IFC Lite Viewer (Power BI Visual)

A high-performance, visually refined 3D IFC model viewer for Power BI. Built with Three.js and web-ifc, this visual allows users to interact with architectural models directly within their Power BI reports.

Architecture

The following diagram illustrates the data flow and component structure of the visual:

graph TD
    A[Power BI Data/Landing Page] --> B[Visual.ts]
    B --> C[IfcViewer.ts]
    C --> D[Three.js Scene]
    D --> E[GLTFLoader]
    E --> F[model.glb]
    C --> G[OrbitControls]
    C --> H[PBR Materials & Shading]

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Features

• High-Quality Rendering: Uses Physically Based Rendering (PBR) for realistic materials and smooth shading.
• Architectural Clarity: Automatic edge detection for crisp architectural lines.
• Interactive Controls: Full Orbit controls (Rotate, Zoom, Pan) for detailed inspection.
• Optimized for Power BI: Lightweight integration that handles complex models with ease.

Setup & Development

Prerequisites

• Power BI Visuals Tools (pbiviz)
• Node.js

Installation

npm install

Packaging

To create the .pbiviz package for Power BI:

pbiviz package

Loading Models

This viewer is optimized for .glb models. Use the ifc2glb-web-ifc tool to convert your IFC files into high-quality formats ready for this viewer.

Credits & Acknowledgements

This visual is built upon several foundational open-source projects:

• IFC-Lite (Licensed under MPL-2.0) — By Louis True. Core parsing, rendering architecture, and geometry handling that powers the Lite Viewer experience.
• Three.js — For the 3D scene engine and rendering pipeline.
• D3.js — For data manipulation and selection utilities.
• Microsoft Power BI Tools — For the visuals development platform.

License

MIT