The FUTURE of 3D Modeling? Using Lidar Scanning for 3D!

In this video, we talk about Lidar scanning and how you can use it, how it's used in 3D modeling software, and some discussions on the results you can get with Lidar scanning in SketchUp and in 3D in general!

POLYCAM

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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Introduction
0:24 - What is Lidar?
1:10 - Who can use Lidar?
1:25 - Apps for 3D lidar scanning
1:50 - How do you use 3D lidar data
2:29 - Importing scan data to SketchUp
4:10 - Limitations with modeling on scan data
5:00 - How am I using the actual scan models?
6:25 - Using Lidar data for accurate measurements
8:30 - I called out SketchUp!

[Thesketchupessentials]

Hi everyone! Have you tried Lidar scanning for 3D? Let me know how it went in the comments below! :)

[hasoevo]

I use the photo mode in Polycam to get better results. Then use Nomad Sculpt to clean the geometry, decimate and combine the high resolution texture together. Then into Cozy Blanket to retopologize. All done on the iPad Pro and can be done on iPhone Pro as well. I use my scans for AR VR MR metaverse stuff, but may be helpful for your workflow as well.

[kmonk]

This is a game changer, thanks for the video Justin, and thanks for keeping up with this technology and presenting it to us, much appreciated!!

[ReDevil]

I'm an engineer and oftenly use the LIDAR in my Iphone 12 pro. It helps a lot, the way I use it is to scan houses and buildings, and, also use Polycam for it. But, sometimes big houses and big buildings are a little bit hard on the Iphone to keep track of everything and often it loses track of your scan. The way I solve it is to scan sections of the buildings based in, size and furniture. The more furniture present the smaller the section gets, then I import everything to sketchup and, like a puzzle I assemble all the sections to form the "floor" that I'm working at. But that's just for the overall footprint of the building. After that I open a fresh model in sketchup and with my account of Polycam opened I go and measure all the stuff that I need and model it in sketchup from the start, but also, keep tracking of where the rooms are in that building.

This workflow make me measure and do the Architectural Project of the building in Sketchup with Layout in 1 day for a building of 470, 00 m² or 5060 sft. To measure is around 1:30h and to do all the project is around 5 - 6 hours.

[RaydonConcepts]

I use the Canvas app for almost all of my Interior projects now. For 15 cents a sqft they send you back a SketchUp model within 2-3 business days depending on the size. It has tremendously sped up my workflow to tackle multiple projects in a shorter time frame. Totally worth the money in my opinion as I factor it into my costs and have the client cover it. I’ve also used it for a few Exterior projects and they only charge 10 cents a sqft for those.

[simonmou]

I am working on a restoration of a timber frame house from around year 1600. I use LiDAR on my iPhone to scan details and draw on top of it in Revit.

I also recently imported a scan of the exterior of a building and imported it into twin motion for a rendering

[johnjlopez]

It's highly recommended to use a gimbal if you are going to scan anything that will require you to walk around while then iPhone is recording it. The accuracy of the scan is helped significantly. There is also a service that will convert these lidar scans to simple skp models for relatively cheap but I forget the name. A had a client try it and it was likly the cheaper path as opposed to me doing it myself and then I only had to deal with the rehab portion of the project instead of the grunt work of converting it.

[GooseMcdonald]

I use it a lot in my work, doing existing plans.

[jasroxy]

I think it could be really helpful scanning various landscape features around a project to add to the basic topo mesh along with other components such as plants, trees, boulders. It could provide more detail upon an otherwise bland surface. It’s a hassle sometimes needing rely on placemaker to get that information within their service.

[PavanKumar-wtg]

I would like to make use of this lidar to recover the crushed tin 3d images will that be possible?

[metatron]

I do retail design… for this i often need elements with a natural feel… like coats on a hanger or a stack of tshirts on a display…. For these I use a combination of photogrammetry or LiDAR scans (also a big fan of polycam) and then I import into sketchup using the transmutr extension that can reduce the number of polygons….

[tonystarks]

Hello Justin, I used Polycam scan then import DAE to Sketchup. But I have to cut the mesh for example holes for place model in it. But very difficult to do, Could you advise, what extension can allow cut mesh in sketch up?

[westcoastaerialimagery]

I just scanned ~30m of wall with the iphone 13 pro, total station pinged it at 30.275m, lidar data in cloudcompare has it as 29.241m. On hard stand surfaces it's around +/-50mm (vertical checks) but on grass and dirt it was ~200mm too high

IMU drift is pretty bad so keep scans short and sweet, place control marks of known distances to check. I coordinate and scale everything in cloud compare to ensure better results from the scans

[metatron]

I have been meaning to try the canvas app that scans with LiDAR but exports into sketchup format….

[aivarg]

I dig pools, and i use it to Scan backyards, to keep all the distances from different obstacles and to be able to revisit place virtually if needed. I would also want to be able to count volumes of the ground that needs to be excavated. I transfer the scan data from Polycam into SketchUp. But than mesh itself is quite thin. You had some videos where you extended the terrain downwards. Video about sliced terrain, first five minutes gave clue how I could theoretically extend scanned terrain .Than Also video ”creating flat surfaces on terrain”. So these 2 videos plus LiDAR data in order to count volumes needed to be extracted from terrain. Ability to count that would save a ton of time for me. Do you think it’s doable using sketchup pro or you need studio.?

[suvasis]

I have a .ply image from outster lidar, Which software is suitable for 3D modelization?

[dinhobueno]

Hi, very good video. Here in Brazil we do not use Lidar. Can I use Lidar in autocad 3D project?

[thomasluk]

I am autonomous engineer. and I am working on a project for creating a simulation virtual environment for vehicle sim. Photogrammtry and LiDAR scan is the way our team to correct real scene data, however, the hard part is actually what you have mentioned in the video, its really really hard to model on top of those raw scanning data...
The reason why I cannot directly import the model into the sim environment, is beeacuse the model resultion is too high that the sim engine cannot perform well. Have you every used "Scan essentials" or "Undet"? I am very interested the workflow for these kind of program!

[_Breakdown]

Thanks Justin - - *Can you recommend a good 3D printer for making models from SketchUp layers?* 🤔👨‍🔧👷‍♂

[imalumberzach]

We use Canvas a lot to convert scans direct to SketchUp files. It's not always perfect, but great for representations of spaces. You can usually tell by looking at your scan if it's going to be right or not (there are weird overlaps where measurements might not be right). Unfortunately Canvas recently increased their pricing so this is no longer an affordable option, but still worth it on many projects for us.