Main Window description

Basic Moves for Model View

Zoom in / Zoom out - mouse wheel
Rotate Model - left mouse button + mouse move, when Alt key is pressed current control point is not changed
Move Model - middle mouse button + mouse move or right mouse button + mouse move
Select object - left mouse button, use left button + Ctrl key for multiple selection (click again to unselect object), click on empty space to unselect all
Delete Key - make selected objects transparent, hide selection when transparent
→
Insert Key - show selected objects if hidden, unmake transparent when visible
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Backspace Key - select the entire assembly of the selected objects
Double Click - zoom to selected objects
Box Selection - left mouse button + mouse move with the Ctrl key pressed
- When moving left to right and top to bottom only the objects that have all corners of their bounding box in the selection rectangle will be added to the selection.
- Otherwise all objects that have any corner of their bounding box or their bounding box center point in the selection rentanble will be added to the selection.

File Menu

The options in the File menu are:

Open - brings up a file selection dialog to select an IFC file to open.
Save & Save as… - saves the IFC file to the .BVF format. This file format can be opened and rendered by the viewer but has a much smaller file size than the original IFC file.
Language - Choose the user interfact language.
Color Theme - Choose the overall color and style theme for the viewer.
Advanced Options - Review and modify settings that control how various geometric elements are rendered.
Help - Comprehensive help documentation for the viewer.
About FabSuite View - Version, hardware, and contact information.

View Tab Tools

Type Tools

3D View

Default view, with perspective, orthogonal and oblique projections.

3D View with Projections in Space

Use Ctrl key and mouse scroll wheel up/down to change distance of projections. Click again to switch between projections.

2D View

There are two 2D view types: projection (edges only) and elevations (with faces). Click again to switch between.

Camera Tools

Reset Zoom - Sets the zoom to the original from when the file was opened.
Enclose - Adjusts the view to fit the selected objects onto the screen.
Fly mode - This option allows to easily look around and move through the model from first-person perspective. Camera rotation is made around observer/eye position with minimal zoom step set to 0.5 m. Maximal zoom step can be chosen 0.5m (for indoor movement) or 10m (for outdoor movement). This mode has also ability to hold camera altitude, as an option or when there is no model element below the mouse while zoom is made (when no control point will be set). This mode is useful to move through the infrastructure models or navigate inside the buildings, especially in touch mode.

View Tools

Default, Front, Back, Top, Right, Left - Change the view to one of the predefined camera positions.
Rotate left, Rotate right - Adjust the view by 90 degrees.
Options - There are different displaying options according your preferences and speed of the computer, remove the edges and smooth view will help if you are using a Tablet or a slow computer for a better navigation.
Object Color - If enabled then the objects will be colored based on the color definition in the IFC file instead of by type.
You can pick also between predefined camera positions, if you select one or more pieces these views will be according the selected pieces.
Minimap - Draws building storey that is at the level of current observer (camera) position or story which contains selected elements (if there is selection and all selected elements belong to same storey).

Cutting Tools

If you add a plane in X,Y,Z you can create temporary cuts or hide sections of the model, you can also create any number of different planes to use this tool.

You can remove plane by plane or use clear all to begin without planes, the flip option will show the opposite side of the cut. You can also move cutting planes directly on model view with mouse move with Shift+left mouse button (if they are not parallel to your view).

Story Slides

If the Model is built in stories you can separate and slide them to take a closer look of to each.

Objects Tab Tools

Objects

Display All - If you hide members or make them transparent this will display all the active objects.
Reset Zoom - Fit view to all visible objects.

Selected & Not Selected

Enclose - Fit the view to the selected objects.
Display, Transparent, Hide - You can display, see transparent or hide selected or non-selected items.
Color - When this option is checked the selected objects will appear highlighted in green.
Center View - When this option is checked the view is automatically centered on the selected objects.
Ignore Transparency - Do not select object marked as transparent by clicking.

List

You can view the list of objects divided by Structure, Types, Groups or Layers and if you want to hide the list and just see the model you just need to click again on the selected grouping. You can also see the object table in a separated window and hide the properties if you want to. Additional option are available on the corner button.

Measurement

Measurement tab has the features to allow you to determine measurements of one or more objects.

By clicking on an item or holding the ctrl key you can select multiple items and receive the volume, area or weight of these items. The measurement will show on the highlighted piece and in the Quantity Survey box on the end.
Once you select the measurement tool and see what you were looking in the model, a simple click in the same tool used will release you of it.

Changes Tab - Compare Models

If you have a new version of IFC file, you can compare it with previous one to see changes in geometry. To do this open the first file normally. Then, on ribbon tab CHANGES, open second file. When comparing is complete, you can select and observe changes.

Types of elements that are shown in compare mode:

Not modified - elements which have the same geometry in both files
Modified (old) - elements which have different geometry and are present in first file, displayed as translucent red.
Modified (new) - elements which have different geometry and are present in second file, displayed as translucent navy.
Removed - elements which are only in first file, not present in second, displayed as red.
Added - elements which are only in second file, not present in first, displayed as navy.
Materials - elements which have different materials (or their children properties).
Properties - elements which have changes in properties (or in children's properties).

In order to see the changes better it is useful to mark elements are transparent.

Some Extra Shortcuts

In the Left bottom corner of the screen you can also select and move around between, Models, Types of structure, groups or main pieces.

You can switch the way you see the object list divided from the top of the list too, instead of the objects Tab / List.

Help Documention

FabSuite View - IFC Viewer Quick Reference

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