Requesting native import of the .bim format from dotbim.net.
What it is
dotbim is a minimalist open BIM format: triangulated meshes with a dictionary of properties attached to each element. MIT licence, plain JSON, coordinates in metres, one page of documentation.
Why it makes sense here
- Easy to implement. Meshes plus key/value data is what the viewer already renders for glTF and OBJ. No geometry kernel, no schema parsing like IFC. The format was designed so any tool can support it in a couple of hours.
- Properties work immediately. Each element carries its own dictionary, so the properties panel would behave like it does for IFC.
- It’s already in the Grasshopper and Blender ecosystem. Exporters exist for Grasshopper, Blender/Bonsai, Revit, Tekla and others, and many online 3D viewers open it. Some Grasshopper users treat it as a lightweight “IFC-lite” for handing geometry with data to people outside Rhino.
- Small files. JSON meshes with shared geometry references are much lighter than IFC for review-only use, which helps with share links and mobile.
- Open and community-driven. Created by Wojciech Radaczyński, spec, C# reference library and test files all on GitHub. Covered by OSArch, BIM Corner and the BIMvoice podcast, we used it at the Zurich AEC Hackathon. Feels like the kind of format an AEC browser viewer should just open.
Specs: GitHub - paireks/dotbim: Minimalist file format for BIM · GitHub