Autodesk® ReCap TM

Hands-On KickStart Guide

Hands-On Tutorial: Scan to BIM with Autodesk ReCap and Autodesk Revit

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Contents
Included Files...........................................................................................................................................3
Loading photos........................................................................................................................................4
Defining scale..........................................................................................................................................5
Defining Project Parameters....................................................................................................................7
Interacting with your point cloud............................................................................................................8
Refining the point cloud........................................................................................................................10
Interoperability with Revit.....................................................................................................................13
Use-cases and additional workflows......................................................................................................16
Additional Resources.............................................................................................................................16

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 Autodesk® ReCap TM
Hands-On KickStart Guide

Autodesk® RecapTM is a set of powerful and easy-to-use software and services on the desktop and in the
cloud to create intelligent 3D data from captured photos and laser scans in a streamlined workflow.

This tutorial will walk you through the steps needed to create a point cloud of an existing building, using
photos in Autodesk Recap, as well as describe the steps that are needed to convert that point cloud into
an Autodesk® Revit® model.

From Photograph to Point Cloud to Building Information Model

Note: This hands-on tutorial assumes a fundamental knowledge of Autodesk Revit’s design and
modeling capabilities. For additional Revit training, please refer to the Additional Resource section in
this document.

Included Files
This tutorial comes with the following directories:
 Photos: The folder contains the 77 photos of an existing building that will be used to create the
initial point cloud.
 RCS: This folder contains both the original point cloud file that was produced in the initial
photograph conversion, as well as the edited point cloud that was further refined in an
Autodesk ReCap Project.
 Revit Model: This folder contains final Autodesk Revit model that can be used as a reference
tool.
 Video: This folder contains a video that shows the steps taken to produce the final 3D model.

Note: The root directory also contains the Revit Project Template that has predefined levels and
families, such as walls, doors, and windows.

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Loading photos
The first step in the Photo to 3D conversion process is the addition of a set of existing photos.

1. Launch Autodesk ReCap

Note: This dataset comes with a set of

existing photos that can be found in the
‘Photos’ folder.
2. Click on Photo to 3D

3. Click ‘add photos’

4. Browse to the ‘Photos’ folder

5. Drag and Drop the 77 images into
the ‘add photos’ area in the
center of the screen.

When the photos are loaded, your screen

should look very similar to this image.

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Defining scale
As you can imagine, dimension and scale are very important when leveraging design information.
Autodesk Recap gives you the ability to define scale, by simply picking two points that have a known
distance. Since the parking spaces are known to be 9’ apart, we’ll leverage this information in the next
few steps to help ensure that our final model has the correct dimensions.

1. Click ‘Survey Settings’

Note: You’ll be asked to select to

photographs.
2. Select IMG_9616_JPG as the first
image.

3. Select IMG_9622_JPG as the

second image.

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Note: These images were chosen because

they both have the same area in common,
the three cars in the parking lot, where
the parking spaces are 9’ apart.
4. As per the video, select two
points in IMG_9616_JPG

Note: If you’d like to know more about

best practices for taking photos, refer to
this video.

5. Now pick the same two points in

IMG_9622_JPG

6. Select ‘set scale’

7. Pick Point 1 in the first
photograph (IMG_9616_JPG)
8. Pick Point 2 in the second
photograph

Note: after the Point 2 is selected, you will

be prompted to enter the dimension of
the distance that Point 1 and Point 2
spans.
9. Enter 9 if prompted for the
distance in feet. Enter 2.7432 if
the distance is requested in
meters.
10. Select ‘okay’

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Defining Project Parameters

With Autodesk ReCap, you can determine the amount of detail the final point cloud will have, as well as
define additional file formats that can be created as part of the optimization process.

1. Enter the name of your

Project.
2. Under Quality, you can select
‘Preview’ or ‘Ultra.’

Note: The ‘Ultra’ option creates a more

detailed point cloud, but it takes a bit
longer to compute and may require
credits. ‘Ultra’ also provides the ability to
create additional formats, including RCS
and FBX.

Let’s take a look at the different optimzation options.

Smart Cropping allows you crop out

unnecessary graphics behind the camera
positions.

Smart Texture is feature that generally

improves texture. It is only available with
‘Ultra’ Quality

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Nadir Optimization is intended for nadir

photography. With this enabled, you can
add a geographical reference (EXIF GPS
data) for further accuracy.

Now, let’s take a look at the different types of file formats that ReCap can create.

Autodesk ReCap can create the following

files from photos.
 RCM – Intended for Autodesk
ReMake
 OBJ and FBX – Generally used to
provide interoperability between
digital content creation
applications.
 RCS – Autodesk ReCap file format.
 Ortho – Photographs used to
measure true distances of
features within the photograph.
Note: For this exercise, RCS was selected
as an additional file format. It will be
useful in later steps of this tutorial.
3. Click ‘create’ to start the
conversion process.

Note: Selecting multiple file formats will

have an impact on processing time.

After processing is complete, select your project to open it.

Interacting with your point cloud

After your photos have been processed, you can interact with the model using a variety of different
navigation and editing tools.

