Technical Information PointCloud

May 2010 Page 1

Technical Information about PointCloud

The following pages will give you a detailed overview of the possibilities while

using PointCloud. For further questions or comments please do not hesitate to

contact us or one of our local resellers.

kubit GmbH

Fiedlerstr. 36, 01307 Dresden, Germany

Fon +49 351 41767-0 Fax +49351 41767-29

Email info@kubit.de Web www.kubit-software.com

Q1 What is PointCloud?

Q2 What kind of AutoCAD versions does PointCloud support?

Q3 What types of 3D laser scanners are supported?

Q4 What image data can be used in PointCloud?

Q5 What is 3D drawing?

Q6 How are the point clouds saved?

Q7 How can the point clouds be organized?

Q8 Why is PointCloud this fast?

Q9 What are the advantages of the “SendToKubit” function?

Q10 What is the secret of the PointCloud Free Edition?

Q11 How can I try out PointCloud?

Q12 What kind of functionality is supported PointCloud and the Pro version?

Technical Information PointCloud

Page 2 May 2010

Q1 What is PointCloud?

PointCloud is an AutoCAD

application for visualizing and

working with 3D point clouds.

The documentation of

historical buildings and

monuments, industrial plants

and others can be done with

the expected level of detail.

Even other documents (e.g.

images, floor plans or other

CAD elements) can be combined with the point cloud to be processed.

Millions of points captured with a 3D laser scanner can be used efficiently

where all modelling tools are sufficiently present – in AutoCAD. Using the

AutoCAD functionality “Object Snap”, the user has access to every single

point and its 3D coordinates. Therefore all AutoCAD commands – and also

the functionality of third-party applications – know about the exact geometry

of the scanned object.

Q2 What kind of AutoCAD versions does PointCloud support?

AutoCAD 2007 to 2011 and all vertical AutoCAD applications such as

Architectural Desktop, AutoCAD Map, Civil 3D, Plant 3D etc are supported.

PointCloud is supporting both the 32 bit and the 64 bit flavours of AutoCAD.

Q3 What types of 3D laser scanners are supported?

Since all common scanner types provide an export to ASCII format for their

point cloud data PointCloud can be used with all scanners. PointCloud

converts the ASCII file into a binary kubit point cloud format (*.ptc) or a native

AutoCAD point cloud file (*.pcg).

Some scanners and software packages do even provide export to PTC files.

Currently optimized interfaces are provided for the following scanner systems:

• FaroScene (FARO)

Technical Information PointCloud

May 2010 Page 3

• Ilris3D-Parser (Optech)

• LaserControl (Zoller&Frölich and Leica HDS4500/6000)

• Polyworks (Inovmetric)

• JRC 3D Reconstructor (Gexcel/Topotek)

• RealWorlsSurvey (Trimble)

• RiScanPro (Riegl LMS)

• Scan Master (Topcon)

• Pointools (pointools)

• LupoScan (Lupos3D)

• Scan Manager (3D Scanline)

• etc

Furthermore, PointCloud supports the direct import of RiSCAN PRO projects

and Leica HDS PTZ files, which are automatically converted into the

PointCloud binary data format (*.ptc) or a native AutoCAD point cloud file

(*.pcg). The PTZ files can be created with the following software products:

• Cyclone Register

• Cyclone Viewer Pro

Q4 What image data can be used in PointCloud?

PointCloud provides functionality to post-process 3D information of point

clouds together with the high resolution information of images. For this

purpose PointCloud offers special import functionalities. Orthophotos that

have been created using RealWorks Survey (Trimble), JRC 3D Reconstructor

(Gexcel/Topotek) or RiSCAN PRO (Riegl LMS) can be imported directly at the

correct position in the drawing. Additionally, in the PointCloud Pro version,

oriented images created in RiSCAN PRO (Riegl LMS, undistorted images) or

Reconstructor (JRC/Topotek, ORI image files) can be imported directly into

AutoCAD.

PointCloud Pro is also providing a feature for image orientation. The process

of image orientation simultaneously determines interior and exterior camera

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parameters from 3D (measured control points) to 2D (image) point

correspondences.

The resulting oriented images can be used for 3D drawing:

1. 3D drawing using oriented images and surfaces

2. 3D drawing using multiple oriented images

Q5 What is 3D drawing?

