Import IFC files to Blender with IfcOpenShell

What exactly is an IFC file, and why someone working with architectural visualization would like to import IFC files to Blender? An IFC file is standard file format that can be used to share data generated by BIM tools like Revit, VectorWorks and ArchiCAD. It was created by the IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability) and can be really helpful to put complex projects into Blender, to work on the visualization of projects.

With IfcOpenShell we can download an Add-on for Blender called IfcBlender, and guess what? We will be able to import IFC files to Blender! If you want to give it a try, just go visit the site project and download it right now!

Thanks to @bitacovir for the tip!

Comments

Milad Thaha
June 11, 2011 Log in to Reply

Does this mess up the geometry like when importing from sketchup?
James Robinson
June 27, 2011 Log in to Reply

This looks interesting… I’ve tried to install it a couple of times to no effect. Was installation straightforward for you?
Thomas
November 16, 2011 Log in to Reply

Hi Allan,

Thank you so much for writing about IfcOpenShell. A lot of time has passed since you wrote the article. So just some additional info for you and your readers:

We now have regularly updated builds on GraphicAll too: http://graphicall.org/aothms
Feel free to drop by at our forums to discuss any problems you might have: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ifcopenshell/forums

Best,
Thomas