Content sponsored by Arithmetica
Full disclosure: Arithmetica has paid for advance editorial consideration, but SPAR 3D has retained full discretion over the final content of this article.
Arithmetica is launching the newest version of their popular Pointfuse software at SPAR 3D Expo and Conference 2016. The company promises that V2 represents “a major change in the way that point cloud data is automatically converted to three dimensional vector models.”
According to Arithmetica business development manager Mark Senior, the second version is in keeping with the philosophy of the previous version. “It’s still a single-click automatic conversion utility. We still keep it very simple: data in, data convert, data out.”
But there are a few exciting developments worth noting.
Better Algorithms
The biggest change for V2, Senior says, is a set of “new, improved algorithms that represent more complex geometry like curves and cylinders that we weren’t able to do with the first version of the software. That increases our precision and helps us model more complex environments.”
These new algorithms provide a secondary benefit: the ability to edit and manipulate your vector geometry. Since Pointfuse now separates geometries along break lines, or edges, it also creates structured surfaces that you can easily manipulate.
“I can select the wall or the floor or the table top,” Senior says, “and I can delete it, move it, add it. You don’t get that from any other technique.” Once Pointfuse has automatically converted your point cloud into vector geometry, you have a lot more options for what you want to do with it and how you exploit it.
https://sketchfab.com/models/776cba00a1f649b7a01bc67551c09eef
Better Third-Party Integration
Another benefit of the technique that Pointfuse V2 uses to model the point cloud is better integration with third-party software and your existing workflows. Now, you can edit and manipulate Pointfuse files in a variety of third-party solutions including AutoCAD, Revit, Tekla, and SketchUp.
To make this even easier, Senior said, Arithmetica has added a few more data formats. “You can now export directly to SketchUp, and we’ve added in STL format as well. This allows you to convert a scanned object with Pointfuse and export it for use with a 3D printer.”
The cumulative effect of all these changes is speed in making decisions. The software saves its users the time of sending point-cloud data out to a modeler and waiting for results or even vectorizing the model themselves.
“Converting it into a vector model gives you a different perspective on what you have in front of you,” Senior says. “And that allows you to make certain decisions, and share and collaborate in ways that you might not have been able to do before.”
