So.. way OT but locostbuilders always manages to come to the rescue....

I have a client that wants me to provide a point-cloud topography map of a building plot (This I can do!)

He then wants to supply an architectural model he has drawn in sketchup for me to insert in the correct position within the point cloud model. From this we can take images and make 3D flythroughs etc of the site.


I am struggling to find a suitable application or process for joining the two models together..... Anyone have any knowledge in this area and able to help?

Can sketchup output files in STL, OBJ, 3D Dxf, iges or STEP format. The usual thing to do is to convert both the topography (assume tessellated surface) and the house model into a neutral format and import them jnto your CAD or visualisation/Modelling system. Can the terrain be imported into Sketchup in a neutral format and then work in there ?

Not sure if this helps but this is how I would do it. Only thing is that depending on what neutral format you sue depends on what info is transmitted. IIRC STL, DXF, IGES and STEP only include geometry but OBJ I think also take in texture/colour so if the house/terrain have these then OBJ may be better. Best just experiment.

Been a long time since I used CAD so this info may be a bit out of date.

Can the point cloud data be inserted in to sketchup? rather than the other way around?

Just noticed you said the terrain is a point cloud. You can use something like Delcam's free trial for Powershape or Autodesk 123 design to convert this into a surface that may be able to be imported into Sketchup.

this can be done - cloud data into something like Solidworks or Inventor, it can be defined as a single surface, the sketchup geometry can then be inserted to a plane / planes and aligned.

For 3D fly throughs etc Visulise in Solidworks is awesome

I guess technically I can export the terrain in pretty much any format from my photogrammetry software.

I had considered using sketchup to combine the two but not sure how well it would cope with that....

HowardB. I am pretty familiar with the older versions of solidworks for mechanical design but hadnt considered it as a tool for this task..... may have to investigate!

I can confirm you can put cloud data into solid works.
don't no if it comes into scale but that can be rectified by scaling after input.

Is the pointcloud in DWG format?

I could use Tekla to import both as reference objects.

The Professional version of sketchup can talk to AutoCAD in .dwg fornat, so personally I'd import the point cloud into AutoCAD, then you can take your pick of whether you export the topo data to Sketchup, or import the sketchup data to AutoCAD.

If you don't have access to Sketchup Pro or AutoCAD and you want me to do the file conversions for you, give me a shout via U2U.

Thanks for the input chaps. I am downloading some demo software to see whats what.