bViewer by Bury Associates

FREE CHROME EXTENSION

bViewer

by Bury Associates

How often are you sent an IFC model or a laser scan and just want to look at it, without installing heavy BIM or point cloud software? bViewer is a free viewer for architects, engineers, surveyors and contractors. Open IFC models and E57 or LAS point clouds together, then explore, section, measure, check the model against the scan and mark it up, right in Chrome.

What it does

BIM models and point clouds usually need expensive desktop software just to open them. bViewer fixes that. Drag in one or more IFC models and as many point clouds as you like, and they open together in 3D, in their own coordinates. Walk around them, cut sections and clip boxes, click any object to read its properties, and check how closely the model fits the scan. Everything runs in your browser, so your models and scans never leave your machine.

When you are done, add comments and measurements, take screen grabs, and export a multi-page PDF report with a title block - ready to share with the rest of the team.

bViewer showing an IFC MEP model over a laser scan point cloud

Download bViewer

Free to use. Runs entirely on your own computer - nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Coming soon to the Chrome Web StorebViewer is being prepared for the Chrome Web Store - check back shortly.

Install it in Chrome

A one-time setup that takes less than a minute.

Don't forget to pin it for quick access in the future.

 

How to use it

Four simple steps: open your files, explore, measure and check, and export.

 

📁1 · Open your files

Click Open, or drag IFC models and E57 or LAS point clouds onto the window - several at once if you like. Large scans are thinned to keep things smooth, and bViewer tells you when it has done so and by how much.

🧭2 · Explore

Orbit, pan and zoom, or double-click to zoom straight in on a spot. Jump to standard views, switch models and clouds on and off, browse the model tree by storey or class, and click any object to read its IFC properties.

📏3 · Measure & check

Measure distances and areas on the model or the scan. Cut sections, clip boxes and storey plans to see inside. Use the ΔModel tool to check how far the model sits from the point cloud, with in and out of tolerance shown in green and red.

⬇4 · Export

Add comments and mark-ups, take screen grabs, and export a multi-page PDF report with a title block and sheet numbers. You can also save the whole job, including your views, sections, measurements and comments, and re-open it later to carry on where you left off.

Checking the model against the scan - three ways

Live check

Turn on ΔModel and move the cursor over the point cloud. A ring follows the cursor and shows the distance to the nearest model surface, green when it is within tolerance and red when it is not.

Labelled checks

Click to drop a labelled check wherever you need one. Set the tolerance (20 mm by default), and choose whether to check against all point clouds or just one. The labels are saved with your job and go into the PDF report.

Check nearest

Where you have loaded lots of scans, Check nearest switches on just the five point clouds nearest the spot you click and turns the rest off, so you check against the closest, best data.

Handy tools

New in this version

  • 3-point clip box - click two corners and the opposite side in plan to box in a room square to its walls.
  • Hide above and below - clear away everything above or below a level in one click.
  • View 5 - step through your point clouds five at a time when you have loaded a lot of them.
  • Autosave every 5 minutes, with a Resume button if your browser closes unexpectedly.

⎇Select & properties

Click any object to highlight it and read its IFC properties, type, storey and quantities. Press I and then click to inspect an object without changing tools.

Selecting and inspecting objects
  1. Choose Select and click any object in the model; it highlights and its properties open in the side panel.
  2. Press I, then click an object to inspect it while you are using another tool.
  3. Use the model tree to find objects by storey or by class, and switch whole classes on and off.
  4. Switch a whole model off and on from the model list - Show All respects the models you have switched off.

✂️Sections

Cut horizontal and vertical sections through the model and the scan together. Drag the grips to move or rotate a section, crop it, or set it from a face, from one point or from two points.

Cutting and adjusting sections
  1. Horizontal face or Vertical face - click a face to cut a section along it.
  2. 1-point horizontal - click a point and a 5 m x 5 m horizontal section is placed round it.
  3. 2-point vertical - the view turns to plan; click two points to draw a vertical section between them.
  4. 2-point perpendicular - click two points along a wall and a section is placed square across it.
  5. Drag the grips to move or rotate a section, or crop it to just the area you need.
  6. Use Slice to show a thin 100 mm band of the model and scan either side of the cut.

