Re: Rail scanning Leica Geosystems Cloudworx 4 for AutoCAD or Microstation would be ideal for generating models and linework from the data. The Leica Geosystems HDS6000 would also be a great unit to consider for this work. [youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=th_zuC2StzI[/youtube] This Youtube video was from data taken from the trackside with the HDS6000 (used completely standalone, no laptop for example), but it can be easily integrated into the Amberg GRP solutions if I am not mistaken. Regards, Paul

Re: weeding out LIDAR data What kind of clutter... Vegetation? General noise? Cars? And are we talking airborne or terrestrial...?Cheers,Paul

weeding out LIDAR data Has anyone got any experience of thinning out hi-res lidar 'clouds' with cyclone 2 or any processing software to isolate points of a certain 'height' or relational characteristic.I am thinking of a few template-matching points (that are in their own discrete space) out of thousands.The ultimate goal would be to write a routine that automates this anyalysis and drops all the clutter.ANY CLUES anybody?-SL

Re: 3d Scanner Advice Hi Tom, A good phase based solution should sort you out, but also making good sense of the data and post-processing it meaningfully needs to be understood. For examples, are line drawings required or meshes, or models... there's a different work-flow for each which needs to be understood. Also, do you want colour applied for presentation and archival... these all need to be assessed. Also, how long do you have to acquire the data? For a 360x310deg Field of view scan with a point density of 0.8mm at 5m (1.6mm @ 10m) the HDS6000 will take 24 minutes. For 1.55mm @ 5m (3.1mm@10m) it will take just 6 minutes per setup. Bear in mind also if you do 4 setups in a small room your point density will increase massively due to overlaps. As a qualified archaeologist I keep a close eye on this sector... make sure you read the data-sheets and spec sheets carefully as some manufacturers include filtering tools in the processing software which removes 'good noise' as well as 'bad noise'. Also, as Matt states, make sure you understand what affects accuracy - a bad phase scanner will lose accuracy very quickly over distance, even over 5 metres. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. Cheers, Paul

Re: 3d Scanner Advice When you look about on the web the Surphaser seems to be the best scanner for this type of project. Care should be taken when stating accuracy as there are many things to be taken into account that will affect it. Good luck.

Re: kubit announce new release of PointCloud Typically how HUGE is a HUGE database for you guys (either MB or #points)? How does Kubit operate with data collected by phase-based scanners? I saw it in operation at Intergeo this year, was that the latest version also?Cheers,Paul

Re: kubit announce new release of PointCloud Matthias,We have had nothing but positive reports from the 64 bit version of PointCloud. My customers are finding the ability to handle more points in AutoCAD a huge plus. Snapping and regen is working normally as well.Scotty

Re: 3d Scanner Advice No question, no problem - Surphaser! You can definitely hold these resolutions and accuracies at that range - we've done it many times and these graphics below show you examples. Believe me - we know - we do this everyday! Feel free to contact me immediately to discuss. Happy to help guide you. [Contact info below pictures] 205-md state house documentation.jpg 216-williamsburg coffee house.jpg Note - Higher resolution images are available at: State House and Williamsburg

Re: 3d Scanner Advice Have a look at this movie http://aftenbladet.no/webtv/?id=639712of some work that Hexagon did using the T-scan and a wheeled dolly which might suit your needs. We have customers who have used a HDS6000 to do similar work.

Re: 3d Scanner Advice If the surface is not very big I would suggest a laser-tracker standing in the center of the room and a t-scan os similar gun operated by means of a good profesional tv camera crane (a motorised and welldumped one would help). You then just need a customized actuator to activate the pistol, but, it seems not to be the big problem among your demanding specs. If the idea helped, I would be pleased if you sent me a note, an invitation to participate in the project... or a couple of thousands od euros Happy new year

Re: Manual Target registration Thanks Steven, it works fine.Romuald

Re: Clouds constraint I would check that the normals were turned on in the original export.I think Cyclone used to try to recreate the normals but it took a long time and wasn't always succesful.All cloud reistrations will need normals of some discribtion to do the calculations. I think that you use Realworks, when you open a pointscape project you will see realworks calculation normals.

Re: Clouds constraint stevenramsey wrote:The reason you are getting "no significiant overlap" message could be that the control space is empty. Where did you get the data? Open the control space associated with that registrtion, go to tools, scanner, scanworld explorer and turn on the scans. If the scan data was imported (particually from realworks) you would have had to export the normals or export it as a PTX file. Exact, the data are not coming from Leica scanner . I check and the scanworld is not empty for the 2 stations. So Cyclon needs the normal to do the Cloud constraint ? I was thinking that Cyclone was able to calculte the normal after an import of pts file. Is it right ? Romuald

3d Scanner Advice Hello we're looking at the possibility of laser scanning a Stately home ceiling. We need to achieve a grid point spacing of 0.5mm with each of the measurements being accurate to better than 0.5mm. However the ceiling is around 5m high and because of the floor scaffolding cannot be used. Does anybody know of a scanner or any 3d recording system that could be used to achieve this spec from the ground?Regards Tom

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Thanks Matthias,couldn't have worded it better.

Re: Rail scanning Hello, We have a system that you can mount on a train and scan all the track to 300 meters from the track. For more information you can visit www.geomaat.com Best regards, Jolle Jelle de Vries jollejelle.devries@geomaat.nl

Happy New Year Hi everybody, I just want to wish everyone, customers and non-customers alike, a Happy New Year! I will be frequenting the forum as often as possible to try and assist where possible - and might even be asking a few questions myself. I look forward to speaking with you all soon. Best Wishes for the year ahead - keep up the good work Cheers, Paul

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Romuald, A "Gridded PTX" has nothing to do with organizing the data in an spatial octree. Gridded is just a word which Cyclone use to describe that in a PTX the points are stored per scan position and that each point still "knows" his scanner-row and his scanner-column. The "zero coordinate lines" are just scan points where no distance was measured. They must be part of the file because the points are stored in rows and columns (gridded).

Re: Rail scanning Jacek, Happy new year You could download the trial version of pointools - this will act as a good point cloud viewer. www.pointools.com From this you can look at pointclouds in most formats: - I can give you - in the pointools format some examples of the GRP 5000 output. However to look at modelling you would need some different software - you could check out the pointools add in to autocad or Rhino to look at this aspect. This is really a side output from the amberg software - the Amberg GRP software is an engineering tool to look at clearances and track quality - it does all these things very well!. Thanks Stewart

Re: Colour Truviews (camera setups) A quick email to myself, Steve or Luke should set you on the straight and narrow Kurt... I picked up on your comments relating to using FULL AUTO... I tend to err away from this as you will find the flash auto-fires and the focus point is nearly always in the wrong place.By using manual you can set the exposure, aperture and ISO independently and achieve much better photos which aren't dark around the edges and will allow easier stitching... if you take 6-8 photos with the camera angled at 10-15 degrees this also limits any mismatches with the upper photo and at worst you'll end up with a very small hole in the top of the pano (which some people insert there logo into...).If you are having real trouble or are in a location with very few co-incident details (caves/grey warehouses), try using more photos.Cheers,Paul

looking At moment in estonia we have lack of job. So i don't nothing useful to do. If somebody got problems with modeling deadlines I'm ready to help. Please send email to sander.suharov@geomark.ee

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Thanks a lot for this description of PTX file.I had a look and I was imaging the utility of PTX. You confirm me the point for the structuration and the utility.But for me, none Leica-user, this notion of gridded is more abstract. I understund the cropping in octree (48 subdivisons) but how it is define ? Is it spatial gridded (with the smallest cube defining the elementary volume) or an other way ? It will help me also to understund why there is none existing point (0,0,0 coordinates) in this file format.Romuald

Re: Dutch highway collored by orthophoto nice pic.. How long take for cover all area from site to processing..?

