Blender now supports IFC export

[Moult]

A new version of the BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.200228 was released today! It's been a month since the last release, but there are lots of new features!

• 12D files, which usually have absolute coordinates, are now imported into Blender with an offset to allow you to work in local coordinates for vertical BIM
• The BIM audit panel now allows you to select a particular BIMTester feature, and write tests directly from the UI instead of needing a text editor
• Your spatial tree can now have geometric representations (most importantly, this allows you to export an IfcSite terrain)
• Quick project setup button now sets up spatial objects too
• Sites can now export a reference long/lat attribute
• When importing, it now remembers what IFC file the data came from (in preparation for partial writes)
• Minor bugfixes related to missing items in dropdown menus, curve orientations upon export
• Import now associates type products
• Bugfix allowing you to import multiple spatial structure elements with identical names
• New option to toggle import of opening elements
• Improved IFC-to-Code_Aster script
• Preset render settings for creating documentation and diagrams
• Create dimension annotations in 3D from any orientation instead of for a particular view
• New support for IFC projection elements (opposite of void elements)
• Allow you to create other types of leaders and section levels from any orientation instead of for a particular view
• IfcPolygonalFaceSets are now imported with the correct units (useful for sites and terrains)
• Extra checks to ensure exports don't create GlobalId collisions
• Allow duplicate names for both mesh and curve data
• New option allowing people to maintain parametric behaviour to generate multiple IFC objects, or to bake the results into a single IFC object
• New IFCPatch tool, allowing you to patch the data in an IFC file based on a series of preloaded "recipes". These allow you to workaround various limitations in other IFC authoring exports in a safe way without breaking the rest of the IFC data. Recipies include: Reset spatial element object placement locations, Offset from absolute coordinates to a local system, Remove representations from sites, Offset IfcBuildingStorey elevations,Set reference elevation
• BIMTester now shows test results with a percentage success rate
• IFC import now imports pset data
• 2D grids are now imported even though curve data isn't enabled, given the importance of grids. Support added for IfcGrid and IfcGridAxis
• New ability to search for IFC objects by their attribute or pset property values with a case insensitive string, with support for regex for super advanced searching
• You can select any IFC attribute or pset property and colour code the model by the value for a visual cue when auditing IFC data
• Minor UI clean-up to hide panels by default
• New import option to toggle import of IfcSpace objects
• Handle import coordinate offsetting of IFC2X3 files created from Tekla which are poorly geolocated
• Version bump to the latest IfcOpenShell library, which includes fixes for more stable geometry import

Get the latest version today: https://blenderbim.org/

[Moult]

A new version of the BlenderBIM Add-on is now released: v0.0.200328! Get the new version today: https://blenderbim.org/

One month since the last release, there have been over 30 fixes, stability improvements, and new features. Highlights include new import features for simplify and merge IFC models, brand new IFC to/from CSV data export and import, basic support for BCF-XML 2.1, and simple construction documentation sheet management.

2020-03-27-201356_1920x1080_scrot.png (694.9 KiB) Viewed 2278 times

• Latest IfcOpenShell version, with various stability fixes to import more files!
• BIMTester can now just generate reports if required
• BIMTester can run a single test instead of the entire test suite
• Fix import bug with some IFC object types aren't related correctly
• New BIMTester test to check if an element doesn't exist
• Improved support for IFC2X3 materials without transparency
• Fix import bug where IFC spaces with the same name might not be in the right location in the spatial tree
• New import option to auto-merge geometry by IFC class
• New import option to auto-merge geometry by IFC material
• New import option to disable element aggregation
• Hidden lines in construction documentation may now be in 3D, useful for showing exploded axonometric views
• New IFCCSV tool allows querying an IFC file and exporting attributes and psets and reimporting an updated CSV to the IFC model
• IFCCSV tool allows querying using IFC class, attribute, pset, and qto filters, with multiple operators, AND and OR statements
• Export fix where sometimes you could create an abstract IFC class
• All IfcSpatialElements are now supported including obscure ones like IfcSpatialZone and IfcExternalSpatialElement
• IFC exports now support multiple materials on a single object
• Fix export bug where some aggregates don't export
• Fix import bug where some objects inside a space won't import
• New import feature to automatically clean meshes to get nicer topologies
• New export feature to export objects inside spaces and any spatial element
• New import feature to record the spatial relationship of objects inside spaces (with ability to scale for large projects)
• New import feature where quantity take-off quantities are imported
• New export feature where you can manually fill out quantities and export them
• Fix import bug where materials may be on multiple shape representations
• New support for BCF XML 2.1!
• View list of BCF topics in the UI, showing basic metadata about each topic
• New button to uninstall add-on, to improve the upgrade process
• See multiple viewpoints for each BCF topic and launch a camera view for each viewpoint
• Any type of curve object is now supported for construction documentation annotation objects
• Spatial containers are auto-detected when exporting making it more convenient for users to do quick exports
• Support for BCF topic comments
• BCF topic reference links, BIM snippets, document references, and related topics are supported with buttons to quickly open both external and internal references
• New buttons to quickly view BlenderBIM Add-on homepage, docs, wiki, and forum
• Documentation titleblock and view templates heavily optimised to a fraction of the filesize - mere kilobytes!
• New UI feature to add new sheets and add views to sheets
• New UI features to quickly open sheets and views in external SVG programs / viewers
• Views now store view scale in their vector output - in an indsutry where our vector output is non-semantic, which really changes things!
• Fix IfcPatch bug for broken ResetAbsoluteCoordinates recipe
• New feature to publish sheets with automatic view titles, scales, view numbers, and sheet names

