Scanners, Cyclone, and CloudWorx - Oh my!

[Duchess]

So here at my company, I've been given the task of learning how to use Cyclone 5.8. We just got a high resolution scanner, and as the 3d Visualization department, it's now my job to learn how to use Cyclone and it's data, and somehow make it into a 3d product.

 

I've done some research and discovered that CloudWorx' point data can be brought into AutoCAD. That's all well and good, but I don't know AutoCAD. What I'm looking for is a way to bring the data from these scanners into 3d Max. I know that it's possible to bring data from CAD into 3d Max.. but seeing as how I know no AutoCAD, I'm not exactly sure where to begin.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could start looking? Thanks very much.

[Jeff Mottle]

Cool, looks like you're using the same scanner (or technology) that I learned about 8 years ago. I learned to use the CYRA scanner which was later purchased by Leica. We had one of the first machines they made and paid about $250K for it!

 

You might be able to import the cloud data into AutoCAD convert it to DXF or 3DS etc and then into MAX, but it's very likely the shear volume of points will overwealm max. You're far better off to convert the point could into a triangulated mesh and then save it to a 3D format which you can then import into max. It's been a while, but I don't think max has any features to do this. Perhaps someone else can confirm this, but my guess it you'd be better off using Cloudworx or another app to do the triangulation. Once you have the triangulated mesh it's still going to be massive, so you'll have to decimate the geometry so it's actually usable in max.

 

What specifically are you trying to do? What are you scanning and what is the end goal?

[Duchess]

See that's the problem, my goal right now is just to learn the software so that I can turn data into a usable product. I think they want me at a point where I can tell them exactly what I can and can not do. As a 3d artist, I'd like to be able to use the data to create some nice pieces, but I didn't even know if it would be possible to do that in Max, which is what I'm used to working with.

 

Thanks for your feedback!

[Duchess]

Alrighty, so I was wondering if anyone had any tutorials or references I could use while trying to learn Cyclone 5.8? I'm kind of going into this cold, so any help would be fantastic. Specifically on how to model in this thing..

[Peter M. Gruhn]

Well, I'm more clueless on it than you, but I did find

 

http://www.leica.loyola.com/products/hds/pdf/cyclone-modelsurvey.pdf

 

which seems to hint that the Cyclone Model module (I'd imagine it was part of the software you should have with the scanner) can be used to create more cad friendly geometry using clever/semi-automated tools. And then output a DXF which you could get in to Max.

 

I'd have guessed that the product came with some kind of getting started and manual. Though sometimes those materials can be horrible.

[Jeff Mottle]

A LIDAR scanner is not like buying a plugin for a 3D software, it's complicated stuff and you really need to get trained on it. If you can afford one of these scanners, surely you can afford the training. I would HIGHLY recommend you contact Leica or your reseller for more info on where and when you can sign up. I know I spent a week in Bay area getting training at CYRA before they were purchased by Leica. Even then I was still getting tips from their technical engineers.