Bonsai new release!

S by shanmama on 30 Aug 2020 # +2 votes

I like you every update. It looks like find an improvement giant for the AEC industry.

B by bitacovir on 30 Aug 2020 # +5 votes

Do you hear the people sing?

Singing the songs of angry men?

It is the music of the people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Somewhere beyond the barricade

Is there a world you long to see?

Then join in the fight

That will give you the right to be free!

M by Moult on 12 Sep 2020, edited 12 Sep 2020 # +19 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.200912 has been released with 50 new features and fixes. 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 multiprocessing import by default, smoother workflows for drawing generation, and improved MicroMVDs for OSArch certified IFC outputs.

Screenshot credits go to OpeningDesign's OpeningDetail project for open source construction detailing.

New features:

Creating drawings now works with OpenGL render mode, allowing for better wireframe / hidden line rendering
New default site boundary CSS style
Multiprocessing is now enabled by default. It's probably stable enough, so let's test it even more!
You can now export to DXF automatically when creating sheets
Nested IfcSpaces can now be imported
Reloading IFCs now detects openings and projection changes, meaning it's more robust
You can now set the viewport shadow from the sun position angle, useful for solar analysis
You can now set the georeferenced north from the Blender sun position
2D annotation now extracts from IFC files directly instead of Blender, and checks for bounding box intersection to determine which annotation to show
Switching cameras now also activates the correct drawing styles on the fly
You can now add arbitrary annotation to a drawing, not just from a set of presets
You can now store arbitrary IFC data (attributes, properties, quantities, and type relations) in the SVG data, per drawing style
You can now copy properties to selected object even if the property set doesn't exist yet
3 new default hatch styles for square hatches
New hatch pattern for demolition
Show error message if attempting to add a drawing to a sheet that hasn't been generated yet
You can now export quantities related to a spatial element, not just non-spatial elements
New debug panel lets you create shapes per STEP ID, useful for analysis of IFC geometric data
Dumb walls are now based on vertices by default, not edges, for faster, dumber, walls :)
You no longer need to select the entire project when exporting. If you have nothing selected, everything is exported to IFC. If you select things, only selected items will export.
New feature lets you select high polygon meshes to help pinpoint why IFC files are so huge (looking at you, Revit!)
You can now switch between drawings with one click from the properties panel in the 3D view
The drawing list can now be manually refreshed in case you are manually creating drawings
Stroke linecaps are now rounded. Nicer looking drawings, you know.
The preset for cut objects for overall plans now includes IfcSpace, as it's quite common
Text annotations in drawings can now be rotated
If the active object is a camera, a new temporary section plane will now match the camera
Text annotation now supports storing classes and IFC metadata in the SVG, like all other objects
Drawing dimensions now have support for imperial unit formatting
BIMTester can now audit for high polygon IFC geometry
Implement new Model Federation MicroMVD in BIMTester
Drawing styles can now store settings for render type, outlines, shadows, and lighting
You can now add openings by selecting the filling element, not just the opening element, for convenience.
The plan representation context is now exported by default. Less steps for 2D documentation!
Add support for exporting site and building addresses for IfcSite and IfcBuilding
Remove some deprecated representation item operators in the mesh properties panel
Creating drawings is now much easier with less manual workarounds
Users can now specify their own app to open SVGs and PDFs
Bump to the latest IfcOpenShell, for more robust geometry processing

New fixes:

Fix bug where adding text didn't work with the new scale system
Improved material name canonicalisation, which fixes some import failures
Fix bug where 2D annotation curves weren't probably exported
Fix bug where plan relative level annotations were not projected correctly onto drawings
Fix bug where enum properties wouldn't be exported
Fix inaccurate and incorrect conversion to imperial units in quantity take off
Fix bug where sometimes you can't add a representation context to an object
Fix incorrect auditing of geolocation MicroMVD in BIMTester
Fix bug where some shapes that use Blender modifiers are incorrectly detected as a wireframe
Fix incorrect auditing of geocoding MicroMVD in BIMTester
Fix bug where multiple presentation style assignments in IFC2X3 would get ignored in import

S by swathi on 14 Sep 2020, edited 14 Sep 2020 #

I think measureit-arch 4.5 addon is not compatible with blenderbim.

