Bimly hands-on guide

1. Get started

From sign-up to your first project. About five minutes, no credit card.

Sign up

1. Open app.bimly.net/en/signup.
2. Enter a display name, email, and password → Create account.
3. A verification email arrives from noreply@bimly.net. Open the link to activate sign-in.

Workspaces and projects

Your first sign-in auto-creates a workspace named after you. Workspace = team-level container, project = one building / case. The Free plan allows 5 projects per workspace.

1. Click your workspace name (top left) → + New Project.
2. Enter a name, default language (ja / en), and an optional code.
3. You'll land on the project detail page — start by importing IFC, or jump straight to plan-view drawing.

Roles and permissions

Members are one of Owner / Admin / Editor / Reviewer / Viewer. Editor+ can create and edit elements, Reviewer+ can comment on issues, Viewer is read-only. Invite from the workspace's Members tab.

2. The 3D viewer

The first thing you see when you open a project. Orbit, select, inspect — the basics.

Camera controls

• Left drag — orbit
• Right drag or Shift + left drag — pan
• Mouse wheel — zoom
• Double-click — focus on the picked element

Selection

Click an element → the right-side property panel opens. You'll see Psets (property sets), quantities, and relationships (e.g. openings hosted by a wall).

Storey switching

Use the storey dropdown (top-left) to flip between "all storeys" and a single storey. Single-storey mode acts like a cross-section — useful when something is hidden behind walls.

Section / clipping

The Section icon (top-right) toggles X/Y/Z clipping planes. Drag the slider to move the cut and peek inside.

Switch to plan view

Next to the 3D tab there's a "Plan view" tab — that's where the drawing tools (next section) live.

3. Modeling (plan view)

Draw walls, slabs, columns, beams, roofs, stairs, and grids in plan view. Every change goes through the operation pipeline, so Undo/Redo always works.

Common controls

• Left-click to drop a point. Esc cancels the current tool.
• Snapping applies in this priority: endpoint → grid axis → 500 mm base grid.
• After geometry input, a dialog asks for parameters (thickness, height, etc.) → confirm.
• Undo: Ctrl/⌘ + Z · Redo: Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + Z

Grids first

Lay axis grids first — drawing snaps to them, which keeps things aligned.

1. Pick the Grid tool from the left toolbar.
2. Choose the X-axis or Y-axis, click a position in plan view.
3. Name it (X1, Y1…) and confirm.

Walls

1. Pick the Wall tool.
2. Click the start, then the end.
3. In the dialog: thickness (mm), height (mm), parent storey.

Slabs

1. Pick the Slab tool.
2. Click 3+ vertices to outline the polygon → double-click or Enter to close it.
3. Set thickness and parent storey.

Columns

1. Pick the Column tool.
2. Choose the cross-section: rectangular / circular / H-section.
3. Click to place → enter section dimensions, height, parent storey.

Beams

Click start, then end → choose section (same three types) and dimensions.

Roofs and stairs

Roofs use the same polygon input as slabs (currently flat only — pitched roofs are roadmap v3). Stairs take a start, an end, then number of treads + tread thickness.

Editing

Existing elements have draggable endpoints in plan view. Properties are edited in the right-side panel (next section).

4. Property editing

Select an element → the right panel lets you edit Psets and quantities directly.

Panel structure

• Identity — name, description, GlobalId
• Property Sets — Pset_WallCommon, Pset_SlabCommon, etc., plus any project-specific Psets
• Quantities — auto-derived volume, area, length, …
• Relationships — parent storey, hosted openings/doors/windows

Editing values

1. Click a row → inline edit mode.
2. Type → Enter to confirm, Esc to cancel.
3. The Save button appears top-right — you have to click it for the change to land (think of it as commit).

Custom Psets

Project Settings → Property Definitions. Add a custom property with a type (text / number / boolean / select) and it'll appear as a new editable row in the panel.

5. Validation

Catch missing required properties, out-of-range numbers, and equality mismatches. Built-in checks plus your own rules.

Built-in checks

Active by default:

• Wall Pset_WallCommon.IsExternal not set
• Slab Pset_SlabCommon.LoadBearing not set
• Property values out of declared range (e.g. negative thickness)

Adding custom rules

1. Open Validation Rules from the left nav.
2. + New Rule → choose a kind:
   • property_required — the property must exist
   • property_range — min / max bounds
   • property_equals — must match a specific value
3. Filter by element type (Wall / Slab / Column / all elements).
4. Write the violation message (translation keys supported for ja/en).
5. Save → click Run Validation to re-check.

Reading results

The right panel's Validation tab lists violations. Click any row to focus the offending element in 3D.

6. Issues + viewpoints

Pin an issue to an element and save the camera position with it. Send a link, the recipient lands on the same shot.

Creating an issue

1. Frame the camera the way you want it.
2. Click the relevant element → 📌 Issue at this view (top-right).
3. Enter title, body, priority (low/medium/high), status (open/in-progress/resolved).
4. Confirm. The issue lands in the project's Issues list with the camera + selection captured.

Sharing / opening an issue

Click an issue row → the view restores: camera + selected element. The URL pattern is /projects/:id/viewer?viewpoint=<id>; send that link and the recipient opens at exactly the same angle (combine with a share link below for no-login access).

Comments

Issue detail has a comment thread. Reviewer+ roles can post. Comments are timestamped, status changes are recorded as part of the history.

7. Share links (no login)

Mint a read-only URL tied to the project. Recipients open it without an account, no setup.

Minting a link

1. Project detail → Share tab.
2. + Create share link.
3. Pick a scope:
   • project (default) — full project, read-only
   • viewpoint scope — issued automatically when you mint a link from an Issue
4. Copy the URL → send it.

What recipients see

Open the URL → the viewer opens directly. No login screen. They can switch storeys, click elements, and inspect properties. Editing and creating issues are disabled (read-only).

Revoking

Hit Revoke on the share tab → the link dies immediately. Once revoked, that token is gone forever (security).

8. IFC export

Whether you imported IFC and edited it, or built a model from scratch, you can write it out as IFC 4.3 — round-trip with Revit / ArchiCAD or any IFC-aware tool.

Exporting

1. Project detail → Export IFC button (top-right).
2. Server queues an IFC 4.3 export job → progress shows in the notifications bell. Typically 5–30s depending on element count.
3. When done, click Download — you get a .ifc file locally.

Supported entities

Currently emitted in the IFC 4.3 stream:

• IfcSite / IfcBuilding / IfcBuildingStorey
• IfcWallStandardCase + IfcOpeningElement (wall openings)
• IfcSlab
• IfcColumn (rectangular / circular / H-section)
• IfcBeam (same three sections)
• IfcDoor / IfcWindow (hosted on wall openings)
• IfcRoof / IfcStair
• IfcSpace / IfcGrid

A typical round-trip

1. Build a model in ArchiCAD → export as IFC.
2. Import into Bimly. Edit properties or make small modeling tweaks.
3. Run Validation — fix anything flagged.
4. Share a link with external reviewers; collect issues with viewpoints.
5. Apply the fixes in Bimly → export to IFC 4.3 → re-import in ArchiCAD.