The Scan Essentials extension adds tremendous value to your workflow from the start because it allows you to import, view, and model directly from point cloud data in SketchUp, facilitating the accurate capture of the In-build state of your projects. Through a variety of file formats, first-timers and pros can easily create accurate 3D models with rich point cloud data. You import your point cloud and use SketchUp’s native toolbox to model on it directly, without the need to model contextual details painstakingly.
Utilizing Scan Essentials will lead to more efficient workflows and greater integration between phases of a project, such as design, construction, and post-construction, enhancing success on complex projects.
Define Point Cloud
There are data points in the point cloud. In 3D laser scanning, we get image data of objects as points in space, each with its own set of x, y, and z coordinates. The use of laser 3D scanning is widely used in construction and mechanical engineering to acquire 3D data of buildings, with the advantage of not disrupting the construction process or affecting business operations.
After the 3D laser scanning is complete, so the technician will process the point clouds. Moreover, a model can create from a 3D laser scanning file using a 3D perspective instead of a point cloud.
Features of Scan Essentials
Besides being interoperable with Trimble’s 3D Laser Scanners, Scan Essentials can use with other laser scanners, including those used by drones. This application can generate PLY files that can import into Scan Essentials. With Scan Essentials, it is now simple to integrate BIM-scanned files into projects.
- Various formats of 3D laser scanning data can be imported and viewed
- For precise drawings, you can draw directly on the point cloud
- Having the ability to lock points
- Comparison of 3D models and point clouds
- Changing the density, transparency, and customizing the point cloud, as well as allowing for cross-sectional views, is possible.
How to Download Scan Essentials
Simply log into your Account Management Portal and select these under My Products if you’re already a SketchUp Studio subscriber. After that, Clicking on the download will direct you to Extension Warehouse for the download to complete.
Pros of Scan Essentials
That is extremely useful for renovation work since the point cloud shows the exact location of each building. Examine existing designs to get an idea of how new designs will appear when overlapping existing ones. Scan Essentials offers large-scale surveys, data collection, and real-time planning for warehouses, logistics, etc. A bridge can design with high accuracy by scanning the roads and the surrounding area, for example, before construction starts.
Final Thoughts
Trimble’s Scan Essentials is proving to be a useful tool for SketchUp integration. Scan Essentials also comes with a few new features. If you have SketchUp, you can now easily import point clouds into SketchUp. SketchUp’s native toolbox lets you draw directly on your point cloud and convert it into a 3D model. Use the locking feature to add more precision to your models.
You can capture data points directly from point clouds to ensure accuracy. Point clouds can be read and manipulated in SketchUp without slowing down the process, making SketchUp performance worse. Scan essentials are intuitive and easy to use. You can export point clouds to Layout for deployment on a map. It reads 3D scanning formats from ground-based laser scanners, mobile mapping devices, drones, etc., such as E57, LAZ, LAS, as well as Trimble RWP.