M by Moult on 14 Sep 2020, edited 14 Sep 2020 #

@swathi you need to use the latest version of MeasureIt-Arch, and ensure that the add-on dir is has an underscore between MeasureIt and the Arch word, not a dash. Ping @kcress .

S by swathi on 14 Sep 2020 #

I use this version of addon and I am getting this message

But when I disable the Measure_it addon it is working

M by Moult on 25 Oct 2020 # +15 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.201025 has been released with 33 new features and fixes. 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 clash detection results, IFC CSV can now modify classes, and new basic set of visual programming nodes for IFC and Blender Sverchok.

Screenshot credits go to Bruno Postle's Homemaker project.

New features:

Exporting now sets the IFC file if unset for convenience
IFC CSV now supports modifying IFC classes
You can now set facet tolerances when importing
Experimental native roundtripping mode, for experimentation only, with style support
Visit wiki link in the add-on now points to specific BlenderBIM Add-on pages
Material property sets are now imported
IFCClash now optimistically skips coincident collisions, resulting in less false positives
Increased maximum contact threshold for IFC Clash allows clash detection to work for larger projects
IFC clash now uses iterator when a filter is specified for faster clashing
Auto add owner histories when the user exports IFC2X3 if none is specified
Classification trees are now stored in the Blend file, increasing portabilty of project data
16 New IFC visual programming nodes for Sverchok, including:
Read IFC node
Create IFC node
Write IFC node
Create Entity node
By ID node
By Guid node
By Type node
By Query node
Select Blender Objects node
Create Shape node
IFC Add node
IFC Remove node
Generate IFC Guide node
Read entity node
Get property node
Get attribute node

New fixes:

Fix bug where spatial elements with a representation would import twice
Fix bug where box representations don't respect project units
Fix IFC clash bug where spatial elements are unaffected by user filters
Fix bug where you can't export if a classification is only applied to a type or spatial element
Fix export bug where you can't export if project units aren't explicitly set

M by Moult on 15 Nov 2020 # +13 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.201115 has been released with 52 new features and fixes. 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 material and presentation layer support, improved geolocation support, and many more vendor workarounds.

New features:

New import model offset workaround for Bentley ProStructures
Implement workaround when importing invalid aggregates from Bentley ProStructures
You can now specify user coordinates to the ResetAbsoluteCoordinates recipe
The ResetAbsoluteCoordinates now attempts to avoid changing placements but only focuses on geometry coordinates, preventing coordinate double ups in tricky patching situations
Support importing IFC2X3 documentation information & reference dates, times, and file format mimetypes
The validator now validates whether you are using abstract IFC classes
Auto set file format settings when creating drawings in case you are doing your own renders as well
Add support for multiple dimension objects per view
New ability to round to nearest X for metric and imperial units
New drop down UI to select area and volume units (thanks theoryshaw!)
Log error in case users try to export an abstract class
Coding style standardised to help onboard new developers (thanks htlcnn!)
Add support for case insensitive file units when importing
New interface to manage presentation layers (e.g. CAD layers) in IFC (thanks Krande!)
You can now add / delete attributes in bulk by selecting multiple prior to adding
New utility class for Python coders to query which psets / qtos apply to an IFC class
You can now add / delete psets in bulk
You can now add / delete qtos in bulk
Add tooltips describing how to set external commands in preferences window
Improve intuitiveness of reassigning the IFC class of the active object
New IfcPatch recipe to extract elements into a separate IFC
New UI for material, material layer / constituent / profile set management
You can now convert from global to local coordinates
New category for IFC export workarounds for RIB iTwo costing program
New IFC workaround to export only triangulated geometry to Navisworks
IfcSverchok "By Type" node now has a dropdown UI to help select classes
You can now export attributes of the material layer set and constituent set itself
BIMTester is now more forgiving to run from any directory (thanks berndhahnebach!)
New IFC inspector interface to help debug, inspect IFC data, and be a teaching aid for IFC
IFC inspector supports expanding attribute lists and following a breadcrumb trail of nested references
Add import support for all attributes of the material layer set and constituent set itself
Support exporting more label metadata for material profile sets
Improved export support for presentation layers which assigns to representations (thanks Krande!)
New import support for presentation layers
Deprecated IFC material lists are now auto upgraded into constituent sets
Types with no geometry can now have material data imported
New workaround for incorrectly geolocated Revit files to auto detect the geolocation
Blender materials are now clearly consolidated into either materials or styles
New UI to manage material property sets instead of needing to use external CSV files
IFCCSV now continues executing even though it fails to change an attribute
IFCCSV now skips GlobalIds it cannot find
Now materials that aren't also used as a styled item can be exported independently
New IfcOpenShell, with many new bugfixes

