VCAD DOCUMENTATION
< All Topics
Print

Vcad file manager

Visit this page to access the Vcad file manager.

On this page you can manage your files.
The page contains the number of available slots, bottom left, and the file upload button, top right.
Please note: if you do not activate a subscription plan, the file upload button will not be displayed.

 

Upload an .ifc file

To upload an .ifc file, click on the UPLOAD button in the Vcad file manager, top right.
In the next window click the CHOOSE FILE button, select the file to be imported and then click the UPLOAD FILE button.
To upload other file formats (.rvt, .nwd, .nwc, .obj, .stl and .dwg) follow the instructions later in the article.

 

Once you have loaded the .ifc file into Vcad, you will have to wait for the file to be processed before you can check the preview and download a template. The image below lists the various steps involved in processing the file.

Once processing is complete, if the system indicates that there has been an error, you can send a ticket to our customer service Team by opening this link. Once processing is complete and the green icon is displayed next to the file, you can access the model preview and then download one of the available templates.

 

Usage

If the conversion process is successful, you have access to numerous functions in the Vcad file manager and the available slot will be occupied by the loaded file. The image below describes the functionality of the icons in the Vcad file manager.

 

Below is an alternative view of the uploaded files with file preview.

 

Template download

By clicking on the highlighted icon below you can download one of the available Power BI templates or the extracted model dataset in .csv format.

 

 

Each Power BI template will contain the extracted data form the selected .ifc model as well as the Vcad custom visual already linked to the model’s data. Without having to create a new Power BI report, thanks to Vcad with a few clicks there are several ready solutions focalized on the analysis of the model’s spaces or assets.

 

 

The template may be altered to the user’s needs and all the other tools of Power BI can be used. The template can then be saved as a .pbix file, uploaded to the user’s Power BI workspace and shared with whoever.

 

Styling

You can customize the color of the Vcad file manager to your liking through the Settings window by clicking on the three dots at the top right. The primary theme color acts on the toolbars while the secondary theme color acts on some of the labels.

You can activate the Dark mode style, apply the primary color to the App bar, reset the default or the previous style coloring.

 

Enabling Autodesk Forge®

So far we have seen how it is possible to load an .ifc file into Vcad and download pre-configured, ready-to-use templates. Vcad is however able to manage other formats, in particular: .rvt, .nwd, .nwc, .obj, .stl and .dwg.
In order to use these formats, it is necessary to activate Autodesk’s Forge® viewer, click here to see how to do this.

After creating your Forge app, copy the customer ID and Secret key in the fields provided and select US or EMEA on the Region field depending on whether you want your files to be hosted on USA or EUROPE Autodesk servers.

 

 

Once the Forge viewer is enabled, it is possible to load files in the above-mentioned formats and of course also .ifc files by checking the Use Forge checkbox.

 

Opening the template

To open templates using the Autodesk Forge® viewer, you need to enter a security key, read more about that here.

 

 

The procedure for converting files and downloading templates is the same for all the file formats used.

 

Table of Contents