ODA Summit 2023

Summary

ODA Summit 2023上，Neil Peterson宣布ODA成立25周年，并介绍了其战略计划inWEB，旨在将ODA平台的全部功能带到网络。他强调了ODA在CAD和BIM领域的完全互操作性使命，以及对多种3D CAD格式的支持。此外，他还提到了ODA在WebAssembly技术的帮助下，将核心C++组件适配到web上，以及即将推出的MCAD SDK。他还提到了ODA在中国设立子公司的计划，以及对现有产品的一系列改进，包括Visualize SDK的渲染能力提升和Drawings SDK的2D CAD功能增强。

Takeaways

• 🎉 ODA峰会2023庆祝开放设计联盟成立25周年，强调未来的发展重点。
• 🌐 ODA推出新战略倡议'inWEB'，旨在将ODA平台的全部能力带到网络。
• 📈 2022年ODA增长强劲，新增36家公司作为持久会员，多数部署ODA基于网络的解决方案。
• 🔧 发布MCAD SDK，支持所有主要的3D CAD格式，采用透明固定成本许可模式。
• 🌏 ODA将在中国开设子公司，以更好地支持中文会员。
• 🔥 ODA Visualize SDK支持高效渲染CAD和BIM图形数据，包括2D模型、3D模型和点云。
• 🛠️ ODA Drawings SDK提供对DWG和DGN两种主要CAD格式的支持，并不断改进。
• 📊 ODA Publish SDK支持创建完全定制化的PDF文档，包含3D模型视图、2D绘图及其部分。
• 🔄 ODA致力于跨平台技术的开发，支持所有主要平台，并提供多种编程语言的API。
• 🔧 ODA在2023年增强了Solid ModelerGeometry，提供了创建复杂实体的关键功能。
• 🔍 ODA提供了一系列用于CAD和BIM数据互操作性的工具，包括对STEP、JT和SolidWorks等格式的支持。

Q & A

ODF联盟的使命是什么？

ODF联盟的使命是实现CAD和BIM的完全互操作性。

ODF联盟成立多少年了？

ODF联盟成立25年了。

ODF联盟在2022年有多少家新公司加入？

在2022年，有36家新公司加入ODF联盟成为持续会员。

ODA inWeb是什么？

ODA inWeb是ODF联盟的一个战略计划，旨在将ODA平台的全部功能带到网络环境中。

Visualize inWeb是什么？

Visualize inWeb是ODA联盟提供的专业图形引擎，用于在Web应用程序中渲染CAD和BIM图形数据。

ODA联盟支持哪些编程语言？

ODA联盟支持C++、C#、VB.NET、Java和Python等编程语言。

ODA Visualize SDK提供了哪些功能？

ODA Visualize SDK提供了高效的CAD和BIM图形数据渲染功能，包括2D模型、3D模型和点云，并且是一个跨平台的解决方案。

ODA联盟如何处理DWG和DGN文件的兼容性？

ODA联盟的DWG和DGN文件与这些格式的所有者提供的文件完全兼容，可以轻松集成到任何现有的或新的CAD工作流程中。

ODA联盟如何支持2D CAD？

ODA联盟的2D CAD是整体CAD领域的重要部分，ODA Drawings SDK不仅支持格式，还提供了一系列辅助工具和功能来简化各种任务的实现。

ODA联盟的MCAD SDK将支持哪些3D CAD格式？

ODA联盟的MCAD SDK将支持所有主要的3D CAD格式，包括Solidworks、JT文件等，并提供透明的固定成本许可模式。

ODA联盟在中国的业务发展情况如何？

过去5年中，中国是ODA联盟新成员的最大来源国。为了更好地支持中国成员，ODA联盟将在中国开设子公司。

Outlines

00:00

🎉 ODA峰会2023开幕与未来展望

Neil Peterson作为开放设计联盟（ODA）的主席，欢迎与会者参加2023年的ODA峰会。他强调了ODA成立25周年的里程碑，并概述了过去25年的成就。他提到，ODA的使命是为CAD和BIM实现完全互操作性，这一使命得到了业界的广泛认可。2022年，有36家新公司作为持续会员加入ODA，大多数新成员都在Web平台上部署ODA技术。ODA推出了“ODA inWeb”战略计划，旨在将ODA平台的全部能力带到Web上。他还提到了ODA在支持Solidworks、Catia等3D格式方面的新战略发展，以及即将推出的MCAD SDK。最后，他提到ODA将在中国开设子公司，以更好地支持中国会员。

05:02

🛠️ ODA平台的功能与技术发展

ODA平台是一套集成的技术，用于快速开发工程应用程序。平台提供跨操作系统的相同代码库、不同编程语言的相同API、CAD和BIM数据的通用工具，以及适用于桌面和Web开发的可定制解决方案。ODA开发跨平台技术已有25年，支持所有主要平台，并拥有满足未来平台需求的经验。ODA的核心软件用C++编写，通过SWIG工具生成其他编程语言的包装器，为C#和VB.NET、Java和Python提供API。今年，ODA完成了.NET5和.NET6配置的开发，使得C#包装器可用于Windows、Linux和macOS操作系统。

10:07

🎨 ODA Visualize SDK的进步与创新

ODA Visualize SDK专为高效渲染CAD和BIM图形数据而设计，包括2D模型、3D模型和点云。Visualize提供了一个高效便捷的API，显著加快了应用程序的开发速度。它是一个跨平台的解决方案，适用于Windows、Mac、Linux以及Android和iOS移动平台。Visualize inWEB使用相同的代码库，简化了Web应用程序的开发。为了提高ODA 3D可视化的质量，ODA开始支持光线追踪技术，以创建复杂的图形效果。今年，ODA继续改进和扩展Visualize SDK的功能，增强了3D裁剪功能，增加了对光度学灯光和Web灯光Autodesk文件格式的支持，并扩展了选择功能以支持世界坐标系统。

