Support Meshing of Unstructured Data (e.g. Faro Freestyle)

[tony.morrill]

I will be using the Faro Freestyle for data capture on several smaller VR-related modeling projects.  Apparently, XYZ point coords + RGB data from a Focus3D system is 'structured' data, and XYZ point coords + RGB data from a Freestyle is 'unstructured'.  Currently, ReCap 360 can import and manipulate both types of PCD, but can ONLY handle meshing on 'structured' data.  😞

Surely there are others out there who need a basic meshing tool for all types of PCD that doesn't require a $10k license for manufacturing-specific software.  Please (please!) add cleanup and meshing support for Freestyle and other 'unstructured' types of point cloud data.

[chris.ahern]

Agreed. If we could utilize the ReCap registration and meshing functions for our DotProduct "unstructured" data, that would be a game changer. Please add this!

[tony.morrill]

As an addendum to this feature request - I have been working with Chris over at Faro to find a solution to the 'unstructured' vs 'structured' data issue.  One idea Chris had is to export the data from the Freestyle software using a "virtual stands" option, which essentially creates a scan view bubble the same way the Focus 3D system does.  

When we tested this idea I was able to isolate a selection of points and enable the ReCap 360 meshing utility.  Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried, the meshing process would reach the 55-58% range and freeze.  But if anyone at Autodesk is reading this... there might be something to this method of getting unstructured data through the meshing process.  It merits investigation if nothing else.  Yes?

[tony.crawford]

I want to echo this request for adding the Cleanup tool capability to unstructured data. 

The use case we have is a point cloud of terrain made from drone images and photogrammetry. This resulting file even allows reasonably accurate elevation data for use with something like Autodesk Civil 3D. 

Unfortunately, if the wind blows the sand then the file gets extra noise, as well as from any people, small trees, etc.  We could really use an automated tool for cleaning out this noise. 

Unfortunately, the cleanup tool currently only works with structured data. 

Thanks! 

[jshulters]

The title of this Idea may be a little misleading since it only refers to meshing unstructured data and others in this thread have mentioned including features like registration and cleanup. Let us know if it is more clear or useful to add those things (particularly registration of unstructured data, which is the feature improvement I'm looking for) as a separate idea submission. There was really accurate and easy to use registration and scaling tools in the old free version of 123D Catch, and it's a shame that the same ease of use can't be found in the top-level professional tool.

Thank,

John Shulters

Ascension Studios

[tony.morrill]

You have a valid point John.  You are correct that the original request (and title) is specific to the meshing tool while the cleanup feature is only mentioned in the comments and the registration not really mentioned at all.  You may indeed want to submit the registration feature as a separate request.  Faro Scene (software that ships with the Freestyle) already has built in tools that allow me to register and even do some cleanup of my unstructured PCD, so the only thing I was specifically asking Autodesk for in this request is a quality meshing tool.  The ability to also register and clean up my data in Recap 360 would be awesome, but if those features somehow slowed the implementation of the meshing tool (...not that I can see how they would..) I'd prefer they be handled separately. So yeah...  it would totally make sense if you wanted to ask for unstructured registration in a new thread.

I should mentioned that as of a few months ago Faro HAS implemented a meshing tool into Scene for their unstructured PCD, but so far it lacks the ability to output really clean and tight meshes.  Everything I've exported sort of looks like it has sat at the bottom of the ocean for a few years and has accumulated a layer of crud... no tight details seem to come through and flat surfaces aren't even flat.  Pretty frustrating.  So unless Faro makes more progress, my fingers are still crossed that Autodesk can find a way to get Recap 360 to export a clean mesh.

[jshulters]

Great...thanks for the quick response, Tony. My current pipeline uses Agisoft Photoscan (the $79 version, not the $5000 one), which produces fantastic point clouds and meshes, but can't scale anything and struggles at aligning separate scans, so I have to do all that stuff manually in 3ds max. 123D Catch had such great alignment and scaling tools (though the photo cap and meshing were not acceptable...but of course it was free). I really wish I could combine the best of both worlds...the alignment and scaling from 123D and the awesome point clouds and meshing of Photoscan. That's why I came to ReCap in the first place to see if it was worth the cost. Unfortunately it doesn't yet have the capabilities to do all the cool stuff it does with structured data for unstructured photogrammetry.

[ramesh_sridharan]

I believe Scan to Mesh released last year solved this request.