Collaboration with other software
About model and data exchange with 3rd party solutions: Revit, Solibri, dRofus, Bluebeam, structural analysis solutions, and IFC, BCF and DXF/DWG-based exchange, etc.

More intelligent point cloud to BIM workflow

Ahmed_K
Advisor
Hi, i watched the bricsys presentation yesterday, and the Point cloud to BIM approach was just AMAZING, it can't be done better than the way they presented,
the software detects :
* Strories
* wall boundaries in 2D
* coplanar points converted to wall - slab
* open 360 images directly from the point cloud,
this is the video !



ArchiCAD should enter this field, the actual working process is very limited, and time consuming unfortunately,
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Archicad 27
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Karol Argasinski
Advocate
LaszloNagy wrote:
Karol,

I have a question I would like to have your input on.
What are your experiences with the Archicad Add-On of PointCAB? I have been doing some modeling based on Point Clouds for a German company in the last few months, and when I asked them about it, they said that the PointCAB Add-On is not very useful in Archicad, it does not create elements accurately enough, or something like that, so they are not using it.

Could you share your experiences with this Add-On?


Laszlo,
Sure thing. First of all, my office (BIMfaktoria) works with pointcloud daily. We use PointCab as well add-on (Points4BIMm) on daily matter.
On the screenshot you can see wooden structure for heritage building. Scan with one of our FARO unit took 2 hours (color) and making model of it took approx. 4 hours with PointCab and add-on. Can't imagine how long it would take to create all those columns and beams without it (keep in mind that this is as-is state, so all slanted elements are actually slanted as they are in reality).
You can use those tools not only for beams and colums of course, it can be used with any building elements in ARCHICAD. I wouldn't say it is not very useful, I would rather say that's another level of using pointclouds in ARCHICAD/BIM

Best regards,
Karol
OPENBIM does works!
ArchiCAD 22/23/24/25/26/27 INT &POL

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Laszlo Nagy
Community Admin
Community Admin
Karol,

Thanks for your feedback. So the Add-On is useful. Maybe those guys just have not figured out yet how to utilize it the right way.
Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac28
What do you point cloud users think about PointFuse?
I assume that a program like this is essential if you are transforming point clouds into a Building Information Model. https://pointfuse.com/

I am thinking the Leica BLK2GO with PointFuse would be a good system for Scan to BIM process.
Not sure how well the 3d files will import into ArchiCAD. I tried to import a slab from PointFuse but the point cloud sees too crude to be of much use. It was from a FARO S .ef7 file. That file looks a lot better in PointFuse than it does in Recap.
However, I don't expect to find anything better than the PointCab software for working with ArchiCAD. https://bimm-gmbh.de/download/

Does the PoitCab add-on for ArchiCAD need to run in ArchiCAD 23 ? or is there an add-on for ArchiCAD 24 ?

ArchiCAD 25 7000 USA - Windows 10 Pro 64x - Dell 7720 64 GB 2400MHz ECC - Xeon E3 1535M v6 4.20GHz - (2) 1TB M.2 PCIe Class 50 SSD's - 17.3" UHD IPS (3840x2160) - Nvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5 - Maxwell Studio/Render 5.2.1.49- Multilight 2 - Adobe Acrobat Pro - ArchiCAD 6 -25

Are there any other programs like PointCab that do not require that the point could be imported into the BIM software?

ArchiCAD 25 7000 USA - Windows 10 Pro 64x - Dell 7720 64 GB 2400MHz ECC - Xeon E3 1535M v6 4.20GHz - (2) 1TB M.2 PCIe Class 50 SSD's - 17.3" UHD IPS (3840x2160) - Nvidia Quadro P5000 16GB GDDR5 - Maxwell Studio/Render 5.2.1.49- Multilight 2 - Adobe Acrobat Pro - ArchiCAD 6 -25