Freecad to Blender best practice?

A forum dedicated to the Draft, Arch and BIM workbenches development.
Forum rules
Be nice to others! Respect the FreeCAD code of conduct!
User avatar
dimitar
Posts: 229
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2019 6:10 am
Contact:

Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by dimitar »

Looking for best tips for going to Blender from Freecad (and maybe back again). the Arch OBJ works great, but preserves no structure. gITF is a much smaller file that aims to preserve the structure but it comes in quite discombobulated.

Freecad model 16mb but with many links
FreeCAD_o9GqVq4tYD.png
FreeCAD_o9GqVq4tYD.png (298.68 KiB) Viewed 3629 times
Blender obj import - two walls objects are missing, but everything else is there.
blender_rA5rFnyQDt.png
blender_rA5rFnyQDt.png (355.69 KiB) Viewed 3629 times
Blender glTF - the export file size is quite small
blender_LCUodyLnlJ.png
blender_LCUodyLnlJ.png (394.9 KiB) Viewed 3629 times
IFC 4 with BlenderBIM? I tried exporting the IFC but first it took quite long, and then it failed.

Bimserver? I looked into it a bit, but i don't know how to install it or if it works with BlenderBIM, but an idea to have a live model constantly shared between the two (or even more apps) would be ideal!

also posted on community.osarch.org - https://community.osarch.org/discussion ... -practices
paullee
Veteran
Posts: 5098
Joined: Wed May 04, 2016 3:58 pm

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by paullee »

Noted @bitacovir commented at OSArch. Good to have peoples contribute and probably make it a mini-wiki :)

And please report bugs with detailed procedures to help debugging and improving, thanks :D


Have long not exported to Blender.

There are 2 export modules may try - a) Alias Mesh, b) Waterfront OBJ - Arch module. The latter to my memory would try to make coplanar triangles into unified face, but this is much slower.

I singled out the problematic wall and try exporting individually.


BTW, great model ! :D
User avatar
thomas-neemann
Veteran
Posts: 11801
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Osnabrück DE 🇩🇪
Contact:

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by thomas-neemann »

dimitar wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:29 pm ping
one possibility is ifc. I have had good results when I make a simple copy in part and then export it as an ifc, so far everything has always been complete. attributes are lost. In my opinion, attributes only work in closed-bim solutions and no ifc is used there
Gruß Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Thomas Neemann

https://www.youtube.com/@thomasneemann5 ... ry=freecad
User avatar
dimitar
Posts: 229
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2019 6:10 am
Contact:

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by dimitar »

thomas-neemann wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:09 am one possibility is ifc. I have had good results when I make a simple copy in part and then export it as an ifc, so far everything has always been complete. attributes are lost. In my opinion, attributes only work in closed-bim solutions and no ifc is used there
I tried IFC 4, but it failed to export and takes much much longer than obj, but it would be the most ideal solution, indeed.
User avatar
thomas-neemann
Veteran
Posts: 11801
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2020 6:03 pm
Location: Osnabrück DE 🇩🇪
Contact:

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by thomas-neemann »

dimitar wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:37 am ....takes much much longer than obj, ...
ifc becomes slow when there are many details like furniture etc in the drawing. when working with ifc you should use geometries that are as simple as possible
Gruß Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Thomas Neemann

https://www.youtube.com/@thomasneemann5 ... ry=freecad
paullee
Veteran
Posts: 5098
Joined: Wed May 04, 2016 3:58 pm

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by paullee »

dimitar wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:37 am I tried IFC 4, but it failed to export and takes much much longer than obj, but it would be the most ideal solution, indeed.
In fact, I want to ask this question again - any difference for you to consider exporting it as obj or ifc ? Or just use whichever works ?

yorik wrote: Ping
Seems BlenderBIM and FreeCAD use IFCOpenShell, so if bugs in IFCExport are fixed, would it be conceptually more suitable to export it as IFC to BlenderBIM ? (e.g. for better conservation of 'Building Information' in the model)

So maybe the resources should be documenting the bugs found, fixing them, adding supporting features in IFCExport ... for a better FC to Blender workflow ?
User avatar
dimitar
Posts: 229
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2019 6:10 am
Contact:

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by dimitar »

IFC is infinitely better as or preserves the structure and maybe to to the point where only updates can be brought forward.

I believe the issue might be with std_link arch objects. And then because std_links don't work that well with arch objects yet I have to group objects with std_part or plain old groups.
paullee
Veteran
Posts: 5098
Joined: Wed May 04, 2016 3:58 pm

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by paullee »

Indeed, I have reported a few issues about IFC export, Links etc.

See if you can single out the problematc object during IFCexport and report - e.g. select a Wall and try exporting.


By the way, seems I add a Group under a BldgPart, to circumvent some problem....
User avatar
yorik
Founder
Posts: 13640
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:16 pm
Location: Brussels
Contact:

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by yorik »

Honestly I haven't used links much yet in arch/BIM workflow so have not much idea yet on how to handle them at IFC export...
I'll add that on my todo list :) Can you guys give me some interesting ideas where you use app links mostly?
paullee
Veteran
Posts: 5098
Joined: Wed May 04, 2016 3:58 pm

Re: Freecad to Blender best practice?

Post by paullee »

yorik wrote: Tue Feb 01, 2022 11:35 am Can you guys give me some interesting ideas where you use app links mostly?
It comes to my mind at least 2 persons use it extensively :-

@F_Rosa - Vila Maltide (Villa?)
@ABeton - House

Probably @Bitacovir
Post Reply