Welcome: Geomaat first user of Streetmapper 360 system Geomaat, an independent surveying specialist based in the Netherlands, has placed an order for the world’s most accurate mobile laser mapping system, StreetMapper 360. Following rigorous trials of the system Geomaat has selected the vehicle mounted laser scanning solution to support expansion of their international surveying operations. Geomaat has also agreed to work in partnership with 3D Laser Mapping, the UK developers of StreetMapper 360, to jointly develop new solutions for the European surveying market. StreetMapper 360 has been designed for the rapid 3D mapping of highways, infrastructure and buildings using vehicle mounted lasers. Travelling at normal road speeds, StreetMapper 360 offers a 360-degree field of view with high precision mapping to a range of 300m. Capturing every detail along the highway corridor including barriers, gulleys and overhead wires, surveyors can create highly accurate 3D computer models for new scheme planning, maintenance, wide load route assessment and post-incident investigations. “StreetMapper 360 has three major advantages over traditional surveying techniques and other solutions on the market; Speed, Accuracy and Safety,” commented Jolle Jelle de Vries, Managing Director of Geomaat. “With the inclusion of StreetMapper 360 in our surveying toolbox we hope to expand our operations internationally and also diversify with applications for coastal monitoring, 3D urban modelling and rail infrastructure mapping to name just a few.” Before ordering the StreetMapper 360 system Geomaat undertook a serious of rigorous field trials in partnership with 3D Laser Mapping. During surveying of highways in Holland the StreetMapper collected data was compared with more traditional survey measurements obtained using total stations and levelling and the difference in results was found to be less than three centimetres in the both X,Y and Z. “Using StreetMapper 360 it will no longer be necessary to undertake surveying in environments that may place the surveyor at risk,” continued de Vries. “Travelling at normal traffic speeds we can capture data to the same exacting standards, in a fraction of the time and without risk to personnel or other road users.” Contact Jolle Jelle de Vries, Geomaat B.V. info@geomaat.nl www.geomaat.com

Dutch highway collored by orthophoto For more information see www.geomaat.com

Re: Colour Truviews (camera setups) Hi allThanx for the replies.I ended up going back onto site to do a few more scans as well as more photos.We experimented at home and as it turns out, using the flash is a big no-no.Using a different setting on the camera we were able to get decent enough pics in really low light by having the shutter stay open for longer. We also took 10 photos per scan, .....i think at every 40 degrees.I also turned the upward angle on the nodal ninja to around 12.5 degress.This new setup has now yielded the correct results and I have been able to create perfect cubes which I've then managed to align to my point clouds in a Modelspace View.As soon as this project is out of the way, I plan on uploading pics related to this issue......now i just need to figure out how to publish in colour...

Re: Cheapest DIY scanner Hi Faraz,Look forward to seeing your results :O)Best regards,

Re: Increase the region to discuss Hi Hui Liang, I am having trouble viewing your website at: http://g-einfo.com/ Please advise if incorrect. Best regards,

Re: Increase the region to discuss Hi China,What are you actually asking us to do with the forum or what is your suggestion?

Increase the region to discuss To discuss a proposed increase in regional Photogrammetric and PHIDIAS PHIDIAS is RIELG scanner matching system modeling CAD software, before it is a very powerful photogrammetry software Details: HTTP: / / WWW.PHOCAD.COM

Re: Manual Target registration In your registration go to the last tab (modelspaces) and open the control space for each of the scanworlds you want to find targets in. each control space will be displayed in the 2 box's at the bottom of the page.In the left hand window zoom around untill you fin the target you want to register and highlight it. find the corisponding target in the right hand window and highlight it. Next right click and add constrsint.It works similar to realworks.

Re: Clouds constraint Yes you can, once you have done the auto add constrsints. hit the register icon, that will place you 2 stations in there relitive location. Highlight the stations you want to cloud register, right click over the station and go to auto add cloud constraint. This will run through ever posible combination and generate a cloud constrsint for any pair with a valid result. In the prefferances the 3% can be a bit low even with a lot of overlap try it on 20-30% but it always data dependant. The reason you are getting "no significiant overlap" message could be that the control space is empty. Where did you get the data? Open the control space associated with that registrtion, go to tools, scanner, scanworld explorer and turn on the scans. If the scan data was imported (particually from realworks) you would have had to export the normals or export it as a PTX file.

Re: Clouds constraint Romuald wrote:Hello Alexander, On my clouds of point test (2 stations only), I apply your rule but I have a message from Cyclone saying "No significiant overlapping Scans were found". I check to be sure, and I can garantee that there is common area between this 2 stations. What could be the issue of this message ? Romuald I'm not sure now.... I lived my work laptop at work, as you understand Now I'm using only the brain But you could try to change preferences for this type of constrant. In "Cloud Constrant" menu open "Edit Peferences" and change the percentage of using points cloud. By default it only 3%. Additionally: 1. How the targets located in the modelspace? Are they in the overlapping area or not? 2. How much overlapping area between two scans? Approximately in percents...

Re: Clouds constraint Hello Alexander, On my clouds of point test (2 stations only), I apply your rule but I have a message from Cyclone saying "No significiant overlapping Scans were found". I check to be sure, and I can garantee that there is common area between this 2 stations. What could be the issue of this message ? Romuald

Re: Clouds constraint Romuald wrote:My questions : Is it possible to add the clouds contrainst after doing the Auto-Add contrainst whitout picking the 3 points ? Romuald Sure. Just select all constraints in the "Constraint List" tab and go to menu Cloud Constraint->Auto Add Cloud Clonstraint. Happy New Year!

Clouds constraint Hello, My Leica commercial is on holidays, and I'm block in my Cyclone test (my evaluation version will expire in few days). I precise that I'm not a nwebie in registration (I'm using Realwork survey consolidation tools). I use the "Auto-Add contrainst" and it is working fine. I know and I would like to add the Cloud contrainst. I had a small demonsrtation to do the registration only with the cloud contrainst and I know how to do (picking 3 points). My questions : Is it possible to add the clouds contrainst after doing the Auto-Add contrainst whitout picking the 3 points ? Romuald

Manual Target registration Hello, My Leica commercial is on holidays, and I'm block in my Cyclone test. I try to do registration, it works fine with some stations. Now, I would like to test some specific case. From a real project (I already assemble the scans with my favorite tools ), I would like to consolidate manually 1 target taken from 2 different stations. I did not understund how to do it manually. Automatically, it works fine, but I would like to validate, that it is possible and easy to manage myself the consiladation. Romuald

Re: Scan Station Compensator Sounds like the level bubble on the outside of the scanner must be out of range. Did it possibly get bumped on something. I like to level the scanner 3 times before I turn it on and have no problems. I set it up and level it, turn it about 1/3 a turn and level it again, and then another 1/3 of a turn and level again.