New fixes:

Fix bug where attributes wouldn't import for some IFC classes
Fix bug where non uniform translations of spatial elements are exported with strange transformations
Fix error message when you switch drawing styles and a style it was referencing was deleted
Fix bug where Views wasn't allowed to be in the IfcProject which prevented round-tripping
Don't crash if you get invalid IFCs with missing attributes (thanks aothms!)
Fix bug where setting north angle from a geolocated IFC was wrong
Fix BIMTester error when creating a report with empty steps (thanks berndhahnebach!)
Fix bug where importing multiple grids with the same name fails
Fix bug where a styled item could be incorrectly assigned if an element has more than one context

M by Meetlat on 15 Nov 2020 #

Great work, a new Technical WIP Demo would be appreciated

C by CGR on 15 Nov 2020 #

Nice!!!! Cool with layers!

J by JanF on 15 Nov 2020 #

@CGR said:

Nice!!!! Cool with layers!

I'm not happy about this. Does anyone know why do layers exist in ifc? One of the few things I really like about Revit is that they dared to drop layers.

M by Meetlat on 15 Nov 2020, edited 15 Nov 2020 # +1 votes

I can imagine that layers could work like Archicad. They use it for dimensioning/anotation. So that the 2d info for schematic 1:200 drawing has a layer. But also the 1:50 2d info has a layer. That way you can instantly switch between the level of detail you want tot show. Although that is what i remember of my test run with Archicad. Also Revit does have a kind of layer function, it has design options. Really useful for testing for example different façade options. The new layer function could also used for that? Also you could use it to quickly hide parts of the building or surrounding

How do you guys planning on using the new layer function?

M by Moult on 15 Nov 2020 # +1 votes

@JanF I guess the thing to point out is the layers in IFC are not "new", in fact, you may open a lot of existing IFC files and discover that there are actually layers hidden inside, just that most viewing software did not expose it. Layers are optional and do not replace IFC classes.

Layers were developed by @krande - so I'm sure he can elaborate on the usecase that prompted development :)

However, I can think of a few usecases myself:

Many BIM software still work with a layer based approach and have poor IFC support. This results in an IFC with poor IFC classifications, but rich layer data. This layer data can be used to help clean up the IFC.
Layers can be used to store styling information, especially for 2D annotation, where the classes are less meaningful, especially after buildingSMART went ahead and deleted 90% of them.
Some government bodies and older systems have a contractual requirement to comply with a CAD layer standard, so that BIM models and older CAD models can interoperate.

@Meetlat good point about the design options! IFC currently has very poor support for design options, so layers may be used to the rescue!

K by krande on 16 Nov 2020, edited 16 Nov 2020 #

@JanF @Moult The need arose from a couple of things. One issue was the fact that layers is used extensively in our primary CAD system and we needed a way of transferring that information through IFC. Without having an option to hide certain elements by default we ended up with a ton of doubly defined geometries or other non-physical geometry volumes (no-go zones, etc..). The IfcPresentationLayers seemed to me to be a decent approach for setting certain elements in a defaulted "hidden" state. I would be happy to explore better alternatives if anyone know of some alternatives for grouping elements in IFC with similar abilities? You might ask why we have doubly defined geometries in the first place? Well one issue I recently encountered was specifically with built up girders. I wanted them to be represented as a IfcBeam so that I can access all the necessary attributes needed for my structural analysis using beam elements (start, end positions, cardinality point, etc..) whilst fabrication would need the built up girders represented as individual IfcPlates given that the girder is welded up from individual plates in the first place.

