# How do I use the 3D view?

The 3D view sits at the top of Results and draws the checked model with the failed elements in red and the passed ones in green. Turn, move and zoom it with the mouse, click an element to see what it fails, and click any number, row or tab of the page to show just those elements in 3D.

Updated 1 November 2026

## Use the 3D view, step by step

1. [Run a check](https://ifcchecker.com/help/check-a-model/). **Results** opens with the 3D view at the top.
2. Drag in the 3D view to turn the model, and use the wheel to zoom. Press F to fit the model again.
3. Choose a face of the small cube to look at the model from that side.
4. Click an element. Read its card at the bottom right.
5. Choose the number of failed elements in the analytical view. Only the failed elements are drawn, and the bar at the bottom of the window says what is shown.
6. Switch **Hide the rest** off to see the rest of the model as a faint ghost. Press Esc to deselect.
7. Choose **Categories** and switch on **Spaces (rooms)** to see the rooms.

## What the 3D view shows

The 3D view is the first part of **Results**. It is drawn from the model you checked, and it is built while the check runs, so it is usually ready when the results are. Until then it says that the 3D view shows when the check is done, or counts the elements it has built.

The legend named **3D colours** says what each colour means:

- **Passed**, green, with a ✓: the element passed.
- **Failed**, red, with a ✕: the element failed.
- **Untested**: no specification applies to it. It is drawn in a light grey, so a model with few failures looks calm.
- **Marked by hand** and **Not an issue** appear in the legend once you have marked values by hand ([Extended data](https://ifcchecker.com/help/extended-data/#marks)): the elements of your marks are drawn in their own colours.

Rooms, openings and a few other kinds of element are left out of the picture until you ask for them (see [Show rooms and openings](https://ifcchecker.com/help/three-d-view/#categories)). A check of several models draws all of them together.

## Move around the model

Click the 3D view once so that it has the keyboard, then use the mouse or the keys.

- **Drag** turns the model. While an element is selected the model turns about it; otherwise it turns about the point in the middle of the view.
- **Shift and drag**, or the right button, moves the model.
- **The wheel** zooms in and out at the pointer.
- **F** fits the model into the view. **1 to 6** look at it from the top, bottom, front, back, left and right.
- The arrow keys turn the model, Shift and the arrow keys move it, and plus and minus zoom.

The 3D menu, the column of buttons at the right of the view, holds **Orthographic** (a flat instead of a perspective view), **Hide the rest**, **Categories** and the pin. The small cube in it does the same as keys 1 to 6: choose a face, **Top**, **Bottom**, **Front**, **Back**, **Left** or **Right**, and the model turns to look at it from there.

## Look at one element, or a group

Click an element in the 3D view and its card opens at the bottom right: its name, its IFC class, its GlobalId, its status and, for a failure, which requirement it fails and why.

You can also go the other way. Almost everything on the page shows its elements in 3D when you click it: a part of the analytical view, such as the number of failed elements, a file name or a count in the **Model** table, a tab's failure count, a cell or a row in **Extended data**, a BCF topic. The selected elements are drawn alone, and a bar at the bottom of the window says what is shown, for example "Failed · 240 in 3D", with **Deselect** and Esc to go back to the whole model.

The switch **Hide the rest** chooses how the selection is drawn. On, the rest of the model is hidden. Off, the rest stays as a faint ghost around the selection, so you see where the elements are in the building.

## Show rooms and openings

The chip **Categories** lists the kinds of element the 3D view hides until you ask: spaces (rooms), spatial zones, openings and virtual elements, each with a switch and how many the model has. A red ✕ and a number on the chip or on a row count the failed elements of that kind. They are always drawn, see-through red, even with the switch off. Choose the number on a row to show just those failed elements.

## Hold the 3D view over a section

The headers of **Extended data** and of the BCF topics have a small button, **3D**. Press it and the 3D view docks at the top with that section alone under it, so you can click rows and see them at the same time without scrolling. Press it again, or press Esc, and the page is back where it was. The pin beside the 3D menu does something similar for the whole page: the analytical and 3D views stay at the top while the data scrolls under them.

Note: The 3D view needs a browser with WebGPU or WebGL 2. If it cannot draw, the page says so, and the results below it are complete. [Why is the 3D view slow or empty?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/troubleshooting-3d-view/)

## Keep reading

Next: [How do I use the analytical view?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/analytical-view/)

Related:

- [How do I use the analytical view?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/analytical-view/)
- [How do I use the Extended data section?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/extended-data/)
- [Why is the 3D view slow or empty?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/troubleshooting-3d-view/)

[Workflows and help](https://ifcchecker.com/help/) / [The sections of Results](https://ifcchecker.com/help/collections/sections/)