by MATT BALL
Bentley Systems announces today the acquisition of Pointools, a hardware-neutral point cloud handling software. The point cloud creation hardware is reducing in cost, and becoming more integral to infrastructure projects. To date, the size of point clouds has made them problematic because they overwhelm storage and query capabilities. Pointools Vortex engine has been integrated into MicroStation for processing and data management in both ProjectWise and AssetWise. The latest breakthrough tackles the ‘big data’ challenge with the ability to stream point clouds on demand.
Bentley will manage point clouds in ProjectWise, with ability to stream just the part of the point cloud that you’re interested in working with. The point cloud then becomes an integral part of workflows, without the traditionally slow handling times. The streaming in a separate thread means you can zoom and pan and move around in your drawing space as the details of the point cloud is being generated.
This acquisition relates to Bentley’s acquisition of HDR ten years ago with its ability to handle large 2D raster image processing. That breakthrough in the infrastructure engineering workflow has been equally met with Bentley’s new capability with Pointools, and there is promise that more capability is soon to come.
Descartes V8i has workflows now that help classify point clouds automatically, speeding terrain model creation as well as other classes. There are also point cloud draping and snapping features, to find points that meet your criteria, and snap to that. The ‘Flashlight’ feature allows you to visualize the elements, create profiles and then model in 3D. The improved point cloud modelling really helps with reality capture for retrofits.
Source: http://www.sensysmag.com/spatialsustain/pointclouds-increased-importance-leads-to-bentleys-pointools-acquisition.html