nering

Now, that makes me sad - it takes my machine about 2 - 2.5 hours to go through each floor. And, VW crashes after floor 10 or 13 - just a few storeys short of finishing. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. But the export process looks exactly the way you described - blank IF export window (would be cool if it showed progress bar) with the plans being refreshed all the time.

Can anyone post a screen shot of what it looks like when IFC export is in progress? Mine is just blank and non-responsive. VW2009 if possible.

Converting to generic solids made the file 100 MB instead of 180 MB, but that is still too big. I'll try simplifying next time. Maybe I just need a bigger, better, newer machine...

So, I am trying to create a solid addition or subtraction, but regardless of the size of the final product and it's complexity, the more add/subtract solids command I use, the bigger the file gets. SO, the 30' square piece of waffle slab is 187MB, but a 180' square piece is only 24MB. Obviously, I started out by creating a big slab and then subtracted as needed to suit the conditions. Is there a way to make the file smaller? Purging and copying into another file, only make the file bigger...

Thank you so much! I knew it was going to be easy...

How do you get rid of color layers in viewports? I have been using the color layers for reference, but now that it's time to print normal drawings, I can't find a way of getting rid of color layers in viewports. I changed the document preferences to have no colors for layers, but viewports still have them. Do I really have to recreate the viewports along with annotations, etc.? It makes perfect sense to be able to turn the color layer option on and off in viewports as well as design layers... Any ideas?

I got it worked out. Turns out I had to enter "Layer" in the spreadsheet field and "=L" in database field. Thank you.

Thank you Pat. The =L command didn't work for some reason though... Gave me the: "?Result?". I tried =ActiveLayer, but it didn't get me anywhere...

Is there a way to quickly add up ACT ceiling areas? I tried creating a schedule, but there is no record for area? Wouldn't it be good to have a similar record list attached to ceiling grid tool, as in case of spaces? Auto-calc areas, etc.? VW2009 doesn't even add up the ceiling grid areas if you select them by layer (I have 12 floors to deal with), Object Info only shows area of one ceiling grid Maybe I am missing something very obvious... Any suggestions?

Select 3D polygons and use "Add Solids" command (Model-Add solids). Shortcvut is "Ctrl+Alt+A" in Windows and "Cmd+Option+A" in Mac versions.

The IFC export/import in VW2009 summed up issues I have encountered so far: -The stairs default to straight run regardless of their original configuration, -The glass loses transparency, -The walls all default to 6" thickness, (but seem to show up fine in Solibri...) -Ceilings disappear, -Spaces between columns get filled with walls, -All classes disappear. Bottom line - we have a fully drawn 13-story model that does not seem to work very well. I wonder if anyone works with both Revit and VW? Is the Revit IFC import as problematic as VW IFC import?

150 mm is pretty much the same as 6". People in Maryland must get awfully cold between those thin walls Thanks for the tip, I tried Solibri Viewer - the walls did retain their thickness, components, etc. Hopefully it will work out for our consultants in Revit MEP...

Any suggestions on what to do with the walls and their thickness? Anybody?

Another issue I encountered - ALL the walls exported as walls into IFC, which would have been great if not for the fact that they all are 6" thick, regardless of original thickness! And I used the VW wall styles. Should they have been "un-styled" walls? Anybody else has had a similar experience? what did you do to fix it?

Interestingly enough, the IFC results in Solibri were better than when imported back into VW2009 SP4. Makes me wonder what it would look like in our consultant's Revit... I'll have to ask for a visual.

We work on Macs and neither Revit, nor Bentley are an option. I am hoping that NNA is dedicated enough to making the 3D/IFC/rvt conversions more seamless and VW more BIMmy I agree about VW structural though, it could use some improvement. Especially since our engineer can't even open/import the IFC files in his Revit Structure, what's up with that? - although that is a question for AutoDesk...

Thank you, Kool Aid. Judging from Jeffrey's test it even performed better.

Too bad IfcStoreyView only works on PCs...

OK, how do you export the class definitions, like glass opacity, colors, etc. After I did the IFC export the only classes left were "dimension" and "none". Does anyone else work with consultants on Revit? How does interchange work out for you? Also, the stair switches from it's configuration to a single straight run. Is it better to convert the stair to a group before exporting? Any advice, tips, etc.?! The other strange thing: when IFC is imported, the error message "nothing was imported!" shows up. But the model actually did import, albeit all screwed up... Is that VW's way of saying not everything was imported? help please... :confused:

I thought I got the IFC entity creation down... but I am trying to create a hybrid window symbol with IFC entity inside it and for some reason, it doesn't center on the window, but instead somewhere else in space. Thus, I cannot insert the resulting symbol into the wall. Anybody else has this problem? What is the workaround? I tried inserting the window into the wall and then creating the IFC entity, but it also offsets the window somewhere in space leaving just a hole in the wall... ANy tips?

Thank you brudgers, that is exactly what I found. I did try importing DWGs and IFCs exported from Revit. The results were the same as with DWGs and IFCs from VW2009 - in DWG everything was converted into meshes, in IFCs walls came across as walls, but everything else as (unmodifiable) IFC entities. Does anybody know if there is an easy way to convert the IFC entities back into doors/windows/stairs, etc.?

OK, does anybody know if the ArchiCAD or Revit will export into DWGs a lot better? Or, is it the same - sounds good in theory, but falls short in reality? I need to resolve this very fast - our consultant is expecting a file that will work "perfectly" in their AutoCAD mechanical and I only have a week or so to do it.

Is it possible to export the space name plugins correctly? Along with the worksheets? I found that we would have to use our own room name symbol, but explode it before exporting. Anybody knows a better way to do this?

So much for BIM I take it this is not addressed in VW2010 either?

Is it possible to export walls from VW to DWG as walls? If it only can be done in IFC conversion: how can plug-ins be exported as doors, windows, stairs, etc. instead of unmodifiable "IFC entity"?