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Ok Tim The PTX format allows for the reconstructing of complete scan jobs. So for ever individual scan if you exported it as a PTX file you would get a file that looks like the format below, which contains all the information needed to reconstruct it. If you have a data set containing more than one scan you would get one text file containing multiple sets of the data below. As you can see below the first 2 rows contain how many columns and how many points in that column just like you chosse in the field. So in the case below the first 42 lines of text containing x,y,z,i,r,g,b would define the first column the next 42 lines the second column and so on. If no scan data was recived (sky for example) that point on the column still needs to exsist and would contain zero's PTX is read by most scanning software and meshing software as it contains information like scanner location etc. PTX is also used to down grade from newer to old Cyclone versions. PTX is often described as having inteligance. PTS on the other hand is a dumb format consisting of a flat ascii of x,y,z,i,r,g,b of the final scan cordinates with no zeros, PTS differs slightly from a text file as the first line says how many points are in the file. this allows software like Cyclone/geomagic to know how much data is expected with out having to read the whole file. PTS Format 12345 x,y,z,i,r,g,b x,y,z,i,r,g,b x,y,z,i,r,g,b . . . x,y,z,i,r,g,b 12345 times PTS files can normally be smaller as it does not contain the zero points but every point is on it's final coordinate system (OS for example) so ever x, y and z could be a large number where as PTX no x,y,z can be larger than the range of the scanner and the header gives the data the transformation matrix. In Software like Cyclone and Pointools the information contained in a PTX file allows them to do things like Lighting/Silloete and scanner location. And for software like Polyworks to recreate the surface mesh. Give it a go get a registered modelspace containing a couple of scans and export it as a PTX file and then a PTS file. Create a new project and import them again. The PTS file will create a Scanworld with all the data in it but things like scanworld explorer will be empty. Do the same thing with a PTX file and you will see a registration and ever scan reconstructed. So to the last bit of the question you should be able to see that a PTX file is classed as gridded as the first to lines contain the grid where as PTS has no grid. A unified point cloud in Cyclone creates a new object in the database optimised for viewing and loading (a unified cloud can load up to 10 times quicker in Cloudworx) because the way the data is stored in a unified cloud (in whats known as a octree see attached image) it can no longer be exported as a PTX file. Check out Wikipedia for a fuller discription and other types of storgage systems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octree I hope that helps. PTX Format.... 16 #number of columns 42 #number of points per column 672 points in total at 673 line the next scan will start. 0 0 0 # xyz offset 1 0 0 # transformation matrix 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 # angular transformation matrix 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 x y z i r g b 34.053116 -0.299515 -0.461777 0.454871 10 11 11 34.054855 -0.299515 -0.444656 0.453590 10 12 12 34.102798 -0.299973 -0.417892 0.455665 10 12 12 0 0 0 0 255 255 255 34.144913 -0.300430 -0.384354 0.485573 10 12 12 34.560532 -0.304214 -0.377090 0.490211 8 13 13

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX stevenramsey wrote:The reason that you can't export a ptx file after unifiying is that it is no longer gridded. What does this actually mean? What is the difference in file format between a PTX and PTS? Tim

Re: Cloudwork import ? You should be able to import asci data into Cloudworx and make IMP databases. I will check and get back to you.

Re: Scan Station Compensator Rather than looking at the digital bubble, use the re-level icon which will give you the T and L figures even when out of range. see if you can get the figures as close to zero as possible then re conect the compensator. The physical buble is only a 8' bubble and the compensator a 5'.Give that a go then give euro support or me a call.

Re: Cloudwork import ? Thanks Mathias, I have already purchase Kubit I'm just checking the possibility of this Leica tools. It seems to do same thing as your tools. Is there any avantage to use Cyclone based to use Cloudworks ? Romuald

Re: Cloudwork import ? Romauld, The answer is yes and no. Clouworx is only able to load data from a Cyclone/Leica project database (IMP file. If someone other provide you with this database you do not need Cyclone. If you want to create a Cyclone database by yourself you need Cyclone. I'm not sure which module of Cyclone you need at least to import an ASCII. Matthias btw: you can also check out our kubit's PointCloud Pro for AutoCAD which comes with multiple import options. Matthias

Cloudwork import ? Hello,I'm testing the cloudwork tools of Leica (demonstation version), and I was thinking that it was able to import any Ascii clouds of point. I suceed to open a cyclone prject database but no other file.Does it mean that Cyclone is imperatvly needing to use this plugins ?ThanksRomuald

Re: Trimble Introduces New Solutions for Spatial Imaging Ashraf wrote:How can I make volume calculations? How can I make cross sectitons ? How can I apply texture to the model ? I'm little bit late to answer but if it can help you... This 3 asking can be solve directly by Realworks survey directly. He is powerful for the 2 first point. It is not the case for tha last one. But a function exist and works fine, the problem after is to export the RWS result. Romuald

Scan Station Compensator HiJust wondering if anyone can help me out with a technical problem related to the Leica scan station. We can currently connect to our scan station but when we try to turn on the compensator (after connecting) we are getting a message stating that the compensator is out of range - despite the bubble being perfectly level. We have checked the manual bubble with another instrument and it appears to be well adjusted.When we attempt to look at the digital bubble through cyclone it states that it is disconnected despite the fact that we are connected to the scan station and can scan data. The laptop seems to connect to the scanstation with no problems but does not seem to be connecting to the compensator.Any ideas?Many ThanksMark - Star Net.

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Hi schumifirst it's my understanding that Geomagic doesn't like PTX files and preferes PTS.The reason that you can't export a ptx file after unifiying is that it is no longer gridded.

Re: kubit announce new release of PointCloud A trial version of PointCloud (32bit and 64bit version) can be downloaded from here: http://www.kubit.de/indexdemopcformulareng.htm The trial version is limited to some examples but if someone want to try with his own examples he can ask to activate this data. Matthias Koksch

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Dear All, Thank you for your reply. First point, i'd like to impot *.PTX file to Geomagic , because the point-cloud is colored(i made Cube Map Texture on the point cloud). The second point, before unify the data,it can be exported in cyclone otherwise it doesn't work. That's so strange

Re: help with steps to creating colour Truviews, pleeez!? Call me

Re: Colour Truviews (camera setups) Hi KurtFrom the last set of images you sent me there could be a number of issues.Have you done a check the the camera and lens are alingned to the nodal point of the scanner. You can check it fairly easily a pair of objects on a table. Set the camera up just above table height place one object fairly close to the camera and the over at the other end. Turn the camera so you are looking through the left hand side of the lens and move one of the objects so that they nearly overlap. Next with out moving anything rotate the camera on its mount so you are now looking throught the right side of the lens, You should not be able to see any differance. If there is an offset the nodal point is wrong. I will try to post up some images if I have time. the nodal nija web site has the dimensions for most cameras and lens's.The camera you are using has differant carataristics to the one in the work flow document so you will need to check with PTGui directly or their forum to get what parameters to use to get the best out of the equipment. the last set I saw PTGui was setting the crop very strangly and was setting the template not for circular.Indoors and in confined spaces you will need to up the number of picks from 6 to 8 as there is no overlaping detail. I will sometimes also set the camera to 15Deg up so that there is more overlap on the ceiling aiding the image registration.There are a few panoramic systems around but none of them could be considered cheap.

Re: HDS6000 calibration Hi KurtIf you have been using the scanner every day 7 days a week then the 220 days would mean you should get it calibrated. As the counter continues to go up even if its in a cupboard, so you need to take a veiw to how much it has been used. And to check your data.It normally takes about 10 working days to turn around a calibration in germanyThe UK HDS team are officialy off till the 5th Jan but are still answering our phones where needed.The Euro support team have been operational throughout xmas bar the bank hols.

