The tools and processes for laser scan / point cloud conversions to usable model geometry continues to get easier as the tools mature. One particulary tricky item is Pipes in Revit MEP. In the IMAGINiT Scan To BIM product (get your free trial here) there are many ways to create pipes (automatic, think easy button or manually one by one as well as tools to go through and do QA (Quality Assurance)/QC (Quality Control) but there is another often overlooked tool called "Adjust Pipes" that can be really beneficial between the two stages above.
In Revit, the Pipe geometry must have the center lines overlapping for them to clean-up. While this makes sense when desiging from scratch, it wreaks havoc on Scan To Model conversion projects as they are quite often slightly off from crossing center lines. Below is an example of two pipes that were created, their center lines are just slightly off and need an elbow between them.
Using the IMAGINiT Scan To BIM tool Adjust Pipe, you can select both pipes and be prompted with options for the best fit. In our example we could move the pipe slightly or adjust the pipe rotation from the far endpoint for a smaller overall adjustment as shown below.
Once we have the centerlines adjusted we can now trim/extend the pipes to create an elbow.
(Note: The point cloud is using an alternative coloring scheme in Scan To BIM based on elevation height, makes this easier to visualize when working with a complex point cloud based on the z axis elevations).
For a better example of using this tool, check out the video below and give this a try on your next project.
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