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Navigation
You can navigate your model, using a
variety of familiar options including:
 Orbit
 Zoom
 Pan
 Fit to View

Visual Display
You can control the way your model is
display with the following options:
 No Shading
 Shaded
 Textured
 Wireframe

After you’ve explored these features, take a moment to view your Project Homepage in more detail.

Click on the Project Homepage icon on

the upper left corner of the screen.

Here, you can do a variety of different

things, including:
 Open 3D Model
 Open 2D Map (if available)
 Download converted files
 Resubmit Projects
 Delete Projects

1. Click ‘download’ to see your

export objects
2. Select RCS
3. Make note of where the file was
downloaded on your local
machine.

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Refining the point cloud

Existing point clouds can be further refined by removing unwanted geometry that may have appeared
after the initial photo to 3D conversion. Autodesk ReCap can help with this process as well.

1. Open Autodesk ReCap

2. Select ‘scan project’ to start a
new project based on your
existing point cloud.

3. When promoted, name the

project

4. Select ‘select files to import’ and

browse to the RCS file that was
downloaded from the original
photo to 3D conversion.

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5. Explore the User Interface, paying

special attention to the Display
Settings that allow you to adjust
color, lighting, and point display.

6. Use the navigation tools to pan,

zoon, orbit, and fly around your
model.

7. Use the Limit box in the lower

portion of the screen to define
the boundaries of your point
cloud.

Note: making the boundary smaller will

help remove unwanted geometry from
appearing.

8. Highlight the sides of the Limit

Box and drag the edges closer to
the building to isolate only the
relevant geometry.

Autodesk ReCap has a variety of annotation tools for markup and measurement verification. In the
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next step, you’ll use the Distance Tool to verfiy the spacing of the parking lot.

9. Rotate your model to get a clear

view of the parking lot.
10. Select the Distance Tool

11. Select two points to record the

distance. The final dimension
should equate to approximately
9’ or 2.7 meters.

12. Export the refined RCS file under

a different name by selecting the
‘Export’ symbol.

13. Make note of the final location

and select ‘Save.’

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14. You’ll be notified that any

additional point clouds in this
project will be unified with the
current one.
15. Finalize the export by selecting
‘let’s go.’

Interoperability with Revit

Point clouds can be imported into Autodesk Revit, where they can be used as a reference to develop 3D
models for a variety of purposes, included retrofit and renovation.

The next set of steps will go over the import and modeling process.

1. Start Autodesk Revit.

2. Open
ReCap_KickStart_Revit_Model_Te
mplate.rvt

3. Got to the ‘Insert’ panel and

choose ‘Point Cloud.’

Note: Revit can import point clouds in

either RCP or RCS formats.

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4. Select the recently modified RCS

file that was exported by
Autodesk ReCap.
5. Select ‘Open’ to keep the default
Positioning option (set at Center
to Center).

6. Use the ‘Move’ tool to position

the point cloud to your preferred
location

7. Go to an elevation view and

position the markers to align with
the levels of the building itself.

Note: This may include redefining the level

heights and adding additional level
markers.

8. Go to the default 3D view

Now that the point cloud has been inserted into the Revit Project, it can be used as a reference for
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design. The next set of steps will give an overview of this process.

9. Go to the Level 1 view.

10. Using the top of the point cloud as
a guide, trace the exterior of the
building using the wall tool.
Note: The exterior walls on Level 1 have
the following properties:
Type: Stacked Wall Exterior – Brick Over
CMU w Metal Stud
Base Constraint: Level 1
Top Constraint: Up to Level 2

11. Go to the default 3D View to

check your project.
12. Select all the walls on Level 1.
13. Pick the Copy to Clipboard option
14. Select Paste to Selected Level
15. Pick Level 2.
16. Select the walls on Level 2 and
change the properties to the
following:
Type: Stacked Wall Exterior – Brick Over
CMU w Metal Stud 2
Base Constraint: Level 2
Top Offset: 12’
17. Continue to add building
components such as the entry
area and roof.
18. When done, ‘Hide’ the point cloud
geometry in the default 3D view.

Note: if you’d like to cross-reference your

model against another one, this dataset
contains a finished model of the building
exterior. It’s located in the root directory.
The name of the file is
ReCap_KickStart_Revit_Model.rvt.

This concludes the tutorial. But there’s so much more to explore. Teake advantage of the Additional
Resouces below to becoame an expert Autodek ReCap user.

Enjoy your time with Autodesk ReCap.

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Use-cases and additional workflows

Explore ways to improve performance of your existing model, developed in Autodesk Revit, by using the
Autodesk® Insight analysis tools that come as a subscription benefit to Revit.

Experiment with additional workflows, such as exploring design renovation ideas by importing OBJ files,
created by Autodesk ReCap, into in Autodesk® FormIt.

Additional Resources
Use the following resources to expand your knowledge of Autodesk ReCap.

 Autodesk Knowledge Network for Autodesk ReCap

 Autodesk ReCap Getting Started Guide
 Autodesk Revit Getting Started Guide
 Autodesk ReCap video playlist

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