2024 Point cloud cropping bug?

[JOHNLLOYD7213]

Hi all.

With complex point clouds it is often necessary for me to perform multiple crops.

This worked smoothly in 2023

Using 2024 however, this process seems to have been broken.

If on a second (or third) crop I select invert, I lose the previous crops.

Can anyone here replicate this problem and/or suggest a solution or workaround?

TIA

[Valentin-WSP]

@JOHNLLOYD7213 ,

You will benefit more asking in the ReCap Forum.

• https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/recap-forum/bd-p/451

If you suspect a bug, contact support and report:

• https://www.autodesk.com/support/contact-support

It should be working since, according to these links, "you can crop a point cloud as many times as you wish" and "change whether to show the points inside the crop boundary or outside the crop boundary by inverting the crop".

• AutoCAD 2024 - POINTCLOUDCROP (Command)
• To Work With Cropping Point Clouds

Make sure you have the latest updates:

• How to install the latest available version of Recap
• AutoCAD Updates

[JOHNLLOYD7213]

Hmmm.

Did you read my post?

Did you try to replicate the problem?

What is the solution you are offering that I'm being prompted to accept?

[ChicagoLooper]

Hi @JOHNLLOYD7213 

Multiple crops? Why?

Can you upload screenshots showing how you got the complex point cloud into a format AutoCAD can understand?

What's your ORIGINAL point file format?

laz, las? e57? xyz? something else?

You can limit an area of the point cloud (crop) when you are processing the PC so when you add it to your drawing, it's already focused on your target area. Cropping it after you've added it to modelspace isn't a practical workflow.

[JOHNLLOYD7213]

The surveyor delivers .RCP or .RCS files that AutoCAD  can reference natively.

We often need to crop these files in an AutoCAD model for clarity when screen-shotting views for construction sketches.

Last job involved buttressing one wall of a derelict building to ensure safe demolition & protect live plant nearby.

There is a large tank in the foreground that needed to be occluded so that all of the buttressing steel could be seen.

In 2023, I could crop the tank out after cropping the rear of the view, but this functionality has been removed from 2024 The iNVERT button does not do the same as the INSIDE/OUTSIDE button did in 2023. I guess the workaround would be to perform an inverted crop first, followed by any regular crops to achieve the desired scene. It does annoy me that functionality has been removed. I had the same feeling when I discovered that AutoCAD could no longer import .FBX files in 2019. For while, I kept multiple versions installed in order to keep the functionality that I needed. 2018 cannot be installed under Windows 11 so we have turned to a third party for that functionality.

[ChicagoLooper]

Hi @JOHNLLOYD7213 

OK, great, thanks for explaining. So you're using rcp (or rcs) file you got from your surveyor. Do you also run Recap? If you do, then good. If you don't, then your surveyor actually has more control of the point cloud compared to you.

The cropping can be, and should be, done in Recap. You can make as many cropped versions as you want. Cropping a point cloud goes like this:

1. My point cloud in Recap. I need to use Recap in order to save as an rcp (or as an rcs).

Image-1

2. Same point cloud (still in Recap). The view is zoomed-in.

Image-2

3. Using Recap, I can use a 'window' to CROP the point could to a smaller area so it's more manageable. 

Image-3

4. Recap crops the point cloud and I export this smaller area as an rcp file.

Image-4

5. Back in AutoCAD, this is the rcp in modelspace. Grayscale is the default.

Image-5

6. Here's the point cloud with the with the points 'mapped' to colors.

Image-6

7. If the surveyor classified the points during the survey, then I can also isolate points based on CLASSIFICATION such as only points classified as 'ground.' But if there's NO classification then all points will be Created never classified or Unclassified.

Image-7 

Based on your description, I'm thinking you really want to classify the points, not necessarily crop to a specific area. I don't use plain vanilla AutoCAD, but if plain vanilla can classify points then you're good to go. If not then you'll need third party software to classify them. You can also continue with your current workflow but it's clunky and hard to work with (as you already know). 

Yes, you definitely CAN crop in vanilla AutoCAD, but that's not a practical workflow. Your surveyor who created the rcp file can crop it for you. If you want your surveyor to do that, make sure you ask for a variety of cropped areas, e.g. 6 different cropped areas, where each crop has a different point-of- view. BTW, classifying points during a drone survey may cost you more than one that doesn't classify, verify with the drone pilot.