[paullee]

Very impressive !

Though I have not switched to build model in Blender other than trying the basic rendering feature there some time ago.

What is your workflow in modelling and how do you fit in Blender, and FC? What do you think FC is lacking in the workflow ?

[carlopav]

Good! my only regret is that you are no more active in FC

[Moult]

@paullee - I find certain things very easy to model with meshes in Blender, and other things easier to model with solids in FreeCAD. I have done a project where portions were created in FreeCAD and portions were created in Blender. One thing which Blender can do much better than FreeCAD is handle _huge_ scenes - we're talking big, big buildings with a hundred thousand individual objects including architectural, structural, MEP and fire, landscape, civil... also from an IFC compliance point of view Blender has quite a few more features.

@carlopav - I think I will indeed return to hacking on FreeCAD in the future Also, many of the packages I've developed for features in the BlenderBIM Add-on can be reused in FreeCAD! Like IfcDiff, IfcPatch, IFC<->CSV, IfcClash(detection), so I daresay FreeCAD may see these features come to it Also, there is benefit in more people testing the underlying IfcOpenShell library which benefits both projects (as a result we've seen more bugreports and many geometry fixes), and now for example the BCF support in the BlenderBIM Add-on actually is taken from FreeCAD! I'm working with the BCF working group to help turn that BCF library into a reference implementation endorsed by buildingSMART and passing all of their test cases.

[carlopav]

Great!

[bernd]

wow

lots of cool useful features!

@moult do you use the code made in a FreeCAD GSoC to parse IFC ? If yes how does it works? It not much used by FreeCAD users ATM.

[bernd]

4 cross posts

[paullee]

@paullee - I find certain things very easy to model with meshes in Blender, and other things easier to model with solids in FreeCAD. I have done a project where portions were created in FreeCAD and portions were created in Blender. One thing which Blender can do much better than FreeCAD is handle _huge_ scenes - we're talking big, big buildings with a hundred thousand individual objects including architectural, structural, MEP and fire, landscape, civil... also from an IFC compliance point of view Blender has quite a few more features.

I have really no idea on structural, MEP, fire, landscape etc.

You may see recently @bitacovir and I are doing some models [ Architecture Masterpiece ] in Users Showcase (@Regis had done a few some time ago). My intention is on one hand trying to acquaint myself FC's Arch feature (BIM not yet) and testing myself a few experimental feature with an effort to test how far a complex building could be modelled, Most Importantly Design Be Sketched and Developed in FC.

( BTW, I have thought about modelling Ronchamp but find I am far from understand feature in FC for curve surface, want to tackle that ? )

There are lots of aspects yet to be tested myself, like Texturing (ArchTexture), area calculation, door and window schedule, construction detailing, LoD etc.
Really hope more peoples can explore and share working workflow.

[bitacovir]

@paullee - I find certain things very easy to model with meshes in Blender, and other things easier to model with solids in FreeCAD. I have done a project where portions were created in FreeCAD and portions were created in Blender. One thing which Blender can do much better than FreeCAD is handle _huge_ scenes - we're talking big, big buildings with a hundred thousand individual objects including architectural, structural, MEP and fire, landscape, civil... also from an IFC compliance point of view Blender has quite a few more features.

@carlopav - I think I will indeed return to hacking on FreeCAD in the future Also, many of the packages I've developed for features in the BlenderBIM Add-on can be reused in FreeCAD! Like IfcDiff, IfcPatch, IFC<->CSV, IfcClash(detection), so I daresay FreeCAD may see these features come to it Also, there is benefit in more people testing the underlying IfcOpenShell library which benefits both projects (as a result we've seen more bugreports and many geometry fixes), and now for example the BCF support in the BlenderBIM Add-on actually is taken from FreeCAD! I'm working with the BCF working group to help turn that BCF library into a reference implementation endorsed by buildingSMART and passing all of their test cases.

I think you are doing very well. Probably now there are more architects working with Blender rather than FreeCAD. Therefore, you will have more attention and feedback from blender community for this IFC project.