VDC Manager 4.0 - Release Note

Thinkproject is pleased to announce the release VDC Manager version 4.0. We would like to thank customers and partners who provided valuable product input.  

Release Version 4.0.0

June 26th, 2025

Improvements & New Features

General

  • #2528 - Renaming of DESITE into VDC Manager.

  • #2447 - Complete redesign of the user interface to make it more intuitive and standardised.

  • #2480 - Reduction to just one installer and one application VDC Manager. This includes now also a CLI version of VDC Manager to run scripts without the need to open the full VDC Manager UI. 

  • #2580/2810 -VDC Manager can run in Viewer mode without the possibility to save projects or export. Viewer mode is also available if no license was found.

  • #2028 -The new “Focus mode” allows objects to be clearly displayed in the overall context of the project. Selected objects are drawn in their material color, while all other objects are displayed transparently. The “focus” color itself is fully configurable. The “Focus mode” can also be activated for the results of Clash Detecion, Model Check, Version Comparrison as well as for user-defined color schemesThe VDC Manager can be run in viewer mode without the option of saving or exporting projects. Viewer mode is also available if no licence is found.

  • #2409 - All navigation, visualization and selection options are now accessible directly from the new toolbar on the 3d view. This allows a faster and more intuitive access to these options as they are always available without the need to switch ribbons.

  • #2443 - All navigation and selection options are now arranged on the 3d viewport itself. This includes the various mouse handlers for navigation, cutting, cutting, measuring and creating pins. It is no longer necessary to change the ribbon to find the right navigation or mouse option. Everything now stays in its place and is always directly accessible.

  • #1853 - VDC Manager starts now with a "Welcome screen" with options to load an existing project or create a new one. It's no longer possible to run VDC Manager with an empty and unsaved project.

  • #2329 - The "cp:ID" is now a purely internal ID and always unique for all domains. IDs read from external files are no longer used for the "cpID", but instead appear as a new core property named "cp:ExternalID". Depending on the import format, some objects may not have a "cp:ExternalID". In addition, the new core property "cp:LookupString" is a combination of names and external IDs of all the object's parent containers, as well as the object itself - so it is a kind of fingerprint for an object's hierarchy.

Import

  • #2592 - The import of orthoimages now supports the GeoTiff format, which contains embedded data for georeferencing.

  • #2011 - The import of IFC4x3 files supports now Alignments and the new Building Structures types.

  • #2218 - VDC Manager now supports IFC lodRef50 georeferencing (IFC 4 and IFC 4x3). This means that if a coordinate reference system (CRS) is defined in the file, the correct EPSG code and coordinate conversion is defined in the location settings of the VDC Manager project.

  • #2251 - It is now possible to define the "View Scale" for Revit model imports in the Import Settings. The "View Scale" in Revit controls the import size of some graphical objects, like texts.

  • #2414 - Support of Revit 2025 files.

Export

  • #1783 - IFC Editing. It's now possible to export into IFC only with modified properties and keep the file structure exactly as the source file. After the import, the model is in "read only" state to prevent any changes on the object hierarchty. But properties can be added and valued edited.

  • #2265 - In IFC exports it is now possible to customize the User and Organization attribute that is written into the IFC file. 

Properties

  • #2323 - The user interface for property script was improved to allow more space for the script editor. 

Issue and Viewpoints

  • #2260 - Issues can now be synced with online BCF servers. First working integration is the connection to Thinkproject VDC Collaboration.

Miscellaneous

  • #610 - VDC Manager now notifies the user when a new version is available for downloading and updating. The user has direct access to the download link and the document with the release notes.

  • #1805 - VDC Manager reminds the user to save the project at regular intervals with a corresponding message. The interval at which this message is displayed can be set in the VDC Manager configuration.

  • #2712 - VDC Manager introduces a new messaging system, that presents errors, warnings and general messages in a clearer way. With the option to directly jump to the effected elements in the specific domain.

  • #2818 - The active/in-active status of properties is now saved in the project and restored after the project load.

  • #2219 - Improved handling of the script editor. It's now possible to use also an external editor with live update of the scripts in VDC Manager. And scripts can now be started based on triggers, e.g. if a new model is imported.

  • #2530 - Minor improvements to the behaviour of the survey point in the "Lock" state.

  • #2584 - New "Inspector" for clear visualization of object properties (Grouping by namespaces, Standardized search via property names, display name and namespace, Editing of property values of individual and multiple selected objects, Easy access to elements in linked domains). This replaces the Data Sheet and Quick Info.​

Tools

  • #2401 - The user interface of the Tools widget has been revised to make it more user-friendly and has been cleared of experimental functions and options that are no longer required.

Clash Detection

  • #2021 - Restructuring and revision of clash options to avoid false positive results and improve collision detection overall.

Geometry

  • #2404 - Complete revision of the material and colour system. Materials originating from geometry imports are no longer confused with colour schemes. Colour schemes now also define the standard colours for Clash Detection, Model Check and Versions. 

  • #2564 - The grid in the 3D view is now rendered as a texture plane instead of as individual 2D lines. This significantly improves rendering performance in projects with a large spatial extent. Improved rendering performance by utilizing all available CPU cores for the culling of small object geometry.

  • #2514 - Improvedrender performance by using level of details (LODs). With every geometry import low-poly variants of the geometry objects are created that are used for rendering, if the object is far away from the camera.

