open / free Ifc repository for building components
Hi,
Beside software, we should collect open / freely available repository of real-world building components available on-line in ifc format.
As most repository currently available require registrations and sometimes limit usage of models in a way it is not possible to share ..
Maybe as a new wiki topic ?
Registration required
https://www.bimobject.com/
https://www.modlar.com/
https://www.laufen-cleanet.com/uk-en/downloads.html
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I collected a lot of sources in the years:
These don't have IFCs, but I want to share my whole collection:
These are just other list of websites:
I would love to ship a few "default IFC" libraries with the BlenderBIM Add-on which contain the basics so you can get up and running quickly. I think these should be split into categories (e.g. Generic Demo Library, Steel Profiles Library, Manufacturer X Walls), as well as by geography. We should also agree on some content-based license that we can collaborate on.
I licensed the assets in the Homemaker add-on using the very liberal 'CC BY 4.0', because the user expectation is that they can do what they like with whatever they create in the software - if I write a novel in libreoffice I don't expect it to acquire the libreoffice license. I think this is your intent with blenderbim, that people can bring it into their existing building design workflows without worrying about license issues.
There is also a strong argument for creating libraries that have true share-alike licenses - say you design a high-performance window that can be built from commonly available materials and hand tools, this would be a good case for GPL-like distribution - and I'd much prefer to work in a world like this. These need to be easy to integrate, but I can't see how they could be enabled in blenderbim by default.
@brunopostle et all, what do you guys think about distributing assets (e.g. steel profile libraries, placeholder furniture for residential design, etc) under CC0 vs CC-BY? The thing I'm unsure of in CC-BY is how attribution should be provided. Do we expect a footnote in drawings? That might irk a lot of people. A footnote in their cover page?
I actually thought this would all be part of the asset manager, separate from the blenderbim distribution. Starting each project you could select the correct libraries, which would be then downloaded and linked. This would of course take some time ( but you can have your defaults predownloaded?) but make the management and distribution easier.
Regarding the license - in my experience people here in central Europe tend to follow the software license, but ignore the content licenses - if it's freely downloadable, I can do what I want with it. Perhaps an automated way of including the attribution of the used assets in the default layouts could help?
I don't think CC-BY is particularly onerous for something that required some amount of creative effort to produce. For IFC, a Custom_Pset would be sufficient (or maybe there is some existing mechanism) - since the end product is the IFC file, we are not concerned with degraded stuff like PDF drawings or mere buildings.
Blenderbim could have a 'license checker' - in fact license checking ought to be a standard part of all design delivery workflows - I can imagine a plausible situation where you might issue a preliminary design but mark it as not for further distribution.
Steel section properties are just data, and it is difficult to claim any ownership of a representation of somebody else's product, so this stuff should be CC0.
Would consider a collaboration with well known and extensive existing library instead of trying to rebuild our own, and we may provide a "grabber" addon.
Unless we are able to reach a critical mass, there will be pretty limited interrest for any one to help in the effort. Every single file will require carefull authoring to ensure required quality from start, like 2d symbol + 3d representations + propertyset. Maybe a website service taking care of required fields to be able to upload may help a lot to maintain quality for user contributions. An ifc uploader as authoring tool in blenderbim could also help a lot.
Licenses should not be an issue for those files from source factory providers point of view - as in the end of the day the goal is to make them available, but the limitations are linked to webservices protection against massive duplication. The problem i can see here is the limited support for ifc vs native formats.
Also note that there are 2 kind of needs in blender, raw ifc and more polished things like the chocofur.com assets (some available in cc-0) with render-ready materials - but way too heavy on polygons to be usefull in ifc context.
Agreed I would prefer to collaborate instead of building our own. And also agreed a "grabber" makes sense, perhaps with a series of badges to represent if we've vetted something.
@JanF the Blender asset manager is not suitable for IFC unfortunately as it only handles Blender data and cannot handle IFC information.
@brunopostle ah I hadn't considered giving attribution in a Pset. That makes much more sense and makes me comfortable with CC-BY. Also good point with steel profiles.
Serialized ifc information stored in models may be a solution for blender's asset manager.
CC0 seems very pragmatic, because providing attribution can be awkward and even plain obtrusive in many cases. I like the way you can filter assets on Blendswap by their CC license type however, makes it easier to respect the wishes of creators by going for only the content for which you are able to adhere to their license terms.
https://bcb-online.nl/
For the Dutch market, but might be some useful objects in for an international perspective. This company collects IFC objects from different suppliers. Precast concrete slabs and wooden stairs are very elaborate libraries.