Re: Colour Truviews (camera setups) Kurt,Why not upload the images here so people could help you sort a few of these out

Re: Colour Truviews (camera setups) Hi Kurt,PtGui is one of the best stitching software currently available. You might want to try the free hugin tool (hugin.sf.net) which is quite similar and also very good, and offers even more options, but this makes it a bit more complex...Anyway... The reason why it is not stitching properly isn't easy to find out without seeing the pictures. Could it be, that panoramas work, which don't have things in the near proximity (2-5meters)?If yes, it might be a parallax problem and you need to adjust the perspective center of the lens. If I recall right, the sigma-lens should have a golden ring in front, marking its position. The camera needs to rotate around it.You can also send me your pictures and I will have a look what the problem is. In that case, please resize them and make them a bit smaller, as my internet connection is not too good and I probably won't need the full resolution anyway... (1MB/image should be good enough)Best,Chris

Re: help with steps to creating colour Truviews, pleeez!? Hello Kurt,I just can't imagine what's the use of what your're trying to do.IMHO you'd better doing a good virtual tour with just panoramic photographs and give up with the purpose of doing such a crazy unifying effort. If you wanted to keep trying: subsample your work,try at least to reduce the immoderate density of points you probably have nearby the scanner position.Anyway keep in mind that color models are pretty difficult to be succesfully merged unless you had lots of time to spend matching levels, and histograms in overlapping areas. Don't expect too much in terms of beautifulnes.You could create a nice inmersive tour loaded with lots of information and with links or shortcuts to partial pointclouds if the purpose is to impress os sell your work.Ptgui is probably one of the best panorama creation application, and it should work fine for this... You could also try Hugin which is at least as good and it's free. If you had problems with any of them... tell me and I'll try to guide you.Best wishes for the new year

Re: HDS6000 calibration Hi SteveThe scanner we purchased from you guys is now more than 220 days. The warning indicator is rather annoying.I was unable to send it in at the appropriate time.Please advise when we would be able to call Leica to sort out this problem for us.To be more direct, when do you go back to work and also how long does a factory calibration take?

help with steps to creating colour Truviews, pleeez!? This post relates to an earlier post regarding the capture of colour Truviews for use with scans done with an HDS6000.Out of 260 scans, the photos I took with my fisheye (6 per scan), only a meagre 20 panoramic images was I able to create 6cube images per pano in Pano2QTVR.A brief outline of the project::I surveyed a residence which is over 5 levels viz: Basement, Ground Floor, First Floor, Second Floor and Third Floor.I did 5 seperate registrations in Cyclone, then I created a new database in which I created a new Project and then a new registration calling it 'Combined'.into this registration I imported the original registrations. Each reg had at least 2 common scans so I was able to simply import the 5 regs and then click register.Now my 5 levels are one model.I freeze/create Scanworld.I create a modelspace and delete and unneeded points or errors, including moving bodies.without unifying, Its simple to create Grayscale Truviews.However, trying to unify my 52Gb database took 48hours and still froze at 70%, bearing in mind that my working folder is on a 1TB external hardrive.I've given up on unifying.Now I want to add my colour cubed images in order to create colur Truviews.Does anyone follow where I'm going with this?I followed the workflow instruction and still im lost.Is there anyone out there that can guide me through the steps to publishing my colour truviews, please?

Colour Truviews (camera setups) Hi allI've managed to get my procedure sorted in term of publishing Truviews to our clients. Mostly I survey supermarkets or older buidling that would become some sort of retail business.Mostly I just provide the client with the requested Truviews but occasionally they require 2D CAD drawings as well, so I need to keep my errors really low, usually no more than 5mm. (once most targets are co-ordinated).So far I've not had too many problems getting this data to the client. The biggest job so far is a database of 50Gb and highest resolution publishing of Truviews at around 15Gb for the entire job, including every scan published in Grayscale only. This is usually provided to the client on a portable hard-drive as such large files are near impossible to upload to any server.Recently I'm getting alot of requests for Truviews in colour.Upon advice from Leica we purchased the following equipment that would be used in conjuction with our HDS6000 laser scanner.*Canon E.O.S 450D digital SLR camera with*Sigma 8mm. f3.5 Fisheye lens*Nodal Ninja 3 II with attachment for Leica tripodAdvised software is as follows:*PTGui*Pano2QTVRMy process is as such:I setup my tripod upon which the scanner is mounted.I do a scan on Medium resolutionThen, without touching the tripod I attach the cameraI take 6 photos on FULL AUTO setting at 60degree intervals with an upward angle of 10 degreesI take these 6images and import them into PTGuiIn all tests and demonstrations from Leica this worked without hassle to create a panoramic .jpegHowever, with around 80% of my pics auto align did not work even though the lighting conditions and focus were near perfect. Manually picking control points in PTGui also yielded unacceptable results.I've since been advised to take 7 photos, but I figured I'd rather take 8 pics at 45degree intervals, that way the overlap should be more than sufficient.Might be worth mentioning at this point that I've tried the same files using the default settings in PTGui as well as the recommended settings provided in Leicas External Camera Workflow.My question is::does anyone have any tips on how i can get this sysyem working efficiently?ORare there any affordable panoramic camera setups available?Is there some better software I can use to stitch my pics together into pano?I appreciate any comments.Kurt

Re: Hello From Sean Varney Welcome to the Forum SeanInteresting to see that you've set up a new company... does it have a web site yet?I currently specialize in 3D Modelling using point clouds and could send you some examples of my work if you think that they would be relevant for your book?

Re: Load points in Cyclone Hi,anyone here used PTImp?PTImp is an import plugin for 3D Studio MAX 6 (Discreet), which allows Leica PTS andPTX point clouds to easily be imported as vertex data. After import, this data exists as anEditable Mesh consisting of one vertex per point, with optional vertex colours. All thestandard modelling, transformation and measurement tools within MAX will operate onthis vertex data.

Re: Hello From Sean Varney Hi Steve Yikes its been some time, we sould set up an meeting of the 3DLSF say in a pub Some have asked what I do, I scan sets locations, human and Props for Film/TV VFX this year I have worked on Wolfman, Bond, G I Joe, Primevil3, Homes and others soing just that, Im taking a brake to Finish my EngD on film/TV Metrology and to get stuck into my Tech Book on that very subject which will have 3d scanning as well as MoCap and other things in. If you have any cool stuff you think I should put in please feel free to contact me Seanvarney@hotmail.com yours sean V

Re: Rail scanning Hi, stewart.harrison wrote:i can give you some examples of some of our previous jobs and discuss how long it took Great, but i/ new to laser scaning and i dont know in which soft i can view point cloud - is there any trials of this kind of soft?. If You can write some about any job on rail, it will be fantastic! regards Jacek

Re: How to load "Truview Data" from the server It's my understanding that it is a simple switch on the web server software, which I don't think that there is a work around, Either move the data to a local drive or warn your web service supplier that you with move your account to a company that will help you.It will be worth you talking to your local Leica tech support as they may have more information.

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Have you tried creating a new modelspace as some of the clouds in the original may be corupt.Try a compact and optimise to clear out any orpaned data. PTX will normally allow for muti gigabyte files.

Re: Tricking Cloudworx to run as 32Bit? were you using the right installer? Make sure you are using 6.0.2 (if you are on a contract) and use the cloudworx version specific for the version you need. these can be found at http://www.leica-geosystems.com/hds/en/lgs_73661.htm They should identify which version of Acad you are using and on what operating system.

Re: Man City Stadium Scan - Geoworld 8 With comp off I'm getting a peak scan rate of 36,000 and with comp on it preaks at about 16,000 points per sec.

Re: Tricking Cloudworx to run as 32Bit? Jonny, Good to read that you found a work around. What does you mean with "but, Autocad Civil 3D, Land Companion, LDD are 32 bit applications running under a 'pseudo' 32bit installation"? Did you have really installed the 32bit version of Civil 3D on a 64bit machine. Why not using the 64bit versions of Civil 3D? Matthias

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Schumi,In which software you want to import the PTX file?May be there is another workfliw if you can not solve the PTX export problem so far.MatthiasPS: Nice to see you here after we met in Shanghai.

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX Hi Alexander, Thank you for your reply, I'm using Cyclone now.Normally, i 'll export *.PTX file After put the Color-image on the point-cloud data, but this time can not be succeed.i don't know why that's so strange.Best RegardsSchumi

Re: Problem after Exporting *.PTX 1983schumi wrote:Dear all , I have an urgent problem，i got a error dialogue "There was error writtting to the PTX file" When i Exporting *.PTX file,and this files size around 300MB. But if i select a small fense and then exporting, it can be done. so, how can i do for it. Looking forward to your answerback. What software do you use? Is it Cyclone? You could try to export ponts cloud in few parts in urgent case.

