Add back point cloud support

[Anonymous]

Please return the point cloud management features into Civil 3d.   

The Recap workflow is utterly ridiculous at this point. Recap feels like a consumer level program and is missing a huge number of features compared to Civil3d's point cloud management. Additionally, having to even use a 2nd program to process a point cloud prior to going into Civil3d results in huge delays. Not to mention makes it impossible to have changes dynamically added back into Xrefs on large projects with multiple people working on them.   

We have decided not to upgrade to 2018 at this time, and if support is not added back in, we will not be returning to Civil3d in future versions.

[ksorsby]

Agreed.

It was a cynical move by Autodesk and going via Recap is clumsy, time consuming and simply doesn't result in a better workflow.

The best and only option is for point cloud tools to be reinstated as before. They worked fine. Keep the Recap option but users need point cloud import and management in Civil 3D itself to be of any use.

[dgorsman]

"Cynical"?  I'm not following... maybe not the right word?

It's likely not coming back as it was.  One of the problems with incorporating point cloud support in individual products is the very uneven support.  There's a host of neutral formats to support, inevitably some will not be included (cue kicking and screaming from those who got left out).  There's several vendor-proprietary formats to support, one or more of those may or may not be supported (cue more kicking and screaming).  And those native formats usually have different versions of those files which may or may not be supported (cue more kicking and screaming).

One of the points of ReCap was to take all of that and put the development in one place, doing things the same way and avoiding duplication of work.  There's similar development patterns with the Navisworks team (using NWD/NWC references in other products) and with 3DSMAX (not developing a separate high-end rendering tool in every other product).  By centralizing design work there is better implementation and more development assets available to each team.

Now, I hear some screaming "It's NOT better implementation!!!!".  Look at the bigger picture.  There is more consistent point cloud format support under ReCap than there ever was under Civil3D alone.  And it's hands down better support for the other products.  The civil side does need improvement, I'm not arguing against that (I've even got a ReCap wish item for this).  Other vendors such as Lecia or FARO might make AutoCAD plug-ins specifically for civil work (there's already Lecia CloudWorx for generic work).  But point cloud improvements from Autodesk *will* be coming through ReCap and not program-specific tools. 

[Anonymous]

If Recap could do all the things that Civil3d could do before, and they made it easier, I'd be more ok with it. But as it stands, they've removed... 90% of the features, forced everyone to buy another piece of software, and then forced everyone to work off of a proprietary format.  

So if I have other software that I need to use the same point cloud with. I literally can't. There is no automated work flow, and I have very little control of how Recap does anything.  

At this point, from a Civil3d perspective, there is zero advantages to using Recap, and plenty of disadvantages. Other programs might be better, but until they make major changes, it's hard to suggest we pay money for less functionality. 

[ksorsby]

Dgorsman,

' "Cynical"?  I'm not following... maybe not the right word?' 

No, I'd say cynical is definitely the right word. How can it not be cynical when we patently don't have the same functionality, compatibility and workflow as previously available - for an extra cost.

Recap doesn't support the file format we have enjoyed under C3D point clouds for several years. In fact C3D still supports it via surfaces but in their bizarre wisdom they have chosen not to support it in Recap. I don't see this as an improvement.

Autodesk often cite 'programming' and 'decentralising' reasons but I'm fairly sure my clients will understand when I tell them 'I can't do what you need now but look at the big picture!' and my boss will be chuffed when I have to ask him for more money to buy less functional software for a task we could achieve perfectly well 3 years ago with an older release.

The future is all 'might' whereas we need working functionality now. Multiple threads anyone...

Cheers,

[dgorsman]

Who says you have to buy ReCap?  It comes with the AutoCAD products - no extra purchase required.  You only need to purchase it if you're running completely stand-alone... and then you wouldn't be running Civil3d.  The only extra costs are for the fancy-schmancy cloud-based functions, and those certainly aren't mandatory.

And I'll reiterate, just because it seems to have been missed: yes, there needs to improvement with the civil workflow.  That's not my argument.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I hadn't even looked into the pricing for ReCap. When we tested
it out, we didn't think it was worth using even if it was free (which it
turns out is).

It actually feels like one of those free apps you see on a tablet.

[ksorsby]

We had the pretty much the same experience with Recap (and with Infraworks also). It's clunky, basic and just doesn't do what we need, ie. the functions removed from C3D. We gave up on it. We can't import the files we use with it, although we used to be able to do so with C3D.

It might be fantastic for Autodesk but I genuinely can't see why going via Recap is a better solution for us, the users.

[JeffInStCld]

Yes, if at all possible it would be most beneficial to have the 2017 point cloud function back in Civil 3D. Our normal project site is over 25 square miles and the point cloud feature is very efficient for loading ground points to create surfaces. No better solution has been found within the 2018 or 2019 version of Civil 3D. We did not even know about this until after installing 2018 which has been extremely disappointing to lose a good functioning workflow considering how much we are paying for subscription. I feel that Autodesk is out of touch with some of the core Civil 3D users and the professionalism of communicating these changes rolling forward has been disappointing and discouraging when trying to keep up with the latest versions. Please highly consider adding it back Autodesk!  Thanks

[ksorsby]

I couldn’t agree more!



Cheers,