Looking for help regarding dxf files..

[rahrdesign]

First of all, I am not a civil engineer. I am a production artist with over 10 years experience. 

We are creating a digital elevation map with slope arrows, from a cloud point. My current workflow includes CloudCompare to filter out non-ground data and mask the area I will be creating a DEM. I am liking the contours created by CloudCompare and would like to use them to set my major contours in Civil3d. The only file types that play nice between these two apps are .e57 and .dxf. 

My issues comes when opening a dxf file in civil3d. The scale is completely off, creating a drawing the size of stamp. Can anyone offer any help?

If using cloud compare to create contours is not a viable option, what would be best to create cleaner contours in civil3d?

[Pointdump]

Hi Ryan,
Do you have ReCap? That would make a better workflow into Civil 3D. Also, if your point cloud is classified you can use the free DotSoft >>>LiDAR Tools<<< to bypass the ReCap step.
Can you post your point cloud and the resulting DXF file? (You might need to zip them up to attach.)
Dave

[rahrdesign]

Thanks for the fast reply, Dave!

CloudCompare can thankfully export an .e57 file, however when it is opened in Civil3d the contour lines have disappeared. This is how I began my .DXF journey. Thank you so much for your help and I am completely open to any tips or tricks I may be missing out on. 

[rl_jackson]

That's because once the e57 is import in you still have to define a surface to display the contours.

[Pointdump]

Ryan,
Thanks for posting the RCP, e57, and DXF files. Where is the original data, the LAS/LAZ file?
OK, cracking open the RCP or e57 file in ReCap, I see:
Minimum X: -3.673 Meters
Maximum X: 11.273 Meters
Minimum Y: -2.920 Meters
Maximum Y: 10.290 Meters
Opening the DXF file in Civil 3D I see the same coordinate range, but in Feet Units. Notice the UCS Icon which sits on 0,0. There are Points, 3D Meshes and 3D Polylines.
Turning off Layers CLOUD_001, CLOUD_002, CLOUD_002, and MESH_001, the Contours(3D Polylines) more readily show up. But no surface has been created yet. I guess you created those contours in CloudCompare.
You can use the points, meshes, and polylines to build a surface, but the ground looks really flat, so Slope Arrows won't really tell you much. What are you planning to do that you need a Civil 3D Surface?
Dave