February Tech Tip!

Importing Point Cloud into Autodesk® Revit® from Cyclone!

CloudWorx for Autodesk Revit

Step 1.  Install CloudWorx for Revit 1.1

Step 2.  Follow the normal process of installing the software to your hard drive.  Revit will need to be closed down during the install.

Step 3.  Once install is complete, open Revit.

Step 4.  You will need to start with an Architectural template or office standard template if available.

Step 5.  You now will have an additional tab at the top labeled CloudWorx.  Click on CloudWorx tab > Project panel > Import MS View > Import MX View.

Note:   The following steps are in reference to installing the Leica Geosystems Cyclone 8.1.1 software package prior to opening Revit.  Due to your licensing you may not have the ability to complete this function and future steps in this article.

Step 6.  When prompted to input CLM license server name click OK.  Sometimes “Localhost” must be submitted in place of leaving it blank.

Step 7.  The Import ModelSpace View dialog box will pop up allowing you to browse to the project you wish to import.  Select the [ . . . ] button allowing you to find the file.

Step 8.  Navigate to your “ModelSpace” view as before in the Cyclone program.

Step 9.  Open up the “ModelSpace View 1”.

Step 10.  You should now see that view in the dialog box under Connection String.

Step 11.  Click OK.

Note:  Depending on your CPU, ram and the file size the process of bringing in the points may take a couple of minutes.  Zoom All (ZA) to view the entire point cloud.

Step 12.  Depending on a few factors of your display driver, Revit’s graphic display settings and cyclones Open GL Mode setting the points may not look correct.  If something seems to be off or all the points are a single color, among other issues, we will need to go inspect the Open GL Mode setting.  If you are having a difficult time moving around the cloud, changing these settings will also help.

Modifying the Open GL Mode

Step 13.  Browse to the Start Menu > Leica Geosystems > Cyclone 8.1.1 > Utilities > OpenGL Modes.

Step 14.  In the Supported OpenGL Modes dialog box you will see the following screen.

Step 15.              You will need to look for any mode that has the following settings available.

RGB                32

ZBuf               32

DblBuf            Y

SW                  Y

HW                 n/a

OpenGL          Y

Step 16.  If you have more than one setting you can go between them to figure out which one will best suit your settings.  Mine is set to Mode 33.  To select the desired mode pick the number and then select Set Mode

Note:  In order to see the difference between the options you will need to close and restart Revit.

Step 17.  Before you close out Revit you will need to save the project in the CloudWorx Project pull down.

Step 18.  Once this is all done and the settings have been decided on you can then go to work on the project.

Step 19.  The first thing we need to do for setting up the project is to make sure that our levels are at the right elevations.  Open up an elevation view and review the locations of the cloud and the level marks for level 1 and level 2.  We can change either the level’s elevation or move the point cloud to suit our project template.  If we move the point cloud you will need to unpin it and make sure that you have your selection methods all checked.

Step 20.  Now that we have situated the cloud you will want to view it in the 3D view.  Migrate to the side of the building you wish to see and then we can start working the cloud to view a floor plan.

Step 21.  Click CloudWorx tab > Clipping panel > View X drop-down > Z Axis.

Step 22.  Single click at the #1 line, under the ceiling.  Then double click at the #2 line and this will create a section cut for the floor plan.

Product of “Z” slice.

Step 23.  Rotate your view as to see the top view and then rotate to have north at the top of the page.

Step 24.  You now use your wall tool within Revit to snap to the cloud and input the walls.  You may wish to rotate the building as to not have issues when drawing walls off axis.

Step 25.  If you decide to rotate the building you will be able to use Autodesk Revit’s rotate option to do so, but once you close out of the project the building will rotate back to its default setting.

Note:   In order to keep the rotation we must go into the Cyclone software and change the UCS settings for the project.  If this is not available then you will need to upgrade the software to include that option as this is not available within the “Viewer”.

Step 26.  Open Cyclone 8.1.1 to the project file that you have loaded in to the Autodesk Revit project.

Note:   I usually always open the unified file.

Default layout of project without any modification so far. Notice the location of the “Origin”.

Step 27.  Our next step will be to select three points in the cloud to use as reference points to change the UCS rotation.

Note:   Use your mouse buttons to orient the view to the corner you would like to use for your origin and rotation center.  Select “View Mode” and use your Left – Rotate, Right – Pan, Middle (held down while moving up and down) – zoom in and out.

 Pick Mode

 Multi-Pick Mode

 View Mode

 Seek

Step 28.  Using the above buttons try to zoom in to the corner so that you can differentiate the surfaces of the corner so that you can pin point a good origin for your first point. Using the “Multi-Pick Mode” select the first point as shown above.

Step 29.  As you go to pick multiple point switch between the Multi-Pick Mode and the View Mode to view the following points.

Note:   Remember to always go back after rotating and moving to the Multi-Pick Mode or else you will lose the previous points.  If you chose to use the Pick Mode, holding SHIFT+LEFT CLICK will select multiple points as well.

As you can see I have selected my first point.  I try to get a point that will be on the same surface as the Orange colored surface as I will use this as my North facing wall. 

Step 30.  Select points number 2 and number 3, consecutively as shown below.

In order to pick point #2 you may have to rotate the view around as such.

Step 31.  After you have selected the three points desired click View > Coordinate System > Set from Points.

Step 32.  In the Set Coordinate System from Pick points dialog box, review the options for changing the values of X, Y, Z and the angle for the Azimuth Point.  Since I want the point #3 to be in the West direction I need to change it from 0 degrees to 270 degrees.  This will orient the surface that point #1 and #3 create as my North face.  I recommend leaving the X, Y, and Z coordinates at the default settings until you feel more comfortable with making those modifications.

Step 33.  Rotate your view to the “Top View” to see the changes in effect.

 

Now that you have this modification made in the Cyclone project it will then transfer to the Revit project the next time you open it up. In order to keep the right orientation for your building these steps must be completed otherwise you will lose the layout and have to rotate your cloud every time.

We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs. Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we'll be happy to assist you.

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer