Exporting obj file from Recap Pro

[Anonymous]

I have read a few forums but I am still unable to work out the simplest way to save my point cloud file as an obj file. 

Do I need another software program to do this? Sorry I am new to this so sorry if there is just a simple solution.. which is what I'm hoping for!

Thanks

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Thanks for posting!

ReCap Pro used to have a beta feature that allowed you to convert a point could to mesh but the beta ended last October and the feature is currently unavailable pending evaluation of the data gathered. You may still see old posts from people in the community referring to this feature so I understand the confusion.

At the moment my suggestion would be to use a 3rd party software called CloudCompare. It's open source and free. Meshing is fairly straight forward and the results are reasonably good. Here are a couple of links showing how to create a mesh

• mesh cloudcompare
• 3D Laser Scanning - Meshing Point Clouds in Cloud Compare
  
  

Since they were made by the community the quality of the presentation varies but the knowledge is sound.

[jordan.giboney]

Hi @Anonymous 

Hope you had a good weekend. I wanted to check in and see if you had a chance to review the information from my previous post, and if there was anything else I could assist with 🙂

If you feel that the information is satisfactory, please mark the solution as such.

Thanks again for being a part of our community! 

[Anonymous]

Every help file in AutoCAD and ReCap, and every tutorial I could find, still says this is the way to do things.  Please alter those help files or put this back in.

Otherwise, I want a refund on ReCap.

[young]

I agree. If I cannot export mesh from recap then I need a refund to purchase software that can.

[Anonymous]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. The information may look useful but really they are amateur youtube videos with no real solution to the problem.

Having Recap Pro software I thought that I was able to mesh the point cloud within the software....

[Anonymous]

Not just YouTube videos.  The actual help files for AutoCAD and ReCAP are what say to use it.

[nicolawyldeck]

Unbelievable that this does not export common 3d formats and that they took it away. 

[mike_deacon2KEDC]

The Scantomesh cloud service was re-introduced and is currently available in Recap 2025 and supports OBJ export as an option. 

We will also will be supporting more format options for the desktop scantomesh processing that is currently being developed. 

[mike_deacon2KEDC]

The Scan to mesh cloud service was re-introduced and is currently available in Recap 2025 and supports OBJ export as an option. 

We will also will be supporting more format options for the desktop scan to mesh processing that is currently being developed. 

[aitorzdr]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a critical issue exporting meshes from ReCap Pro to OBJ.

Problem:

• Mesh is generated and looks perfect in ReCap Pro (textured, detailed).
• Exporting to OBJ (with RGB texture) results in an extremely small .obj file (only 42MB).
• Instead of proper texture images and an .mtl file, I get many small, fragmented image files (looks like internal tiles).
• The exported OBJ is unusable in other software.

Question: Why is ReCap Pro failing to export a complete, usable OBJ with correct textures? What am I missing?

Thanks.

[mike_deacon2KEDC]

Hi @aitorzdr ,

Thanks for getting in touch and for sharing the screenshot. It seems like the OBJ is not creating properly - I'd expect a mesh file with 16 tile to create an OBJ much larger than 42MB (unless you are just exporting a small object from it?). 

My hunch is that the machine is running out of resources mid-export. To test this, can you please close all of the mesh tiles that are in view - so that you are left with the mesh editor open but nothing loaded into the model space. The close icon is above the Unclassified portion of the Model Browser. 

This should free up space to be able to perform the export. The data doesn't need to be loaded for the export to work. 

Long term - what software are you looking to take the OBJ into? OBJ tends not to handle very large meshes as well as other formats, such as GLTF, FBX or USD - If you end use application can handle these then they could be a better option. 

Let me know how you get on!

Mike Deacon

Product Owner - Reality Solutions