15:09

📐 ODA Drawings SDK的2D CAD发展与功能增强

ODA Drawings SDK不仅支持DWG和DGN两种主要的CAD格式，还提供了一系列辅助工具和功能，以便于实施各种任务。ODA的DWG和DGN文件与这些格式的所有者完全兼容，使得基于ODA的解决方案可以轻松集成到任何现有的或新的CAD工作流程中。今年，ODA Drawings SDK增加了对MText实体和RTF字符串双向转换的支持，简化了使用BOUNDARY命令创建填充图案的功能，并引入了对约束的支持，这是基于2022年底发布的beta版本的反馈进行改进的结果。

20:16

🌐 ODA的地理数据支持与3D到2D的转换

ODA支持地理数据，这使得模型可以考虑到其所处的环境。地理数据包括不同的地理坐标系统、投影类型、额外的转换、地理标记等。ODA支持50多种不同的地理坐标系统，并允许将地理数据与每个DGN模型关联。此外，ODA还实现了从DWG地理数据到DGN地理数据的转换。今年，ODA还增强了其ModelerGeometry功能，提供了对挤出和旋转操作的全面支持，并引入了切片操作，这使得可以从曲线或区域创建实体。

25:17

🔄 ODA的3D CAD数据互操作性与格式支持

ODA致力于支持所有广泛使用的开放和专有3D CAD格式。今年，ODA计划发布对SolidWorks和Inventor数据的访问和可视化支持，长期路线图包括所有主要的3D格式。ODA还增强了对Parasolid和ACIS的支持，以适应SolidWorks和JT格式的不同版本。此外，ODA STEP SDK保持与行业标准的最新变化同步，并增加了对AP242和Domain Model edition 3 EXPRESS模式的支持。ODA JT Toolkit支持阅读和可视化JT数据，目前正在开发SDK功能。

30:24

🏗️ ODA在BIM互操作性方面的进展

ODA IFC支持基于先进的EXPRESS引擎，包括SDAI和C++接口用于数据访问。IFC SDK在过去一年中看到了许多重大改进，包括新的SDAI功能、性能优化、EXPRESS解释器更新、几何可视化增强以及对辅助标准的生产支持。ODA IFC SDK提供了对主要模型视图定义的全面支持，包括Coordination View和Design Transfer View，以及IFC4.3扩展。此外，ODA还宣布了对COBie API的支持，这是IFC SDK的一个新标准化特性，用于收集有关建筑和参与者的适当BIM数据。

35:30

🔄 ODA BimRv和Navisworks格式的支持

ODA BimRv SDK可以导出.rvt数据到.ifc文件，但由于模型结构的不同，生成的IFC将只包含原始Revit数据的子集。BimRv提供了对Revit模型中100%数据的读取访问，并包括丰富的可视化支持。今年对BimRv的改进包括视图控制和导航、文档和详图、数据管理和协作，以及改进的创建能力。对于Navisworks格式，ODA优化了内存消耗和文件处理时间，并引入了部分加载、多线程加载和直接文件读取等技术。

40:30

🌐 ODA inWEB平台的介绍与功能

ODA inWEB平台包括三种产品：Services、Visualize和CDE（通用数据环境）。Services inWEB是平台的关键产品，包括服务器核心和JobRunner组件。Visualize inWEB为Web应用程序提供了ODA专业图形引擎的全部功能。CDE inWEB提供了将CAD和BIM支持集成到任何通用数据环境应用程序的能力。这些产品使会员能够创建利用ODA的Web服务器、数据转换功能、可视化库或客户端API的定制解决方案。

45:32

🏢 通用数据环境（CDE）解决方案的重要性

CDE解决方案对于成功实施BIM流程至关重要，它为所有项目利益相关者提供了一个集中的协作、共享和管理数字信息的中心枢纽。CDE的关键需求包括集中的数据管理、版本控制和修订管理、安全访问和权限、协作和沟通、数据集成和互操作性、文件和数据交换、性能和可伸缩性、报告和分析。ODA与BIM供应商和专家紧密合作多年，提供了一个经过验证的技术，用于这样一个复杂解决方案——ODA通用数据环境SDK。

🤝 ODA咨询服务与战略互操作性小组（SIG）

ODA现在提供咨询服务，帮助实施基于ODA的解决方案，实现最佳设计和高效集成ODA技术到任何应用程序中。ODA的成功和增长很大一部分来自于战略互操作性小组（SIG）项目，这是一个ODA成员共同提供资金用于新产品开发的项目。ODA运营这些SIG项目是作为对其成员的一项服务，是解决今天最复杂互操作性问题的一种成本效益高的解决方案。目前有7个SIG项目正在进行中，ODA对更多的互操作性挑战持开放态度。

Keywords

💡ODA

ODA（Open Design Alliance）是一个非盈利组织，致力于提供CAD和BIM领域的互操作性解决方案。在视频中，ODA庆祝了其成立25周年，并介绍了其使命、成就和未来的发展方向。

💡互操作性

互操作性是指不同系统或组件之间能够互相通信和协作的能力。在视频脚本中，互操作性是ODA的核心使命，旨在让CAD和BIM技术能够在不同的平台和环境中无缝工作。

💡Visualize inWeb

Visualize inWeb是ODA推出的一款专业图形引擎，用于在Web应用程序中高效渲染CAD和BIM图形数据。它是ODA inWeb战略计划的一部分，旨在将ODA平台的全部功能带到Web上。

💡MCAD SDK

MCAD SDK是ODA推出的一个新的战略发展计划，旨在支持所有主要的3D CAD格式。它提供了一个透明、固定成本的许可模型，允许开发者在应用程序中集成对Solidworks、Catia等3D CAD格式的支持。

💡CDE SDK

CDE SDK（Common Data Environment Software Development Kit）是一套工具包，用于将CAD和BIM支持集成到任何通用数据环境中。它提供了用户管理功能、文档工作流程支持以及BIM协作格式支持。

💡WebAssembly

WebAssembly是一种用于Web浏览器的新型代码，它允许在网页中以接近原生性能运行编译后的代码。在ODA的上下文中，WebAssembly用于将核心C++组件转换为Web应用程序可以使用的格式。

💡Ray-tracing

Ray-tracing是一种渲染技术，通过模拟光线在三维环境中的传播来生成逼真的图像。在视频中，ODA正在开发支持Ray-tracing的技术，以创建复杂的图形效果。

💡CAD

CAD（Computer-Aided Design）是指使用计算机技术进行设计的过程，通常用于工程领域。在视频中，ODA提供了支持多种CAD格式的解决方案，包括DWG和DGN。

💡BIM

BIM（Building Information Modeling）是一种数字化表示建筑物和基础设施的工具，它有助于建筑信息的创建、管理和共享。在视频中，ODA强调了对BIM的互操作性支持，包括IFC、Revit和Navisworks文件格式。

💡STEP

STEP（Standard for the Exchange of Product Data）是一种用于交换产品数据的国际标准文件格式，主要用于3D CAD数据的交换。在视频中，ODA正在积极开发STEP支持，以作为3D CAD数据的主要开放交换格式。

💡JT格式

JT格式是一种ISO标准的3D CAD数据交换格式，可以包含从原生CAD系统导出的数据或由产品数据管理系统插入的数据。ODA JT Toolkit使得能够读取、解包和可视化JT数据。

Highlights

ODA峰会2023庆祝其成立25周年，强调了其在CAD和BIM领域的完全互操作性使命。

2022年，有36家新公司作为持续成员加入ODA，大多数新成员在Web上部署ODA解决方案。

ODA推出了名为inWEB的战略计划，旨在将ODA平台的全部功能带到Web上。

ODA在Web上提供的技术大多是使用Emscripten工具链从核心C++组件改编而来。

ODA在2023年4月推出了支持所有主要3D CAD格式的MCAD SDK。

ODA将在2023年开设中国子公司，以更好地支持中国成员。

ODA平台为工程应用的快速开发提供了一套集成的技术。

ODA Visualize SDK专为高效渲染CAD和BIM图形数据而设计，支持跨平台解决方案。

ODA开始支持光线追踪技术，以创建复杂的图形效果。

ODA Drawings SDK提供对DWG和DGN两种主要CAD格式的支持，并提供一系列补充工具和功能。

ODA的2D CAD是整体CAD领域的重要组成部分，提供了对2D绘图的高效使用。

ODA在2023年增强了ModelerGeometry，提供了对挤出和革命功能的综合支持。

ODA Precise Hidden Lines Remover、ODA Brep Modeler和ODA Solid Modeler作为独立组件非常有用，也支持广泛的新功能。

ODA JT Toolkit支持ISO标准的3D CAD数据交换格式JT的读取、解包和可视化。

ODA IFC SDK提供对IFC和相关开放格式的支持，包括Revit和Navisworks文件。

ODA inWEB提供了一系列尖端产品和组件，旨在改变开发者在基于浏览器的环境中处理CAD和BIM项目的方式。

ODA Common Data Environment SDK为工程师提供了一个经过验证的技术，用于实现复杂的解决方案。

Transcripts

Welcome to ODA Summit 2023. My  name is Neil Peterson and I’m the  

president of Open Design Alliance. 2023 marks a milestone for ODA:  

It’s our 25-year anniversary. We’ve  accomplished a lot during the past 25 years,  

but today our focus is on the future. Our mission of Complete Interoperability  

for CAD and BIM continues to be well-received by  industry. We had another strong year of growth,  

with 36 new companies joining us as Sustaining  members in 2022. Members are deploying our  

technology on a wide range of platforms, but the  majority of companies that joined us in recent  

years are deploying ODA-based solutions on the  web. Web is a priority for ODA, and today you’re  

going to see a new term used to talk about  our web offerings, and that term is: inWEB. 

“ODA inWeb” is a strategic initiative to bring  the full power of the ODA Platform to the web.  

The foundational pieces of inWeb are already in  place, including Visualize inWeb, our professional  

graphics engine, and CDE SDK, formerly Open  Cloud, our toolkit for integrating CAD and  

BIM support into any Common Data Environment. Our plans for inWeb extend far beyond Common  

Data Environments. For example, in the coming  years you’ll see Drawings inWeb and Constraints  

inWeb to support sophisticated DWG editing. Most  inWeb technologies are adaptations of our core C++  

components, created using the advanced Emscripten  toolchain to generate WebAssembly. So we can  

deliver inWeb technologies efficiently, without  changing the focus of our core development. 

Members have been asking us for years to  support Solidworks, Catia and other 3D  

formats. In April of this year, we launched a  new strategic development initiative for MCAD.  

MCAD SDK will include open support for all  major 3D CAD formats, under a transparent,  

fixed-cost licensing model, the same that we offer  for all of our products. Our MCAD team has hit  

the ground running, and today you’ll see an early  demo of our support for Solidworks and JT files.  

Industry response to our new MCAD SDK has been  extremely positive. If you’re interested in  

supporting this important work, please contact me. ODA has member companies in more than 50  

countries, but China has been our largest  source of new members during the past 5 years.  

To better support our Chinese members, ODA will  be opening a subsidiary in China this year.

We have a great program for you today, with  significant advancements across the board with  

all of our products. Enjoy the rest of the Summit. The  

ODA Platform is an integrated set of  technologies for the rapid development  

of Engineering applications. We provide: 

The same codebase for different operating systems The same APIs for different programming languages 

Universal tools for CAD and BIM data  access, visualization and publishing 

And a set of ready-to-use customizable solutions  for both desktop and inWEB development. 

ODA has been developing cross-platform  technologies for 25 years. We support all major  

platforms, and we have the experience to meet  your platform needs for the foreseeable future. 

Our core software is written in C++ and to  enable the use of ODA libraries with other  

programming languages we generate  wrappers with a tool called SWIG. 

ODA provides APIs for managed languages  including С# and VB.NET, Java, and Python.  

Support for .NET5 and .NET6 configurations for  C# wrappers make them available for Windows,  

Linux and macOS operating systems. This year we completed development of  

an automatic generating tool and provided a new  version of the .NET wrappers. Classes, functions,  

variable names, and namespaces are generating  according to unified rules across all SDKs,  

making the API consistent and user-friendly. The ODA Visualize SDK is designed for efficient  

rendering of CAD and BIM graphical data including  2D models, 3D models, and point clouds. Visualize  

provides an efficient and convenient API that  significantly speeds up application development. 

It is a cross-platform solution  available for Windows, Mac,  

and Linux, as well as Android and iOS mobile  platforms. Visualize inWEB uses the same code  

base that simplifies web-application development. To improve the quality of ODA 3D visualization,  

we started working on support for Ray-tracing.  This allows us to create sophisticated graphic  

effects with minimal complexity: multiple  reflections, color transmitting through  

semi-transparent surfaces, refraction on glass  materials and so on. At the moment we implemented  

graphic material effects, like reflections,  transparency, texturing, bump-mapping and lighting  

as a CPU based solution. The next stage is porting  of implemented features to the GPU pipeline  

to provide a real-time ray-tracing solution  for all ODA toolkits and ODA based products. 

This year we continue to improve and  extend the abilities of Visualize SDK. 

We enhanced the view's 3D clipping  functionality (“CPU cutting planes”)  

and it is now available both for the  low-level GS/GI API and high-level API. 

We enhanced the "reflection plane" feature  that provides realistic reflections onto  

planar surfaces and added the ability to  use them simultaneously with ground shadows. 

We added support for Photometric lights and the  Web-lights Autodesk file format that describes a  

light distribution from a light source. Based  on file data we prepare special textures,  

which represent scanning of light intensities  in all directions and use them in the renderer. 

We extended the selection functionality to  support pick data in the World Coordinate System. 

We added new functionality  to support the bitmap GLES2  

device and used this device for WPF applications. 

ODA Publish SDK supports creation of fully  customized PDF documents containing 3D  

model views, 2D drawings and their parts, UI  controls, JavaScript scenarios and animation. 

The API provides convenient methods to  publish CAD and BIM data to 2D and 3D PDF,  

including a comprehensive API for PRC  data access, creation and visualization. 

This year we enhanced PRC creation with full  support for PRC geometry compression that allows  

reducing output file size by up to 6 times. Publish functionality was extended with: 

Support for GeoSpatial data  when exporting DGN files to PDF. 

And, support for the Selection Set option that  exports particular DWG or DGN entities to PDF. 

The history of ODA CAD is as long  as the history of the ODA itself. 

ODA Drawings SDK provides support for  two major CAD formats: DWG and DGN. 

Drawings SDK is not limited to format support  only, but provides a number of complementary  

tools and features to facilitate  the implementation of various tasks. 

With interoperability being our key mission, ODA’s  DWG and DGN files are 100% compatible with the DWG  

and DGN files from the owners of those formats. As a result, your ODA-based solution may be easily  

integrated into any existing or new CAD workflow. 2D CAD  

is an essential part of the overall CAD  area. 2D drawings for area planning,  

fire protection systems, routes for robots  in warehouses and many other areas require  

and efficiently use 2D CAD. ODA Drawings SDK  is not something frozen, it is an actively  

developed product with continuous improvements. For example, starting with this year we support  

two-way conversion between MText entities and RTF  strings. In addition to the setContentsRTF method,  

we implemented a contentsRTF method that returns  an MText object as an RTF-encoded string.  

Working with text is an important part of Drawings  SDK, as text is probably the first thing that  

comes to mind when we think of 2D drawings. If you have a 2D drawing, it’s very likely  

to contain some hatches. Facilitating  work with hatches is a key focal point,  

and we’ve made advancements in this area as well. For instance, we simplified hatch creation using  

BOUNDARY command functionality as a base. Just to  remind – the BOUNDARY command allows you to create  

an entity with a closed loop from multiple  entities in a specified area of a drawing.  

In addition to pure BOUNDARY capabilities  hatch creation has the possibility of closing  

a contour with gaps. Gap size may be managed  by means of the HPGAPTOL system variable. 

Contour creation is not the only way that  entities may interact with each other.  

Another complex area of entity  relationships is covered by the  

constraints topic. Constraints support was first  released at the end of 2022 as a beta version.  

This year brought us valuable and positive  feedback from our membership community. 

Based on this feedback we introduced  improvements that may be divided into 3 groups: 

enhancements to constraints capabilities improvements to constraints quality 

improvements in constraints behavior  to work more similar to Autocad 

As a result of these efforts,  end users have the API to 

Create all types of constraints  with the given entities 

List and delete constraints Convert dimensions to dimensional constraints 

If you develop a UI-based application  you can speed up your development using 

Pre-created Commands for constraints creation Parameter Manager for dimensional constraints 

To get a quick overview of the constraints  capabilities please see our example application  

ODA Drawings Explorer, that now  has a special Constraints Toolbar. 

