph GitHub release, so it is always the newest version, with its SHA-256 checksum published next to it. A zip for scripted deployments is published alongside.
How do I report a bug or request a node?
Mail [email protected] — attach the .dyc graph if you can, it is the fastest way to reproduce. In CamelGraph, Help > Copy Diagnostics copies the versions and the end of the error log with your user name, computer name and profile folder replaced, so it is safe to paste. Release notes ship with every version on the GitHub releases page.