Bonsai new release!

M by Moult on 26 May 2020 # +1 votes

@bitacovir added :) https://blenderbim.org/community.html

M by Moult on 21 Jun 2020 # +12 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.200621 has been released with nearly 40 new features and fixes. The BlenderBIM Add-on is 100% free and open source software that lets you author and document BIM data fully to ISO standards. It's built by the AEC community, for the AEC community. Get it today: https://blenderbim.org/

Highlights include improved import optimisations, experimental support for native parametric geometry round-tripping, more stable multiprocessing, and custom cove.tool geometry integration for environmental analysis.

New features:

A project is now setup automatically at export-time if you haven't done so already
cove.tool integration now supports submitting custom geometry for bespoke designs
cove.tool integration now reads north angle from project geolocation
Improved stability on multiprocessing import, for much faster importing, give it a spin!
Both materials and style overrides are retains on import, so you can see the full hierarchy of materials and styles
IFC geometry type is stored on import
IFC4 georeferencing data is now imported
Users are now prompted to assign a class before accessing IFC metadata
UI panel names are now a bit more standardised
Rebar is now imported without needing to enable curve import
New user option to enable native element geometry processing on import
Not just rebar, but all generic IfcSweptDiskSolid is now processed as native geometry
Extrusions which use IfcArbitraryClosedProfileDef is now imported as native geometry instead of being meshed
Extrusions which use IfcRectangleProfileDef is now imported as native geometry instead of being meshed
Bundled latest IfcOpenShell which a ton of new improvements
Native geometry now supports surface styles
The division between distinct representation items is now stored on import for native elements
It is now possible for opening elements to create a boolean relationship on import
Support partial importing, with whitelisting and blacklisting using IFC query / selector syntax
Native elements now have multiprocessing support
New IFCPatch recipe to split up an IFC file by building storey without data loss
Mesh cleaning is now disabled for large files for optimising import times
Optimise the creation of material slots to prevent duplicates, especially for BIM programs which abuse surface styles like Revit
Big optimisations to importing files - like, much, much faster
Faceted BREPs are now imported as native geometry instead of being meshed
Components of a representation, like an extrusion profile or direction are now stored on import
Export of extrusions are now supported, allowing native geometry round-tripping

New fixes:

Objects without any placements can now be imported
Switching contexts are now more tolerant of invalid IFC files
Fix bug where types can be incorrectly assigned on export if names aren't unique
Disable limited dissolve during mesh cleaning, which can lead to invalid material assignments
Fix crash when doing an "undo" operation after adding annotations
Fix invalid materials being potentially created when using the temporary section plane tool
Don't fail importing case insensitive file extensions
Fix issue where IfcGroup subclasses can be imported as the wrong class

J by Jesusbill on 21 Jun 2020 # +1 votes

Great as always

B by brunopostle on 21 Jun 2020 #

@Moult thanks, I installed/upgraded (on Windows blender-2.82) and managed to import/export one of my models which is a first. But on restarting blender, the addon won't run. If I remove, reinstall, and try to enable blenderbim I get this error:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'ifcopenshell.util'

If I remove, restart blender and install the old 200525 it is ok.

Remove 200525 and install 200621 I get the same error.

Install 200525 and then install 200621 and it works until I restart.

M by Moult on 21 Jun 2020 #

@brunopostle that's no good! Did you download it from the website? Does blenderbim/libs/site/packages/ifcopenshell/util exist in your BlenderBIM Add-ons folder?

B by brunopostle on 21 Jun 2020 #

@Moult I tried again and saw the same problem. Now I've wiped the addons folder, reinstalled and it seems to work.

M by Moult on 21 Jun 2020, edited 21 Jun 2020 #

@brunopostle to upgrade, it is a requirement to uninstall the old add-on version before installing the new one. I believe the "Remove" button in the Blender Add-ons settings does this without the need to manually wipe the add-ons folder. I should document this process clearer.

Edit: this "cleaner" process was only introduced a few versions ago, if you had an old BlenderBIM Add-on installed once-upon-a-time, that could create the behaviour you experienced, and so yes, the way is to wipe the add-ons dir. Hopefully it shouldn't reoccur in future releases ever since I've cleaned up the add-on packaging process.

Good to hear it works :)

B by brunopostle on 21 Jun 2020 #

@moult, I'm wary of submitting IFC files that don't import as this is likely my own fault.

