Bonsai (fka BlenderBIM)

Bonsai (fka BlenderBIM)#

Bonsai solves the problem of expensive, siloed, segmented, differentiated software written in different native models that then need to be converted to other models in order to collaborate.

A challenge is that it used to be called BlenderBIM and we are still getting used to that. So we might sometimes get the name wrong, also google searches will still probably work best for blenderBIM until everyone gets used to it :)

Bonsai is free, open source, native IFC authering platform based on the IfcOpenShell library. It’s a plugin to the open source modelling and render software Blender. Blender has been open source since 2002. Bonsai enables BIM modelling natively in IFC whoch is not possible in any other BIM software.

The problem with traditional proprietary BIM tools is that it is not possible to read the source code of the tools to find out how they really work. Furthermore developing tools for them is difficult because they can change how they work between the versions. The business model is to frequently ship new versions of many different software which is expensive, frustrating and makes existing silos in the AEC worse.

Tutorials and resources:#

Dragons: these are links from the previous year, the development of this software is moving so fast, that these might already be out of date, we are doing our best to get on top of this. If you spot something that does not look right, please tell your focus area manager who can submit a pull request to edit it.

Install Bonsai (fka BlenderBIM)#

Following a brief introduction, we will look at the following steps.

  • Install Bonsai (fka BlenderBIM)

  • Grab an example IFC model from the IFC Models folder

  • If you follow this tutorial, you’ll get a brief introduction to Blender and Bonsai (fka BlenderBIM)

Can you find:

  • the number of spaces on a building storey?

  • the number of levels / building storeys?

  • the materials in the building?

  • the area of the floors?

Beginner#

Intermediate#

Coding in Bonsai (fka BlenderBIM)#

In week 2, we will introduce the scripting environment in Blender to speed up these checks.