Personally I do not have any strong feelings one way or the other towards IfcPresentationLayer in itself (which two-three weeks ago I did not know existed :p). If someone know of better alternatives that provide the same level of functionality within the IFC ecosystem I would gladly change :)

R by ReD_CoDE on 16 Nov 2020 # +1 votes

I think it's better we gather all "use cases" and see which approaches, and which IFC classes and attributes are suitable

Personally, I think layers are good and even can become better

It's about a year I want to see some new features in BlenderBIM that opens doors to do "layer-based design" which is a normal approach in facade design

J by JanF on 16 Nov 2020 #

Any decent IFC viewer should be able to filter elements by any property. What do you need a layer property for? It has no meaning whatsoever. If it is a design option, simply make a "design option" property, if you need some elements to be hidden make a visibility property.

If you have different versions of the same element they should be representations.

If you want to send the model and force a particular view with a particular settings on the viewer can't you just send a bcf with it?

M by Moult on 16 Nov 2020 # +1 votes

@JanF sort of. In theory the layer information (name / visibility / frozen / etc) could be turned into Pset_CadLayer and a bunch of the spec removed. There is one technical difference between the two solutions, which may or may not describe the logic that buildingSMART went through when they made this decision.

In the pset solution, psets in IFC are assigned to elements, therefore an entire element can be assigned to one layer, but not more, as psets cannot be repeated.

In the dedicated assignment class solution (i.e. the way it is now), the assignment class actually does not reference an element. Instead, it references a representation, or a representation item. This has a few implications. The first is that theoretically you can assign a rep or rep item to more than one layer, which is not possible with psets. The second implication is that if you assign to a rep, you can have one context in one layer, and another context in another layer. E.g. the body geometry can be in a layer Foo and the clearance outline can be in a layer Bar. The third implication is that if you assign to a rep item, you can have one portion of the geometry in one layer, and another portion of the geometry in another layer. E.g. from a single Window element, the frame can be in one layer, and glazing in another.

All this highly granular layer assignment make a little more sense when you consider that unlike a pset solution, a dedicated class lets you reference a layer style. This includes line weights, stroke patterns, and so on. The obvious rebuttal is that the same thing can be achieved with materials and regular style assignments ... but ah well.

Personally, I'm with you. I don't want to use layers, and I don't like this overcomplicated assignment / layer style hierarchy. I thought I'd simply point out that there are technical differences between the two approaches. Also, most IFC viewers ignore layers, it's nice to have a FOSS one that supports it well, even if we don't use it to author files.

R by ReD_CoDE on 16 Nov 2020 #

@JanF, Dion mentioned a simple example of layered-design:

E.g. from a single Window element, the frame can be in one layer and glazing in another.

For instance, Revit has limited support of layered walls, you can define wall layers, but it's really hard and time-consuming and even sometimes impossible to build complicated/composite wall layers, with its associated parts, like frames, bolts, ...

So, we need some layers, or planes, and also some reference (snapping) points in Blender and BlenderBIM to be able to build such walls that have patterns that those patterns repeat when we draw/put a wall from point A to point B

S by stephen_l on 17 Nov 2020 # +3 votes

So, we need some layers, or planes, and also some reference (snapping) points in Blender and BlenderBIM to be able to build such walls that have patterns that those patterns repeat when we draw/put a wall from point A to point B

It's way harder than you may think, eg what happen arround windows / doors, for wood framed walls as sample, you must take account of openings to spread structural beams in credible fashion, things like that require another level than what blender native array is able to handle.

A "Rule" based entity like some kind of "Rail clone" probably will solve such issues, but as it require multiple entity interaction is pretty hard to implement properly.

R by ReD_CoDE on 17 Nov 2020 #

@stephen_l some months ago we (you, Dion, and I) talked about this in the webchat, and you're right (especially about the rule-based notion)

Some months ago I had another idea, today I have another, because Blender is going to improve in some areas that are important to me, like "volumetric rendering", like OpenVDB, and also subdivision area, like OpenSubDiv

Soon we will focus more on OpenSubDiv which has the potential to open some new doors

R by ReD_CoDE on 18 Nov 2020 #

@stephen_l just a question, Blender uses which scene graph method? Is it a custom scene graph/tree?

M by Meetlat on 20 Nov 2020, edited 20 Nov 2020 # +8 votes

Latest version of BlenderBIM is discussed at BIMvoice:

Moult shows the use of IFC Debug feature for advanced inspection of IFC data. I learned that you can read IFC files like text and use the #number to inspect specific data within Blender. He also shows the IFC Object Material function, explaining the four different ways to set material properties. At the end Sverchok is used to filter an IFC for data using the IFC nodes. Nice video, helps understanding the use of the add-on a lot! Thanks!

