• ReCap
  • AutoCAD

Crop and create a section plane of a point cloud in AutoCAD

Use two methods to create a slice of a point cloud in AutoCAD to produce a workable area.


00:04

Once you attach a point cloud to your AutoCAD drawing, you may find that it is too large to work with.

00:10

There are a few options for cropping or slicing your point cloud into smaller, more manageable areas.

00:17

In this example, suppose that you only want to work on the building in the point cloud.

00:23

In the drawing area, select the point cloud.

00:28

On the Point Cloud tab of the ribbon, in the Cropping panel, click Rectangular Create Crop.

00:35

Draw a rectangle around the building to hide everything outside of the polygon, making only your building visible.

00:42

You can even crop again within the cropped region to create a smaller slice of the point cloud.

00:49

You can then use the ViewCube to orient the view.

00:53

Once you change the UCS, you are ready to start digitizing to create a cross-section drawing.

00:60

Another way to create a slice of your point cloud that may be more useful is to use the Section Plane tools.

01:07

A section plane creates a section object that acts as a cutting plane through 3D objects and point clouds.

01:15

From the Point Cloud tab, Section panel, use the Section Plane drop-down to select the Top view.

01:23

This can also be done from the side or any other direction, using two points.

01:29

The point cloud is cut by a section plane.

01:32

Select the section plane to open the Section Plane tab.

01:37

From the Modify panel, expand the Section Type drop-down

01:41

and select Slice to create a 2D box that shows the depth along the direction of the cutting plane.

01:47

Now use the Adjust controls to set the width and the position of the slice—specifically, the elevation of the slice.

01:56

This can be helpful if you create your slice at a certain elevation,

02:01

but there is something in the way, such as furniture, in this case.

02:05

You can easily adjust the elevation until the cut is where you can clearly see the walls that you want to draw.

02:12

When you are done and no longer need the section, you can easily delete the object.

Video transcript

00:04

Once you attach a point cloud to your AutoCAD drawing, you may find that it is too large to work with.

00:10

There are a few options for cropping or slicing your point cloud into smaller, more manageable areas.

00:17

In this example, suppose that you only want to work on the building in the point cloud.

00:23

In the drawing area, select the point cloud.

00:28

On the Point Cloud tab of the ribbon, in the Cropping panel, click Rectangular Create Crop.

00:35

Draw a rectangle around the building to hide everything outside of the polygon, making only your building visible.

00:42

You can even crop again within the cropped region to create a smaller slice of the point cloud.

00:49

You can then use the ViewCube to orient the view.

00:53

Once you change the UCS, you are ready to start digitizing to create a cross-section drawing.

00:60

Another way to create a slice of your point cloud that may be more useful is to use the Section Plane tools.

01:07

A section plane creates a section object that acts as a cutting plane through 3D objects and point clouds.

01:15

From the Point Cloud tab, Section panel, use the Section Plane drop-down to select the Top view.

01:23

This can also be done from the side or any other direction, using two points.

01:29

The point cloud is cut by a section plane.

01:32

Select the section plane to open the Section Plane tab.

01:37

From the Modify panel, expand the Section Type drop-down

01:41

and select Slice to create a 2D box that shows the depth along the direction of the cutting plane.

01:47

Now use the Adjust controls to set the width and the position of the slice—specifically, the elevation of the slice.

01:56

This can be helpful if you create your slice at a certain elevation,

02:01

but there is something in the way, such as furniture, in this case.

02:05

You can easily adjust the elevation until the cut is where you can clearly see the walls that you want to draw.

02:12

When you are done and no longer need the section, you can easily delete the object.

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