CAD package · IFC
Tekla, cadwork, SketchUp or another package: once the model comes out as an IFC file, Field-Viewer just opens it. You do not need a licence for the source package, and the crew carries on straight away on tablet or workstation. If that file comes from a subcontractor, nobody has to work out first which package it was drawn in.
Always the same four steps, from CAD package to tablet on site.
You draw the project in the package you use yourself, whether that is Tekla Structures, cadwork, SketchUp or something else.
From that package you export the model as an IFC file, the open format that buildingSMART maintains and that almost every BIM package knows.
You upload or publish that IFC file in Field-Viewer. No licence for the source package is needed to view it.
At the workstation or on site, you switch layers on or off by trade and take your own dimensions in the model.
WHICH PACKAGE DO YOU COME FROM?
| File type | Source package | The route to Field-Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Tekla Structures | IFC export from the model, the usual route in heavy steel construction. | |
| cadwork | IFC export from the project, common with CLT and solid timber builders. | |
| SketchUp | IFC export through a plug-in, usually at a smaller interiors or finishing firm. | |
| Revit | IFC export from the model. If you work in Revit yourself, the full route is on the Revit page. | |
| ArchiCAD | IFC export from the model. If this is your package, see the ArchiCAD page for the details. | |
| Vertex BD | Here the route usually does not run through IFC: Vertex BD links directly. See the Vertex BD page. |
IFC versions
IFC 2x3 and IFC4 are the versions Field-Viewer aims at. Every package exports slightly differently, so feel free to send a test file with your demo request and we will look at it together, instead of promising up front something that may not hold for your export.
CONCRETE EXAMPLE
A main contractor receives an IFC export from the steel contractor out of Tekla Structures, somewhere halfway through the structural phase. He does not draw in Tekla himself and has no licence for it either, but still wants to know whether the steel structure still fits what is already there.
He opens the IFC file in Field-Viewer next to his own shell model and overlays the two. If a column turns out to sit differently than expected, he sees that before the next phase starts, not after.
Field-Viewer works as a fully-fledged IFC viewer, but the quality of what you see depends on the file that comes in, not just on the viewer.
THE UNIVERSAL ROUTE
IFC stands for Industry Foundation Classes, an open file format that buildingSMART maintains. Nobody draws in IFC itself, but almost every BIM package can write a model out to it: Revit and ArchiCAD do that just as well as Tekla Structures, the de facto standard in heavy steel construction, or cadwork, which many CLT and solid-timber builders work in.
For Field-Viewer, that makes no difference. An IFC file from a smaller interior fit-out contractor exporting from SketchUp opens the same way as an IFC file from an engineering consultancy. That makes this route especially useful for anyone receiving a model from a party outside the Vertex BD, Revit or ArchiCAD trio, or for a main contractor bringing models from several subcontractors together on one screen.
The common versions are IFC 2x3 and IFC4, and that is what Field-Viewer focuses on. Every package exports slightly differently, so feel free to send a test file with your demo request and we will look at it together, instead of giving an upfront guarantee that might not hold for your export.
Then they are usually not in the export itself either, and Field-Viewer shows what is actually in the file. The cause often lies in the export settings in the source package, something you can check together with the draughtsman or the engineering consultancy.
Field-Viewer is built for IFC models with recognisable elements and properties, not for a raw point cloud. If you are working with a point cloud, mention it at the demo request, then we will look together at what is and is not possible.
Would you rather see your own project on screen than an example of ours? Email us a publication from Vertex BD or an IFC file, with the pdf drawings alongside if you have them, to info@field-viewer.com. Too big for an email? Send a WeTransfer link instead.
Within two working days we set up a short demo in which you see your own model in the viewer: your elements, your dimensions, your drawings beside them.
We use what you send only to prepare that demo. We share your files with no one and we delete them afterwards.
Request a demo with your own project, no obligation. We will look together at whether Field-Viewer suits your team in Flanders, in your workshop or on your site.
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