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About model and data exchange with 3rd party solutions: Revit, Solibri, dRofus, Bluebeam, structural analysis solutions, and IFC, BCF and DXF/DWG-based exchange, etc.

IFC & 2D Annotation

Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi there everyone,

I'm just after a bit of help regarding .ifc exports and 2d annotation. As far I am aware (from the research I have done) it is possible to include 2d annotation in an .ifc file.

However, I am at a loss as to how to get this to work.

The scenario is, I do some drafting work for a Designer who uses Revit and wants .rvt files in case he needs to modify anything at a later date. I personally do not like using Revit and am much more efficient in Archicad.

I have successfully imported 3d geometry i.e the building model into revit using archicad to export as an .ifc and using the archicad import add-in in Revit. But I cannot seem to get any annotation to cross over.

Is this even possible?

Any help on the matter would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt.
6 REPLIES 6
Barry Kelly
Moderator
I think you will find that IFC is only for the 3D model and values associated to those elements.

From the Archicad Reference Guide...
The IFC format is used for the efficient import and export of 3D elements and related nongeometric
data, regardless of the application used to create the model.
Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
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Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi Barry,

Initially I thought much the same until I stumbled upon some resources that mentioned otherwise.

See if you can make heads and tails out of this:
http://www.buildingsmart-tech.org/ifc/IFC2x4/beta3/html/ifcproductextension/lexical/ifcannotation.htm

There is also this thread that contains some useful information, however, I have had no luck myself as of yet exporting the 2D elements.
https://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=49897

Any advice from anyone who has successfully exported 2D into .ifc please let me know!
Barry Kelly
Moderator
So it seems 2D data can be imported and exported via IFC.
I have actually never had the need to export IFC files (other than just testing) so have not had the need to look too closely.
So I am probably not going to be too much help sorry.

After reading many pages in the manual I came across this...
So it looks like just ticking the boxes may not be enough.
It also depends on whether you are saving from a 3D view or the plan.
This was also mentioned in the other post you linked to.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks Barry,

I have since found this - https://helpcenterint-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IFC-Exchange-Best-Practices.pdf plus a wealth of other information available from Graphisoft on the subject, including specific archicad>ifc>revit workflows. So I am probably going to be able to answer my own question on this with a little more digging.

Unfortunately I have now bumped into another issue, the default IFC translators that are packaged with Archicad (that were all there 3 days ago) have all but completely vanished from my system, not in the translator manager window, and the default folder they are meant to reside in according to GS is not even in existence on my computer! I am at a complete loss as to how this has happened.

Anyway, first step - uninstall then reinstall Archicad and hope that it will resolve this. Otherwise I may have to give Graphisoft a call on this one, unless anyone else out there reading this has had the same glitch occur before?

Thanks for your assistance so far Barry - One day I also hope to never have the need for IFC again, all my own work will be done in Archicad and with enough gentle persuasion and I may even be able to convince the Designers I currently contract for to see the light and give Autodesk the flick!
Barry Kelly
Moderator
If you go to the IFC Translator setup, there is a button at the bottom that allows you to import from another file.
So you could use your template (or find the Graphisoft template) or another file that had the translators in it.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Anonymous
Not applicable
It was to do with an incredibly buggy base template on of our teachers provided us (and enforced to use for school projects). Foolishly I started using it for real world projects. I used a different template and voila, all translators returned.

Lesson learnt, building myself a new template, and a new one for school as well that isn't loaded with errors / inconvieniences.

Thanks!