3D Laser Scanning Workflows: Save Time with Trimble RealWorks Batch Import

Many long time Trimble® RealWorks® user may not be familiar with some of the time saving workflows that have been added over the years. One such useful workflow is the ability to import a collection of scans and batch process them. This is very efficient as it enables Trimble RealWorks to do many processing tasks while you are away or working on something else.

In this example I am transferring the scan data from the SD Card of a Trimble X7 scanner onto my PC.

Once Trimble RealWorks is open, launch the Import and Register tool from the Home tab while in Registration mode.

Before importing scan data you will need to first create a Trimble RealWorks project.

Once a project has been created, you can then select individual scans from multiple sources and even different scanners or select a single folder.

In this case I am importing unprocessed X7 scans, so I have selecting the folder I transferred from the SD Card which contains the individual scans and associated images.

Once the folder has been selected the scans contained in that folder are displayed in the list. If you would like to remove any scans before processing, you can click on the red x beside that scan. At this stage you can add more scans and create groups. Groups will be considered when registering the scans. So, for example you may create a group for each floor of a building. Once you are happy with your selections you can click Next to continue.

On the next screen you can select how you would like the 3D points to be imported into the project. You can sample them by step, so every single point or every two or three points etc.… In addition, you can select a specific spacing or even a light weight preview of just a couple million points per scan. In this example I have chosen Sample by Step and set a value of 1 so that all points will be imported. You can also restrict points imported based on the range from the scanner.

Next are the Registration Options. Here you can select if you would like the scans to be registered on import. You have the options to do a targetless registration based on vertical planes found in each scan or by targets. In this example I have chosen to Enable Registration and to register using planes.

Alternatively, you can choose to register using targets. You can define and add multiple sphere sizes in addition to black and white checker targets. Click Start to begin the import, point extraction and registration according to the options you have selected.

The progress will be shown as the processing is done.

Once the processing is finished you will see only the word Completed and the elapsed time. Click Close to see the results.

This workflow is great time saver and can be used with many terrestrial scanners. So next time you’d like to sit back and let Trimble RealWorks take the wheel for a while try the Import and Register tool.

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