3D drawing using oriented images and surfaces:

The user clicks a point on an oriented

image. The intersections of the projection

ray of the clicked point with the selected

surfaces (point clouds, planes, cylinders)

are calculated. The resulting 3D point on

the first intersected surface is returned to

the predefined AutoCAD commands.

3D drawing using multiple oriented images

The user is clicking 2 corresponding points on different oriented images. The

intersection point is calculated and returned to the currently running

command.

Q6 How are the point clouds saved?

Every (ASCII)-import leads to a PTC file for the corresponding point cloud.

Compared to the ASCII format, the PTC file is handling the point cloud in a

very compact manner. In addition, such a PTC file can be loaded faster then

a simple ASCII file because the points are already arranged in a way, that the

necessary points are displayed immediately.

The points are automatically sorted in the 3D space. To allow this, a special

functionality called Octree is applied (recursive division of a 3D space in 8

parts with the same size).

The PTC file is referenced in the AutoCAD drawing like it is done with images.

Accordingly, the size of the drawing is NOT increased.

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May 2010 Page 5

PointCloud also supports the native AutoCAD point cloud file (*.pcg). All

imported scan formats can optionally be saved in PCG or PTC format. The

PCG format was implemented by Autodesk starting AutoCAD 2011. This

format allows to work with much larger point clouds and provides a better

display performance.

Q7 How can the point clouds be organized?

Different parts of a point cloud (e.g. a single tube) can be coloured,

displayed or hidden. A manager for visible sectors allows a convenient

organisation of the point cloud for someone’s own perceptions.

This, for instance, can be very useful when modelling special parts of the

scanned object inside AutoCAD while all other information (i.e. points) is not

of interest. The visible parts can be defined as a box, slice or even as free

polygons.

Additionally the point cloud also can be reduced to its visible section. So, the

parts of the point cloud which are improper or not of interest would be

omitted and enable more memory. A new point cloud (ptc or pcg file) is

generated.

Illustration 1 Definition of a visible sector (in this case as a vertical slice); Hiding all other

points; Vectorisation of a contour line.

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Q8 Why is PointCloud this fast?

The most important reason for the high performance is very simple. Only those

points which are actually visible are displayed. This very easy and effective

principle needs some sophisticated computing behind it since the software

itself has to determine which points have to be displayed. There is a maximum

number of 0.7 million points (1024x768) even if the point cloud has 30 million

points.

Due to this, PointCloud is always showing the points with the correct draw

order. Points which are situated in the background (behind other points) are

not displayed. This makes it easier for the operator to understand and to work

with the cloud.

Illustration 2 Only the points in the front (dark points) are visible for the operator and are

drawn from PointCloud. While zooming, panning or applying the 3D orbit, the visible set of

points is changing.

Compared to usual AutoCAD points, the points within PointCloud are very

‘light-weighted’. AutoCAD points are holding additional information like layer

name, point style etc. Data in PointCloud does not have all of this information

in order to save storage space and to increase performance. Even though

the point cloud is a single AutoCAD element (custom entity), the user has

access to every single point of the point cloud. The object snap ‘point’ is

supported and so a common processing of the data (drawing polylines,

dimensioning etc.) can be done.

While applying the 3D orbit, the point cloud is thinned out for fast rotating and

navigating.

display operator Point cloud

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May 2010 Page 7

Q9 What are the advantages of the “SendToKubit” function?

The current version of PointCloud contains a library (SendToKubit) which

allows external programs to send coordinates to AutoCAD/PointCloud for any

command, which then expects a coordinate as input (polyline, spline, but

also copy, rotate etc). A typical application is the digitizing of point clouds

directly in the viewer software that is provided by many scanner

manufacturers.

For digitizing, the better display of a point cloud is in an application especially developed for

point clouds (left). At the same time, ‘SendToKubit’ allows the usage of all AutoCAD

commands for processing (right).

“SendToKubit” is currently provided for the following software systems:

• FaroScene (FARO)

• JRC Reconstructor (Gexcel/Topotek)

• RiSCAN Pro (Riegl LMS)

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• LupoScan (Lupos3D)

• PlanarView (kubit)

Q10 What is the secret of the PointCloud Free Edition?