Re: Man City Stadium Scan - Geoworld 8 cpw006 wrote:We are hoping to upgrade our SS to a SS2 sometime soon. How much faster is the SS2? It depens on field of view, compensator status (on/off). Anyway, you could get more than 10000-15000 points per second at minimum.

Re: How to load "Truview Data" from the server Hi stevenramsey, thank u for your reply. you know, the server not allow to load *.dat files, therefore,Can u give me another suggestion? thanks a lot. Merry Christmas

Re: Hello From Sean Varney Hi SeanLong time no see, hope you are well. give me a call some time.I hope to see you regualay on the forumAnd for every ones information Sean is one of the formost experts in the field of short/medium range laser scanning.Welcome

TechnologySpacePlace TechnologySpacePlace an interesting read... Mapping, monitoring, mash-ups and models Tools and processes to help us understand, describe and communicate place http://www.rudi.net/files/TechnologySpacePlace.pdf

Re: Hello From Sean Varney welcome aboard Sean :O)

Re: Hello From Sean Varney Hi Sean,Welcome to the forum, laser scanning for film sounds interesting could you post some examples of scanning in this environment?

Hello From Sean Varney Hi all Some of you may know me, I set up Soho Cyberscan in London and now InSightFull Ltd doing laser scanning for Film TV VFX.Nice to meet you all

Re: How to load "Truview Data" from the server check to see if your server is set to allow .dat files. they should be able to set a folder and sub sulders to allow them.

CyArk Website I would like to alert you to some of the exciting things that have been happening at CyArk. They have been very active lately and in an effort to keep us informed they have made several additions to the website. Most notably is the addition of frequent blog and news articles to make the website the best source for up to date information about CyArk's activities worldwide. They have also added RSS functionality to the entire Community section of the website to keep you informed each time a new post is made. For more information about staying "In the Loop" with CyArk, please see: http://archive.cyark.org/stay-informed-with-the-cyark-loop-blog They also just launched Chichén Itzá as the newest project in the CyArk Archive. This is one of the largest projects CyArk has completed to date, and they are thrilled to have it as the second Mayan project on the website. I encourage you all to visit the project and explore this fantastic site. http://archvie.cyark.org/chichen-itza-intro Perhaps most importantly they have generated a tremendous amount of new support for CyArk and its mission. Former Leica CEO Hans Hess and long time CyArk supporters David and Lynn Olson have pledged financial support following the recent workshop at Monte Alban. For more information about both their support and the Monte Alban Workshop please see: http://archive.cyark.org/former-ceo-of-leica-geosystems-backs-cyark-preservation-effort-blog http://archive.cyark.org/inaugural-cyark-development-workshop-at-monte-alban-blog If you are also interested in pledging your support for CyArk, please visit our Contribute Section to learn more. http://archive.cyark.org/contribute.php With all the exciting things happening at CyArk I encourage you to check back often for updates, and leave your comments on the various blog announcements. Please Contact: Elizabeth Lee Director of Projects CyArk http://archive.cyark.org/ elizabeth.lee@cyark.org (408) 373-7842

kubit announce new release of PointCloud kubit announce new release of PointCloud kubit has just released version 4.0.3 of their PointCloud modelling package for AutoCAD. The new versions of PointCloud and PointCloud Pro will support the 32bit and 64bit versions of AutoCAD. With the support of the 64bit version of AutoCAD, PointCloud is able to handle larger point clouds than ever before. Unlike other “cloud to CAD” programs, kubit’s PointCloud provides a unique advantage because in addition to displaying points, it also makes the points a real part of the AutoCAD drawing itself. This added feature allows users to evaluate point clouds with all original AutoCAD commands. Point cloud data can be easily manipulated within AutoCAD because the cloud itself acts as native AutoCAD objects. With PointCloud, the points are useable in any of AutoCAD’s multiple drawing projections and visual styles. Point clouds can also be printed together with the actual drawings. In addition to the basic features, kubit’s PointCloud provides AutoCAD with an assortment of advanced modelling features for point cloud data. Fitting features for lines, planes and cylinders are included and users are able to calculate clashes between point cloud data and AutoCAD objects. The software also handles calibrated images provided from various scanners so that images and point clouds can be evaluated together. Users of existing versions of PointCloud 4 can download the latest release as a free update from the support section of http://www.kubit.de. Contact information: kubit GmbH Fiedlerstraße 36, D-01307 Dresden Tel: +49 3 51 / 4 17 67 0 Fax: +49 3 51 / 4 17 67 29 email: info@kubit.de Internet: http://www.kubit.de

Bloggers Wanted Are you a blogger - or want to be a blogger - interested in discussing stories in the field of expertise of laser scanning? You may currently have your own blog and want to share it with us, or you can use our website to start your own feature. You must be passionate about laser scanning, you don't need to be a blogging expert, but you should understand blogs and know how to make comments and add links. Contact us, indicating your area of interest or expertise and include a paragraph or more about your experience or the reason you would like to undertake this challenge. We will provide you with useful and valuable tools and information. Send your application to Blogger Application. admin@laserscanning.org.uk The http://www.laserscanning.org.uk website is being opened up to our users. A blog, technically backed by The Laser Scanning Forum, will be available for readers to contribute regularly regarding their activities and reflections. Please contact us for information.

Re: Honda EU10i Petrol Suitcase Generator Chris,These modern generators are compact, quiet and very efficent so will run all day on a full tank of petrol. They all have 3 pin UK power plug output so you can simply plug the scanner power pack straight into the generator itself.I have been told that Leica support can tell that the scanner has been run off a generator via the diagnostics so its advisable to seek advice first from them but alot of companies are powering the scanners this way.Do you maintain the warranty on the scanner?

Laser Scanning Services My name is Schumi, i am from shanghai,china. our company can provide: 1. 3D laser scanning(leica HDS6000) on Chemical industry, Heritage architecture, Shipbuilding2. 3D laser tracking(API and Leica)on different kind of parts.3. 3D Printing

How to load "Truview Data" from the server Dear All, i have a problem about Truview Data, After i upload the Truview Data Folder(never changed folder's name) to the server(i just rent it ) and click the Yellow buttom from the INDEX.jpg , i saw a error dialog box (eg.Failed to load Markup File Markup.xml) as same as this image. so can u give me some suggestions for it. thangs a lot. Best Regards

Re: Texture Mapping and Registration problem with cyclone Deal All, i used Leica HDS6000 laser scanner for 3 years, For Heritage-architecture projects, we really need the point-cloud data was colored. we are looking for it for a long time, but now. i am so happy to find a soultion from this Forum and get a company link"360way.it" which can provide it for us.My question is if we get it and use it follow "Camera workflow" manual whether we have more problems? thanks.

Problem after Exporting *.PTX Dear all , I have an urgent problem，i got a error dialogue "There was error writtting to the PTX file" When i Exporting *.PTX file,and this files size around 300MB. But if i select a small fense and then exporting, it can be done. so, how can i do for it. Looking forward to your answerback.

Re: Problems after creating a mesh Hi, My name is Schumi,from China. Normally i use Geomagic and polywork to creat a mesh. so i suggest that you can try to use this kind of software.

Re: Man City Stadium Scan - Geoworld 8 We are hoping to upgrade our SS to a SS2 sometime soon. How much faster is the SS2?