The whole list of the constraints  now includes the following items: 

For geometrical constraints: 

Coincident Collinear 

Concentric Fixation 

Parallel Perpendicular 

Horizontal/Vertical Tangent 

Smooth Symmetric 

Equal length or equal radius And dimensional constraints: 

Aligned dimensional constraint  between point subentities 

Horizontal or vertical dimensional constraint Two line angular dimensional constraint 

Three point angular dimensional constraint Radial or diameter dimensional constraint 

Constraints may be applied not only to  2D objects, but also to 3D objects. In  

some cases it is just not reasonable or not  possible to split the objects to 2D and 3D. 

For example, this year we extended ODA Solid  Modeler with an algorithm to generate Network  

surfaces. Network surfaces in some cases may  be absolutely flat or consist of several flat  

sub-elements, but there is no reason to introduce  2D and 3D Network surfaces. We just have Network  

surface native support for the OdDbSurface class.  With the OdDbSurface::createNetworkSurface method  

it is possible to construct a surface by  two sets of curves: u-curves and v-curves. 

Conversion and optimization, as well as  intersection algorithms are also equally required  

for 2D and 3D areas. As an example of a conversion  and optimization algorithm, we provide conversion  

of OdDbSubDMesh to smoothed and optimized  OdDb3dSolid or OdDbSurface. This was introduced  

last year. This conversion mode to a smoothed body  merges some neighboring surfaces to one surface. 

This year, OdDbSubDMesh and ray intersection  was implemented. Common intersection points  

for mesh and ray are illustrated on this slide. When talking about DGN, it is also not reasonable  

to try to strictly separate 2D and 3D areas. And geo data is a good example here. 

Dgn geodata includes different geographical  coordinate systems, projection types,  

additional transformations, geo markers,  geographical auxiliary coordinate system  

and tools to work with geo data. Geo data allows us to consider  

the environment our model is placed in. The  ability to consider the communication routes,  

logistics, impact and options for further  development is based on the geo data. 

Last year we finished implementation of dgn geo  data support. Geographical data can be associated  

with every dgn model using the OdDgGeoDataInfo  element. This element contains information about  

the geographical coordinate system, datum  information, reference ellipsoid data and  

additional transformation data. The geographic  coordinate system defines the rules for projecting  

3d world coordinates (x,y,z) to geo coordinates  (longitude, latitude, altitude) and vice versa. 

We support over 50 different geo coordinate  systems used in different parts of the world.  

Every model can be associated with only one  geographical coordinate system and have only one  

OdDgGeoDataInfo element in model control elements. Geo markers OdDgKMLPlacemark2d/3d allow you to  

link a specific world point in a drawing to a  specific point in a geographic coordinate system.  

They are used for the most accurate positioning of  the drawing on the map and have a higher priority  

than geodata transformations of the model. Also, we implement sample geo data support  

modules that allow us to convert world coordinates  to geographical coordinates and back, to correct  

entity geometry during reprojection when one  coordinate system was changed to another one. 

All geodata calculation and conversion modules are  based on the cs_map library. We use this library  

for dwg geo data support, and we tried to design  dgn geo data interfaces, algorithms and protocol  

extensions to be similar to the ones for dwg. And, of course, we implemented conversion of  

dgn geodata to dwg geodata and back in  our dgn import and dgn export libraries. 

While in some cases it is not reasonable to  separate 2D from 3D, in other cases we observe  

a 2D to 3D or 3D to 2D transformation. For example, a simple 2D entity may be  

used for creation of solid and sheet  bodies from curves or regions. The  

results may be used to construct complex bodies. Extrusion and revolution functionalities allow  

us to create bodies from curves and regions.  Enhancing those functionalities was the main  

focus of ODA ModelerGeometry in 2023. We have been working on providing  

comprehensive support for these operations  through the following key functions: 

extrude or revolve create Extruded or Revolved Solid or Surface 

These functions serve as fundamental  building blocks for modeling. 

One significant improvement we have made  is the addition of support for taper angle  

in the extrusion functionality. Currently, only  line segments are supported in the profile,  

but we have plans to expand this support  to include all types of curves this year. 

Two more interesting improvements.  The first one – now solid bodies may  

be created by means of revolution  from open curves. In such cases,  

the end points of the curve are extended towards  the rotation axis and then closed. In addition,  

we have incorporated support for revolution  axes that lie outside of the profile plane. 

To continue the topic of working with OdDb3dSolids  and OdDbSurfaces we should mention the Slice  

operation, implemented this year. Slice cuts a  3d entity into two parts by plane or surface. 

Using extrude, revolve and slice you can model a  wide range of real-life elements including pipes,  

tanks, fittings, connectors, basements, and more. Intermediate: CAD workflows require not only  

creation of 3D from 2D, but also 2D from 3D. The  next 2 features are a good illustration of a 3D  

to 2D transformation. Flattened views and Model  Documentation are an illustration of a growing ODA  

trend – building sophisticated new features on the  foundation of other ODA features and capabilities  

with no dependency on third-party components. ODA  Precise Hidden Lines Remover, ODA Brep Modeler,  

and ODA Solid Modeler are useful not only as  stand-alone components, but they also enable  

opportunities for a wide range of new features. Flattened views combine tools to construct  

projections and sections. The core of the  functionality is the OdDbSectionHLRHelper  

class. It works with 3D solids, 3D surfaces,  regions, sub-d meshes and bodies and allows us to: 

select a section or a projection plane set elements to construct a section or projection 

create elements of a section or a projection get visible edges,  

invisible edges and section areas The extended version of the tool  

is implemented as the OdDbFlattenViewsHelper  class and additionally allows us to set color,  

line type, line weight, transparency and layer  settings for visible edges, and invisible edges  

and hatch settings for section areas. The extended  tool has a method to copy the result of projection  

or section creation to the selected block. Model documentation allows creation of smart  

drawing views. These views are designed to  automatically update whenever changes are  

made to the underlying 3D model. Ongoing work  increases the number of supported view types,  

including base view, projected view, section  view, detail view, and view edit commands. 