The Free Edition is provided for AutoCAD 2011 and higher. It does not require

any PointCloud license. You simply install the standard setup and are able to

use the import to PCG or PTC functionality for various scan data like ASCII,

Riegl, Leica, etc. Afterwards all points can be accessed using the AutoCAD

object snap (OSNAP) and thus are available for the AutoCAD commands.

The Free Edition does not provide any further PointCloud commands

The Free Edition is free of charge. It extends the import of scan data which in

AutoCAD 2011 is limited to FARO and LAS files.

Q11 How can I try out PointCloud?

PointCloud and all of its functionality can be fully tested for free. Different

point cloud data sets are included in the download. In addition, the user is

able to test his/her own data as well. To do so, please contact kubit or visit the

kubit website for more information (contact details are listed on the first page

of this documentation).

Q12 What kind of functionality is supported PointCloud and the Pro version?

FEATURE LIST PointCloud PointCloud

Pro

Insert point cloud x x

Set current point cloud x x

Set point cloud parameters (average distance, noise) x x

Set preferred point cloud format x x

Manage kubit point clouds (PTC)

Load point cloud x x

Unload point cloud x x

Merge point clouds x x

Crop point cloud x x

Set grip position x x

Settings for display performance x x

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May 2010 Page 9

Show/Hide Bounding Box of point clouds x x

Show/Hide grip of point clouds x x

Modify point size x x

Manage AutoCAD point clouds (PCG) [AutoCAD 2011 and higher]

Convert kubit point cloud to AutoCAD point cloud x x

Reindex AutoCAD point cloud x x

Set point density for modeling tools x x

Optimize display x x

Import

Import point cloud (ASCII) x x

Import Leica HDS PTZ files x x Import Riegl RiSCAN Pro rsp - project file - point cloud x x

- oriented image x

- orhto image x x

Reconstructor - import orhto image x x

Trimble RealWorks Survey - import ortho image x x

Sections

Define slice - parallel to UCS planes x x

- around a planar AutoCAD object

Shift slice x x

Change slice thickness x x

Define multiple slices - parallel to UCS planes x x

- along an AutoCAD curve object x x

Define clipping box x x

Define section inside a polygon x x

Define section outside a polygon x x

Restore previous section definition x x

Section manager - show/ hide sections x x

- create new sections x x

- colour sections x x

- export sections x x

- conjunction of sections x x

- sorting x x

- load/save/copy section definitions x x

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Digitizing tools

Set elevation (from point) x x

UCS from plane x

UCS from slice x x

Clash detection x

Modeling 2D Fit outline plan x Fit outline plan - with restrictions x Fit polygon x Draw circle through 3 points (independent from UCS) Draw arc through 3 points (independent from UCS)

Modeling 3D

Cylinder

Fit cylinder x

Draw cylinder x

Connect cylinders with torus x

with elbow x

with cylinder x

Insert reducer x

Intersection of cylinders x

Center cylinder (to a reference cylinder) x

Bend cylinder (to a reference cylinder) x

Explode cylinder to axis line x

Explode cylinder to an AutoCAD 3D solid x

Create pipeline x

Plane

Fit plane x

Fit plane - with restrictions x

draw plane x

Modify plane - Extend (2 planes) x

Modify plane - Intersection line (2 planes) x

Modify plane - Intersection point (3+ planes) x

Modify plane - New rim x

Modify plane - Modify rim x

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May 2010 Page 11

Working with images

Insert oriented image (kubit ORI format) x

Insert raster image x

Manage control points (define, import, adjust size, align, search) x

Set UCS from view x

Image orientation x

Camera view and navigation x

Modify display style of oriented images x

3D Drawing with oriented images and surfaces (point cloud, plane, cylinder) x

3D Drawing - Intersection point from 2 images x

Furthermore, PointCloud supports the AutoCAD object snap and working in

AutoCAD perspective projection mode.

Q1 What is PointCloud?Q2 What kind of AutoCAD versions does PointCloud support?Q3 What types of 3D laser scanners are supported?Q4 What image data can be used in PointCloud?Q5 What is 3D drawing?3D drawing using oriented images and surfaces:3D drawing using multiple oriented images

Q6 How are the point clouds saved?Q7 How can the point clouds be organized?Q8 Why is PointCloud this fast?Q9 What are the advantages of the “SendToKubit” function?Q10 What is the secret of the PointCloud Free Edition?Q11 How can I try out PointCloud?Q12 What kind of functionality is supported PointCloud and the Pro version?