Altiro is more than a viewer: it carries the review and coordination tools that normally require a desktop application.
Model tree
Browse the full spatial hierarchy (Site → Building → Storey → Element), or switch to a class-based or aggregate view. Search by name or GlobalId, isolate any level with one click, and sort each storey by name, tag or IFC type.
Properties and property sets
Select any element to read its attributes, property sets (Pset_*), quantities (Qto_*), material, bSDD classifications, type properties and real-world coordinates. File information (schema, units, project and authoring application) is one tab away.
Property filters
Build rules over attributes, property sets, quantities or bounding-box dimensions (match all / match any), then isolate or hide whatever matches. Filters are saved by name and can be exported and imported to reuse on another model or share with the team.
Measurements
Measure point-to-point distance with its X, Y and Z components; angles from three points or between two lines; plane-to-plane distance; face perimeter; arc radius; distance to a grid axis; and the length × width × height plus volume of any selection. Snapping locks onto edges, hole centres and vertices.
Section planes and clip box
Cut through the model with a section plane, or wrap the selection in a clip box to work on one area only. Both are captured in saved BCF views.
X-Ray
Make a selection see-through instead of hiding it, to look at what sits behind a wall or inside a shaft while keeping it in view. One click puts everything back.
Clash detection
Define model sections and a severity matrix between them, set tolerances and gap bands, and run the detection. Results group by severity, by section pair or by type pair, crop automatically around each clash, and export as BCF for Revit, Navisworks, Solibri or BIMcollab — or as a CSV table with the GlobalId, model, type, verdict and distance of both sides, for the coordination spreadsheet. Parts that are joined by design are not reported as conflicts: openings and their fillings, parts of one assembly, walls meeting at a corner, and pipes or ducts plugged into their own fittings. A depth floor lets you ignore anything shallower than a few millimetres.
MEP connectivity
Select a duct, pipe or terminal and see what it is actually plumbed to — the parts joined to it through their IfcDistributionPorts, which way the medium flows across each connection, and the size of the network it belongs to. Trace the branch downstream or upstream instead of isolating the whole system, and see where the system is broken: a port with nothing attached looks exactly like a connected one in 3D.
IDS validation
Import a buildingSMART IDS file (.ids or .xml), validate the model, including edits you have not exported yet, then read the pass rate, colorize passes green and failures red in 3D, and export the report or a BCF of the failures. You can also write the IDS here instead of importing one: build the specifications in the panel, or describe the requirement to the assistant, and save a standard .ids file.
Saved views (BCF 2.1)
Capture the current camera, visibility, section and selection as a BCF topic with status, priority, assignee, due date, labels and comments. Restore one with a click, and export the set as a standard .bcfzip for any BCF-capable tool.
Compare revisions
Load the base version and the new revision to get the list of added, modified and deleted elements. Compare data only, geometry only or both; everything unchanged is ghosted so the difference stands out.
Tables, pivots and charts
Turn the model into a table: group by any property, aggregate sums and counts, switch to a pivot or to a bar, line, pie or stacked chart, and export to Excel or CSV for the report.
Colorize the model
Paint the scene by IFC type, name, storey, material or the value of any property, in value-range mode or exact yes/no mode. Palettes are stored as presets and can be exported.
3D labels
Float labels over elements showing whatever you choose (name, tag, type or any property), scoped by IFC type or by a filter result, with configurable text and background colours.
Structure editor
Bulk operations across an IFC type, a filter result or a bSDD set: add or set a property, add quantities, rename or delete properties and property sets, change a value type, copy one field into another, change the IFC class of the elements, and map values in from an Excel or CSV table.
Model federation
Add IFC layers architecture, structure and services into one scene. Each model can be hidden, isolated or removed independently, and clash detection runs across the federated set.
Georeferencing and GIS context
Inspect or set the model georeference: look the coordinate system up by EPSG code, adjust eastings, northings, height and rotation, or geolocate by address. Then pull the surrounding OpenStreetMap context into the 3D scene within a radius you choose.
Sun and sky
Put the sun where it really was: pick a date and a time of day and the scene lights accordingly. On a georeferenced model the position is the true one for that site, so it answers where the light falls, not merely where it looks nice.
Ask AI
Type what you want in plain language ("hide all doors", "isolate the walls on level 2", "colorize by storey") and the assistant drives the viewer for you. It also reads the model back: the spatial structure, how one element relates to the rest, which materials are in use, a quantity roll-up or a full schedule table. It runs clash detection, validates against IDS or writes an IDS from a sentence, looks up what the IFC standard allows for a class before editing, undoes what it did, and exports the result. An MCP connector is available to drive the same tab from your own agent. What reaches the AI provider is your question, the tool list and what those tools return; the IFC file itself stays in the browser.
Walk mode
Move through the model in first person with WASD, go up and down with Q and E, sprint with Shift, and look around by right-dragging. Phones and tablets get an on-screen joystick.
Open from Google Drive™
Right-click an .ifc in your Drive and choose Open with → Altiro. The viewer downloads that one file straight into the browser tab; it never gets access to the rest of your Drive.
Simplify geometry
Cut the triangle count of an element and of every identical one in the model, one level per press, when a supplier ships a model too heavy to move around in. The status bar counts what was saved, the original geometry comes back on demand, and the simplified model can be exported as IFC.
Export
Save as IFC (STEP) with every edit and deletion applied: the whole model, only what is visible, or a single isolated element. You can also export to GLB, USDA, BCF, an IDS report and XLSX/CSV.