Mastering Point Clouds in Civil 3D: A Three-Part Guide to Efficiency: Part 1

Most survey and design firms these days rely on point cloud data to some degree. It is often faster, easier, and safer to survey using aerial or ground-based scanners compared with traditional survey methods. 

“But these clouds clog up my Civil 3D drawing when I make a surface.” You say. I’m here to tell you that they don’t have to! The dataset is always huge, tens or even hundreds of millions of points. When the deliverable is a surface model in Civil 3D, 3 things must happen. 

Unfortunately for you, the reader, you’ll need to wait for the whole story as this is only the first in a series of three articles outlining how Autodesk Recap and Civil 3D are used to accomplish these tasks. 

Task 1: Isolate the ground points. Points that do not fall on the ground such as buildings, trees, and overhead power lines and their poles must not be used to model a surface. 

Recap 2024.1 can do this! It’s easy as there are only a couple of options to choose from. Really, in my experience, the default option is often the best. 

There will be a new classification in the Project Navigator. 

And the ground points will be coloured brown. 

Click here to download the sample files. And stay tuned for the second article… 

If you have any more questions about Civil 3D points clouds please contact us at info@solidcad.ca