Re: Honda EU10i Petrol Suitcase Generator Which model scanner are you guys using the generators with and how did you wire them to the scanner to make them work. We have a scanstation, but we are afraid that it will void our warranty if we use an alternate power source. Were you able to request special permission. Does anyone have any photos of the setup.Thanks

Re: How do model altar? Hi,There are a few ways to model detailed surfaces like these figures.A good place to start is to decide what you intend on doing with the data once it has been modelled?RegardsLuke

Re: Intrinsically Safe Certificate Hi Guarango,Tony has made some very valid points here and I agree with everything he has said.The Scanstation2 is not intrinsically safe.Every plant I have worked on worldwide has operated a permit to work system and as long as you go armed with enough information and make sure that you talk to the health and safety officer when you get to site to eleviate any concerns then you will not have a problem.A really good piece of advice that Tony has mentioned is to make sure that you have a documented power down procedure for gas detection. If you can then I would provide this along with any bids you are submitting with the work and make sure anyone involved with the project knows that this equipment is regularly used in these environments under the same conditions.I was also involved in some testing with flame detectors and in all the cases I came across the detectors were monitoring electromagnetic frequencies way outside that occupied by the class 3R laser used onthe SS2 and therefore it was not possible to set them off.RegardsLuke

Tips & Tricks: Load more scans at the same time Hello community. This is the fourth sequel of our "Tips & Tricks" series - and the last one for this year. The attached article will show you how to load multiple scan files at the same time in FARO Scene to give you an overview of a larger set of scans. I wish all of you a merry Christmas, some peaceful and relaxing days and a happy New Year! Best regards, Oliver Bürkler

Re: Rail scanning JacekThe amberg GRP 5000 is the full system ( ie scanner and track trolley)- as in your photo - the software with the system meets most of your criteria.Accuracy much better in range upto 30m (5mm) - should be able to achieve good accuracies upto the max range (approx 70m).The speed is dependent on what exactly you want as an output - ie the head will spin 50x per second and will effectivley form a heilx along the track - obviously the faster you walk - the more stretched the helix will become - i can give you some examples of some of our previous jobs and discuss how long it took - however as a rough guide - 25hz is not a comfortable speed - 50hz is just about good - 100hz is very good.Cheap? - this can be negotiated somewhat - exchange rates not great at the moment!Exports include CAD, PTS and ASCII reports clearance etcDTM building would be in external modelling software - ie Pointools or Cyclone/CloudWorxThe best scanner is the fixed head (100hz) however this is not suitable for traditional scanning -so the 50hz GRP5003 would be the best solution.The scans are all positioned by surveying the rails - ie profiles attached to the rails - they are scaled using known chanages along the route - ie the coordinate system can be controlled by the track survey.I am not aware of the other systems - Amberg specialise in rail and tunnel scanning - they are definate leaders in the rail and tunnel markets - but not really in the road side of things!Anyway - if you want to discuss further - you can call on 07977580562 stewart harrison

Re: Intrinsically Safe Certificate Hi Gourango,Not good news. We have used our HDS 3000 on both onshore and offshore petrochem installations and have always maintained that the scanner and battery are NOT INTRINSICALLY SAFE.There are potential ignition sources at battery switches, external and internal contacts on batteries and scanner, scanner cooling fan motors, laser pump motor, network cable contacts, and probably the acquisition computer. Incidentally we did use a 'tough tablet' at one time but its intrinsically safe status failed when any outside component (e.g. laser, mouse) was plugged in.Our use of the scanner in a (potential) hydrocarbon environment is always done under a 'hot work permit' stipulating work conditions required, including use of on-site gas detector ('sniffer') and planned safe power-down procedure if gas is detected.The good news though is that we have also tested the risk of setting off an infra red fire detection system with the laser to find that this is not possible.Regards,Tony

Re: Rail scanning Thanks for replays I'm looking for "system" not for parts from different manufacture - it has to be: 1. precise - quality of global coordinates better than 5cm ideal will be 1 cm and less 2. quite fast - 5km/h will be OK (good walking speed with troley) 3. relative cheap - if its possible 4. data exchange with CAD systems, or ASCII, dwg, etc.. 5. manage sort and list clouds of points fo example chose from clouds only this points which are important (characteristic) to build a DTM 6. kinematic scannig will be 90% o work but sometimes i will do "normal" scans 7. EASY transform scale or fit in local coordinates from scaner to global coordinates [for example in WGS84 or any other coordinate system] AFAIK leica did't offer kinematic scanning? What do You thing about Faro Road-Scanner, Laser Scanner LS, Mobile Mapping System? regards Jacek

Re: Rail scanning The best scanner to use with the Amberg Trolleys is the Amberg own profiler 5003 - along with the amberg software - this scanner can operate at 50hz - twice as fast as the 25hz HDS600. Also if you are only interested kinematic scanning on rails there is the profiler 5002 (a scanner locked in one face) this can operate at 100hz - twice as fast again.If you are looking at static scanning as-well the profiler 5003 is the way to go because it operates exactly the same as a HDS6000 in static scanning - just twice the speed in kinematic - meaning you need half the time on the rails.Stewart

Re: Amberg JasonThe Software used with the Amberg scanner for data collection is the GRP SCAN CONTROL(ambergs own software). This software enables the GRP5000 system to be used at 50Hz - a decent walking speed. The resultant data is sent to GRP office a processing suite looking at profiles/clearances etc.ThanksStewart

How do model altar? At moment I don't have job at all. I scanned one altar for practice. But i don't now how to model it. Can anybody give me some advise, how do model something like this. There are lots of small human figures. witch modeling program is best for job like this? It look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HolyG ... nNotke.jpg

Re: Z+F IMAGER 5006EX To see the IMAGER 5006EX live, come and see Z+F at the following exhibitions, Between January and April we will be exhibiting at:Daratech Plant conference 2009, Houston, Texas , 23-25th February,SPAR 2009, Denver, Colorado, 30th March - 1st April, Geo-9, Coventry, 1st and 2nd April,Xces, York, 22-23 April,For more information on exhibitions which Z+F UK will be attending in 2009, see the exhibitions section on the community forum.

Come and see Z+F UK at the following exhibitions in 2009: - Daratech Plant conference 2009, Houston, Texas , 23-25th February, - SPAR 2009, Denver, Colorado, 30th March - 1st April, - Geo-9 2009, Coventry, 1st and 2nd April, - Xces 2009, York, 22-23 April, - Bentley 'Be Conference 2009', Charlotte, North Carolina, 11th May, - Intergraph 2009, Washington, D.C, June 15 - 18, - Offshore Europe conference 2009, Aberdeen, Scotland, 8 - 11th September - INTERGEO 2009, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2nd to 24th September, - Autodesk University 2009, The Mandalay Bay hotel, Las Vegas, 1st - 4th December, - AVEVA ISEIT 2009 (further details to come) - And don't forget: Z+F UK will also be hosting 'LFM Usergroup 2009'. email info@zf-uk.com for more information

Re: Z+F Imager point cloud plus Spheron colour information Hi all, If you would like to get a demo version of Z+F LaserControl to test the color function, please contact support@zf-laser.com. You can try both, the new motorized camera (Z+F M-Cam) or the spheron cam. Regards, Markus Ehm

Intrinsically Safe Certificate Hi, We plan to use a SS2 for offshore scanning, anyone has any idea whether Leica Provides any certificate which says that their instrument (Scanner & Battery) is intrinsically safe? As our client is asking us for similar certificates for the scanner. Gourango

Re: Leica ScanStation2 We currently have a hds3000 scan station and I would advise you into looking at the hds6000 series scanner. The speed and point density of the scans is amazing. The only draw back would be the range of the scanner, but that can be offset by the speed of the scanner.

Re: Rail scanning I would use HDS6000

Rail scanning Hi, What type/model of scaner will be good to scan a railroad in corridor +/- 30÷50m, from track? Any body using amberg GRP5000 with scanner? like this or this (with gps), but with scanner , or any other system to measure railroads? How scanner works in motion? with on line gps/rtk position - what kind of soft i will need to conenct this two type of data? (global position from GPS and local from scanner), i can locate along rail track measure points with known global position - will it be enought? maybe someone read something about this type of surveys and can paste me a link here? Regards Jacek

Re: Z+F Imager point cloud plus Spheron colour information I think that the spheron software can make the cubes and then its 3 picks in cyclone.

