BCF (Bim Collaboration Format)
What is BCF?
The BCF file format, standing for BIM Collaboration Format, allows communicating issues between different BIM applications.
More info: https://technical.buildingsmart.org/standards/bcf/
How to generate BCF files?
In Cyclone 3DR, BCF issues can be generated from specific analyses:
From a set of Inspection Notes (from Inspection Notes or the BIM Inspect workflow)
From Visual Notes
From a Clash Analysis
From a Progress Monitoring
Data stored in a BCF file
The content of a BCF issue (or "topic") may depend on the input analysis:
textual information
scene screenshots (called "viewpoint")
additional display data for external viewer ("Visualization information")
attachment files
Interoperability
Cyclone 3DR follows the official standard to write the BCF file. The current supported version is 2.1
However, there is no guarantee that this content is fully supported by other BIM platforms.
Please refer to their respective supports for additional information.
Exporting BCF from Inspection Notes
One topic is generated for each created note.
Textual information
BCF data | Note data | Default value (not editable) |
|---|---|---|
Topic Title | Title | |
Topic Assignee | Assigned To | |
Topic Description | Description | |
Topic Priority | Priority (Desktop mode) | Medium (Touch mode) |
Topic Type | Issue | |
Topic Status | Open |
BIM Inspection Workflow (Touch Mode)
The priority is always set to Medium.
Additionally, the author name is retrieve from the "Author" field defined at the report step.
Viewpoint
A viewpoint is generated for each view available in the note.
It stores the camera definition (projection, position, direction) and displays at least:
the inspected model
the inspection measures
The ID of the component affected to the note of the inspected BIM is written within each note in the viewpoint file (only for IFC file).
Attachment
If measures are attached to the note, a CSV file containing all deviation values is generated and attached to the topic.
Exporting BCF from Visual Notes
One topic is generated for each created note.
Textual information
BCF data | Note data | Default value (not editable) |
|---|---|---|
Topic Title | Object name or name of the BIM part | |
Topic Assignee | Assigned To | |
Topic Description | Description | |
Topic Priority | Priority | |
Topic Type | Issue | |
Topic Status | Open |
Viewpoint
A viewpoint is generated for each view available in the note.
It stores the camera definition (projection, position, direction) and displays at least the measures.
The ID of the BIM component affected to the note is written within each note in the viewpoint file (only for IFC file).
Attachment
If measures are attached to the note, a CSV file containing all related values is generated and attached to the topic.
Exporting BCF from Clash Analysis
One topic is generated for each selected clash (filtered clash won't be exported).
Textual information
BCF data | Clash Analysis | Default value (not editable) |
|---|---|---|
Topic Title | Name of the clashed component / Clash Number | |
Topic Assignee | Assigned To | |
Topic Description | Clash status + Description | |
Topic Priority | Medium | |
Topic Type | Clash | |
Topic Status | Open |
Viewpoint
A viewpoint is generated for each clash view.
It stores the camera definition (projection, position, direction) and displays at least:
the clashed model
the clash cloud
the clash box
The ID of the component affected to the note of the inspected BIM is written within each note in the viewpoint file (only for IFC file).
Visualization information
The clash box definition is also exported as a set of lines (line markup).
Exporting BCF from Progress Monitoring
Two kinds of BCF issues may be generated:
a summary issue which contains general information about the overall analysis
a detail issue focusing on a particular BIM part
Summary issue
The topic type is a Comment.
The description contains the coverage distribution among the different status.
Viewpoint
The viewpoint corresponds to the main view of the report, defined in the workflow.
Attachment
Three attachments are embedded in this issue:
An image of the chart representing the distribution of coverage status
A summary table (CSV) containing the distribution of status per BIM types (IFC)
A detailed table (CSV) containing all coverage data for each BIM part
Detailed issue
This issue contains data about a BIM part and the associated information regarding the coverage analysis.
Textual information
BCF data | Progress Monitoring | Default value (not editable) |
|---|---|---|
Topic Title | Name of the BIM part - Coverage status - analysis date | |
Topic Assignee | Assigned To | |
Topic Description | Coverage status + Min/Median/Max offset with the surrounding points | |
Topic Priority |
| |
Topic Type | Issue | |
Topic Status | Open |
Viewpoints
The viewpoints corresponds to
a site map,
2 or 4 views of the inspected object (from X, -X, Y, -Y CS axes),
an offset view of the object and the cloud (if some points are linked to the object).