Exploring an IFC model ====================== We're going to load an existing IFC model and explore some common properties most users will be interested in. If you don't have an IFC model available, here's a small one for your convenience provided by the Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics (IAI) / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. It's in German, so you may need to use some creativity when reading the data :) .. container:: blockbutton `Download sample IFC `__ .. seealso:: You can find more sample models online in the `OSArch Open Data Directory `__ Loading a model --------------- Blender's interface is divided into panels. The main **Viewport** panel shows 3D geometry. The top right **Outliner** panel shows a tree of geometric objects. The bottom right **Properties** panel shows data and relationships. .. image:: blenderbim-layout.png The **Properties** panel has tabs to switch between different types of properties. Make sure you have the **Scene Properties** tab activated, and find the **IFC Project** subpanel. Click on the **Load Project** and browse to your ``.ifc`` file. .. image:: properties-loadproject.png After loading, you will see the model appear in the **Viewport** panel. .. image:: example-project.png Let's take a look at the **IFC Project** subpanel again. It shows the loaded filename, as well as the **IFC Schema**. There are two commonly seen **IFC Schema** versions: IFC2X3 and IFC4. Checking the **IFC Schema** is important because it has an impact on what BIM data may be stored. IFC4 is the newer version and it is recommended to use IFC4 models as it has significantly more BIM capabilities compared to IFC2X3. .. tip:: Blender's interface is highly customisable. Panels, panel types, colours, sizes, and tabs may be edited to suit your workflow. Navigating a model in 3D ------------------------ To navigate, can use the **Navigate Gizmo** on the top right corner of the **Viewport** panel. Click and drag on the coloured axes to **Orbit**, click and drag on the magnifying glass to **Zoom**, and click and drag on the hand icon to **Pan**. You can also click on the grid icon to switch between perspective and orthographic view. To switch to a top view, front view, or side view, click the relevant axis on the **Navigate Gizmo**. .. image:: navigate-gizmo.png You can also use your mouse to navigate. Hover your mouse over the **Viewport** panel and click and drag the Middle Mouse Button (``MMB``) to **Orbit**. Scroll the mousewheel to **Zoom**, and use ``Shift-MMB`` to **Pan**. If you have a numpad, you can use the numpad keys to quickly switch to top, front, or side view. Use ``7`` for top view, ``1`` for front view, and ``3`` for side view. .. warning:: Blender's hotkeys are context sensitive. This means that a hotkey has a different meaning depending on the panel your mouse cursor is hovering over. If you press ``7`` to go to top view, make sure your mouse cursor is over the **Viewport** panel. Be very careful where your mouse is, or you might press a hotkey and it will have unintended consequences! If you click on an object, such as a wall in the **Viewport** panel, you can zoom to the selected object by clicking on ``View > Frame Selected``. The hotkey is the ``.`` button on the numpad. After zooming into an element, when you **Orbit** the 3D view will rotate around the center of that element. You can also zoom to all objects in the project by clicking on ``View > Frame All``. .. image:: frame-selected.png Another good way to navigate is by flying or walking around similar to a video game. Choose ``View > Navigation > Walk Navigation``, or use the ``Shift-``` hotkey (the backtick key is usually to the left of the number 1 on the keyboard). With **Walk Navigation** enabled, use the ``WASD`` keys and the mouse to move around like a video game. You can use the ``Shift`` key to switch between moving fast and slow. If you scroll with the mousewheel, it will adjust the speed that you move at. Sometimes, you want to look through objects. You can toggle **X-Ray Mode** by pressing the button on the top right of the **Viewport** panel. The hotkey is ``Alt-Z``. .. image:: x-ray-mode.png .. tip:: Blender has lots of hotkeys to do things quickly. These can take time to learn but it is worth it as you will be much faster. These hotkeys can be customised in Blender's preferences. Overview of all objects ----------------------- The **Outliner** panel on the top right shows a hierarchy of all the currently loaded physical **Objects** in your IFC project. These **Objects** correlate to what you can see in the **Viewport** panel. Every **Object** in the **Outliner** represents an IFC **Element**. These **Objects** have a name with the pattern ``Class/Name``. The class prefix represents the type of object, and the name is the name of the object. Examples of classes you will see are ``IfcBuilding``, or ``IfcWall``. This naming convention makes it easy to quickly spot types of objects. .. image:: outliner.png Objects are organised in a hierarchy. By default, this hierarchy represents a breakdown of spaces, from large spaces such as a site and a building, down to smaller spaces like building storeys and room spaces. The hierarchy will always begin with an **IfcProject** object. You can click on the triangle to toggle the hierarchy. .. tip:: In large projects with deep hierarchies, you can ``Shift-LMB`` click the triangle to recursively toggle the hierarchy. You can also click and drag the ``MMB`` to pan left and right. When there are lots of objects, you can type a name in the filter box to quickly identify objects by name or type. Clicking on an object in the **Outliner** panel also selects the corresponding object in the **Viewport** panel. A good strategy to find objects is to then use ``View > Frame Selected`` to zoom to it in the **Viewport**. Viewing element classes ----------------------- TODO Viewing attributes and properties --------------------------------- TODO Viewing construction types -------------------------- TODO Viewing materials ----------------- TODO