Autodesk`s own YouTube channel Interesting stuff at Autodesks own YouTube channel: http://uk.youtube.com/autodesk

Free Calender 2009 Hi, If your in need of a colourful 2009 Calender, have a browse to: http://www.faroeurope.com/calendar2009/ : O)

Re: Z+F Imager point cloud plus Spheron colour information HiCan the HDS6000+Cyclone apply the imagery to the point cloud automatically like the Imager 5006i? or is it still a manual process of creating cube maps and selecting corresponding points?

Re: Star Net Geomatics are recruiting Hi Stuart,Did many people this apply from this forum?

Re: Offshore Platform Model Fantastic model.Any hint on the person hours to do the modelling.

Re: Mill Bays in Power Station Ah thats what that point cloud turned in to.Great work keep it up.

Re: Z+F Imager point cloud plus Spheron colour information Cyclone is also able to colour the scans

Re: Copper melter You have had a good experience, stygg!Good luck!

Re: Hello back Hi Nick, Its Steve Lailey here on the Asset Team at A2 >You presented to us with your Trimble kit a while ago -but alas the TEAM MANAGERS didn't comission anything from you. There is a bit more cash sloshing around in 2009 so perhaps there is an application for some scanning in A2 next year. I think the Asset team will be looking into site specific flood risk (low lying spots, high rivers etc) so I might be asking the scanning community for a bit of advice in that Area-anything to avoid TM. I take it Xmas will be a bit strange for your brother this year -if he is where i think he is in the dessert. Perhaps we will see you in 2009 then with some Leica kit (???) Must Dash and get to the bank Sincerely Steve Lailey A2

Re: Leica ScanStation2 Regarding the buffeting effect on the Scanstation, I have been using one extensively recently in very close proximity to motorways (on the hard shoulder). This is a very hostile environment with HGV's travelling past within a few feet. In over 60 setups the compensator has not gone out of tolerance. This cannot be said of other manurfacturers scanners.RegardsNick

Re: Star Net Geomatics are recruiting Due to a massive number of applicants we are no longer looking for CAD technicians or Graphics Technicians. Survey Technician posts (4) are still available. Posts are based in our Livingston and Milton Keynes offices. http://www.starnetgroup.com/vacancies.php Thanks

Re: Leica Cyclone 5.6 gourango wrote:Also do you guys have the Training Manual for Cyclone 6.0, I got it from Leica but I have somehow misplaced the DVD. It's possible to get it?

Re: Extrude Lines in Cyclone cpw006 wrote:Is there any possible way to extrude a line to a plane, patch, or pick point. We outlined concrete ceiling waffles with lines and now we want to extrude them. I think, It's impossible. Plane is ALWAYS minimum 3 points. The line is 2 points. If your line has more then 2 point, you could select this line and make CreateObject->From Curves->Patch.

Re: Scanning at negative temperatures Jonny, stygg,Thanks a lot for you answers!One more question. How long (in hours) did you work at -5C? 1-2-5 hours? How much?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Thank you for your continued support throughout 2008

Re: Dual graphics cards for rendering animations? Hey all,Thanks for the replies. Will post some results shortly with pics, all 3 workstations are being used for the next few days so haven't liberated a second card yet.cheers,Chris

Re: Cyclone to SolidWorks work flow? Everything depends on what kind of object you scan and model. If it have to be modelled by the set of simple forms (planes, cylinders, boxes etc), then easest way is Cyclone(COE)-AutoCAD-SolidWorks.If you have object like fender of the car... RapidForm XOR is the only, which creates parametric models with direct export to SolidWorks. Polyworks and Geomagic most likely give you uneditable surfaces, as dirdim talk.Good luck!

Re: Cheapest DIY scanner Will you post the results when you do Faraz?

Re: Cheapest DIY scanner ok, so now I'm tempted to give this a go!

Re: Dual graphics cards for rendering animations? Hi Chris,very interested to know what the outcome was?Regards,

Re: Cheapest DIY scanner david.bmp David Christmas Special....see below :O) In This Newsletter Special Christmas Offer: Prices Down by 20%! New DAVID Version 2.2 How to Update Special Christmas Offer: Prices Down by 20% Take the chance to get your DAVID Professional License now! For the next three weeks, all software prices are reduced by at least 20%. This offer will end on January 6, 2009. See details and options here. New DAVID Version 2.2 DAVID Version 2.2 is available for download now! Here is a list of the main new features and improvements: Easier Use, Especially for Beginners The scanned data are now filtered automatically. When you change the filter settings, you will see their effect directly in 3D. A magnifying glass in the live camera image helps you to adjust camera and laser focus (toggle with left mouse button). DAVID now comes in a convenient Windows installer. Multi-Language Interface DAVID's user interface and user manual are available in Engish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and new: Polish! Scan Without Background Under certain conditions, DAVID can now scan without background planes! However, you will need a precisely repeatable laser motion, e.g. by using a motor-driven laser or by projecting a moving line with a video projector. The basic procedure, pros and cons, and some important remarks about using this feature can be found in this user manual page. There are some more improvements and bugfixes included in the new version, so an update (both Free and Professional Edition) is definitely recommended! See the complete list of changes here. How to Update DAVID 2.2 can be downloaded here: http://www.david-laserscanner.com/?section=Downloads Free Edition: Just download and start the new version. Professional Edition: Simply download the new version and re-use your 2.0 license file. Professional USB Edition: You can download and copy the new version to your DAVID USB Flash Drive, overwriting most of the old files. Please take a look at this page for details. We wish everyone a lot of fun and success with our software, and of course a Happy New Year! Simon & Sven http://www.david-laserscanner.com/

Re: Problem Importing .zfs files and unifying on 64bit machine I've had various instabilities on Cyclone 5.6 - 6.0.2 during unifying and registration processes. 1) Unifying now only works when the modelspace is open (used to be able to do it from the navigator). 2) Cyclone crashes every time I close a registration window.... however, i have narrowed this down to a possible dual monitor support issue. 3) Cyclone crashes 1 / 5 times I open a modelspace view, typically on larger databases. Ie, the infamous 'cyclone has experienced an error and needs to close' window.4) Cloudworx will only load 1% or less of the data for larger databases when viewing from any 3D view other than top, bottom, left, or right in AutoCad. Loading limit has been irrelevant... even with huge load limits set, it still loads a tiny percentage of the actual data. It sounds silly, but try running windows with one monitor (unless you already do this, then never mind). This seemed to solve a few things for me, or at least make it all run a little bit more stable. Have you tried upgrading to Cyclone 6.0.2? It did seem to fix a few of the minor problems i was having previously on my 64bit system, however, Every problem i've experienced with unification has been operating system and computer independant, as such i'm led to believe it's a software bug, not a hardware issue.These are the two machines I am running right now...I've experienced mostly the same glitches on both machines...Custom built desktop for processing / drafting:Intel i7 Quad Core 2.67ghz6GB 1333 DDR3 RAM2TB Hard drive spaceNvidia 280GTX 1GB Video CardWindows Vista Business 64BitDell XPS Laptop for the field:Core 2 Duo 2.0GHZ2GB 633 DDR2Nvidia 7950GS 256MB Graphics cardWindows XP 32bit

Re: Cyclone to SolidWorks work flow? I've heard a few good things about rhino integration, however I have no personal experience. Further, a tool called 'polyworks' produced by InnovMetric is available that provides a great deal of flexibility with the data. It is the only tool i've found so far able to produce actual 3d models (including vertical data) out of scan data... including the ability to patch holes. http://www.innovmetric.com/Manufacturing/home.aspx However, be prepared to pay about $16,000-$20,000 USD or more for a single seat licence. Depending on your application, it may or may not be worth it.

