Legacy Building Workflow

Legacy Building Options

Flat, or planar, surfaces present in the scan data are detected in this automated process. You can later use these planar models to create levels, walls and windows, all of which can be saved in a .c3bldg file, for further work in Edgewise, or then exported to your deliverable software.

This algorithm has been effectively replaced by the new Wall Extraction Algorithm. However, you can still access this algorithm when using structured data by checking the Use Legacy checkbox.

These scans were taken outdoors: Planes on the ground surface will not be extracted. If there is a substantial amount of terrain in the scan data, this option can significantly improve processing performance. Note that planes on the floor of an interior scan will also be excluded.

If scans were taken both indoors and outdoors, the following workflow may achieve better results, though it can be more time consuming. First, process only the Point Database for all scans. Only one Point Database can exist in EdgeWise at a time. Additionally, you cannot add scans to a database after the initial extraction. Because of this, ensure you process all relevant scans to create one Database at the beginning of the workflow. Second, split the scans in to two groups – interior and exterior. Next, process the interior scans with the These scans were taken outdoors unchecked and Automatically Merge Planes unchecked. Then, process the exterior scans with the These scans were taken outdoors checked and Automatically Merge Planes unchecked. Finally, use the Merge Parts tool to merge all .c3planes files created from both processes together.

To speed up this workflow, consider opening three instances of EdgeWise and running all three Process Scans (Just Database, Just Outdoor, Just Indoor) concurrently, rather than back to back.

There are a lot of pipes present in this scan data: The algorithm will not attempt to extract planes on cylindrical objects. Use this setting when extracting pipes (Available only if the EdgeWise Plant and/or MEP modules are active), as cylindrical objects are represent better in EdgeWise pipe models. Checking this option will typically create a simpler and easier to navigate planar model.

Optimize for Revit: The level of detail of the planar model is set to the optimal setting for a workflow that involves eventually exporting walls and windows to Revit. This is equivalent to setting the Level of Detail to 3.

Level of Detail: The level of detail (1 to 10) represented in the planar data created during automated extraction. Sliding the slider all the left (1) will create a simpler planar model. Moving the slider all the way to the right (10), will create a more detailed model. A lower level of detail is generally more desirable when creating a Wall model for Revit, while a higher level of detail may be desirable in workflows that involve solid modeling in an application like 3DS Max, using the extracted planes as a reference.

Automatically Merge Planes: The planar data (.c3planes) for each scan will automatically merge in to a single Building model (.c3bldg). If unchecked, you will need to merge the .c3planes files using Merge Parts. We recommended to keep this option checked as only .c3bldg files are loadable into EdgeWise.

NOTE: Because merging Planes can be a very time-consuming process, we strongly recommend only merging 50 scans of data at a time.