Point Clouds
Adding a Point Cloud:
• Open a Plan, Elevation, Section, or 3D view
• Select the “Insert” tab
o In the “Link” section, select the “Point Cloud” button
In the “Link Point Cloud” window, locate the desired point cloud file
Select the Open button
*Note: Now is the best time to adjust the point cloud
• Vertical Adjustment
o In an Elevation you can adjust the point cloud vertically.
o Take extra care to note the vertical distance the point cloud was offset for reference throughout the life of the project
• Rotational Adjustment
o It is NOT recommended to rotate the point cloud at any time during the project
o For modeling purposes, set a project North to rotate the entire project to the desired location
• To insert additional point clouds, select the “Insert” tab o In the “Link” section, select the “Point Cloud” button
In the “Link Point Cloud” window, locate the desired point cloud file
Under the “Positioning:” menu, select “Auto – Origin to Last Placed”. This will align your additional point clouds to the original point cloud added to the project
Select the Open button
o Repeat process until all point clouds have been added to the project
Viewing a Point Cloud:
• Add multiple levels to create more viewable slices
o To add a level, select the “Structure” tab
Under the “Datum” section, select the “Level” button
Right click once in an elevation to start the level and right click again to end the level
o To get the best results, place levels somewhere between 1’-0” – 4’-0” apart o Refine the view range of the plan associated with each newly created level
Open the plan for a newly created level
In the “Properties” window, select the “Edit…” button for View Range
• In the “View Range” window, set the Primary Range offset for the Top, Cut Plane, Bottom, and set the View Depth offset for the Level
*NOTE: The view will work well if the Top and Cut Plane offsets are equal, and the Bottom and Level offsets are equal
• For the purpose of viewing the point cloud, setting an offset somewhere between ± 1’-0” – 4’-0” will work best
• Select the OK button
• Add shallow section views to create more viewable elevation slices
• To view specific details, it can be helpful to tile different views of the same area. For example; a floor plan and 3D view.
o To create a 3D view of a plan, section, or elevation, select the “View” tab
Under the “Create” section, select the “3D View” button
In the upper right hand corner of the window, right click the view cube
• In the view cube menu, select Orient to View > Floor Plans > and select the desired floor plan
• Change the view boundaries to see more or less of the surrounding cloud
• Use the view cube to rotate the view to view details of the point cloud
o To tile views, close all windows except the views to be tiled o Select the “View” tab
Under the “Windows” section, Select the “Tile” button
Removing a Point Cloud from a View:
• Removing a point cloud from a view can allow you to see other areas more clearly or can increase the working speed of Revit.
*NOTE: DO NOT DELETE A POINT CLOUD. Deleting a point cloud from the project will remove the point cloud permanently. This should only be done if the cloud has never been used and never will be used in the future of the project
• With a view open, type the command “VV”
• In the “Visibility/Graphic Overrides” window, select the “Imported Categories” tab o In the “Visibility” column, expand the Point Clouds Menu
o To remove all point clouds from the view, uncheck the box next to Point Clouds o To remove individual point clouds, uncheck the box next to the desired point
clouds
o Select the OK button
Storing Point Clouds:
Point clouds are large files and take up a lot of space. Contact helpdesk before placing a point cloud on the H: Drive.
Option 1: Storing a Point Cloud on a Desktop
• Store all files together
• Be sure all point clouds in the Revit file are being referenced from the desktop location
• Note: When storing point clouds on a desktop, that computer is the only one that can reference the point clouds
Option 2: Storing point clouds on a CD or Flash Drive
• Place as many point clouds as possible on one reference. Referencing multiple sources will slow down the file
• When opening the Revit file from a new location, the point cloud links will need to be redirected
• In the “Project Browser” menu, right click “Revit Links” and Select “Manage Links…”
o In the “Manage Links” window, select the “Point Clouds” tab o Select the Point Cloud file and select the “Reload From…” button
In the “Find Linked File” window, find the point cloud location and select the Open button
o After redirecting the point cloud links, select the OK button
Helpful Tips:
• Tiling views can be very helpful while working with a point cloud. It allows you to see multiple views while modeling or checking for interferences.
• The point cloud is viewed most easily for modeling in the “New Construction”
phase. Change the point cloud to the “Existing” phase for printing drawings.
• Pin point clouds after inserting them into the project. There are many components in the point cloud that can be selected which makes them opportune to accidentally being moved.
