Archicad & IFC Translator workflow

Archicad & IFC Translator workflow

Let's take a quick look at Archicad & IFC Translator workflows.

Working with IFC & OpenBIM Standards can be a wormhole that consumes a lot of our resources. Learning about ISO 19650, COBie & other standards, capabilities & limitations of Archicad & Revit, exploring practical implementation options, all the different use cases & their specific requirements, EIR, LION, BEP... the list goes on & on.

But that's not what this article is about, however relevant & important all these aspects may be.

Here I want to give you the aspects I consider to be the most important & effective for Archicad users to implement for success in collaborative IFC workflows.

When we do our first IFC export & import, it's best to simply take one of the standard, built in IFC Translators in Archicad and only tweak those settings (there are many) that you may need to for any export / import. 

The only real way to get any consistently clean IFC imports & exports is by testing & refining.
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Important things to note:
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1. Ensure your Archicad model elements have these Minimum! Element IFC Settings (1. Classification, 2. ID, 3. Structural Function & 4. Position, marked in the image). For best quality IFC files, ALWAYS! have a Unique! ID for EVERY element in your Archicad model. If any of these are not set (undefined / unclassified) you will definitely have bad quality IFC files causing missing data / issues.
2. In most use cases, when exporting your Archicad model, ensure to set the "Geometry Conversion" method to "Precise BREP Geometry". This ensures the geometry of all connecting & trimmed elements are precise and no redundant geometries are exported. Archicad has many! pre-set profiles for all the sections in it's IFC Translator for specific target software. There may be use cases where Precise BREP is not preferable, so choose the settings for each use case.
3. Be sure to know & set the exact intended Revit version for either export & import cases. Revit versions have largely varying IFC handling rules & capabilities.
4. I refuse (whenever possible) to receive IFC files exported from Revit that was NOT exported via Graphisoft's "IFC Model Exchange with Archicad for Revit". This Add-on for Revit greatly improves the quality & alignment of IFC files on the Archicad import side - https://graphisoft.com/downloads/interoperability
5. All Archicad's IFC Translators are locked inside the .PLN / .TPL / .PLA files themselves. The Translators can not be exported but only imported via these .PLN / .TPL / .PLA files.
6. It is both good practice & helps you (the sender of the IFC file) a lot to review the IFC file before sending it out. Viewing the IFC file in an independent viewer app (and preferably a native IFC format viewer). It's the only way for you to know exactly what you are sending and helps a lot with troubleshooting. Good & free IFC viewers I depend on is: 
   > BlenderBIM Add-on for Blender (all open source & powerful IFC features) - https://blenderbim.org/ 
   > BIMvision App (also free with some free/paid add-ons) - https://bimvision.eu/
   > There are also many web based IFC Viewers with bespoke features, made by very clever people, to consider.
7. Collaboration is key! Troubleshooting & tweaking Translator settings on both the Archicad & Revit side, is initially a time consuming process between you & your consultants. It is however a valuable exercise, especially if you are collaborating with particular consultant/s on a regular basis. Remember to save both these Archicad & Revit (version specific) IFC Translator settings once you have a tested & optimized workflow and ensure everyone are always consistent in following the input & output protocols.
8. Do not under estimate Modeling Consistency! There is no half measures. It is probably the most valuable foundation for good quality IFC exchange & coordination processes. This is after all where everything begins... remember the "crap-in-crap-out" principle.

​These are the bare bone & foundational basics. I hope these may help you to have better & smoother IFC workflows.

For a deeper understanding of BIM Standards and it's use cases & implementation, read about our consultBIM and trainBIM Courses. 

No matter where you are on your "BIM journey", keep on exploring new possibilities to add value to clients & projects.