Measure distances and face areas in 3D

What you'll do

Check a clearance, a wall length or the size of a face straight from the model, without opening the authoring program.

Steps

1. Open an IFC model.
2. Click Measure in the toolbar, or press MM. A bar opens at the bottom of the view.
3. A distance: with Distance chosen, click the first point, then the second. Near a corner the pointer snaps to it, near an edge onto the edge; the small label at the pointer says which. Each pair of clicks makes one measurement.
4. A face's area: choose Face area and click a face. The whole flat face lights up and its area shows.
5. Click Clear to remove the measurements, or Done (or EscEsc) to stop measuring.

What you should see

• A line between the two points with its length on it, and in the bar the length with how far it goes along X, Y and Z (in the model's axes, Z up), in metres.
• A face's area in square metres, on the face and in the bar.
• Labels stay on their measurements while you orbit, pan and zoom.
• While you measure, clicks do not pick elements. A section plane or box still cuts the model, and you can measure what it shows, cut faces included.

Common mistakes

• The point lands on the face, not the corner. Snapping looks at the element under the pointer. Move closer to the corner, or zoom in.
• The area is smaller than expected. Openings are left out, and a face that bends is several faces: click each.
• EscEsc stopped measuring. The first EscEsc drops a half-made distance; the second stops.

Next

• Cut an IFC model with a section plane
• Hide, isolate and see through elements