  • #2829 - Clipping has been revised and improved

API

  • #1944 - Renaming of API objects to reflect the new name of VDC Manager (old API object naming can still be used). List of new and removed API functions:

    Removed API functions
    • itClear
    • itByFilter
    • itFilterByStatus
    • itByObjectList
    • itGetObjectList
    • itHasNext
    • itNext
    • itCount
    • itToFront
    • itGetAvailablePropertyValues
    • itSetupDbCache
    • itSetMaterial
    • itColorCode
    • itColorCodeNumber
    • itCalcOOBB
    • itUpdateOOBB
    • itCalcOOBBxy
    • itUpdateOOBBxy
    • filterElements
    • createMaterial 
    • deleteMaterial
    • getMaterialAsXmlByID
    • getMaterial
    • updateMaterial
    • setMaterialToObjects
    • showWireModeSchema
    • clearWireMode
    • setObjectsToWireMode
    • createWireModeSchema
    • getWired
    • countWired
    • setTransparency
    • resetMaterials
    • colorCodeObjects
    • createColorSchema
    • createColorSchemaFromCurrentMaterials
    • deleteColorSchema
    • getColorSchemaList
    • getCurrentColorSchema
    • activateColorSchemaByName
    • setPainterOptions
    • getPainterOptions
    • setVisualizationOptions
    • getVisualizationOptions
    • setFooterVisible
    • showOnScreenKeyboard
    • getCreatedPins
    • updateBoundingBox3DView
    • setHeaderVisible
    • lockObjects
    • unlockObjects
    • unlockAllObjects
    • getLocked
    • countLocked
    • isLocked
    • setResourcesTooltipsVisible
    • getResourcesTooltipsVisible
    • zoomToResources
    • zoomToVisibleResources
    • zoomToSelectedResources
    • zoomToAllResources
    • exportModel
    • getPropertyScriptFgColor
    • getPropertyScriptBgColor
    • setPropertyScriptFgColor
    • setPropertyScriptBgColor
    Added API functions
    • addColorScheme
    • removeColorScheme
    • setColorSchemeData
    • getColorSchemeData
    • removeElementsFromColorScheme
    • removeAllElementsFromColorScheme
    • getColorSchemeList
    • setActiveColorScheme
    • getActiveColorScheme
    • addColorItem
    • removeColorItem
    • hasColorItem
    • setColorItemData
    • getColorItemData
    • addElementsToColorItem
    • getElementsFromColorItem
    • setViewportSettings
    • getViewportSettings
    • hasModel
    • isModelReadOnly
    • removeModelReadOnly
    • hasMaterial
    • export3DModels
    • getDefaultExportSettings
    • setClashRunSettings
    • getClashRunSettings
    • getPropertyTypeBookmark
    • removePropertyTypeBookmark
    • getStartPagePath
    • getModuleDirectoryPath
    • setPropertyScriptColor
    • getPropertyScriptColor

Bug fixes

Imports

  • #2316 - Revit file import: Hatchings as part of the Revit material definition are no longer imported as lines into VDC Manager.

  • #2640 - Revit import: Some property values were not converted correctly from the internal Revit unit (imperial system) to the VDC Manager unit system (metric). This has been fixed.

  • #2680 - Updated IFC Engine to solve some issues with specific IFC files.

Properties

  • #2693 - If the inheritance status of a property was changed in a project, this setting was overwritten after importing a new model containing the same property type. This has been fixed.

Issue and Viewpoints

  • #2740 - When importing a BCF to update issues within the project, property values that were not defined in the BCF file were deleted in the project.

  • #2742 - Fixed some issue with drag and drop in Issue domain.

  • #2729 - When importing a BCF, the comments were not necessarily in the correct order.

Activities

  • #2723 - If a time schedule created from a process component was updated and one source model (process component or building structure) no longer exists, the schedule has been cleared. This has been fixed.

Bill of Quantities

  • #2668 - When importing GEAB files, the property "quantity" is now imported as model property and not repro property to be aligned with other imports.

Model Checking / Clash Detection

  • #1530 - In the Model Check, the ‘CheckState’ property of containers always displayed ‘undefined’, even if the results within this container had clearly defined states. This has been fixed.

  • #2607 - Added the functionality to activate/deactivate multiple marked check runs to the context menu. 

  • #2631 - The calculation of the number of objects in a clash set is now only performed, if the related option is visible in the UI. This avoids constant recalculation when changing the clash run. This change is also applied to the Model Check.

  • #2669 - Improved filter performance in the Object Sets of Clash Detection and Model Check Configuration. 

Building Structure

  • #2667 - In same cases, elements of a Building Structure imported from IFC are defined as "typeBsContainer" and not "typeBsBuildingStorey". This has been fixed.

Documents

  • #2456 - Global bookmark can't be loaded. This has been fixed.

Process Components

  • #2679 - DESITE/VDC Managercrashed when recalculating time schedule while selecting models and tasks at the same time. This has been fixed.

Miscellaneous

  • #2181 - Scripts are now automatically read from the releated folder in the project folder. If files are added or removed from this folder, this is automatically propagated to the UI. If the user deletes a script with the "-" button, the related file is also deleted. 

  • #2744 - If a project was saved under a new name (Save as ..), the new project still referred to the old SQLite database. This has been fixed.

API

  • #2491 - API function readTextFileAsString() did not support ISO 8859-1 or UTF-16. This has been fixed.

  • #2402 - In some cases, the exportModel() function created two properties "cpID" (with types xs:ID and xs:string). This has been fixed.

  • #2674 - Some of the error codes for import functions were wrong. This has been fixed.

  • 2786 - Removed deprecation status of calender functions.