Working with Cloud Data

Geometry Relationships can also take point clouds as inputs. When a point cloud is associated with a geometry relationship the Point List button is replaced with a subsampling control:

By default geometry relationships take a random sample using a uniform distribution from the cloud data and only use 200 points. This can be seen when the AVN vectors are enabled. This allows for quick and efficient fitting.

Proximity filters can be defined for a Compare to Nominal relation- ship. The defaults for newly created relationships can be accessed directly through the User Options>Display>Default Options>GR Proximity Filter. But each relationship has its own settings which can be accessed through the feature’s right-click menu when a nominal is assigned ( Configure Proximity Filter).

These Proximity settings come into use in either of two way:

  1. When you use the option in a features right-click menu: Associate Data>Clouds. You will be prompted to select a cloud and a new cloud will be built from the reference after applying the filter and associated with the feature.

  2. Trapping while scanning. When actively trapping to a feature these proximity settings can be used. This limits the data acquired while scanning such that you only acquire points with- in the defined proximity to the nominal feature.

Proximity filtering is a great way to associate relevant cloud points with a particular feature and can easily be used in combination with a job level feature extraction.