Is it convenient to insert laser scanned data in revit

Is it convenient to insert laser scanned data in Revit?

Well before I get into the depth of the topic, let me tell you that, for BIM experts who have been working on Revit project for long nothing is difficult, but for beginners it may be confusing to deal with the technicalities of point clouds in this sophisticated building design software. Laser scanned data is highly crucial when it comes to performing point cloud modeling services for renovation projects as detailed information about the building to be renovated is captured into it.

Laser scanned data comprises of countless point clouds which are posses all the information of the building that is important for creating BIM models.

Can we insert point clouds in Revit in the same form in which they are extracted from the building? Well, the answer is no, since Revit cannot read the raw point cloud files, hence it is important to convert this data into appropriate file formats such as .rcp and .rcs files. The process through which the raw point cloud files are transformed into .rcp and .rcs files is called indexing and scaling. Earlier Revit did not have the indexing mechanism in it so design and construction drawings professionals used to optimize Autodesk ReCap for carrying out indexing process wherein scanned files are transformed into .rcp and .rcs files. But now all the technicalities related to laser scanned data can be sorted out in Revit since indexing mechanism is now available in it.

All that Revit users are required to do is they need to optimize Revit tools for indexing raw point cloud files before linking them into project. This means that users are no more required to use additional Autodesk tools such as Autodesk ReCap for converting raw point cloud data into accurate file formats.

Once point cloud files are successfully indexed, user can follow the same procedure that is being followed by them for linking other kinds of files in Revit projects. That means they have to link point cloud files by approaching Link panel which can be accessed by clicking Insert tab. Link panel contains an option called ‘Point Cloud’ which should be clicked by users for linking point cloud files to their Revit project. Once it is clicked, they can then select the file which they want to link and in this way scanned data can be fully utilized in Revit.