Issue with pointclouds in Inventor

[AtleOdegaard]

We are having a problem using point clouds in inventor.

They insert fine into the model, but as soon as we zoom closer most of the points vanish. They vanish in a perfectly straight horizontal/vertical pattern relative to the screen, regardless of assembly orientation. 

It is not due to point density, the clouds are very detailed in recap and have the same point count in Inventor. See pictures below. 

This is happening on all our workstations. 

To make things more strange we have some older point clouds that don't have this behaviour, even when inserted into the same assembly, but it happens on 3 different scans now, 1 is Leica scanned and 1 is Faro scanned and the third is made with drone photogrammetry in Recap photo. 

All are .RCP files from Recap. 

From far away it looks nice:

Zooming in just a little bit, and 90% of the points vanish:

Here is the same view in Recap: 

..and here is our older point cloud viewed in the same assembly!: 

this is scanned with a portable scanner, so it has a bit of a brush stroke effect, but it zooms without issue. 

Drone Recap photo cloud in Inventor, different zoom levels:

Same cloud in Recap: 

Recap is set to smallest point size, so it's not because Recap is displaying larger points. 

Any ideas as to why this is happening? 

[ics_sys_user]

Hi! How big is the pointcloud (measuring from one side to the other)?

[AtleOdegaard]

They are varying from 325x145m for the largest drone one to 45x45m for a smaller one I did of my house: 

(Here placed next to a much bigger one from our older scans, that one is working fine)

[Bill_Bogan2]

Hi AtleOdegaard,

I'm curious, you mentioned you also have point sets that open without issue.

Do you know what product produced the acceptable scans? Just wondering if there was any correlation there.

Thanks,

Bill

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! How far is it from the origin? I suggest you place it closer to the origin. Or, you can right-click on the point cloud node in the browser -> Edit Attached Data -> check "Insert at origin."

Many thanks!

[arron.craig]

Can you do a comparison between .RCS and .RCP?

Was the 'old' scan processed in an older version of recap?

How many 'attached points' is it reporting?

[stevenL2ZFM · Accepted solution]

Your point cloud is probably miles away from your origin. You need to modify the origin point in Recap. Then export it again.

[gcoombridge]

As the others said - distance from the origin is usually the issue for me. Rebase it in recap to a local origin and try again. Inventor is very sensitive to large offsets from zero and won't accommodate real-world coordinates the way AutoCAD will..

[AtleOdegaard]

Thank you for all your good suggestions!

And my apologies for the very late reply, we had a deadline in a different project... 🙄

I think you are right about the distance, all the affected clouds are geolocated and hence far away from zero. 

I can't seem to figure out how to change the zero point in Recap though.. 

[AtleOdegaard · Accepted solution]

Update: 

Problem solved! I found the way to change origin point in Recap and it now works beautifully in Inventor. 

Thank you so much for looking into this and bringing a solution! 

For reference, to change origin in recap: 

Display settings-> Points -> Update origin ->   Click on the location in the point cloud you want to be zero. 

[TPearceHADKV]

Awesome work!

[jeyaar]

Hello 

I have a problem importing rcp file. When zooming in the model gradually vanishes. I checked the center mark in recap it is perfectly where it should be. 

Can you please check the enclosed snipshot maybe someone can advise what the cause can be.

Many thanks ahead!

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I guess this is related to the point cloud density. Please go to the option dialog shown at the top of the thread and change the density gradient to a bigger value.

Many thanks!

[jeyaar]

Hello 

Density it was ok as the same model was opened in Platnt3d with no issues. 

As I have read out in forum Inventor does not handle rcp point clouds the same as Plant 3d. There is a somekind of tolerance which is counted in tens of meters. If the points coordinates are dissipated further, then these may not be useable for inventor. This defect that I experienced was caused the fact that 2 coordinates of three exceeded this "tolerance limit" and the third - height was in "Inventor range". Now then this coordinates issue was solved the model is depicted ok.

[pierrehSHA9M]

This is nonsense, in Inventor I want to work on my point cloud in its real location

Can somebody please advise or assist.

[pierrehSHA9M]

This lack of professionalism in point cloud handling could make me drop inventor all together, I about to renew my subscription - but this is unacceptable ( pierre@xodusenterprises.com)

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Pierre,

Could you share your Point Cloud concern on the following thread?

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/drastic-point-cloud-density-loss-in-inventor-vs-recap/...

Quite a few experts have extensive experience in Point Cloud related workflows.

Many thanks!