M by Moult on 21 Nov 2020 # +3 votes

Thanks for sharing @Meetlat! Credits go to @condur for helping produce the video! We will be releasing a new one every week. I think next week's one will be a back to basics.

M by Moult on 30 Jul 2024 # +1 votes

@Genaro thanks, fixed!

M by Moult on 7 Dec 2020, edited 7 Dec 2020 # +19 votes

BlenderBIM Add-on v0.0.201207 has been released with 50 new features and fixes. 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 drastically improved material, geometry, and context IFC round-tripping, and stabilisation of the new material system.

Image credits go to the Opening Design Aalseth Residence team - available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

New features:

Add support for IFC2X3 material data imports
Vendor workaround for "treat styled item as material" now deprecated, as new material and style system is much better
Add support for importing IFC material description and category attributes
Native element roundtripping now supports layer assignments
Native representation roundtripping now auto-fixes representations that aren't using contexts properly
Improved packaging and refactoring for BIMTester makes it easier for other devs, including FreeCAD integration (thanks berndhahnebach!)
Native geometry roundtripping now decouples surface styles
Native geometry roundtripping now lets you change styles independently from geometry
New experimental utility to upgrade IFC2X3 to IFC4, and downgrade IFC4 to IFC2X3 automatically
Native geometry roundtripping now works across different IFC versions, so you can roundtrip and change schema at the same time
Exporting classifications to different IFC schemas (including graceful downgrading) is now supported
Support graceful downgrading of material definitions from IFC4 to IFC2X3
Support built-in vendor workaround for importing invalid IFC properties coming from ArchiCAD
Roundtripping geometry now works for geometry which has one to many relationships between geometry and styles
Handle and gracefully accept invalid IfcGrid elements coming from Revit. Sigh.
New experimental support for Non-IFC, Blender object clash detection
IfcOpeningElements now only show as wireframes by default for convenience
Roundtripping now enables openings by default, which works much better with the latest Blender boolean modifier
The object property sets panel now also shows inherited psets from the construction type
Improved UI for psets and qtos with collapsible panels and improved readibility
New UI that shows inherited materials from the construction type if available
Add support for exporting material sets for construction types
All representation contexts are now round-tripped in native roundtrip mode, not just the body context.
New powerful and intuitive smart clash grouping feature (thanks vinnividivicci!)
The Optimise IFC patch recipe is now packaged with the BlenderBIM Add-on
The ExtractElements IFC patch recipe is now packaged with the BlenderBIM Add-on, letting you extract a subset of elements from a larger IFC file
Dumb grids are now auto placed in an IfcSite if it can detect one
Drawings now have classes for material layer set names
Improved usage descriptions for IFCCSV to help new users
You can now smart tag material attributes in drawings
New utility function to check is_a() in the schema without needing a file first
Auto add the currently loaded IFC when creating a drawing for the first time
You can now apply drawing styles to elements with material set usages
New vendor workaround for exporting to the DESITE BIM application
The Migrate IFC patch recipe is now packaged with the BlenderBIM Add-on, letting you upgrade or downgrade IFC versions
IFCs with invalid attributes are now gracefully exported with warnings when exporting to a schema which doesn't allow it to let the user fix it easily
You can now bake parametric geometry into meshes

New fixes:

Fix bug where no colour is set if only a styled item has a style but a material has no representation
Fix default category to none, not load bearing, in case we import IFC2X3 where this property doesn't exit
Fix bug where a material wouldn't get assigned for multiple mapped representations
Fix warnings in copy attribute to selection tool
Fix import bug where some IfcOpeningElements aren't placed in the correct openings collection
Fix regression where the section cutting plane doesn't work unless you've selected an object
Fix bug where a drawing can't be created with a file that uses material set usages
Fix issue where invalidly declared representation contexts from other vendors can confuse drawing creation
Fix bug where sometimes thes IFC class and product dropdowns get out of sync
Fix import bug where duplicate material names with accents fail to import
Fix bug where some aggregates can cause drawing generation to fail
Fixed example script in the IfcOpenShell Qt GUI viewer
Fix bug where spatial elements didn't get styles exported correctly