IFC, RVT and NWD to OBJ — open your model in Blender, Unity or any 3D editor

Convert IFC to Wavefront OBJ format for 3D modeling software.

Besides IFC, this tool takes Revit (.rvt) and Navisworks (.nwd) files, with no Revit or Navisworks licence. Drop one in and it is converted to IFC first, then the tool runs on that IFC; your original file is not changed.

Convert an IFC model to Wavefront OBJ online. Upload the IFC, run the export, and download a .obj that imports into Blender, Unity, Unreal, SketchUp, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, MeshLab and effectively every other 3D application ever written.

OBJ is the lowest common denominator of 3D geometry, and that is exactly its value. The format is decades old, plain text, and so widely implemented that "can it read OBJ?" is almost never a real question. When you need a model to land in someone else's tool and you don't know which tool that is, OBJ is the safe answer — and unlike most routes into Blender or Unity, this one costs nothing and installs nothing.

When to reach for it: When you need to import the model into 3D editing software like Blender, Unity, or any other 3D tool.

What you get: A Wavefront OBJ file compatible with all major 3D modeling software.

Example: Give a contractor a simple 3D file they can open in free software.

Triangle meshes, ready to work with

The IFC's element bodies are tessellated into triangle meshes and written as OBJ geometry. Nothing parametric survives — an extruded wall arrives as the triangles that describe its surface, not as an extrusion you can edit by changing a length. For a 3D artist, a game developer or anyone building a visualisation, that's the form they wanted anyway; every one of those tools works on meshes.

What doesn't come across is the BIM data: property sets, GlobalIds, classifications, the spatial hierarchy. If you need element data alongside the geometry, export it separately with Extract IFC Data and join on your side, or keep the recipient in the model itself with a view-only share link.

What people actually do with an IFC in a 3D editor

Visualisation and rendering — bring the building into Blender or 3ds Max for materials, lighting and camera work a BIM tool won't give you.
Real-time and VR — import into Unity or Unreal for a walkthrough, a training scene or a client presentation.
Mesh work — decimate, retopologise or repair in MeshLab or Blender before pushing the geometry somewhere with a tighter budget.
Handing geometry to someone with no BIM software — a contractor, a fabricator, a modelmaker — who has some 3D tool and would rather not be told to install another.

OBJ or GLB?

Both carry mesh geometry from the same tessellation. Pick OBJ when the destination is a 3D content tool — Blender, Unity, a mesh processor — or when you want a plain-text format you can inspect. Pick GLB when the destination is a browser, a phone or an AR app: it packs into one binary file and every modern viewer renders it without conversion. If you're not sure and the recipient just wants to LOOK, GLB is the safer bet; if they want to work on it, OBJ.

Either way, exporting less makes for a better file. Reduce IFC File Size, Delete IFC Elements and Split IFC Model all cut the geometry before it's tessellated, and a saved pipeline can chain the cleanup and the export so it re-runs on each revision.

Using it on Revit and Navisworks files

When you open a .rvt or a .nwd file here, BIMCamel converts it to IFC on the server and brings you back to this tool with the converted model loaded. Element ids, levels and properties come across under their Revit and Navisworks names, so pick properties as they appear in your model. Your .rvt or .nwd itself is never edited: a tool that changes the model gives you an IFC back.

Revit files can be up to 25 MB without an account, 100 MB with a free one and 200 MB on a paid plan. Navisworks files can be up to 25 MB without an account, 100 MB with a free one and 200 MB on a paid plan, and they open in the browser viewer at the same sizes. Revit projects saved in Revit 2021 to 2027 are supported.

How to convert IFC to OBJ online

Upload your model (IFC, RVT or NWD)
Click Run to convert
Download the OBJ file

Under the hood

BIMCamel parses IFC files in the browser using the open-source web-ifc engine and renders models with @thatopen/components + three.js. Heavy operations (clean / optimise / validate / convert) run on disposable server-side workers using the same web-ifc stack plus our own .NET pipeline; results stream back to your browser as soon as they're ready. Uploads sit on our servers only as long as your tier's retention window allows and are never used to train AI.

Frequently asked questions

How do I open an IFC file in Blender?

Convert it to OBJ here, then use Blender's File → Import → Wavefront (.obj). No add-on and no IFC importer needed on the Blender side — you're importing plain mesh geometry, which Blender has read natively for its whole existence.

Can I bring an IFC model into Unity or Unreal?

Yes. Export to OBJ here and import the .obj into your project; both engines read OBJ directly. For a lighter import, cut the geometry first with Reduce IFC File Size or drop unneeded classes with Delete IFC Elements — real-time engines care much more about triangle count than a BIM viewer does.

Does the OBJ keep materials and textures?

The export produces geometry. Assign materials in your 3D tool after import — which is generally what you'd do anyway, since BIM materials rarely translate into render-ready shaders. None of the IFC's property data comes across either; use Extract IFC Data if you need that.

Is the geometry editable as solids?

No — it's a triangle mesh. Extrusions, sweeps and Booleans are resolved into surfaces during tessellation, so the wall you get is the triangles describing its faces rather than a parametric wall. Mesh editing works normally; parametric editing doesn't apply.

Why did my export come out empty?

The model has no body geometry — annotation-only, grid-only and 2D-only IFCs have nothing to tessellate. The run reports that explicitly instead of producing an empty file. Check the model in the IFC viewer first.

Which IFC versions are supported?

IFC2x3 and IFC4 — the two schema versions exported by essentially every AEC authoring application. IFC4x3, the infrastructure schema, works too: it opens in the viewer, and validation, health reports, property-set editing and georeferencing all run on it. Tools that need geometry processing, such as clash detection and 3D export, aren't verified on IFC4x3 yet.

What's the maximum IFC file size?

Up to 25 MB as a guest, 100 MB with a free account, 500 MB on Pro, and 1 GB on Team. The caps are on upload size only — every tool itself is available on every tier.

What happens to my file after processing?

Your file is uploaded over HTTPS and processed on our servers. Guest uploads are stream-only — the working files are deleted as soon as your download finishes. Free accounts keep results for 7 days; Pro and Team keep saved models until you delete them. Files are never shared with third parties or used to train AI.

Is IFC to OBJ free?

Yes. IFC to OBJ is free to use — guests get 3 runs a day with 25 MB uploads, and a free account raises that to 10 runs a day with 100 MB uploads. No trial clock, no watermarks.

Can I use a Revit or Navisworks file with IFC, RVT, NWD to OBJ?

Yes. Open a .rvt or .nwd file and it is converted to IFC first; the tool then runs on that IFC and your original file is not changed.