BCF (BIM Collaboration Format), some informations and questions ...

[bernd]

Has any of you guys any experience with BCF (BIM Collaboration Format) ? What software do you use to work with BCF ? Do you know if there are any OpenSource tools or libraries around ?

I'm involved in a project which uses http://www.bimcollab.com/ (all the BIM management is done by the Architect, I'm just the structural engineer) a internet platform to track BIM tasks which could be exchanged by BCF and I was wondering if the OpenSource world has done something in this regard already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrm5SrEfSvE
https://github.com/BuildingSMART/BCF-XML
http://www.buildingsmart-tech.org/speci ... f-releases

cheers bernd

[yorik]

(all the BIM management is done by the Architect, I'm just the structural engineer)

We architects love to feel important

I've never worked with BCF, I don't think there is anything ready in the open source world yet

I'd be curious to know what will be your impression of bimcollab/BCF... I recently worked on a BIM project with many people involved, it was all done with annotations on PDF sheets (online using bluebeam), and it got quickly horribly complex to track issues. I think next time I'd rather use something much more task-based (a bug tracker, basically) and do the good old way, add images showing where the issues happen

[saso]

BIMserver should have some support for BCF as I remember. I am not sure about other opensource tools but many (most ?) free IFC viewers like Tekla BIMsight, Solibri,... have support for it. Personally I also don't have a lot of experiences using it but I know it is very popular by some. I had the idea some time back that it could possible be a good GSOC project to add BCF support to FreeCAD

[saso]

I think next time I'd rather use something much more task-based (a bug tracker, basically) and do the good old way, add images showing where the issues happen

Yes I am getting to some of the same conclusions about task-based issues management based from the different experiences in recent projects...

[bernd]

I think next time I'd rather use something much more task-based (a bug tracker, basically) and do the good old way, add images showing where the issues happen

Yes I am getting to some of the same conclusions about task-based issues management based from the different experiences in recent projects...

I recently worked on a BIM project with many people involved, it was all done with annotations on PDF sheets (online using bluebeam), and it got quickly horribly complex to track issues. I think next time I'd rather use something much more task-based (a bug tracker, basically) and do the good old way, add images showing where the issues happen

If some dev would ask me what is BIMCollab I would answer it is a bug tracker able to import and export issues. The format used for import and export is BCF. That's it nothing more, no modell view nothing just a bug tracker. I will report back for sure ...

In the regard of bluebeam. It is a cool tool. One would need to be a real professional in inkscape to do stuff which is really easy with bluebeam. AFAIK there is no Linux version of bluebeam. Did you run it on win or on lin with wine or ... ? It is heavily used by the engineers in the office where I work.

[bernd]

free IFC viewers like Tekla BIMsight, Solibri,... have support for it.

I heavily use BIMSight at work together with FreeCAD to work with IFC. I did not know it has support for BCF Just played a bit with BIMSight and BCF. It works quite well But only BCF 1.0 is supported. What ever does mean. I need to test in conjunction with BIMColab

Personally I also don't have a lot of experiences using it but I know it is very popular by some. I had the idea some time back that it could possible be a good GSOC project to add BCF support to FreeCAD

may be next year Fist we need the new FreeCAD Property to save all Kind of IFC Attributes.


In the regard of BIMServer and BIMSurfer and BFC. It is a way to heavy for me at the moment, but I keep an eye on it ...

[bernd]

Found this https://bcfier.com/ and on Github https://github.com/teocomi/BCFier It seams C# means may be not that much use for us but I will have a look anyway and report back ...

[bernd]

Just played a bit with BCFier. It really is a pitty it is done in C#. It is a small Gui to view and create BCF files. It is quite easy to use and usefull if you would like to view a BCF standalone without open a huge model. But since it is in C# it does not run on Linux which makes it not much interesting for developing.

bernd

[bernd]

BIMserver should have some support for BCF as I remember.

yes it has. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIxZMK-OHuU I gave BIM Server a try but I still have some problems to get modells uploaded. I only have the sample data of Schependomlaan. I will need to spend more time on this ... BTW: found this in the regard of BIMServer. I really need to get into this BIMServer. It might be usefull at work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuw0IO-Vt7I

bernd

[bernd]

sorry guys for posting that much informations, but it might be useful for others too. BTW: BIMcollab call themselves a BIM issue tracker see http://www.bimcollab.com/en/BIMcollab/BIMcollab but it is like most BIM cloud stuff, it cost quite some money and if you would like to do a plug in for your own tool (like FreeCAD) you need to purchase a license and just get the API no code http://www.bimcollab.com/en/BIMcollab/B ... /Developer ...

Ahh and they have a stand-alone BCF viewer too, but you need to register, get a key and can use it on one computer only. Mhh I'm just luckily I found BCFier ...

We will use if for our project anyway. Since we are just 3 offices (architect, structural engineer, building equipment engineer) we get BIMCollab for free and will use one login for all members of each office.

Might be interesting if a normal issue tracker like mantis or something else could do the job too ...