📦Clip box & polygon clip

Box in just the part of the building you want to see. Set a clip box from an object, a point, or three points, then drag its faces to resize it. Draw a polygon clip to hide everything inside it, or hold Shift to hide everything outside, point cloud included.

Using clip boxes
  1. Clip box - click an object or a point on the cloud and bViewer boxes the area around it and zooms in.
  2. 3-point clip box - in plan, click two corners along one side and then a point on the opposite side.
  3. Drag the box faces to resize it.
  4. Polygon clip - draw a polygon to hide everything inside or crossing it, or hold Shift to hide everything outside. Point cloud points are hidden too.
  5. Click Show All at any time to clear every clip and section.

ΔΔModel - model to scan check

See how closely the model matches the point cloud. Set a tolerance and every check is shown in green or red, with the option to report only those out of tolerance.

Checking the model against the scan
  1. Open the ΔModel tool and set the tolerance (20 mm by default) and range.
  2. Choose All point clouds, or pick one cloud to check against.
  3. Hover to see a live reading, or click to drop a labelled check.
  4. Use Check nearest to switch on just the five point clouds nearest the spot you click.
  5. Checks are listed with your measurements and comments and are included in the PDF report.

📐Measure

Measure distances and areas on the model or straight off the point cloud. All labels can be dragged clear of the view to keep things tidy.

Measuring distances and areas
  1. Open Measure and choose Distance or Area.
  2. Click points on the model or the scan; double-click or press Enter to finish.
  3. Drag any label to move it out of the way.
  4. Every measurement is listed in the side panel and goes into the PDF report.

🎯Align

When models and scans do not quite line up, bring them together. Choose a fixed model and the one to move, then work down the steps - or use Reposition to move a model or cloud by a set amount.

Aligning models and clouds
  1. Open Align and choose the fixed model and the model to move.
  2. Work down the steps in the panel to line the two up.
  3. Or use Reposition to move a model or cloud by a set offset.
  4. Export every model and cloud in its new position - IFC as IFC, point clouds as full-resolution LAS.

🎨Display

Colour each model and point cloud to suit. Show clouds in true colour, intensity, grey, height, height bands, normals or a solid colour, and turn on X-ray or edges for the model.

Changing colours and display modes
  1. Open Display to set a colour for each model or point cloud from the standard colours.
  2. Choose a cloud mode: RGB, intensity, grey, height, height bands (every 0.5 m), normals or solid.
  3. Turn on X-ray to see through the model to the scan, or Edges to outline it.

🏢Storey plans & hide above/below

Jump to a plan of any storey and adjust its top and bottom to suit. Hide everything above or below a level in one click.

Working floor by floor
  1. Pick a storey to see it in plan, then adjust the top and bottom of the range.
  2. Use Hide above or Hide below to clear away the rest of the building at a level you click.
  3. bViewer opens in orthographic view by default - switch to perspective from the Views menu.

💬Mark-ups & comments

Pin comments to any face or corner of the model or scan. Comments, measurements and checks are all listed together, and every label can be dragged into place.

Adding comments
  1. Choose Comment, click a face or corner, then click where the text goes and type your note.
  2. Drag the comment label to tidy up the view.
  3. Find all your comments, measurements and checks in the Mark-ups tab.

🖨️Screen grabs & PDF report

Take screen grabs as you go and export them all as one multi-page PDF report, each sheet with your title block, sheet number, comments and measurements.

Creating a PDF report
  1. Set up each view and click Screen grab.
  2. Fill in the project details in Settings once - they appear in the title block on every page.
  3. Choose File › Export › Multi-page PDF; each grab becomes a numbered sheet.

Quick tips

  • Double-click to zoom straight in on a spot.
  • Press I then click to inspect any object.
  • Press Esc to close a pop-up or cancel what you are doing.
  • Click Show All to clear every section and clip in one go.

Please note: results are only as accurate as the model and point cloud you load. Very large scans are thinned for display, so always verify any critical dimension against the full survey data.

bViewer is provided free of charge as an aid for viewing IFC models and point clouds. No liability is accepted for decisions made using this tool.