Our primary focus this year was on two key  aspects. First, we dedicated significant  

efforts to refining and improving our existing  functionality. Secondly, we placed considerable  

time on AutoCAD compatibility, aligning with our  company mission of seamless interoperability.  

The key achievement in this regard is the  implementation of section view support. Now  

section views, created by ODA-backed software  may be opened and processed in AutoCAD without  

any issues. This task required us to develop and  incorporate Inventor support within Drawings SDK. 

Speaking of compatibility with AutoCAD  we can’t ignore Color books – a way  

to distribute specific sets of colors and  their shades across multiple manufacturers,  

thus following the same color frame. 

Color books are provided as  separate xml text (.acb) files,  

so they are easy to distribute with .dwg files.  The open xml format makes it easy to create custom  

color books. The ODA API allows you to read custom  color books and color books supplied by AutoCAD®. 

A strategic interoperability initiative  for 3D CAD data includes support for  

all widely used open and proprietary formats. We remain committed to open standards support  

and this year we continue active development of  STEP support as a main open exchange format for  

3D CAD data. Also we launched a new JT format  project to support product data exchange. 

Open standards are not displacing  proprietary formats at this point,  

rather they are complementing each other, and  we see growing interest from our members in ODA  

support for proprietary 3D CAD formats. This year  we plan to release data access and visualization  

support for SolidWorks and Inventor data, and our  long-term roadmap includes all major 3D formats. 

Parasolid & ACIS are de  facto standards for boundary  

representation data in 3D CAD applications. For a long time ODA supported only the few  

versions of Parasolid required for DGN support.  But this year we began work on the Solidworks  

and JT formats, which can use different versions  of Parasolid. To fully support Solidworks and JT,  

we enhanced our Parasolid support to  work with any version of Parasolid data. 

The STEP family of formats has been  actively developing during recent years,  

and we keep ODA STEP SDK up to date with  the latest changes in industry standards. 

This year we added support for AP242  and Domain Model edition 3 EXPRESS  

schemas and significantly improved performance. Performance enhancements were focused on SDAI and  

we greatly improved the speed of file operations,  inverse attribute calculations and entity extents  

filtering. In addition to these base feature  optimizations, we significantly accelerated the  

EXPRESS interpreter and ISO-specified find  instance features used in STEP format validation. 

The Validation Engine was extended  to support STEP models of different  

application protocols. We currently support most  of the EXPRESS language constructions required  

for complicated AP242 model processing. To enhance ODA exchange capabilities we  

implemented conversion of 3D data between STEP and  DWG and DGN formats. Also, we added support for  

ODA Common Data Access API for properties  and model tree for STEP-related formats. 

In April of this year we released Open STEP  Viewer, a free application for viewing and  

investigating STEP files. Besides the standard  visualization and model access features, the  

Open STEP Viewer provides a set of plugins with  extended functionality such as draughting views,  

validation, and export to STL for 3D printing. JT is an ISO-standard 3D CAD data exchange format.  

It can contain any combination of approximate  (faceted) data, boundary representation surfaces  

(NURBS), Product and Manufacturing Information  (PMI), and Metadata (textual attributes) either  

exported from a native CAD system or inserted  by a product data management system or PDM. 

ODA JT Toolkit enables reading, or unpacking,  and visualization of JT data. Right now reading  

Scene graph, level of detail Shape elements and  B-Reps reading is implemented, and we are actively  

working to extend the SDK functionality. This year we started work on SolidWorks  

interoperability. Solidworks is a proprietary  3D CAD format commonly used for mechanical  

and industrial components. The format  stores 3D model data, PMI and 2D drawings. 

Our support for Solidworks includes  reading and visualization support  

for Part, Assembly and Drawing files. At the moment we support reading of all versions  

of PART files and visualization of 3D data. We’ve been developing internal support for the  

IDW Inventor format containing 2D data for Model  Documentation DWG functionality. And this year  

we extended our 3D CAD data interoperability  with support for reading Inventor IPT files. 

The IPT format contains 3D parts represented  with solid, mesh and surface geometry. 

We currently support reading IPT files  and visualization of 3D solid geometry. 

BIM Interoperability is the key  part of ODA’s long-term mission. 

Under BIM, we support IFC and  a set of related open formats,  

Revit and Navisworks files, DWG-based  Architecture and Civil 3D files,  

and various point cloud formats as  part of our Scan to BIM product. 

ODA IFC support is based on our  advanced EXPRESS engine which includes  

SDAI and C++ interfaces for data access. IFC SDK is widely used by major vendors  

and has seen a number of major improvements  during the past year: new SDAI features,  

performance optimizations, EXPRESS interpreter  updates, geometry visualization enhancements  

and production support for auxiliary  standards, such as IDS, MVD, BCF and COBie. 

The IFC4.3 format that formalizes Rail & Road  definitions is one of the most valuable releases  

within the BIM industry for the last year. The  latest version is fully supported by ODA IFC SDK,  

and we promptly make the required changes as the  scheme is still in the process of certification. 

The next extension for Tunnel definition is  being actively developed by buildingSmart,  

but the early version of this schema is already  

supported in IFC SDK for member review. ODA IFC SDK provides comprehensive support  

for geometric representations of principal Model  View Definitions including Coordination View and  

Design Transfer View, including the IFC4.3  extension with alignments and special sweeps.  

