New to point clouds in Revit

[Anonymous]

I recently started work fo a surveyor and they want to expand further into laser scanning but i dont know a huge amount about point clouds and turning them into models. Is there anywhere such as books or tutorials that i can learn more? Any advice on how I can develop my knowledge and skills would be very welcome.

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous

Thanks for posting on the forum!

For using Point Cloud Files in a Project see HERE

See this video below for basic steps

If you have specific questions on tools or related to your project, you are welcome to post on this forum.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question. Kudos welcome!

Regards.

[kmfuhrman · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the forums! The first step in venturing into point cloud modeling should always be to check your system hardware requirements first. Point clouds tend to be huge files, and take up not only server space, but processing time as well. It is very important to have adequate computer systems in place. There are references for Autodesk minimum requirements, but these are just as they say, a bare minimum. Assuming that is in place, I would suggest starting with a small scan project. Don't jump into a school or hospital project head first. Hope this helps, and good luck!

[kmfuhrman · Accepted solution]

Also, sections, 3D views and section boxes help greatly when trying to find wall edges. In floor plan views, keep the view range about 6" above the floor to be able to distinguish walls from floor surfaces, and the opposite for reflected ceiling plans.

[dgorsman]

As noted by @Anonymous.Fuhrman working with point clouds can involve very large files.  Save the consolidated file for general reviews, ensure you can break it down into smaller logical chunks for design work.  No point loading the entire point cloud when you're only working on a single building at a time.

While there are some *really* cool things out there for automagically converting point clouds to objects, for technical/engineering designs that's probably not what you're going to be doing.  The real world is rarely plumb, level, square, and/or true whereas your model will be.  For example, if you're modeling a handrail it's going to be perfectly straight even if the scanned version has a noticeable bow to it.  For these purposes the cloud will just be loaded into the model as a guide to trace over with a "best fit" version.

And this is probably going to go against every surveying instinct, but make sure you register the point cloud to convenient local coordinates rather than survey ones e.g. pick a close, easily identified point in the project area and call that "0, 0, 0".  Non-civil engineering software doesn't deal well with large coordinate values.

[Anonymous]

Thanks folks for all the comments. Ive had a little more practice since I posted but still very much a novice. Its a learning curve for sure. I come from an AT background and moving into this line of work is new too.
My boss really dosnt like the idea of "plumb, level, square" for a two hundred year old building so i have been using 3DCad to create elevations, floor plans and sections. Not sure if ill be able to persuade him that using revit is never going to give a truly accurate expression of a building that has warped and twisted through age but fingers crossed. He is a pretty openminded guy so i have no doubt that he will realise that the models still have value.

[dgorsman]

Well, yeah... a couple hundred years and things aren't going line up right.  Unless you're Egyptian, then you've got a few extra centuries leeway. 

Design tools are built around the concept of perfect engineering, math gets really screwy when you're not dealing with straight lines.  Trying to get very organic twists and curves is time consuming and can produce some very large files.  Its an ongoing process to find where that "best fit" is, whether it's keeping things straight but sloped and off-angle, or as-constructed (hopefully those are different).