Light BIM file in blender?

Support Modeling
1

anyone has work with Light light source as BIM file ?

wonder if it works well in blender
and is there any addon to help for these BIM files ?

thanks
happy bl

2

Not using it myself but… do you mean IES lights like so:

or BIM like so (Building Information System):

https://blenderbim.org

3

i can do ies lamp and use it inBL cycles
hope it comes too in EEVEE

but right i got some IES files and also some BIM files
so only want to understand if it is possible to upload BIM file in blender for these IES fixtures

anyone one has direct experience with these BIM files in blender

thanks
happy bl

4

(Learning something new … thanks… :grin: )

Seems to be that BIM is relativ young successor of IFC (?):

and even the mentioned BlendeBim docu only wrote of loading the IFC-files…

https://blenderbim.org/docs/users/exploring_an_ifc_model.html

… but i could not find any BIM to IFC converter yet (…and this seems to be a little strange…).

But i guess the BlenderBIM community will work in this direction…

5

this IFC file looks like Architecture components
like building with room and accessories in 3D

but i’m looking for BIM use with IES fixtures
which is probably the fixture itself
would save time to get the 3D model

i already can get the IES lamps file

thanks
happy bl

6

tried 2 times to download the Bim addon
and it never finished - get stuck at 59 MB

not certain what the size is
but not working up to now

happy bl

7

It’s 103.35 MB…

8

Hi RickyBlender,

BIM is a very broad concept. All files that contain data and are used in construction / building projects can be seen as BIM files. So, do you want to use a text of paint file in Blender?

I think indeed you meant an ifc file. This is an xml file for viewing geometry with data commonly used in architectural projects. So ifc is BIM, but BIM is not ifc….

At first i would wonder what i am going to use it for. If the goal is visualization, do you really need the unnecessary extra data on top of the geometry? If so, BlenderBim is your friend. If not, I would advise you to export the model from the architectural application as .obj and import this in Blender. This works fast, stable and also attaches the materials with UV-Maps. You also don’t need an extra plug-in on top of Blender.

Furthermore it works very well with large files…

9

i like to download light fixture with the IES file and if possible the 3D model as BIM file

EX:
Low Bay | Industrial | Lithonia Lighting (acuitybrands.com)

as you can see bottom right
you can download the IES file but also some BIM file
i assume this BIM is the light fixture model in 3D

so not certain how to get the 3D model using BIm addon or the other one

by the way i’m on Win 10 and tried 2 X to get the BIM and it gets stuck at around 60 MB not certain why !
may there is another link that works better !

thanks for feedback
happy bl

10

Found this to directly import BIM -files (didn’t tested it yet):

11

i’m using the bl zip version installed in a certain folder
which is not in the program folder

i have the path for that folder for bl 3.4.1

it looks like i need to first install the pip python installer

where do i install this pip package
is it in same folder then the BL 3.4.1
under python lib folder ?

thanks
happy bl

12

Ha… there is even a thread here:

13

Hi there, author of the BlenderBIM Add-on here. Perhaps I can help explain. BIM is a structured data model of data you need for architecture, engineering, and construction. This means that BIM data / files / databases often are seen as 3D models with extra data and relationships.

IFC is the ISO standard for OpenBIM (i.e. openly and freely published specifications for BIM data). It’s very extensive and powerful and has significant industry support for the basics (though advanced usage quality varies tremendously, is a kind way of putting it). IFC has many file formats, the most popular is STEP based (like .stp files), but there is also XML as mentioned earlier as well as others.

Dotbim is another lightweight published specification for OpenBIM data. It is very light, and includes simple mesh data with basic metadata. If IFC is LaTeX, then Dotbim would be Markdown.

The lighting manufacturer link you shares the IES model as well as a proprietary Revit model. Revit is a proprietary BIM format and data schema. Because it is proprietary, there is zero support for it in Blender and unlikely to be support anytime in the future.

IFC and Dotbim are two of a quite a few OpenBIM data schemas, others include gbXML, Brickschema, BHoM, Project Haystack, etc. Revit is one of many proprietary closed BIM data schemas, others include ArchiCAD, Tekla, etc. Naturally, I do not promote proprietary closed BIM, and promote OpenBIM instead.

Both Revit and IFC can store IES descriptions of lights. Due to market share (Revit is a monopoly) a lot of suppliers will provide Revit models, and some will also provide IFCs. For IES lights, the Revit models may contain the IES definition, or it may only contain geometry. The IFC is unlikely to contain the IES light, as even though it is capable, most vendors have very poor support for this and it is considered advanced usage.

Dotbim is not designed for such advanced usage and does not have any support for IES (though in theory it could be serialised arbitrarily, but there is no convention for doing so).

Long story short, you’re a bit out of luck if they only give you closed Revit models.

1 Like
14

so the BIM file in given link for light fixture is not compatible with the blender BIM addon - thanks for letting me know

so i will do the own 3D model of the light fixture
some are complicated but doable in blender

mind you i have an external IES reader that can read the IES file

i would like to have my own python script to do that
i would at least be able to make a 3D model on the light beam shape in 3D

if anyone has some IES python reader let me know

thanks for feedback
happy bl

15

@Louis_Paul noidtluom

i tried to find some forum link or contact link on your site
but did not find any way to get in touch with you
and sorry i’v disable all the public media on my E-mail on win10

thanks for your feedback

happy bl

16

IntelliCAD PE Plus will read the RFA file using BIM Underlay, I just tested it and was able to get an STL out
FEX L24.stl (51.1 KB)
Unfortunately its not a free application (US $330) but its not very expensive compared to Autodesk pricing.

17

@ Chrisd
i don’t do enough light fixture 3D for buying some external soft
so i will continue doing a few 3D models of the most used light fixtures
and have enough for doing some realist scene with blender.

thanks for the tip
happy bl