Announcing LinesCAD
Hi all,
This is a new little (maybe not so little, we'll see how it goes...) project I've started, it's called LinesCAD and it's meant to be a kind of redux version of FreeCAD tailored for BIM and 2D CAD. I just wrote a blog post with more info here: https://yorik.uncreated.net/?blog/2026/2026-001-hi-again
Hopefully I'll be back here soon with more!
Cheers
Yorik
and 9 others.
Comments
Hi @yorik
this project sounds really interesting
I have been looking for a FOSS CAD that feels right
Is it called LineCAD or LibreCAD?
Looks good, is it supposedly to work with FreeCAD BIM collaboratively?
Roadmap reads -
"Recreation of the Draft tools of FreeCAD
Recreation of the BIM tools of FreeCAD"
Are you announcing LinesCAD in FreeCAD forum?
It is LinesCAD. I think i wrote that too late last night 😄
It of course will work as seamlessly as possible with both FreeCAD and Bonsai. That's the whole cool thing of being IFC-based. Also because without opencascade, it won't have advanced stuff like nurbs editing, constraints etc, so FreeCAD will still be useful even when using LinesCAD.
From the blog post: "The main need for such a tool arises from the limitations of both FreeCAD (too slow with large files) and Bonsai (too far from a simple "drawing" workflow), and at the same time from the enormous opportunities offered by both these applications"
100% agree with this. Good luck with the project, Yorik!
Doesn't Bonsai also rely on OCC and another 3D kernel for opening and saving proper IFC geometries ?
Can IfcOpenShell work without such a geometry kernel and would that mean that e.g. cylindrical columns are saved as Meshes ?
@zoomer I assume it's a similar meaning to how Blender internally uses Blender mesh / BMesh, but Bonsai bypasses it, so FreeCAD internally uses OpenCASCADE, but LinesCAD will also bypass it.
BMesh means Bonsai Mesh ?
(As from IFCs created in Bonsai - imported into Bricscad, I will get Walls as proper Solids, true Cylinders even from round Columns)
Nevertheless, I think a FOSS simple reduced BIM (even just a 3D Solid) Modeler is highly needed:
Something optimized to design and develop architecture/buildings.
Correct me if I'm wrong AFAIK there is no FOSS or 3D Solid Modeler on Linux.
(FAIK just proprietary Bricscad runs on Linux and its "Direct Modeling" suits for architectural or BIM Modeling)
Why not pure Blender as many users do ?
Because it is not the same, neither the geometry nor the usage or philosophy behind.
E.g. Architects do not want to create Loop Cuts in two directions to be able to bridge an opening into a Wall and being distracted by ugly support-edges. In 3D, similar to a 2D CAD you prefer to have a filled Rectangle (a clean Face) and draw another rectangle into to define a boolean cut to create the opening.
And besides the intuitive 3D Modeling, architects may also expect some Parametric, to check dimensions and enter/edit numerical input.
Bonsai does partly overcome these issues already but has of course the IFC (serious B"I"M) authoring overhead, which also distracts (GUI) in case of architectural modelling usage or you may run into Blender Mesh modeling.
(Hence there was the "Goliath" AddOn approach).
Which is not wrong in any way and I think the majority of users are using Bonsai exactly in "authoring" IFC , mainly with a priority of the "I" in BIM.
So I highly welcome the LinesCAD approach from @yorik of course !
On the other hand,
(I lately had the thought if it would not bee cool or possible if some of Bonsai development, e.g. things like advanced Snapping or Wall Connections, should be added into plain Blender already, instead of in the AddOn (?), as they can be also useful in pure Blender)
wouldn't it also be possible and useful to do the LinesCAD's new modern Architecture directly in FC - or better at least in the BIM Workbench ?
To not need to recreate the "usefull" parts of already existing stuff from scratch ? Or there may be some modernized parts of LinesCAD that FreeCAD itself would also need/profit from (?)
So something like an internal fork inside FreeCAD/BIM Workbench, that allows to optimize the MCAD based heritage to BIM/CAD needs ?
Highly welcome !
I initially wondered why you mention the 2D part explicitly.
Last days I watched a few early FreeCAD tutorials from @semhustej about the 2D Tools - got a design idea by these to test in practise, to get a quick look of how that could look ...
Now I know why.
(e.g. Draft Stretch + Draft Offset + Trimex Tool have no "continue" mode option and don't work on multiple objects at a time, Trimex does not work with Rectangles, can't see my previous drawn Rectangles because of the Grid, no convenient way for design changes, .... would have taken me hours to create)
Had to go proprietary instead ...
Hi @yorik maybe to introduce with LinesCAD what BIM is all about to have library from sites like https://www.bimobject.com/en but to have git respiratory of ifc components to drag end drop to model so model would be created from standard elements not of parametric elements which can not be made in real life but from the shelf ( this ifc components can be created with for egg freecad if needed custom one) this approach would be simple to implement and real life usable becouse with this mind set construction is made not to invent every time doors or windows or components but to buy it from shelf
Something like that workflow but all ifc based https://www.roomsketcher.com/download-mac/ and ifc git collaboration
I definitely want to make this components-based. Basically make it easy to work with components, being custom or not: Furniture, windows, doors, but also maybe even parts of buildings. Same as blocks in AutoCAD basically :)
Thanks for clarification, so this would be great like autocad blocks but when we make bigger groups of blocks we can make one block from blocks and reusit , so this for me would be great with copy paste between documents in linescad