Point Cloud Import + Sectioning for Reverse Engineering (scan-to-CAD)
johan davel
Plasticity already has excellent surfacing tools (Loft, Patch, XNurbs with G0/G1/G2 continuity) — the one missing piece for reverse engineering is native point cloud handling.
Current workaround and its pain points:
Going from a 3D scan to a clean CAD surface currently means exporting the scan as a mesh, sectioning it in a separate free tool (e.g. CloudCompare), exporting each cross-section as DXF, then importing into Plasticity to retrace and build rails before lofting. It works, but it's a disconnected multi-app round trip: no live feedback when repositioning a cutting plane, manual DXF export/import per slice, and risk of scale/position drift between programs.
Requested feature:
A native point cloud module that would let you:
- Import raw point cloud data (PLY, E57, XYZ, etc.) directly into a Plasticity scene
- Section the cloud with a movable cutting plane, either single cuts or an evenly-spaced repeated series along an axis
- Auto-derive a simplified, smooth spline from each section, with a tolerance/max-edge-length-style control so you're not stuck retracing hundreds of raw scan-noise segments
- Add rail/guide curves directly against the point cloud
- Feed those sections and rails straight into the existing Loft, Patch, and XNurbs tools
Why this fits Plasticity:
The "back half" of this pipeline already exists and is genuinely strong. The gap is entirely the "front half" — getting from raw scan data to a clean, position-accurate curve inside the same scene. This would close a real gap with reverse-engineering suites like Geomagic Design X or PolyWorks, which cost tens of thousands, for anyone doing scan-to-CAD work on real mechanical parts rather than freeform/concept modeling.
Happy to share more detail from an active production use case if useful.
johan davel
I tried to import sectioned dxf data from cloudcompare into plasticity as a workaroud for the polysplines needed to create my spline cage. But it does not even show up on my working plain. What should i do
johan davel
I would like to know what workflow is used to reverse engineer scan data in plasticity from the designers of this software as that was the main reason i bought the studio version for.
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Chris Taylor
Personally I think it would be an excellent addition. Just the Sketchup user base alone is in the millions, because it is so versatile in the number of use cases it can be applied to. Plasticity is a far superior application.. why anyone would object to its user base being broadened out, I have no idea. So yes, add point clouds, which would make it more accessible for Fusion 360/shapr3d use cases and something that should be like falling off a log: a basic geolocation and time of day, daylight/sunlight/shadow system which would open it up for architecture. I'd like the application to go a lot further actually. Perhaps something like real time bridge to an Image Generation AI or export section drawings to synaps.app for full-blown accurate architectural plans and elevations and sections.
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Nicholas Fox
The problem I have with this request is two fold:
- This would only benefit a very small number of Plasticity users, and could therefore be a waste of time and it's a tool that would probably never used by the majority. I've been modelling for 36 years and never had a request to handle point cloud files.
- It would be attempting to turn Plasticity into a tool that it was never intended to be. Plasticity is a direct modeller not an precision engineering tool, and there is already software out there for handling point clouds.
I think if Nick conducted a survey of users as to the need for this feature, it would not fly, but that's just my opinion.
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Chris Taylor
Nicholas Fox It's not about the existing users though is it? The application is already catering to them very well. It's about broadening the user base.
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Nicholas Fox
Chris Taylor I doubt that this feature would broaden the user base by very much, and the numbers voting for this feature will eventually tell the full story, but numbers alone do not mean it will be adopted by Nick. I was the one pushing for instances and it took several hundred votes to get it adopted. If point clouds arrive in Plasticity, it's definitely not something I'll ever have a use for, but I guess you've already come to that conclusion.
Corey Panno
I share in the frustrations going from 3D scan to Plasticity with my path being 3D Scan to Blender to Plasticity. After importing a Quad Mesh from Blender, PolySplines might work or might sit grinding away with nothing happening. I am on an M4 MacBook Pro with 24GB memory 1TB drive with mostly available space.
I really want to skip Blender - too much of a learning curve just to get 3D scans into Plasticity.
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Nicholas Fox
Corey Panno We all like an easy time, but sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and learn to use other software. I'm with you on modelling in Blender, but it's the companion software to Blender, so you either throw up your gands or you get your head down and learn enough in order to get it to do what you want.
Corey Panno
Nicholas Fox Fair enough. PolySpines more robust then?