Along with multiple enhancements this  year we added support for hatches,  

annotation fill area and curve bounded plane. IFC SDK includes a Validation Engine that can  

check models on different aspects. The  Validation Engine has been improved with  

several standardized SDAI-level validations  implemented as a validation of AGGREGATE item  

uniqueness, reference type correctness  and ARRAY non-optional item assignment.  

An automatically generated IDS API together  with IDS validation have also been harmonized  

according to the latest stable version released  by buildingSmart earlier this year. It implements  

the highest level of validation of model semantic  correctness according user-defined requirements. 

The updated Model Operations API allows  IfcProducts deletion, cloning or extraction  

into other models. It has allowed us not only to  create so-called federated models which are two or  

more merged IFC files, but also to implement  a set of complicated editing operations. 

The latest BIM Collaboration Format version 3.0  was released recently by buildingSmart, and now  

it is a part of our IFC SDK. The new version  is not backward compatible with BCF 2.1, so we  

implemented upward conversion in our BCF library.  Both versions are available for client use. 

COBie is the format for delivery data collected  from the BIM model, and it is widely used for  

various analysis or working purposes. We are  happy to announce a COBie API which is a new  

standardized feature of IFC SDK. The API collects  appropriate BIM data about buildings and actors. 

For end users, COBie-related data can be accessed  using OpenIFCViewer’s COBie manager Plugin. We  

will add support for exporting into Excel or HTML  files containing COBie tables later this year. 

As we switch topics from IFC to Revit, we should  mention that ODA BimRv SDK can export .rvt data  

to an .ifc file. But due to the different model  structures, the resulting IFC will contain only  

a subset of the original Revit data. Many tasks  require direct access to the Revit model data,  

and that’s why ODA BimRv SDK is so  heavily used in the industry today. 

BimRv provides read access to 100% of  the data in a Revit model. In addition,  

it includes rich visualization that supports  geometry, materials, visual styles, textures  

and so on, greatly expanding the potential use  cases where BimRv can be successfully utilized.  

Support for temporary and auxiliary element  creation such as plane and section views,  

annotation elements, cable tray geometry and  others expands the set of use cases even more. 

Improvements to BimRv have been made in several  directions: View Control and Navigation;  

Documentation and Detailing, Data Management  and Collaboration, and additionally we should  

mention the improved creation capabilities. View Control and Navigation improvements include: 

First - the ability to enable/disable a section  box and control its size. It is possible,  

for instance, to select one or multiple elements  and use their extents to create a section box. 

Next - the ability to draw, turn  on and turn off level grids in 3D. 

And next - the ability to create Perspective  views with the same settings as in Autodesk Revit. 

Documentation and detailing improvements include: A new multi-crop view feature, that allows a crop  

region to be split into several crop  regions, for example to allow you to  

cut off some part of a view. A multi-segment view feature,  

that allows a view to be split into segments, so  that every segment has its own clipping plane. 

A ceiling plan feature that supports creation  of special views with the layout of a ceiling. 

For Data management and  collaboration we need to mention: 

Schedule creation. Currently, BimRv supports  the creation of a new schedule, including  

setup fields, filtering and sorting conditions  and other properties of schedule definition. 

We also have the ability to walk through  schedule cells and export them as csv or html. 

And finally, we continue work  at Creation functionality. 

As RVT format uses a family-based architecture,  the first important feature available in  

BimRv toolkit is the ability to import a  Family into a model or family database. 

The second one is advanced Family creation  support with the ability to create: 

Several family templates All Forms elements and their Void form. 

Boolean operation on form elements. Opening in host elements in a family file. 

Dimensions and ReferencePlane elements. BimNv 

One more important area of work is the  support of the Autodesk Navisworks format.  

As it is an aggregated format, an important  issue is the support of the Large Files. 

A lot of work was done to optimize memory  consumption and file processing time on different  

stages of the file processing. For loading we introduced: 

Partial loading, Multithreaded loading, and 

Direct file reading without  buffering for single-threaded mode. 

For the visualization of  Navisworks files we implemented: 

Partial viewing with memory limit options, that  allows the user to set a memory consumption limit. 

And support for redline data in  models was also implemented in BimNv. 

Navisworks files are often used for time  and cost estimations. To enable this  

functionality in BimNv, we recently introduced  Timeliner support. The TimeLiner tool enables  

you to link a model to an external construction  schedule for visual time and cost-based planning.  

In addition, timeliner data may be exported in  csv in exactly the same way as Navisworks itself. 

As you know our Visualize toolkit can combine  models of different formats to a single scene.  

Now we can export such combined Visualize  Scenes to .nwd files. So now you have a  

tool to create your own federated models and to  save the result to .nwd for further processing,  

or just to convert any format  to .nwd through Visualize. 

Scan to BIM is a research initiative focused  on the conversion of point cloud data from  

architectural, civil, and other domains  to fully classified IFC and Revit models.  

Our efforts for Scan to BIM are  focused in three primary directions. 

The first direction is Point Cloud to Mesh  conversion. Here, as experience has shown,  

in addition to the direct transformation itself,  it is necessary to perform additional actions  

before and after the transformations. As  a result of our study and experiments we  

have chosen the workflow which consists of a  preprocessing stage, where we remove “outliers”  

and compute normals, a main transformation  stage, which uses the Poisson algorithm,  

and a post-processing stage where surface trimming  is performed to eliminate the typical problem of  

the Poisson algorithm – “pedestals” in  the zones where there were no points. 

The second direction of our activity  is Point cloud to B-Rep conversion.  

