Animation showing model changes over the course of a project

theoryshawtheoryshaw
edited July 2025 in General

If you ever want to show your client how many changes they made throughout the duration of project, and how awesome you are for accommodating them, you can use the following scripts. :)
I used them to make the following video for those Bonsai tutorials.

  1. Extract all Git versions of your IFC model
    This script pulls every version of your .ifc file tracked in Git:
    all_git_versions_of_a_file.py

  2. Convert each IFC version to a Blender file
    This one opens each IFC file in a folder and saves out a corresponding .blend:
    launcher.py

  3. Link them into a master file and animate
    This script links all the .blend files into a single master file, assigning a set number of frames per version:
    script2.py

  4. And viola, dazzle your clients and send your invoice with confidence. ;)

Darth_Blendersjb007Massimofalken10vdlCyrilsteverugiNigelbrunopostlewalpaGerardTand 7 others.

Comments

  • sjb007sjb007

    Cool! Couple of questions:
    1. I assume I need to buy a new hard drive or two for all those files? ;-)
    2. I couldn't find the import_single_ifc.py script mentioned in launcher.py, or is that secret source for paying customers?
    3. I'm guessing there's no way to control what is included/excluded? Either with EPSet_Status, or Groups?

  • brunopostlebrunopostle

    Nice, though it shows that bonsai needs a method of aligning drawings/grids on multiple sheets

  • sjb007sjb007

    @brunopostle said:
    Nice, though it shows that bonsai needs a method of aligning drawings/grids on multiple sheets

    There is a way...
    Slavishly copy your camera properties one by one, so the produced drawings are identically sized & framed, then laboriously open each layout in Inkscape and manually copy the exact page coordinates for each group so they match. 😉

    brunopostle
  • theoryshawtheoryshaw
    edited July 2025
    1. I assume I need to buy a new hard drive or two for all those files? ;-)

    welcome to AEC. :) you should have saw the project folders with Revit files. :)

    1. I couldn't find the import_single_ifc.py script mentioned in launcher.py, or is that secret source for paying customers?

    whoops, I accidently removed it in this commit, I reverted it back here

    1. I'm guessing there's no way to control what is included/excluded? Either with EPSet_Status, or Groups?

    I'm sure there's a way.
    ...
    All these scripts were done with AI help, of course. :)

  • sjb007sjb007

    I'm sure there's a way.

    Touché!

    theoryshaw
  • sjb007sjb007

    Hmmm. Now I've looked at import_single_ifc.py, I see it would be very easy to expand the ability to show / hide what you want. I might get around to fiddling with that at some point, and obviously if I do make any enhancements, I'll pass them along. I've created a few chonky arg parsers with lots of options before. I'm thinking something along the lines of:

    import_single_ifc.py \
  -c <csv:Class(es) to hide, i.e. IfcSpace,IfcVirtualElement> \
  -s <csv:EPset_Status to hide, i.e. NEW,TEMPORARY> \
  -d <csv:Spatial Decomposition(s) to hide, i.e. "MC-03-Roof","MC-02-First"> \
  -g <csv:Group(s) to hide, "Landscaping","Entourage"> \
  -i <csv:GlobalID(s) to hide> \
  <ifc_filepath> <output_blend_path>
  • sjb007sjb007

    Just looking at script2.py, and noticed frames_per_stage = 5. With five frames per image, that means you are rendering each git status 5 times.
    It might be a bit more hassle than it is worth to save 4 frames per status of rendering, but Blender contains a full video editor. You could render each frame once, drop your image sequence into the video editor as a video strip, then use the Speed effect strip, and stretch your video strip out to slow it down as little or as much as you want. If you want to get really artsy you can add a Ken Burns effect, and cross fade between image sequences of different viewpoints, fade to grey. Pretty much anything you want.

    steverugitheoryshawzoomer
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