Question
I uploaded a 3D model to Fieldwire and it seems to be shaking or wobbling a bit when I start to navigate around it in the BIM Viewer. Why is this happening, and how can I fix it?
Example:
Answer
While it doesn't happen with most models, sometimes BIM files contain GPS coordinates of real-world locations that don't align with your model's project coordinates. When you upload your model to Fieldwire, you'll experience the "wobble" if the difference between these two sets of coordinates in your model file is too large.
How to Fix
In whatever program you used to create it, you'll be re-exporting your model (to IFC format) using the "internal coordinates" option we detail below. The following screenshots are from the most popular model-creation platform, Revit, so the exact location of these steps may vary if you're using a different program, but you'll be looking for the same or a similar option in whichever modeling software you use:
1. Download the (free) IFC plugin for your version of Revit from Autodesk's app store. You'll want to download the plugin with the year that corresponds to the year of your Revit edition (ie. download IFC 2020 for Revit 2020):
2. In Revit, open your model, click "File" then "Export" and choose "IFC":
3. Click "Modify setup..."
4. Select the "Internal coordinates" option under "Project Origin" in the "General" tab:
5. Export your updated model.
6. Go to the '3D Models' tab in the lefthand menu of your Fieldwire Project and re-upload your updated model as a '+New model':
We recommend deleting the old version while you're here, to avoid accidentally selecting the wobbly version in the future:
If that does not fix your issue, please email support@fieldwire.com or use the '?' button in the upper-right menu of your Fieldwire app to open our support widget and send us a message with a short description of the problem you're having and the name of the model experiencing it.
More Information
Here are a few additional articles about our 3D features:
- How to Upload and Organize 3D Models
- View and Navigate 3D Models
- View and Navigate 3D Models on Mobile
- How to Select Objects and View Properties in 3D Models
- How to Select Objects and View Properties in 3D Models on Mobile