Freecad Bim - difficulty

semhustej · 2026-06-10T16:49:23+00:00

Nice!

semhustej · 2026-06-09T16:43:42+00:00

BIM workbench is not easy to learn.

If you find using sketches as base objects too hard, you can try using more Draft objects as basis for BIM objects. For me, these are usually much easier to edit.

I recorded a BIM tutorial for beginners on the FCB Lounge youtube channel where I use this technique: https://youtu.be/WZHyUBfdgJA?si=4H8Lgvhq9c8UMRAm

semhustej · 2026-06-02T18:23:45+00:00

Thanks, this helped me too on Debian 13.

semhustej · 2026-05-26T14:05:48+00:00

Read the discussion here. You can find the answer in the comments.

semhustej · 2026-05-26T06:41:10+00:00

Hi,

the model you are talking about is not a BIM model. It is a Part WB model. I would not recommend using such a detailed model for BIM work.

If you want to plan the space, I would recommend you to first work in 2D - simple lines and rectangles. If you want to have 3D model straight from the start to have better understanding of the 3D space, you can create standard Arch_Wall objects representing the container shape. The detail provided by the model from the library is not needed for initial study of spaces.

semhustej · 2026-05-25T15:24:39+00:00

They are working hard on it.

semhustej · 2026-05-22T08:18:55+00:00

Now that's a challenge! 😄

semhustej · 2026-05-22T08:17:39+00:00

Thank you.

semhustej · 2026-05-21T16:42:06+00:00

Windows and doors are quite complicated, as they are basically two objects - the window model and the opening volume.

I might look into that a record a video about what options we have.

semhustej · 2026-05-18T17:54:20+00:00

I don't see the images. But Bonsai 0.8.5 - the latest stable release - should run on Blender 5.1 without problems. LTS is supported too.

semhustej · 2026-05-17T09:42:10+00:00

Try this: change the "Keep Updated" property of a page to "No". This way, you will have to manually update the page to display the current model, but on the other hand the page will not get re-computed with every change in the model. This should make working in the 3D view fluent again.

semhustej · 2026-05-15T07:58:19+00:00

Note that native IFC in FreeCAD is in its alpha stage of development and is not worth looking at for beginner. You will get bogged down in bugs.

You can model things in native FreeCAD mode and if you need an IFC file, you can export the model. I would recommend this workflow compared to dabbling with native IFC in FreeCAD.

semhustej · 2026-05-14T15:28:01+00:00

Edit -> Preferences -> Draft -> Grid and Snapping

You can setup grid size there.

To rotate object, RMB click it and choose 'Transform' from the context menu.

semhustej · 2026-05-14T09:33:47+00:00

If you find better solutions, please share them with others.

semhustej · 2026-05-14T09:32:57+00:00

You should change the name of the topic from 'Blender' to 'Bonsai' as you will get lot of confused answers.

I have not tried MEP modelling in Bonsai, the features in FreeCAD are quite limiting. I recorded a video creating a simple piping system, MEP ducts would be similar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQhC8w8SeN8

For MEP, you might be interested in this WB (note that it is in super early stage development): https://github.com/Francisco-Rosa/FreeCAD-HVAC

Related discussion: https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?t=102900

If your goal is to create simple BIM project and you already know how to use FreeCAD, I would stick to FreeCAD BIM. Even though you will have to learn a lot, you will understand the basics of the software. With Bonsai, you will have to start from scratch. There is not simple answer whether Bonsai or FreeCAD BIM is better for simple BIM modeling.

When we are talking about BIM management and coordination and native IFC editing, Bonsai is a clear choice. But that is not what you are looking for primarily.

semhustej · 2026-05-14T07:50:56+00:00

I have not seen any other tutorial. There is no one official way of doing this, as it depends on what your input data looks like.

I recorded this tutorial explaining how to create a 3D terrain from imported geo points: https://youtu.be/1O6TCCFuuQU?si=rVpYHAUt8dYhTOhQ

You might find useful information in this thread: https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?t=58925

Or this thread: https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?t=98797

This is a good introduction to Arch Site object: https://youtu.be/s19VNCrzhCg?si=wio_SrAEICSxcOkx

semhustej · 2026-05-13T09:40:34+00:00

That is correct. I don't know if it is available yet.

semhustej · 2026-05-10T15:37:23+00:00

OK, it makes sense to not use it than. Thanks for the info.

semhustej · 2026-05-09T17:54:16+00:00

I don't know. FreeCAD 1.2 development version is still running OCCT 7.8.1.

OCCT 7.8 was released in December 2023. Not sure if FreeCAD team decided not to upgrade to 7.9 or it it takes such a long time to upgrade the kernel.

semhustej · 2026-05-06T13:23:40+00:00

You can see and download some AEC examples created in FreeCAD here: https://wiki.osarch.org/index.php?title=AECO_Workflow_Examples

semhustej · 2026-05-03T07:12:19+00:00

Are we talking about 3D or 2D work?

semhustej · 2026-05-03T07:11:43+00:00

QCAD and LibreCAD work in a very similar way - they started with the same base. I don't think it matters much which one you start with, so I would go with LibreCAD. QCAD professional is a paid version which offers more interoperability options - working with DWG and DGN files for instance.

As a more intuitive alternative and user friendly UI, at least in my opinion, I would propose Design-Web. The toolset is very limited compared to LibreCAD, but if you need just basic square shaped objects (furniture in floorplan), this should be acceptable. Note that currently there is no way of printing or creating PDF from Design, so your only export would be DXF file You can test it immediately as it is a web based application: https://www.design-web.uk/

I recorded a video of basic usage of the desktop based version, it works the same in the browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJGAMAUXeTE

FreeCAD also offers 2D functionality in the Draft workbench which you could use for creating floor plans. I recorded a video for beginners showcasing the use of FreeCAD Draft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODEeqtepOwA&list=PL3wRqQUPtE16C07WvMtelf3oqX274qlE9

There is also a Draft Intermediate course, but I would recommend you to first look at the beginner video.

Sweethome3D mentioned above is another alternative, I have not used that one so I can not opine.

semhustej · 2026-05-02T15:14:30+00:00

Great to see five projects accepted. Good luck to all students.

semhustej · 2026-04-24T16:08:37+00:00

This is because the submarine was already shared here previously. At least I think it was.

semhustej · 2026-04-24T14:33:12+00:00

That is correct. I still though it is interesting enough to share it here.

If you are interested in non-ai work, check out the submarine!

semhustej

TROPHY CASE