Point clouds

A point cloud is kept beside the model, not in it: importing or removing one is not an edit, has no undo step, and is not part of any conversation. The agent does not receive it, and its screenshots and renders leave clouds out.

Import a scan

1. Choose Import Point Cloud… (⌥⌘C) and pick an .e57, .las or .laz file.
2. If the scan does not say its units, Studio asks: Metres, Feet, US survey feet, Inches or Millimetres.

The import runs as a job with Cancel. Studio keeps about one point per centimetre (two above 50 million points), and at most 20 million points.

See it

• 3D draws the whole cloud in its colours, or in grey by intensity when the scan has no colour. A section cuts it as it cuts the model.
• Plan draws only the points in a band around the storey's cut height (1.2 m), 5 cm above and below by default, so a wall's scan reads as its outline.
• Layers (L) has a "Cloud <name>" checkbox for each cloud, and a Cloud band ± slider from 1 cm to 50 cm.

While the camera moves with more than 5 million points in view, Studio draws a sample of them; at rest it draws them all.

Trace over it

While a tool draws in plan, a point of the band within reach is a "Cloud point" snap. Any other snap (a model corner, an underlay endpoint) wins over it, since a scan has a point wherever the pointer is.

Clip

Remove a cloud

Choose Remove Point Cloud… (⌥⌘V) and pick it. The scan file is not touched.