OpenBIM Manufacturer Content
This page is unfinished. Feel free to help the project by sharing your knowledge about this subject.
Introduction
OpenBIM is all about making access to data and interoperability easy and lossless. Manufacturer content, such as you can find online at sites like BIMobject, typically offer files to designers authored in proprietary formats specifically for an intended software platform. A better solution would be the exclusive use of Open Formats.
File formats
Proprietary Formats
- RFA (Revit Family) files suitable for Autodesk Revit
- SKP files design for Trimble SketchUp
- 3DS (3D max) designed for Autodesk 3D Studio Max
- GSM files designed for Graphisoft ArchiCAD
- Drawing (DWG) files designed for Autodesk AutoCAD, but widely supported
- Drawing Exchange Format (DXF) files designed for exchange with Autodesk AutoCAD, and widely supported
- FBX files
- Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) files designed to be cross platform
- OBJ files
- STL files
- STEP files
(descriptions of these file formats should be expanded)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_10303-21
Open Formats
Selecting a file format
Each file format has different strengths and weaknesses. This articles focuses on interoperability and use of open formats.
There are several advantages in using Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) as a format for manufacturer content.
- There is some ability to store some parametric geometry
- IFC is an a widely supported open file format
- All the information contained in an IFC file is available to the owner of the file
There are also some disadvantages to using IFC
- Each geometric object can only have one material
- Parametric controls are limited
Storing object data
BuildingSMART_International has developed the BuildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) as a multi lingual standardized description framework for object data.
Example
The following section (and this whole page) is to document an ongoing project and will be updated as the project progresses. Contact Duncan Lithgow if you have some input you think is relevant (or just edit this page).
A manufacturer will often think of asking a consultant they have worked with on projects to make some content they can share with other consultants. Typically this will then be offered in the format of the consultant company, often this will be the dominant software platform for that type of content in that region.
In this example the client has asked for Revit Families of their zip screen / sun screen. As a supporter of cross platform solutions, and to support the client in widening the market for their product, one would want to make the digital asset available to multiple software platforms. In this case the targets are
- Autodesk Revit
- Trimble SketchUp
- Graphisoft ArchiCAD
- McNeil Rhinoceros 3D
Candidate file formats and criteria are
| Format | Open Format? | Support | Stores metadata | Stores materials | Stores parametric controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GSM | No | ArchiCAD | Yes (proprietary) | Yes (proprietary) | Yes (proprietary) |
| IFC | Yes | ArchiCAD, Autodesk Revit, Blender, FreeCAD, Rhino, SketchUp, Tekla, and over 300 other software. | Yes (ISO-compliant) | Yes (ISO-compliant) | Basic (ISO-compliant) |
| RFA | No | Revit, bimrv | Yes (proprietary) | Yes (proprietary) | Yes (proprietary) |
| DWG | No | Most proprietary CAD, not compatible with most open source CAD | Basic (proprietary) | Basic (proprietary) | No |
| DXF | Yes | Supported by all that support DWG, plus all open source CAD | Basic | Basic | No |
| STL | Yes | Blender, FreeCAD, Rhino, SketchUp | No | Possible, but inconvenient | No |
| STEP | Yes | Good | ? | ||
| OBJ | Yes | Good | ? | ||
| FBX | No | Good | ? |