Re: Tricking Cloudworx to run as 32Bit? Alrighty, so after a large amount of frusteration, I was finally able to get cloudworx working under 64bit Windows vista. But the solution isn't nearly as easy as it should be. Unfortunately, another one of leica's software 'features', cloudworx will (basically) not install properly into Autocad under a 64bit operating system. Because it detects the 64bit operating system, it automatically looks for a 64bit version of Autocad, but, Autocad Civil 3D, Land Companion, LDD are 32 bit applications running under a 'pseudo' 32bit installation. So the workaround.... Cloudworx will not install to autocad, however, the files are copied onto your system under program files (x86). The key here is to trick Autocad into thinking it is installed by manually adding some modified registry files (not recommended if you aren't comfortable with RegEdit) and copying the menu and bitmap toolbar images into the AutoCad Support Folder. Here is the (un-supported, un-recommended method by leica support, however it still works) I will also attach the needed .reg files to this message... THEY ARE NOT PDF FILES... simply remove the .pdf extension and they are then usable. Hope this is helpful to anyone! It worked for me with both Civil3D 2009 as well as LDD Civil Companion 2009. From the AutoCAD installation help file Whether the Windows operating system is the 32-bit or 64-bit version is automatically detected when installing AutoCAD 2009. The appropriate version of AutoCAD 2009 will be installed. The 32-bit version of AutoCAD 2009 cannot be installed on a 64-bit version of Windows. If the user has an older 32 bit version of AutoCAD installed on a 64 bit OS, we suggest and only support that they upgrade to a 64 bit version. However, if they wish to try and make this work, here is a procedure that MAY work. The following is the manual installation process for installing CloudWorx for AutoCAD on a 64 bit Windows operating system with a 32 bit version of AutoCAD installed. A. Condition is a 64-bit OS with 32-bit AutoCAD-based products installed (that CloudWorx will be based on). B. Install Cyclone 6.x; install CloudWorx 4.x. After that you will have all required files copied to C:\Program Files (x86)\Leica Geosystems\Cyclone. C. Run RegEdt32.exe from C:\Windows\SysWOW64 to browse registry in 32-bit (make sure you do not have another regedit running). a. Browse HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD R16.0 (AutoCAD 2004) R16.1 (AutoCAD 2005) R16.2 (AutoCAD 2006) R17.0 (AutoCAD 2007) Possible items depend on what you have installed. If you install on Civil, LandDesktop or MDT, it will be in another direcory parallel to AutoCAD. b. For each, find the language version at the next level. For example, we need to enable for AutoCAD 2006. Expand R16.2, I see ACAD-4001:409 c. Edit CLWX.reg file (attached), replace all "R17.0\ACAD5001:409" to "R16.2\ACAD-4001:409" change "Loader"= line: path to the right ARX file (C:\Program Files (x86)\Leica Geosystems\Cyclone\CloudWorx\AutoCAD 2004 for AutoCAD 2004-2006). save the file as clwx_2006.reg d. Import CLWX_2006.reg, clwx_pro.reg files. Now the registry for 32-bit applications is done (so AutoCAD will automatically load Cloudworx on run). D. Copy bmp files from C:\Program Files (x86)\Leica Geosystems\Cyclone\CloudWorx\AutoCAD 2000\bitmaps to C:\Program Files (x86)\AutoCAD 2006\Support\Color (the bold text is defined by AcadLocation in registry: R16.2\ACAD-4001:409) E. Copy mns file from C:\Program Files (x86)\Leica Geosystems\Cyclone\CloudWorx\AutoCAD 2000\CycloneCloudWorx.mns to C:\Program Files (x86)\AutoCAD 2006\Support\CloudWorx.mns (file name changed) F. Run AutoCAD 2006, check in command window if CloudWorx is loaded. Run "cwmenu" to add CloudWorx menu to AutoCAD. For COE plugin: A. repeat the similar actions in C (a - d) for registry. Use CoeIn.reg, locate the right path to CoeIn.arx file for "Loader"= line; import Coein.reg file. B. adding menu is tricky...unless you already know how to do it. You do not need a menu; you just need the commands for COE plugin.

Extrude Lines in Cyclone Is there any possible way to extrude a line to a plane, patch, or pick point. We outlined concrete ceiling waffles with lines and now we want to extrude them.

Re: Z+F Imager point cloud plus Spheron colour information Hi everybody,If any Z+F IMAGER 5006(i) (HDS 6000) customers would like to use or try the scanner in combination with a Spheron Camera you can contact Z+F or your local Spheron dealer. There are special adapters for the scanner and the camera available. Spheron dealers should ask Spheron Germany for the solution. To colorize the scans you need to ask Z+F for our Software. Best regards,Markus Ehm

Re: Pointools Model for AutoCAD - new free beta We have a batch converter that will convert ptx,pts,ptz and las to pod format for use with the plug-in, other formats such as Faro fls and Riegl formats will be added to this also (see link below). However this is a command line utility which is not suitable for all users so at some poit we will release a file converter with a user interface the same as Pointools View but just for converting files. This will be part of the plug-in installation but may or may not make the first release due at the start of the new year. Alegeo please download Pointools View pro to do the conversion from the various Leica formats, or if you don't mind using comand line tools you can also take a look at http://www.pointools.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=110 Hope this helps

Re: Pointools Model for AutoCAD - new free beta That seems correct. Will there be any plans to offer this in the future with a POD converter directly within the plug-in?

Re: Pointools Model for AutoCAD - new free beta PT Model needs to load a POD file. You can use Pointools View to change the format of your data from ascii, pts etc to POD.Otherwise there are some demo POD files on the Pointools website.Faraz - correct me if i'm wrong?

Re: Pointools Model for AutoCAD - new free beta Hi Faraz,i'm trying the beta version of pointools but i'm not able to import point cloud in ascii format pts, ptx or txt, xyz (from a leica HDS 3000).Can you help me?.Thank you.

Re: Tricking Cloudworx to run as 32Bit? Cloudworx is a 32bit application that is supported on 64bit.Whether you use Acad 64 or 32 it should work. I would suggest getting in touch with Leica Support about this one as they will surely be able to help.

Re: Copper melter It might be your first, but it won't be your last!The output looks good.Percy

Re: Mill Bays in Power Station Sweet!!Good Work Matt

Re: Scanning at negative temperatures i have used Leica HDS6000 also at -5c. Works normally!

Re: Scanning at negative temperatures Can you do it? yes...However it really doesn't work all that great. Windy/Cold conditions usually result in a lot of the scanner 'checking' itself. I regularly use the scanner at -5C conditions with minimal problems, however, get to -10C and you start running into problems. At least in my experience.. (up here in Calgary, Canada)Jonny*EDIT* This is using a ScanStation series I. I believe the errors i'm experiencing are due to temperature differences resulting in incorrect measurements, which is further causing the scanstation to no longer trust itself... hence the irritating, repetitive checking of itself. It does work, and I still get good results, but i end up with a lot of downtime waiting for it to check its accuracy repeatedly.

Tricking Cloudworx to run as 32Bit? Hi there,We recently upgraded to a machine with Vista - 64bit edition. Problem I am having is that cloudworx sees a 64bit operating system, but cannot find a 64bit autocad version (running Civil3D / 2009 and LDD 2009). Has anyone found a way to trick cloudworx into running as a 32 bit application (thus installing itself onto 32bit autocad?)Thanks in advance,Jonathan Coe

Tips & Tricks: How to create 3D poly(gonal) lines Hello community. This is the third sequel of our "Tips & Tricks" series. One of the tiny things you may sometimes be missing could be how to create something as simple as a line or a polyline from scan points. If you want to find out how this can be done in FARO Scene just take a