2D drawings to 3D with AI
Upload a floor plan or elevation as a picture, a PDF page or a DXF. The plan is read into walls, doors, windows, rooms and the roof; you check what was found and the scale, then press Build in 3D. The building opens in the designer, ready for its BOQ. A picture or PDF takes about 50 AI credits a drawing; a DXF is read without them.
PLANSScale only
Built and checked in code, with tests for the reading, the scale and the build. Not yet tried on a customer's drawings.
Why it matters
Most enquiries arrive with a plan from the client or the architect: a phone photo, a PDF sheet or a DXF. Before anything can be counted, someone redraws it. On a G+2 house that is a day of an engineer's time, and it is done again when the plan changes. Here the drawing is read into the building in a few seconds. You see every wall numbered over the picture and fix the scale before anything is built. Nothing reaches the building until you press Build in 3D. From there the 3D views, the drawing set and the BOQ work as on a building drawn by hand.
The problem it solves
- A client sends a phone photo of the plan and your engineer spends a day redrawing it before any estimate.
- A DXF from the architect has hundreds of lines, and nobody knows which are walls.
- Floor heights and the roof are guessed because the elevation sheet was never entered.
- Firms are wary of an AI changing their drawings without anyone checking.
How it works
- Open the project and press Plan to 3D at the top. Or use the building > Plan to 3D, or 3D Design > Plans to 3D > New.
- Choose Floor Plan or Elevation / Section, add the drawing and, for a PDF, its page. Choose A New Level or A Level of the Building, and the roof. Give the wall thickness and floor height to use where the drawing does not say.
- Press Read the Drawing. A picture or PDF goes to the SmartMy AI service; a DXF is read on the server. The form shows the counts and the rooms by name. Under On the Drawing, the walls are numbered in red, doors in green and windows in blue.
- Check the scale. It is read from the dimensions or the scale on the sheet, such as 1:100. If it is missing or looks wrong, type a numbered wall and its real length and press Set the Scale.
- Wrong page or wrong kind? Read Again starts over; each reading of a picture or PDF takes the credits again.
- Press Build in 3D. The walls are straightened and joined, and doors and windows set in them. Rooms are worked out and named, the slab and roof made, and the picture laid under the level. The designer opens on the building.
- Fix what needs fixing in Rooms > Model, then press BOQ from the Building on the project.
Everything it does
What is read
- Pictures (PNG, JPG, WEBP) and PDF pages of a floor plan. It reads each level's walls as centre lines with thickness, doors, windows and open arches with height and sill when written. Also room names, dimensions, the scale and the roof
- Pictures and PDF pages of an elevation or section: each floor's height from the bottom up, and the roof's kind and slope
- DXF floor plans: walls from face lines drawn side by side on layers named like WALL. Doors and windows come from their blocks, room names from the texts
- A sheet with several floors side by side makes one level for each, one above the other
- DWG is refused: save it as DXF or PDF first; pictures and PDFs up to 10 MB
The AI calls
- A picture or PDF: one call to the SmartMy AI service on its smart tier, task plan_to_3d, with the drawing and a fixed instruction. It adds your entity and login for the account; no client details
- It is charged at about 50 AI credits a drawing, not at a smart call's usual units; the form shows the number
- A DXF: no call to read it. One fast call at Build in 3D turns the room texts into plain names; without AI the first word is used
- Each person needs AI switched on by an administrator (Administration > AI > AI Users)
- AI Usage lists every call with who, when, the task, units and whether it worked
What is saved, and when
- Read the Drawing saves only what was found on the Plan to 3D record: counts, a summary and the scale; the building is not touched
- Build in 3D writes to the building without a further check. It writes the walls, doors and windows, rooms with the names read, the floor slab, the roof and the picture under the level
- Replace the Level's Walls (on to start with) removes the walls already drawn on that level, with their doors and windows
- An elevation sets the floor heights of the existing levels from the bottom up. It adds levels when there are fewer, and sets the roof's kind and slope
- Doors default to 2,100 mm high; windows to 1,200 mm high on a 900 mm sill when the drawing does not say
- A note on the building and the project links the Plan to 3D; a built record cannot be read again: make a new one
Not built
- Curved walls, stairs and furniture from a drawing
- Lining up a level's plan with the one below by itself
- Reading DWG or SketchUp files
Who uses it
Estimator or design engineerReads the client's plan, checks the scale and the walls, builds it and fixes it in the designer.
Project manager or QSMakes the BOQ from the building once it is built.
AdministratorDecides who has AI and watches the credits in AI Usage.
Where you use it
- Web: Construction Projects > Projects > the project > Plan to 3D
- Web: Construction Projects > 3D Design > Plans to 3D, and Plan to 3D on a building
- Not in the SmartMy Construction app; the app's Read with AI on plan estimates is a separate feature
What you control
Settings
- Per drawing: Floor Plan or Elevation / Section, PDF Page (1), Put It On (A New Level, named Ground Floor to start with)
- Replace the Level's Walls: on; Floor Slab Under the Walls: on
- Roof: As Read from the Drawing, Flat with a Parapet, Hip, Gable or None; Roof Slope 25 degrees
- Walls (mm) When Not Read: 230; Floor to Floor (mm) When Not Read: 3,000
- AI per person: off until an administrator switches it on
Questions
Does the AI change our building without asking?
No. Reading only fills the Plan to 3D form with what was found. The building changes when you press Build in 3D, and you can still edit every wall afterwards.What if the drawing has no dimensions?
Type the number of a wall shown on the picture and its real length, then press Set the Scale. The rest of the drawing is scaled from it.How many credits does one plan take?
About 50 for each picture or PDF page read, shown on the form. Reading again takes them again. A DXF is read without credits.We are on Starter with the 3D add-on. Can we use it?
DXF plans, yes. Starter has no monthly AI credits, so pictures and PDFs need an AI pack first.Which drawings work best?
A clean floor plan with dimensions written, one plan to a page. A DXF with the walls on their own layer is read most exactly.Related features
DESIGN STUDIOThe building in 3DDraw the building on its plot, wall by wall and level by level. See it in 3D with its roof, site, neighbours, stairs, facade and garden. Cut it open, check the sun at any hour and walk in from the gate. Print the A3 drawing set, open the architect's IFC model beside it and make lifelike photos in the browser.DESIGN STUDIOBOQ from the 3D modelPress one button on the project and the building's 3D model becomes a draft BOQ, a section a trade, with quantities and your rates. The walls, concrete, roofing and glazing come from the elements drawn. The tiles, paint, false ceilings, points, stairs, facades and garden come from the finishes and the outside.DESIGN STUDIOSketchUp, IFC and DXF export and importSend the building to your architect, MEP consultant or BIM team as COLLADA, glTF, IFC or DXF plans of each level. Models made in SketchUp come back into the building's 3D view as reference models, and an IFC file opens as the building's IFC model. SketchUp's own .skp files are not read or written: save them as COLLADA or IFC in SketchUp first.ESTIMATINGPlan estimates, building packages and DXF readingPrice a client's house or building plan in minutes. Use your building package rate per m² or sq ft, or quantities worked out with your own norms and rates. DXF drawings are measured as they are added, and AI can read PDF and picture plans if you switch it on.
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