This is part 8 of a series of posts about getting BIM data into Unity. In this post, we’ll discuss IFC as a transfer format towards Unity. As with the previous post, this is not a coding post, although hints and examples are provided. Open BIM and IFC Everybody who ever met me or heard me present on a conference or BIM-lecture will not be surprised to hear that I’m a strong believer in the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), an open standard, with already two versions published as an ISO standard, being IFC2x2 and IFC4 (but surprisingly not IFC2x3 which is widely used). In the ideal world, this would be the format to use to transfer BIM data into another environment, such as Unity. So what are our options? Looking in the Unity Asset Store Assimp is a library which supports multiple formats, including IFC. https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/modeling/trilib-unity-model-loader-package-91777 I did a few attempts, but alas without any success. It is possib
"This indicates that it is not strictly BIM", what do you mean by that?
ReplyDeleteI mean that by allowing many different formats, this software is more generic than purely BIM. It loads DWG and DGN files and allows them to be added to the same project. The video overviews on the site indicate this: "clip planes", "saved views", "add notes", "search and zoom to objects".
ReplyDeleteThis indicates that it is primarily a CAD file viewer, but with support for BIM models.
I think it is an interesting software, but as it is Windows-only, it is a hassle to use it in OSX.
Your statement: "..by allowing many different formats, this software is more generic than purely BIM" doesn't really make any sense either. What would you determine is 'strictly BIM'? My understanding is that BIM is the process of combining models from different disciplines in order to extract information or resolve potential on site issues. Is't that exactly what Tekla BIMsight does?
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in your definition of BIM
ReplyDeleteBIM REVIEWS (WWW.BIMREVIEWS.COM) is a new Consumer / User Review Blog that lets you review & rank the class of Software known as "BIM Software." We want to hear your opinion because there is value in the collective input of past & present users of this emerging class of tools.
ReplyDeleteFrom my point-of-view, Tekla is a model viewer, supporting BIM files. It seems to fit into a BIM work flow and we might be using it in the near future, in a project evolving around communicating project information using BIM.
ReplyDeleteWhy I don't see this as a strictly BIM viewer (but I might be wrong) is that the functionality seems to revolve around generic viewing and not specific BIM-functionality... Let me explain: is it possible to define queries based on building semantics (e.g. filter columns on the second floor that are at least 2 m high).
So far, it seems to allow adding some notes, toggling visibility of objects (by layer? by function? by custom properties?).
I would like to understand more fully in how far you can extract information and do something with it? E.g. generate a listing?
Right now, to do such things, you need specialized BIM software (e.g. ArchiCAD, Revit, Solibri Model Checker) which can really help you dive into the model.
Nice and useful free BIM Toll
ReplyDelete