Such conversion allows us to eliminate  intermediate mesh creation and gives the  

ability to extract B-Reps from the point  cloud directly. This approach is based on  

plane recognition which is performed after  segmentation of the initial point cloud.  

Next, after recognition of the surface boundaries,  we recognize floors and walls. We are able to  

recognize their position, direction and thickness  as well as the floors and walls together.  

This part involves some assumptions  and may require user feedback. Finally,  

the recognized objects are converted  to IFC which was chosen as the final  

goal for the current stage of the project. The third direction is the Mesh to B-Rep  

conversion. Here we have implemented  a quite complex workflow which allows  

us to recognize canonical surfaces - planes,  spheres and cylinders. This workflow includes  

many tasks like detection of sharp edges,  calculation of curvatures, segmentation of  

the initial point cloud, special extraction of  planar and cylindrical segments and, finally,  

recognition of the canonical surfaces. The work  we have already done gives us the opportunity to  

start the next important task – creating B-Reps  based on the intersection of canonical surfaces. 

ODA inWEB provides a set of cutting-edge products  and components designed to transform the way  

developers work with CAD and BIM projects  in a browser-based environment. It empowers  

developers to seamlessly store, visualize  and collaborate on CAD and BIM files inWEB. 

The inWEB platform currently  consists of three products: 

Services Visualize 

and CDE (Common Data Environment) Services inWEB is the key product that provides  

the basic functionality of the platform. It  includes the Server core, which stores, manages,  

and processes CAD and BIM files, and the JobRunner  component, which handles data conversion. 

Visualize inWEB delivers all the capabilities  of ODA's professional graphics engine for  

web applications. It includes two parts:  VisualizeJS - a powerful WebAssembly library  

that allows developers to visualize CAD and  BIM geometry data directly in the web browsers,  

and the WebViewer component - a web application  that demonstrates fundamental scenarios that can  

be implemented using ODA inWEB technology. CDE inWEB provides the ability to integrate  

CAD and BIM support into any Common Data  Environment application. It includes user  

management functionality, support for document  workflows, and BIM collaboration formats. 

Members can use these products to create  custom solutions that take advantage of  

ODA’s web server, data conversion capabilities,  visualization libraries, or client-side APIs. 

The latest features bring even more power and  versatility to your CAD and BIM workflows: 

Enhanced performance and  optimized memory consumption. 

Updated permissions for better control and  collaboration when working with viewpoints. 

Powerful clash detection functionality. Search for specific objects. 

STEP file support. IFC and STEP file validation. 

An enhanced REST API with advanced  filtering and sorting capabilities. 

Customizable highlighting. An updated WebViewer UI/UX. 

With these latest enhancements, we  continue pushing the boundaries of CAD  

and BIM collaboration, providing developers with a  robust platform to implement their own solutions. 

The Common Data Environment solution plays a  decisive role in the successful implementation  

of BIM processes. It serves as a centralized  hub for all project stakeholders to collaborate,  

share, and manage digital information throughout  the entire lifecycle of a construction project. 

Key requirements for any CDE solution include: Centralized Data Management 

Version Control and Revision Management Secure Access and Permissions 

Collaboration and Communication Data Integration and Interoperability 

File and Data Exchange Performance and Scalability 

Reporting and Analytics Developing a CDE for engineers  

involves various challenges that need to be  addressed to ensure a successful implementation. 

ODA has been working for many years in tight  cooperation with BIM vendors and experts to  

deliver a proven technology for such a complex  solution - ODA Common Data Environment SDK.

Let’s look at our solution in terms  of standardization - ISO 19650 and  

the typical stages of information management.

Starting with the Work in Progress  Stage ODA has a significant number  

of supported formats, and we’re looking forward  to strengthening our offering with MCAD files. 

All of these files are supported by CDE SDK,  along with the following high-level features:

Collaboration together with colleagues File versioning gives the ability to  

review the change history for a file Ensuring that all users have access  

to the most recent project data Convenient backup capabilities

The Shared Stage usually refers to  reviewing combined models, so here we  

can highlight the following functionalities: Our advanced 3D viewer can be embedded  

in any web application, and it supports  merging of BIM models, cropping, hiding,  

filtering elements, and viewing properties Differentiation of access rights by groups 

Creation of summary or federated models Viewing and creating marks or  

annotations on model elements Working with IFC and BCF to ensure  

interoperability between all project participant; Checking BIM models for clashes

During the Publish Step, you can  share full information about the  

project and transfer data  in any convenient format.

This includes viewing and  working with documentation  

formats such as DWG, PDF, DXF, DGN, etc. For Archival - it’s possible to create  

separate secure cloud storage on your own  servers for archival purposes - we provide  

all necessary APIs for this. That concludes our technical  

presentations today. I have a couple of  short notes before we close our Summit. 

First, if you need help to implement  an ODA-based solution, ODA now offers  

Consulting Services. Our experts can  help you to achieve optimal design  

and efficient integration of ODA technologies  into any application: desktop, mobile or web.  

More information about ODA Consulting  Services can be found on opendesign.com. 

Finally, a big part of our growth and success  during the past 12 years has come from Strategic  

Interoperability Group, or SIG projects. A SIG  is a group of ODA members who come together to  

provide funding for the development of a new  product. Our new MCAD SDK is being developed  

under this program, as well as our toolkits  for Revit, Navisworks, Scan to BIM, and others. 

ODA operates these SIG projects at cost  as a service to our members. It’s a highly  

cost-effective solution for some of today’s  most complex interoperability problems. We  

have 7 SIG projects running currently, and  we’re open for more. Let us know if you  

have an interoperability challenge that  might be a good fit for our SIG program. 

Thank you for your attention! If you have any  questions about anything from today’s program,  

don’t hesitate to contact us, we  will be very happy to help you!