Hi,
I am having problems exporting my IFC file.
It does not have the right georeference.
The coordinate system use in this project is lambert 93 (official french coordinate system).
My model is near the origin using the rhino inside base model point.
How can i export a georeferenced IFC file ?
Is there anyone available from Asuni to answer this question please ?
Hi @raoufdjema15 excuse for the late reply.
I’m not familiar with that coordinate system (lambert 93) and I’m not sure if Rhino has any option to georeference the document with those units, or perhaps through another third-party plugin.
You can georeference a file in Rhino from the Document Properties > Location:
Thank you for your reply,
Rhino uses wsg84 right ?
Do you know of any way to change rhino CRS through another plug in ?
Thnak you,
I don’t know it, sorry.
Hi -
No - Rhino only uses XYZ.
For anything to do with Earth references, you will need plug-ins.
How any of this translates to exporting IFC files, I have no idea.
-wim
Thanks for your answer,
Do you have any advice on wich plug in i could use to reproject my model to fit in the right georeference ?
Thanks !
Hi @raoufdjema15 ,
I’m wondering if the following would work: set Rhino’s EarthAnchorPoint to the origin of Lambert93 (EPSG:2154) in WGS84 coordinates and then moved your geometry based on a known reference point (in EPSG:2154 coordinates) in your model.
I’m using Heron components here, but don’t think you need them if you know to set the EAP to LAT: -5.983856309 LON: -1.36308121 and you have a reference point for your project in EPSG:2154.
Of course this shifting may cause distortions in the geometry and north may not align anymore when it arrives in it’s destination software, but I’m curious what the results would be.
-Brian
Hello,
When the rhino model is exported using visual arq, does it convert its position in XY according to longitude and latitude of earth anchor point ?
Or is possible to export the IFC with XY position that it has in the rhino model space ?
Thanks
sorry i have not seen your answer, im gonna try this, thanks a lot !
@fsalla Hi,
Our experience with VA at the office so far (really possitive) :
We have made a bit of progress with this at the office. We like how visual arq is user friendly and extensive (espacially with drafting and overall project management).
We are planning to use visualarq for architecture but also for urban design and landscape architcture.
The only problem we are having is with IFC files locations after export.
I use third party softwares such as simple bim, ifc toolbox, or ifc.js to relocate and move ifc exported using visualarq. Wich is not optimal when exchanging ifc file with other companies that want to open it in revit.
My questions are :
How does geometry placement work with visualarq’s ifc placement ?
For instance, if and a geometry with these coordinates : 0,0,1, is exported using ifc, how can i make sure it will land in the same place when linked into revit (for example) ?
We found that defining model base point changes ifc global coordinates and defining earth anchor point changes ifcsite coordinates. But when exporting geometries near rhino’s origin, the ifc geometry gets places very far away, do you know why ?
Is there any plan to assign ifc properties by layer ?
Thanks a lot !
Cheers,
Hi @raoufdjema15, thanks for your kind words.
VisualARQ currently exports the model taking the Origin of Coordinates as reference. It’s not actually using the Model base point (we should revise this).
The model coordinates origin should be coincident with Revit’s Internal origin.
Do you have the 3dm file you are exporting to IFC, and the Revit file where you are inserting the ifc to share? we will try to figure out what’s happening.
What kind of properties do you mean? you can assign the ifc Type by layer, from the IFC Export Options dialog (IfcExportOptionsDialog)
Hello,
We have been analyzing our ifc files exported at the office with visualarq ifc exporter.
Here’s our results :
There are mainly three parameters that influences the coordinates system (of the ifc file) and position of exported geometry in the XYZ space using VA ifc exporter :
1 - Geometry position in rhino’s xyz space (in reference to rhino’s global world origin) : as you said - no matter matter the modelbasepoint or earth anchor point, the geometry exported will always land in it’s original X,Y,Z coordinates. For instance, if you export a column that is placed at 0,0,0, it will appear at these same coordinates in any viewer.
