IFC 4.3 Testfile from Vectorworks - varying results ......

Z by zoomer on 27 Mar 2025, edited 28 Mar 2025 # +2 votes

I am again a bit testing import/export collaboration between my Apps.

I used an older VW demo file, played a bit with it, did some more IFC tagging and exported in IFC 4.3 (as higher numbers are better, you know). It is a single Story modern classic residential house, IFC size about 23 MB

Now I have varying results importing it elsewhere ....

Upload to Speckle fails completely. Bricscad is really fast and pretty complete, but misses the Roof Slab !?

In Bonsai I get lots of Blender Crashes, different Warnings, Furniture missing completely/empty, Attic covering (was "Profile extruded along Path) missing, Columns missing, Windows missing, ..... lots of "empty" Empties :)

Can't exclude that VW IFC 4.3 exports are total crap, but wonder why every importer has its individual problems. So if anything is missing in one App is available in another though.

So if anyone more competent is willing to test that file, I'll attach it.

(Had to compress it as a Zip File - 5 MB now)

That is how the original looks :

Z by zoomer on 28 Mar 2025, edited 28 Mar 2025 # +1 votes

This is what I get in Bonsai :

(I switched off Roof, Ceiling and Spaces)

Lots of "empty" Empties ......

This is Bricscad :

Looks like pretty much everything came in - except the Roof Slab. What you see is the Ceiling Coverage below the Slab.

Z by zoomer on 28 Mar 2025, edited 28 Mar 2025 # +1 votes

Last but not least .... OpenIFCViewer.

Looks like it does not like/show the flipped faces of the terrain, (with backface culling OFF everything visible)

but as far as I can see, really everything there. (OK, one Chair partly broken ....)

Z by zoomer on 28 Mar 2025 # +2 votes

OK, I took the IFC from Vectorworks, which I had imported into Bricscad .... (which BTW provided a long import log showing tons of IFC issues) ..... (the one with the missing Roof Slab) ..... to do some geometry cleanup and repair.

Then I re-exported that cleaner Model, again as 4.3, but now from Bricscad, which seems to produce far better IFC exports!

Now Speckle finally loads that IFC (They just released a new IFC upload !),

and in Blender/Bonsai it also loads and now looks much better and complete - which is great :

But as e.g. OpenIFCViewer was nevertheless able to open that crappy IFC Export nearly 100% complete, I think my crappy VW IFC Exports, are still a great testing resource ... to try to make Bonsai more error tolerant and robust for not so perfect inputs.