However, this IFC example imports ok with default settings, but fails with the new Import Native Representations enabled, error is:

AttributeError: entity instance of type 'IfcProductRepresentation' has no attribute 'ShapeOfProduct'

R by ReD_CoDE on 22 Jun 2020, edited 22 Jun 2020 #

@Moult what causes it becomes fat? 165MB?

Also, I deleted the old addon and closed and opened Blender, then installed the latest version, but even after multiple times closing and opening Blender it gives error when I want enable it

M by Moult on 22 Jun 2020 # +1 votes

@brunopostle will take a look :) Likely a bug with the new unstable feature.

@ReD_CoDE it's been about that size for a while now, mostly due to OpenCascade being bundled for documentation features. The OpenCascade may also some with some Qt, which is huge. I'm relying on precompiled binaries to distribute it, so in the future with better infrastructure I'll be able to shrink the filesize drastically. There is also an option of providing an install without all of that, which should drop the filesize to be about 30MB I suspect (IfcOpenShell is 20MB), and have users optionally install it if they want to use those particular features, which are quite separate from the rest of the features.

You probably had an old BlenderBIM Add-on install from a long time ago too. Go to your scripts addons dir, and clear it out (but keep Archipack, I see). Newer versions shouldn't have this issue.

B by blenderuser1991 on 22 Jun 2020 #

I have tried re-installing although I keep getting this error. I am using blender 2.82 and windows 10 64-bit.

M by Moult on 22 Jun 2020 #

@blenderuser1991 that error looks unrelated to installation, it looks specific to your file. Would you mind sharing your IFC file (it looks like you're trying to import) with me (https://send.firefox.com for end-to-end encryption, and dion@thinkmoult.com ) for debugging? Naturally, I will not reshare your file and will only use it for the purposes of debugging.

M by Moult on 22 Jun 2020 #

@brunopostle - I had a look... you are using IfcProductRepresentation, which is abstract in IFC4, and not "allowed" in IFC2X3:

IFC2x Edition 3 NOTE Users should not instantiate the entity IfcProductRepresentation from IFC2x Edition 3 onwards. It will be changed into an ABSTRACT supertype in future releases of IFC.

Just change it to IfcProductDefinitionShape and that might help :)

B by brunopostle on 23 Jun 2020 # +1 votes

@Moult said:

@brunopostle - I had a look... you are using IfcProductRepresentation, which is abstract in IFC4, and not "allowed" in IFC2X3:

Just change it to IfcProductDefinitionShape and that might help :)

Thanks, writing valid IFC files is like playing whack-a-mole, but with hydras instead of moles, and with the rules cunningly hidden in such a way that you could play for a thousand years without finding them.

B by bitacovir on 11 Jul 2020, edited 11 Jul 2020 #

Blender gives you the flexibility to recreate a personalised BlenderBIM environment. Maybe it's not priority, but in the future it would be nice if BlenderBIM had its own workspace in Blender: with a tab at the top of the screen and a pre-setup layout of windows. Maybe the 3D window with a setup of color and lighting, or image as background, suitable for a nice visualisation of architecture models. Something like these arrangements:

M by Moult on 11 Jul 2020 # +9 votes

This has been discussed before. It is a good idea, and I believe there are a few prerequisites to execute it effectively. Firstly, myself, @kcress and @stephen_l are slowly ensuring that our add-ons are compatible with each other. Then, with the help of @stephen_l - he will help build another add-on, which has the function as a "package", which will allow a user to quickly set-up Blender with a series of related add-ons to give all of the BIM / CAD functionality they expect, from CAD snapping, Archipack, Dimensioning and sheets, BIM, GIS, and parametric behaviour. This one-click setup will allow users to immediately get a very powerful package rather than have to manage and track separately many different add-ons.

One that's there, we are start optimising the UI to create a unified package. There has been discussion about how to do this effectively, looking at Blender app templates.

At the moment, we're still at step 1 :)

M by Moult on 21 Jul 2020 # +13 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.200722 has been released with nearly 50 new features and fixes. The BlenderBIM Add-on is 100% free and open source software that lets you author and document BIM data fully to ISO standards. It's built by the AEC community, for the AEC community. Get it today: https://blenderbim.org/

Highlights include IFC person / organisation management, new quantity take off calculation tools, improved BIMTester for BIM auditing, and improved recording of design constraints and intentions.

