ifc experiences

[sityu]

I use ac11, and I make full detailed 3d models, with perfect layering and with all the features of publisher/navigator.
I tried to export ifc with little success:
-I couldn't find appropriate infos about the whole process
what I missed most:
-direct weblink from archicad to the suggested viewer;
-direct weblink to helpful support (I found a pale case study with faliures written);
-online viewer (maybe with online db support);

So I'm curiuos to see some experiences about ifc.

[Djordje]

You can start from http://www.ifcwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page

There are many free viewers, let's mention the ones from Solibri and Nemetschek.

IFC is always a double problem: what is exported from Archicad - usually it is correct if the viewers don't lie - and what is understood by the other application.

People are posting good results with Revit. I had troubles with Etabs to the point of the transfer not working at all. I hear that the Tekla transfer works both ways. And so on ...

[Jacek]

I tried to use it, see my post on information sharing at the top of this forum. There is very little if any information and support. The IFC's website seems more disjointed than any.
Graphisoft's support doesn't seem to exist either.
For a big topic and such grand objective there is no constructive support.
Very dissapointing.

[Thomas Holm]

Jacek wrote:
Graphisoft's support doesn't seem to exist either.

Maybe you should search a little more before you complain. See http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=104418#104418

[Jacek]

Thomas,
believe me I did. As I wrote in the other post, the information is buried deep and outdated.
Neither of the links on that page is leading to a tutorial, procedural document or a simple explanation of how it works step by step. THe only reference is three years old and addresses early 2x beta version of the software.

[TomWaltz]

Jacek wrote:
Thomas,
believe me I did. As I wrote in the other post, the information is buried deep and outdated.
Neither of the links on that page is leading to a tutorial, procedural document or a simple explanation of how it works step by step. THe only reference is three years old and addresses early 2x beta version of the software.

IFC is just a file format that allows different BIM software to talk to one another. I'm not sure what kind of tutorials you would expect.

Yes, there are a couple option to go through in the "Save as IFC" menu, but you will find that you will need to change those settings based on the outside (non-Archicad) software you are trying to talk to. You can't seriously expect Graphisoft to document how to use IFC to talk to Revit or Solibri or some other package, since those companies can change what settings work best for them whenever they want.

No matter how much documentation anyone publishes, it will not be enough to apply a specific recipe to what you need for your exact purposes. You will have to do some experimentation to see what works best for your exact software and needs.