Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

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hatethisbit
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Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by hatethisbit »

Apologies if this has already been answered, i did search but drew a blank. I work as a draftsman primarily using autocad, however recently my company has begun using Trimble 3D laser scanners and Trimble Business Center. Our problem lies in transferring the 3d point cloud data into a workable 2D drawing. We receieved only basic training in TBC and were told that the only way to accomplish this was position the point cloud model to the right position, export an image of it into cad, then trace over it.

Needless to say any time that might be saved on the 3D scan is more than lost trying to trace over these images and i refuse to believe there isnt some way to create surfacing or a model from the point cloud which could then be used for elevations etc. Can anybody help me?

Chris
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by Matt Young »

Depending on the version of AutoCAD that you use:

You could either process your Trimble data through ReCap and use the RCS/RCP files directly in AutoCAD. Or you could invest in Leica Cloudworx and bring the data in that way. I believe that e57 is the best way to transfer your data out from Trimble software.
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by hatethisbit »

Apologies, whats e57?

What would the results of your first option be? Could it be exported to sketchup or revit in addition to acad?
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by cadmium »

Bring the cloud into AutoCad and slice it using built in AutoCad cropping tools and then set up your viewports and print. No mystery here.
We used to try to make solids out of the cloud, but working with just the cloud, you eliminate that step.
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by TMillington »

Chris

.e57 is a generic standard file format for point cloud data.

I don't know about TBC specifically but I guess it must have a capability to export scan data in other formats, probably (hopefully) including .e57 or .las files.

Both of these (plus many other) file formats can be imported into ReCap to create .RCS and .RCP files. You can then attach Recap files in AutoCad and view/snap to/draw over/slice etc the scan data.

If you want to model in 3D from the point cloud, you should probably look at more specialist software such as Revit, ClearEdge and many others.

Hope that helps
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by Simon Judd »

Chris

We create all forms of deliverable from pointcloud data that we collect using the Faro range of scanners.

The data is registered in Scene and exported as E57 format. This E57 format data is then re-indexed to a format for drafting depending on the workflow.

Autocad will take RCS/RCP files straight in for you to work with as already mentioned and whilst it has cropping, clipping etc In my experience plugins can handle this workflow in a more convenient manner.

There are many plugins that work inside of CAD products such as Autocad, Leica Cloudworx being one which has already been suggested.

For our 2d Workflow we use a plugin called Undet which is excellent at manipulating the point cloud into sections and clipped regions to digitise into the 2D Floorplans, elevations or sections etc that we provide . We also use the same plugin when creating 3D solid models in Autocad.

If we are working in Revit, for example, we index the E57 in Recap and then use those to draft.

One solution does not always have all of the answers and your workflow may engage many different plugins or standalone products such as Cloud compare to generate your final output.

The point cloud is a record of the scan area for you to manipulate into the deliverable that you need for your end users and in my experience good analytical skills coupled with a good CAD workflow (with or without plugins) will allow you to provide the end product you need.

Auto extraction of point cloud data is available to some degree through many plugins, bolt-ons etc but until full point cloud intelligence is available you are probably best placed to digitise the details that you need from the cloud data.

Undet are on This forum and Aurelijus can provide you with trials of this simple to use, powerful plugin (also available for Sketchup) if you need it, with a you tube channel to show typical workflows.

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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by LeicaUK_RC »

Matt Young wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:07 pm Or you could invest in Leica Cloudworx and bring the data in that way
Hi Chris,

If you ask around the office you should hear that Plandescil already own a Leica CloudWorx Basic seat.

Let me know if you need a hand setting this up for use with your scan data?
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by cadmium »

MALTBY wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:55 pm
If we are working in Revit, for example, we index the E57 in Recap and then use those to draft.
What advantage does this have over just putting an rcp into revit?
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by hatethisbit »

Thank you all for your replies. We do have a copy of leica but its very old and not really workable. I think perhaps the Recap/Undet/Revit options are the most viable for us at this point. I have imported a recap cloud into Acad but its going to take some extensive research for figure out if and how this cloud can be turned into a meshed and workable 3D model.
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Re: Pointclouds & 2D drawings, help

Post by gsisman »

hatethisbit wrote: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:49 pm Apologies if this has already been answered, i did search but drew a blank. I work as a draftsman primarily using autocad, however recently my company has begun using Trimble 3D laser scanners and Trimble Business Center. Our problem lies in transferring the 3d point cloud data into a workable 2D drawing. We receieved only basic training in TBC and were told that the only way to accomplish this was position the point cloud model to the right position, export an image of it into cad, then trace over it.

Needless to say any time that might be saved on the 3D scan is more than lost trying to trace over these images and i refuse to believe there isnt some way to create surfacing or a model from the point cloud which could then be used for elevations etc. Can anybody help me?

Chris

If you guys are using Civil 3D and Autodesk CAD products you can take e57's (best option for Reality View and such within Recap) into Recap Pro. Create a Edited combined cloud and then bring that into Civil 3D where you can make a surface from a cleaned up point cloud and draw lines if you want, but I like the Cloud slicing option idea which works well when working with hard structures. We're still very much experimenting ourselves. And most of our extraction work is for Civil engineering projects which present different challenges than standard building scans with regular faces and such
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