New features:

Objects now have an IFC class assignment panel for convenience
New "unassign class" to convert from a BIM object to non-BIM
Improved absolute coordinate import from DDS-CAD based IFCs
You can now remove a representation subcontext
Object proxying now works in a simplified manner, letting you directly reference Blender files with high poly geometry
New UI to manage IFC constraints
You can now export IFC constraints based on the UI, making the older CSV definitions obsolete
You can now assign constraints to individual objects and export them
New UI for managing and creating IfcPeople
New UI for managing and creating IfcOrganisation
Support invalid grids coming from Revit
Support import of triangular grids
Support export of IfcSpatialElementTypes
You can now export IFC2X3 "Style" classes in IFC4
IfcOpenShell utilities now comes with geolocation functions
All aggregates are now grouped in their own collection for convenience
No need to manually select types for collections when exporting
New feature when producing documentation, to recut the entire model or only selected objects
Materials assigned to portions of an object no longer need to be using object links
Support export of IfcPositioningElements
You can now define an owner history from your collection of people and organisations, or have no history at all
New feature to allow users to profile the import procedure
BIMTester UI updated to new Gherkin conventions
The IfcOpenShell selector utility now supports selecting COBie classes as its own selector
IfcObjective constraints are now imported
TK interface for BIMTester has been removed
Quantity UI now provides manual calculation buttons for generating lengths, areas, and volumes
You can now export a mesh edge for structural curve members
The geometry type data field now supports "None", if it has no body representation
New feature to automatically calculate quantities during export
Allow for wildcard expansion in IFCCSV exports, allowing you to export a series of properties belonging to the same set
Failed BIMTester tests now have improved error reporting
BIMTester test reporting is now super sexy
BIMTester can now be run without packaging as a simple library
BIMTester can now be run from the Blender UI
BIMTester can now audit predefined types

New fixes:

Booleaned native objects will fall back to non-native import to support it
Fix bug where a slot without materials won't export
Fix bug where some absolute coordinates would not properly be converted to local coordinates
IFCPatch ResetAbsoluteCoordinates has improved absolute coordinate handling
Allow for empty data in non-mandatory georeferencing data
Fix incorrect dimension export of rectangle profiles
Scaled curve bevel objects are now properly exported
Invalid psets now are no longer exported with empty relationships
Fix bug where imported materials with the same name as an existing material could be incorrectly assigned
Fix bug where IfcOpenShell selector utility was just broken
Fix bug where truncated material names can cause import failure

B by bitacovir on 22 Jul 2020 # +1 votes

Yay! The screenshot looks cool! With preset Eevee render engine features in Blender, BIM modelling could have real time texture materials visualisation on elements from the very beginning of the design process.

M by Moult on 10 Aug 2020 # +12 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.200810 has been released with another 50 new features and fixes. The BlenderBIM Add-on is 100% free and open source software that lets you author and document BIM data fully to ISO standards. It's built by the AEC community, for the AEC community. Get it today: https://blenderbim.org/

Highlights include new graphical interfaces for IFC COBie and IFC Patch. New IFC optimisation feature. Specify exchange requirements with BIMTester with improved auditing features. New quantity take-off tools.

New features:

