topic Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud in Inventor Forum

Creating a solid model from a point cloud

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 14:09:10 GMT

I'm completely new to 3D scan data.

So far I've created a new part in Inventor, and attached a point cloud (.rcs file). It looks good, but I can't seem to do anything with it.

Is there any way to mesh the surfaces and create a part from it? I don't need it to be made up of single features - one solid part would be fine. It's a model of a room, and I want to be able to put other parts inside it and measure the distance to internal walls (of the point cloud) etc.

Thanks

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 14:29:28 GMT

Or at least be able to create planes by selecting points in the cloud....

Thanks

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

kgilham — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 20:10:36 GMT

Unfortunately Inventor does not have a way of converting point cloud data to a mesh model. Autodesk does have a tool called ReCap that is designed to work with point cloud data and can output a mesh that Inventor can import. http://www.autodesk.com/products/recap-360/features/all

Once a mesh is in Inventor, if you want to convert it to a solid body you can use the app called Mesh Enabler to convert it

https://apps.autodesk.com/INVNTOR/en/List/Search?isAppSearch=True&searchboxstore=INVNTOR&facet=&collection=&sort=&query=Mesh+Enabler

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 20:48:15 GMT

Thanks a lot.

I've just started using ReCap but had no idea it could create a mesh. I'll look into it.

Thanks again

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 14:11:13 GMT

Is there new way to create mesh from point clouds, I think that ReCap disabled this option?

Thanks

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

johnsonshiue — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 15:48:52 GMT

Hi! Regarding converting point cloud to mesh, there seems to be conflicting information. Some claims ReCap Pro can do it but some says it does not work. Some says recap360.autodesk.com may work. There might be other 3rd party solutions also.

As far as Inventor is concerned, the ability to convert point cloud to mesh is not available.

Many thanks!

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

arron.craig — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:33:56 GMT

The best workflow is going to depend on the type of point cloud data. For piping, structural and complex data of plant rooms etc, there are tools in Leica Cyclone that can recognize beams and pipes and insert primitive shapes. I'm not sure what Faro scene can do though.

For more organic geometry, I have used Rhino to mesh the scan and then bought that .stl into Fusion 360, decimate the mesh enough to convert to BREP and then sent that solid .step to Inventor.

A free option that I haven't tried yet is this python plugin for Blender, I am not sure how it will cope with complex scans but could be worth a try.
https://blenderartists.org/t/a-script-to-skin-a-point-cloud-for-blender-2-6x-or-later/529168

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

lena.talkhina — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 15:07:17 GMT

Hello @Anonymous !

Great to see you here on Inventor Forum.

Did you find a solution?
If yes, please click on the "Accept as Solution" button as then also other community users can easily find and benefit from the information.
If not please don't hesitate to give an update here in your topic so all members know what ́s the progression on your question is and what might be helpful to achieve what you ́re looking for. 🙂

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

mikejones — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 10:06:03 GMT

Hi Henriq

You can apply work planes, axis, and points directly to the point cloud data within inventor if that gives you what you need i.e. apply planes to the floor and walls, etc and an axis through pipes. Under the MANAGE tab in the POINT CLOUD area, you have a drop-down option that gives you the three options.

Alternatively, if you have access to Autocad Architectural, import your point cloud into that first, create a slice through the cloud data at floor level and trace a wall feature on top of the cloud data. This will create a 3d model of the walls that you can import into inventor as a 3d dwg file.

Mike

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

sguan1212 — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 03:02:49 GMT

Is 2024 now, Inventor point cloud feature panel is still not showing any developments. I hope Autodesk is working on this in the background. There are simply not enough tools for handling/processing of point clouds

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

johnsonshiue — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 20:36:10 GMT

Hi! A few things. Inventor is a precise Brep modeler. Point Cloud isn't precise data. The data can only be used as a reference not for precise modeling purpose. Here is a short video showing how to make mesh from point cloud using Autodesk Reality Capture.

https://www.autodesk.com/learn/ondemand/tutorial/create-a-mesh-from-a-point-cloud

I suggest you look into it. After the mesh is created, you may import it to Inventor and use Mesh Enabler Add-In to convert it to a solid body/composite body. Regardless, the imprecision issue still remains. What is your end goal of this point cloud data in Inventor?

Many thanks!

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

sguan1212 — Tue, 21 May 2024 02:26:34 GMT

Hi Johnson, the end goal would be to represent the existing equipment/environment in the 3D model layout, so one can work around it, use it to check for clashes etc.. Eventually drop into a drawing for presentation. To mesh it in recap then made into a body with mesh enabler is very lengthy and time consuming, I have success with small parts, but not anything medium to large. Mesh enabler will process for infinity and then I just end up killing the session. So far, most of all the meshing done in Recap have been a waste of time and token credits. Even if the mesh enabler succeeds with large file, it is very heavy on a drawing and difficult to handle and can look like a mess. The best way to handle the point cloud I think would be for Autodesk to develop more tools for tracing the clouds, just as mentioned in earlier discussion by arron.craig, Leica Cyclone has some tracing abilities for piping and steel structures. But that involves another license and learning of another software. It would be nice if everything can be done in Inventor. It's wishful thinking but I do hope we'll get there one day. Soon

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

Gabriel_Watson — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:02:14 GMT

I totally agree, this is a topic that needs attention. Multiple industries are attempting to use Inventor to design PRECISE DATA geometry but in the CONTEXT of surrounding equipment and volumes/areas that are defined with point clouds. Or, at the least, create mockups of legacy equipment already on a shop floor or construction area. The ReCap route does not generate reliable 3D geometry (too fuzzy and imprecise) and if Inventor can generate planes and axes off imported point clouds then it should be able to also provide better tools to generate volumes without much manual labor.
I cannot understand why 3D scans/point clouds is not on the development radar for next improvements, as AI tools can probably now grab the approximate/imprecise volumes coming from a meshed point cloud and actually perfect it to use as a good approximation.

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

sam — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:21:46 GMT

You might want to look a Meshmixer. It is an older Autodesk software & you can get it free.

And also in the Autodesk App Store it's listed as an Add-In for Fusion I believe.

Also, MeshLab. MeshMan, Lifted (good for B-Reps) & Instant Meshes (also B-Reps I think).

Besides Fusion, You can use the FreeCAD for some Mesh Tools for free.

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

johnsonshiue — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 22:29:59 GMT

Hi Gabriel,

There could be a good solution in the future, but the status quo persists for the time being. The issue with mesh or point cloud is that the data isn't discreet. It is quite challenging to interpret the non-rational data and extract its insights. The best we can do so far is to fit a Tspline body over the mesh. A lot of rework is still required after the conversion. Maybe AI can help.

Many thanks!

Re: Creating a solid model from a point cloud

SharkDesign — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 05:23:16 GMT

It also depends what you want to do with it. Point clouds can be super accurate that they'll pick up every imperfection in your real life object. Any model generated is not going to be super smooth faces like it was originally drawn in CAD. If you are reverse engineering, you're better off using point cloud for reference and drawing new shapes around it.