topic RECAP and advance steel in Advance Steel Forum

RECAP and advance steel

filip_denolf — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 13:02:37 GMT

Hi,

yesterday we received a demonstration of the leica BLK360 3D scanner. we received a measurement of a complex building with steel profiles where internal changes are necessary.
The point cloud looks nice and is quickly loaded into advance steel. However, it is not possible to position the existing steel profiles therein.
That's why I had a Mesch made from "A360". However, you can not read this Mesch in AS.
So this file must first be converted into a ".FBX" file via "Recap Photo". I can read this in AS but I have been waiting for an hour.
My question is simple, is a 3D scanner already usable in an AS environment and what is the way to a usable model?
Has anyone already scanned a building and converted existing profiles to AS objects?

Re: RECAP and advance steel

TomislavGolubovic — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 21:42:30 GMT

OOTB we don't have anything to convert a point cloud to a known 'object' (other than running through Recap Photo and exporting a meshed model, but it won't be 'smart'). Once a point cloud is brought into Recap, you can use third party software to model the existing steel members, and then call them "Existing" in the model and create new connections, members etc.

The two third party packages that I've seen and dealt with are Edgewise and Kubit.

If you don't want to use third party, then you'll have to cut views and sections to see what the member size is and manually create the Existing members before adding your own new ones possibly.

Re: RECAP and advance steel

dgorsman — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 18:49:26 GMT

One of the problems with automicagically converting point clouds to objects, is that reality is rarely straight, perpendicular, or true (to say nothing of tolerances). When you convert it to a mesh you get *monster sized* files, because it's capturing every bend, divot, and twist which you probably don't care about. Also, because everything is physically connected there isn't a way to tell the mesh reconstruction where one part ends and another begins so everything is one big blob.

Modeling software like AS assumes everything in a geometrically perfect condition so it has to try to get things into a best-fit situation e.g. do you really want that beam dropping 1 mm over a 10m run, or do you want to model it perfectly level (and then, which end, or the middle, or somewhere in between)? Automated systems like Kubit can help, but you usually end up manually correcting most of it anyways.

My recommendation is to split up the point cloud into useable chunks rather than using the entire site. Then use those as visual guidelines for placing components in the model, keeping to design guidelines. Look for duplications, mirrored sets of objects, and other exploits you can take advantage of. Ignore things which won't affect your design work.

Re: RECAP and advance steel

abeeler — Thu, 10 May 2018 13:54:00 GMT

I'm very interested in hearing how your experience of the BLK360 went? Its one of the scanners my company is looking at. Even with the known limitations with Advance Steel, I'm thinking the best path to success is to stay in the Autodesk ecosystem.

Re: RECAP and advance steel

filip_denolf — Mon, 14 May 2018 05:34:33 GMT

i think i found the best tool in the FARO 3D Software.

I got a very nice demostration but did nothing further with it.

Re: RECAP and advance steel

ScottBoggess — Wed, 16 May 2018 19:45:57 GMT

We use Faro pointsense.

It's a plugin for all flavors of autocad [and revit] that will check steel profiles and insert a member based on the profile and centerline of the steel found in the point cloud. It does a wonderful job with piping too, if used in plant 3D [specs can be linked, making BOMs ezpz.]

As far as someone who asked about the blk360, be sure to understand that, while it's a neat product, it's an entry level scanner at best. The price point is definitely awesome, but you definitely lose accuracy by buying in that low.

You can buy a much more accurate 'entry level' faro scanner for $25k or so. Or high end refurbs for 40k or so. They aren't paint can sized like the blk, but they deliver better precision.