New "Leica CloudWorx for Revit" - Eagerly Awaited Plug-in Software for Fast Processing of Rich, "As-built" Laser Scan Point Cloud Data into BIM

Leica Geosystems announces “Leica CloudWorx for Revit”, the latest addition to Leica Geosystems family of CloudWorx™ point cloud processing plug-ins for CADD and VR modeling software. CloudWorx for Revit provides a faster way for AutoCAD®Revit® professionals to efficiently create accurate BIM deliverables of existing buildings based on rich laser scan data collected by 3D laser scanners.

Leica CloudWorx for Revit includes many of the same, productive features that exist in Leica CloudWorx for AutoCAD, long the industry’s most popular plug-in software for helping AutoCAD users work efficiently with “as-built” point cloud data from laser scanning directly within AutoCAD. The new software will be demonstrated for the first time publicly at the SPAR Europe 2011 conference, The Hague, Nov. 8 &9, 2011.

Finally: Efficient Processing of Point Clouds in Revit

Revit users have long been challenged with creating accurate Building Information Models (BIM) of existing buildings based on rich, “as-built” point cloud data generated by 3D laser scanners. Until recently, many users created simple, as-built surface models from point cloud data in other applications, such as Leica Cyclone software, and then exported those as-built models via AutoCAD into Revit, where users converted the surface models into BIM deliverables. Even more recently, Revit 2012 introduced the baseline ability to view and measure as-built point cloud data directly within the Revit working environment – a good step forward.

Leica CloudWorx for Revit now gives users what they’ve been wanting all along – the extra point cloud handling and efficient as-built modeling capabilities that AutoCAD users have long enjoyed via the Leica CloudWorx for AutoCAD plug-in (first introduced in 2001), plus additional Revit-specific tools:

• Direct access to Leica Cyclone projects – with its underlying point cloud management utility – which avoids time-consuming export/format conversion/import steps and enables  efficient  viewing of point clouds of unlimited size via Revit’s display engine
• Faster loading and display of higher density point clouds , for more precise modeling, including a “Regeneration” tool for automatically displaying point clouds at higher density
• Ability to set Levels (i.e., floor elevations) directly from scan points or surfaces created from point clouds and automatically create plan view slices
• Create convenient “Limit Boxes” for working only with scan data in specific, desired areas
• Create slices of point cloud data in X-axis and Y-axis, in addition to Z-axis
• Automatically cut point cloud slices into convenient half-sections
• Set Revit “Work Planes” by directly fitting a plane or flat patch to point cloud data – this enables users to create walls in Revit that can reflect a true, out-of-plumb existing condition
• Automatically fit & extract pipe centerlines and diameters from scan data for constructing intelligent pipe models
• Accurately determine pipe tie-point locations by fitting scan data
• Save and manage point cloud Slices and Limit Boxes via a “Clipping Manager” utility
• Save a convenient “CloudWorx Project” which consists of point cloud data, plus whatever has been saved in the “Clipping Manager”

The development of Leica CloudWorx for Revit was enabled by an API introduced by Autodesk with Revit 2012 in March 2011 and by the ability to use Leica Geosystems technology for efficient point cloud data management.

Source: http://www.leica-geosystems.com/