What's that 'one' feature request you wish would get implemented Bonsai (BlenderBIM)
What is the (1) feature request you wished would get implemented in Bonsai (BlenderBIM) that would greatly improve your workflow.
Please only post (1) feature request per person. Please post only feature requests, not bugs.
Comments
Yes, sheet management in Bonsai would be great https://community.osarch.org/discussion/2146/sheet-coordinates-for-multiple-drawings#latest. Also anything that removes Inkscape from my workflow.
My request would be support for left justified text. https://github.com/IfcOpenShell/IfcOpenShell/issues/4243
@Owura_qu was that 2 requests? ;)
Same. Document Management is key. I think Dion showed how to do this (natively, no inkscape) already in a LinkedIn post but for the life of me I can't find it (should have saved).
Why just one...I have so many
The main one is the Boolean/union tool. To me this is a major modeling too. And one we should try and implement if we can.
This thread talks about it:
https://community.osarch.org/discussion/comment/18392#Comment_18392
Now I am going to create a new account to tell you of the other feature Requests 😉
I guess they are tied together. I find it laborious if not impractical to implement the naming convention outside of Bonsai.
spreadsheet! like in FreeCAD
PS this is unpopular: I love InkScape :D
Blender elements don't require IFC Classifications to be included in Drawings.
Just curious what do you do with Spreadsheet in FreeCAD? :)
Hi @paullee
haven't used FreeCAD in a long time but I appreciated its spreadsheet where you could play with constraints and variables
my hope is to have a spreadsheet in Bonsai where cost items, quantities and elements can operate among each other (by assigned variable for instance), at the moment you can export to csv or similar and do your things in a different app
does it satisfy your curiosity ? :)
Thanks, indeed spreadsheet is sometime a good representation of the information rather than model itself :)
Integrated WYSIWYG view for plans with a css editor allowing for real time editing.
Forked workflows are a big waste of time. For me Bonsai needs to publish the final output, otherwise revising drawings is a frustrating and error inducing process.
True
But in some workplaces being able to master more than one tool is a necessity, and sometimes a useful (and entertaining) skill
Of course eventually Bonsai is going to need a stable publishing in-house engine, the same applies to database management, coding environment, schedule management, and all current and future patches around it, possibly in an organic form that might become the real jewels of our beloved app.
I might be wrong here but I don't see the "drawing era" to last very long tbh.. cheers
I'm all for using the best tool for the job, as long as it doesn't lead to a forked workflow. When I spend time "fixing" a drawing in Inkscape and then need to make a change, I'm faced with a dilemma. I can either make the change in Bonsai and redo the fixes in Inkscape, which is the "proper" approach but doubles the work, or I can make the change directly in Inkscape, which saves time but leaves the IFC model out of sync with the drawing. This inconsistency can lead to errors and confusion down the line. That's why I believe having a stable, in-house publishing engine in Bonsai is essential for maintaining workflow integrity. As good as Inkscape might be, I don't think it belongs in an efficient IFC model-to-drawing workflow.
If ladders are easier to draw, it is good to be able to model both wall ladders and cable carrier ladders.
Can you export DWG files?
Sure
I come from Sketchup and happily migrated to Blender almost a year ago,
SU is a superb piece of software for drafting, modeling and little IFC, with the sister app Layout combined it can easily produce sofisticated output.
It would be nice to have a similar option in Bonsai, maybe something similar, if doable, could be a solution? AFAIK Blender too lacks it, it could serve them both, but I'd guess is not easy to implement it.
a shortcut like in FreeCAD Command + Shift + P to access the selected Object in Python/IfcOpenShell
Whatever improves svg/dxf documentation reliability, stability and speed is highly appreciated to me.
A Window & Door schedule / legend feature
For me it would have to do with the drawing/ documentation side of bonsai. there are many things that are possible, but require a lot of time, like setting up the CSS, adding new hatches, changing the symbols, etc. it is possible, and i have don it, but it takes a lot of work and time.
but that is not a new feature, so a new feature for me would have to be copy annotation element from one view to another view, or to have "blocks" that can save different line thickness, text and hatches. currently you can create a type annotation but it is only of one line style. i would like to create more complex block, like a simple scale that would include text, hatches and lines, and currently i need to create it in inkscape, save it as a symbol, load it, see that the scale is correct, and the bad thing is that in the view port symbols appear as empty, so i have no idea how it looks until i print it. that or add it afterward in inkscape, not ideal.
P.S
I also like inkscape :)
This is not too far, since spreadsheet export already allows to create a rudimental schedule.
A feature could be to click and add csv tables to the drawing?
..or you can use InkScape.. :)))
I guess we're talking about a graphical schedule displaying at least the elevation (and ideally also plan+section) of each window type, without have to make a cropped elevation for each. Instead it could frame the area near origin where all types are present and present the window types in a grid on a sheet.
Archicad plops image previews (from GDL library/objects) with dimensions into a cell of their interactive schedules... while this would be nifty, it's not a dealbreaker for us. Managing large document sets with details, etc. is the greater issue for us, I have not yet seen a compelling case study of a completed CD set from Bonsai... yet! But I would love to :)
It's interesting to me that there is so much talk about drawings. It really shows that 2D is still firmly embedded in the industry.
In my opinion the quicker we can ditch drawings the better - however I understand much easier said then done - but I still try to nudge the dial in the right direction every chance I get.
For my own trick, I would love to be able to load and merge multiple IFC files into Blender without having to worry about fiddling around with IfcPatch.
Basically just keep loading IFCs, load multiple IFCs at a time, whatever. And then be able to filter elements, play with formatting, move stuff around, and export back out again. Would be even cooler if you could exclude items from export/import - which I think is actually already doable, but perhaps not with UI only.
I know this merging process has quite a lot of philosophy baggage though. Like how to handle IFC files that handle units/georeferencing/types etc etc differently from each other.
Actually, @CSN - you kind of nail the issue. We did a very large project where the contractor only used BIMx, no drawings. It was executed flawlessly. But there were 'shop drawings' in the BIMx file. Here's the issue on-site: these guys didn't galvanize any of the steel, even though it was in the PO, quote, specs and shop drawings. They also flipped the beams mirror image to each other, contrary to what the shops indicated. Drawings in too many cases cause more confusion than helping people. But if we rely 100% on the 3D model, materiality needs to be crystal clear, as do scopes for trades and sub-trades...I'm all for ditching 2D, but we need solutions that these other dinosaurs can use, and sending them a link to a blender file will not be sufficient. Many of these guys just graduated from fax machines and flip phones! What the image shows is site-grinding and welding of beams that arrived on-site without galvanizing, that will need to be removed, sandblasted, galvanized, and returned to site - completely eroding profitability for these guys. Not really our problem as it was all clear from 'the drawings' - problem is, people aren't always so good at reading drawings, so how can the digital model be BETTER?
same here, in 2024 we still have to go around with a bunch of PDF and XLSX files, hoping that links are not broken in the latter
Query elements and export data to CSV including linked IFC would be an excellent feature indeed
Following improvements to annotation system
Selecting annotation Tool -> Click on Start -> Click on End
Now it is more like
Set 3d cursor -> Select Annotation tool -> Edit annotation -> Select vertex -> Move to final position.
Interoperability with Archipak (and other CAD workflows).
Archipak is such a thoughtful and useful tool for design ideation and building modelling that things have just felt incomplete since BlenderBim ./ Bonsai compatibility with Archipak was lost.
The moving goal post of constant breaking changes requiring the compatibility bridge to be rewritten all the time is understandable and will definitely affect other workflows besides Archipak, but maybe things are stable enough now to establish a Blender > Bonsai converter for converting Blender models not authored with Bonsai into IFC.
I imagine a utility that allows you to easily map your collections in Blender to the different IFC types / elements their content should be converted to, before clicking a convert button, with the ability to go back and make adjustments to your structure and then try again, would be useful.
With this, you would be able to mix and match different modelling and CAD authoring workflows in Blender (which is the real power of Blender, that versatility), including Bonsai's modelling tools, and still have everything feed into the IFC schema with ease. Apart from Archipak, there are many other CAD / modelling tools / workflows in Blender for which it would profit the community a lot if a simple plug and play interface with Bonsai can be exposed that won't require the developers taking on the burden of maintaining a BlenderBIM / Bonsai bridge at their side of the equation. Having the user manually convert each item in their project is not a great approach either, if BlenderBIm / Bonsai can expose a tool (and / or process) for fault tolerant automated conversion, that would be really great.