Better command line interface for IFC COBie tool
IFC COBie now no longer creates CSVs if you only need an XLSX file
IFC COBie now supports the ODS format, as well as XLSX and CSV, for more interoperability
New GUI in the BlenderBIM Add-on to run IFC COBie
IFC Patch can now be used as a library as well as a CLI
New support for pythonocc-core 7.4.0
BIMTester now colour codes undefined/unspecified test lines
Check BIM project exchange requirements with the newly published "Project setup" MicroMVD
Check BIM project exchange requirements with the newly published "Geolocation" MicroMVD
IfcOpenShell utility module now lets you convert true north angles and IFC geolocation vectors
Improved documentation on what dependencies are used by the BlenderBIM Add-on
Check BIM project exchange requirements with the newly published "Element classes" MicroMVD
BIMTester can now explicitly audit NULL attributes and properties
New export support for IfcSweptDiskSolid for curves with no bevel profile geometry
Blank qto names are accomodated in invalid IFCs
When absolute coordinates are offset during an import, the offset is now recorded
Allow keyboard shortcuts for both import and export
Dimensions from MeasureIt-Arch addon are now supported in SVG drawing export
New feature to visualise IFC Diff changes
IfcOpenShell util.element.get_psets() now supports IfcComplexProperty
New IfcOpenShell utility function to replace attributes from one to another entity
New IFC Patch recipe to losslessly compress / optimise IFCs by recycling non-rooted elements, benchmarked with results similar to Solibri Optimiser (results may be slightly smaller or greater depending on the iterations run)
New UI in Blender to run IFC Patch recipes graphically
Check BIM project exchange requirements with the newly published "Geocoding" MicroMVD
New IFC Patch recipe to merge two IFC-SPF files into a single file
Quantity take-off tool now allows calculation of the depth (e.g. of an IfcSlab)
Quantity take-off tool now allows calculation of perimeter (e.g. of an IfcSlab)
Cleaned up object properties UI by splitting psets, qto, and structural relationships into their own panel
New quantity take-off utility to get the total length of selected edges
New support to import the area and volume unit settings of an IFC
When calculating quantities, they are now auto-converted into IFC project settings instead of metric units only
IFC CSV can now export type relationships
Simplfy GlobalId generation by automating it on attribute addition, and providing an inline refresh button
New quantity take-off utility to get the total area of selected faces
New quantity take-off utility to get the total volume of selected objects
New modeling utility to quickly add IfcOpeningElement relationships
Non-node-based materials now have support for transparency
IfcOpenShell updated, providing greater stability and geometric support for imports
IfcOpenShell Python now lets you check by_type() excluding subclasses
New support for exporting the latest IfcJSON format, with options for version 4 and version 5a, and compact / non-compact variants
Add a new blank material for use in generating drawings
Check BIM project exchange requirements with the newly published "Classifications" MicroMVD

New fixes:

Fix bug where IFC COBie fails on empty names of related objects from assemblies
Fix bug where IFC Clash would not run as a CLI, but only within Blender
Fix bug where IFC CSV incorrectly stores boolean data types
Fix bug where long, duplicate, material names fail to import
Fix bug where IFC2X3 files may not have coordinates reset properly when an IFC file has absolute coordinates
Fix import bug when getting a geometry type of an object with no representation attribute, like IfcGridAxis
Add shebangs, so that all CLI utilities can now be more reliably run on all systems
Fix import issue where some negative material IDs fail to import

R by ReD_CoDE on 10 Aug 2020 # +1 votes

@Moult this release motivated me again, good job

B by bitacovir on 11 Aug 2020 # +1 votes

The Addams Family's Mansion? XD

A by Arv on 13 Aug 2020, edited 13 Aug 2020 #

@Moult new features and updates looks very cool. i am stuck at blender28-bim-200525 for mac and not been able to update beyond that. i get the error message of ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'ifcopenshell.util'.

saw the post from @brunopostle to wipe off the addon folder. does this mean to delete the blenderbim folder inside the addon folder? deleting the blenderbim folder alone didnt work for me.

M by Moult on 13 Aug 2020 # +1 votes

@Arv This sounds like an issue of upgrading from a very old version of the add-on.

Old versions of the add-on was not packaged cleanly - this mean that there were some files that “spilled” outside the add-ons dir. These need to be cleaned up prior to upgrade.

Try this - go into your add-ons dir, and look for any of these files (not inside the blenderbim folder):


ifcopenshell/

OCC/

pystache/

svgwrite/

deepdiff/

jsonpickle/

lib/ # Note: this generally only exists on MacOS and Linux

ordered_set.py

pyparsing.py

If you see them, delete them. Then see it that helps. Subsequent upgrades will not have this problem any more.

D by duncan on 13 Aug 2020 #

@iosvarms take a look at what blenderbim (see above release notes) can do for quantity surveying/takeoff. I think FreeCAD tables/schedules can also do some things.

M by Moult on 29 Aug 2020, edited 29 Aug 2020 # +16 votes

This is the ONE YEAR MILESTONE RELEASE of the BlenderBIM Add-on! We're releasing v0.0.200829 with 70 new features and fixes. 389 people have taken the pledge for a more ethical built environment. It's our built environment, help support the BlenderBIM Add-on: 100% free and open source software that lets you author and document BIM data fully to ISO standards. It's built by the AEC community, for the AEC community. Get it today: https://blenderbim.org/

Highlights include improved IFC annotation and drawing generation, new quick architectural modeling tools, create schedules from IFCs, customised COBie outputs, and optimised IFC exports.