2 - Rhino Earth anchor point : the placement of the earth anchor point in X,Y,Z space influences the local coordinate system of the IFC file.
3 - Rhino model base point : the placement of the modelbasepoint influences the global coordinate system of the IFC file. What i don’t understand is that this does not change the geometric position of exported geometry in X,Y,Z space.
What is mot unpractical with this is the first point. In order to have our exported geometry fit with other IFC files in the correct place for further project coodination, the rhino model needs to be placed very far away from the origin, at the exact X,Y,Z location.
For obvious reasons, it is better to model and work with geometries that are as close as possible to the world origin.
Until now we have not been able to export IFC geometry that has been modeled close to the world origin and make it fit in the right place when merged with other IFC files.
So what we don’t understand is how to export geometry (modeled in rhino near the origin) that will land at the correct place (with the other IFC models placed at correct X,Y,Z location) when opened in an ifc viewer.
I think the best thing to do is to use rhino’s native “modelbaspoint” command. In order to give a reference point with X,Y,Z values that would serve as a reference for IFC geometry placement.
I hope visualarq’s IFC capablities will get better in the future, espacially regarding placement and geo referecing. I really think what you guys have done is already huge and i hope you will take all of this to the next level because the industry needs it !
Cheers,
Hi everyone,
I am facing the same problem when exporting IFC models from VA and working with other models - their position don’t match, even after placing the EarthAnchorPoint.
Has there been some concrete solution to this using Visualarq ? Or with a thrid party plug-in ?
Thanks in advance.
Hi @Romain_Fassotte ,
since Rhino, like Revit, does not use real geolocation and the X, Y coordinates can be anything, whether WSG84, Lambert, etc., there is only one option: draw to the intended coordinates and then convert the coordinates and then move the model to the correct one (as Brian Washburn has shown with his plugins, for example).
It’s a complex topic, but when converting coordinates, slight deviations can always occur.
Hope you understand what i mean, english is not my motherlanguage.
Hi,
Thanks for your answer.
So here is what I’ve done, which is still not really working:
I kept drawing close to the Rhino origin > Exported the IFC as such (origin being 0, 0, 0) (the EarthAnchorPoint doesn’t seem to be exported in IFC anyways) > Relocated the IFC file using IFC Toolbox, which allows to relocate according to a target IFC file (where my rhino IFC should be integrated in) > My IFC is now well oriented and close to the target IFC file when merged, but still offset by couple meters, which is I guess coming from the deviation you are talking about?
Anyways, I really whish there will soon be a seamless solution to this, as IFC exchange is one of the reasons to use tools like VisualArq in Rhino. 
Hello, the best thing is if you have defined an insertion point in the project and can use it with all possible tools, then it actually works quite well to move the model to the right point via Grasshopper. But I agree with you that it would be good if Rhino etc. could also use geolocation like Vectorworks. The only format that seems to use the Earth Anchor Point is kmz files, even on 3dm it doesn’t seem to have any effect if you link a 3dm.
Hi,
IFC export from rhino need to follow these rules for correct object placement :
So the best way to avoid headaches is to import the correct ifc in your rhino file, and then position you project model in the same place.
good luck
Just edit IFC row #23 of an IFC export made with VisualARQ from Rhino.
Replace the (0,0,0) to where your local origo exists in global coordinates. Hint: If you’re lazy like me and do a lot of IFC exports, you can make a python script to edit the IFC file(s) for you. It’s not perfect but works well enough for me at least. Optimal would be to set this information in the document properties or something. This method works for both IFC2x3 and IFC4 but IFC4 (and onwards) have georeferencing attributes which actually include the coordinate systems etc. This definitely should be included in VA3.
Hi Raoufdjema,
this is exactly what I have been doing for a while. The exported IFC file appears in the same location as the correct IFC. Unfortunately people who imported my IFC into Revit complain that it does not line up there. Did you have similar experiences? Any ideas what the problem might be?