New features:

All CPU cores are now used for shapes in drawings generated from IFC. This leads to much faster drawing creation!
Users can now specify what objects should be cut in documentation with either a custom rule or with presets.
Adding a new representation subcontext when you haven't yet defined a body auto-adds a body subcontext and clones the mesh
New button for the camera to quickly open the relevant drawing
Export now has an automatic bounding box representation being generated
New dumb wall geometry creator tool
New dumb stair geometry creator tool
New dumb door geometry creator tool
New dumb slab geometry creator tool
New dumb window geometry creator tool
2D representations now support IfcIndexedPolyCurve so instead of just 2D curves you can have full 2D wireframes
New utility to quickly set object colours
New interface to manage different drawing styles
Drawing styles can now remember basic rendering settings and let you switch between them
New highly experimental DXF2IFC conversion script
Managing drawings now is done in a list instead of a dropdown for user convenience
You can now pick the vector CSS style and save it as a drawing style
Support for importing IfcGrid itself, not just the individual axes.
Importing IfcGridAxis now retain their UVW assignment and can store attributes
Support exporting IfcGrid and IfcGridAxis with all of its relationships
New grid creator tool for convenience
Doors now can have 2D annotation representation subcontext symbols auto generated
Windows now can have 2D annotation representation subcontext symbols auto generated
New button to edit the CSS style within Blender itself for convenience
Drawing styles can now store element filters to include / exclude elements in drawings
More robust footprint area calculation, specifically targeting better results for IfcSpace
Selecting multiple objects now lets you guess / fill out quantity sets in bulk
Enforce directories when selecting a MicroMVD for BIMTester for convenience
You can now purge project-specific IfcClassification hierarchies
Newly impored IfcClassification hierarchy for a project will show up immediately
IFC COBie will now launch the log as well as the spreadsheet when converting from IFC to spreadsheet
New more user friendly UI for sheet creation
Exports now auto detect curve / wireframe representations, so you no longer need to classify it manually
Native element support for importing IfcCircleProfileDef
Preset titleblock template now has a white background
You can now convert generated sheets to PDFs on the fly
New UI to manage schedules and link them to ODS spreadsheets (yes, this spreadsheet data can be generated from IFC too)
You can now convert an ODS spreadsheet into a vector schedule to be included on a sheet
Schedules can now be added to sheets
At export-time, the exported IFC is automatically considered for drawing generation, for convenience
You can now override the default COBie definition of a maintainable asset for both objects and object types
You can now specify custom IFC attribute mappings for COBie spreadsheet views
Support exporting tessellated polygonal face sets for much more efficient file sizes! (Suzanne shrinks from 84kb to 44kb)
Improve error reporting for BIMTester when it audits a list of IFC attributes
New dumb opening geometry creator tool
Native element support for exporting IfcCircleProfileDef
Grids in drawings now read from IfcGridAxis AxisTag attribute when available
Types are now automatically categorised in the project tree when assigned for the first time
Support IFC2X3 classification EditionDate CalenderDates
New utility to extract all IFC documentation for all COBie-defined maintainable assets
New utility to extract all relevant entity and enum descriptions from the IFC documentation
Creating drawing sheets now understand templates in any CSS unit
All SVG scales now are standardised to a human unit with improved spacing and placement.
Views are now placed within the titleblock border by default
Support for all known ODF units when creating schedules from different spreadsheet applications
Add support for imperial drawing scales
Add support for custom defined drawing scales
Add support for custom titleblocks
New preset title blocks for A1, A2, and A3 paper sizes
Drawing boundaries can now have different aspect ratios
Annotation tools are now in the viewport instead of properties tab for easier access
Drawings can now be associated with an IFC geometric subcontext target view to guide the drawing generation process
You can now generate annotation references for IfcBuildingStoreys
Bumped IfcOpenShell build, resulting in more reliable geometry processing during imports

New fixes:

Fix bug where parts of an aggregate are not placed relative to the whole in exports
Fix bug where some annotation tags won't extract data correctly from IFC
Fix bug where aggregate creation only works if the aggregate collection exists
Fix bug where predefined types were not correctly audited by BIMTester
Fix bug where mapped representations belonging to a context fails to import
Fix bug where disabling the add-on triggered a error message