What Is a Point Cloud, and What Can You Do With One?
A point cloud is a collection of points positioned in three dimensions. Viewed together, those points can reveal the shape of walls, floors, ceilings, and other captured surfaces. Instead of being drawn first, the building's visible geometry is represented by the collected measurements. 1
The word cloud does not mean the data must be stored online. In this context, it describes the collection of points, not a subscription or hosting service.
Think of it as measured reference data
Imagine looking at a room made from tiny dots rather than solid surfaces. The arrangement of those dots describes the captured shape. Depending on the dataset, color information may help you recognize what you are viewing, but a visually convincing display is not itself an accuracy guarantee.
Multiple scans are commonly aligned so the captured areas can be viewed together. That alignment process is called registration. 2
What can a project team do with it?
A point cloud can be used as reference information while a team creates drawings or a building model. Autodesk describes point clouds as a starting point for modeling existing conditions, rather than as finished building elements. 1
For a practical example, imagine a designer checking the relationship between a ceiling transition and a doorway. The scan may allow that question to be revisited without starting from a single photograph, provided the relevant surfaces were captured with suitable detail. Where coverage is missing, the dataset cannot answer the question reliably.
A point cloud is not a finished Revit model
Receiving scan data does not automatically mean receiving editable walls, doors, room objects, or a drawing sheet set. Those are different deliverables. A model uses the data as a reference and requires decisions about which elements to create and how to represent them.
Likewise, hiding furniture in a viewer does not reveal a wall that the scanner never captured. An empty-looking area after filtering should not be mistaken for newly measured information.
Choose a format your team can use
Confirm compatibility before ordering. Revit supports linked point clouds in RCP and RCS formats; other point-cloud formats need conversion for that linking workflow. An RVT file is the Revit project or model, not another name for the point cloud. 3
Ask your team which format it needs, whether supporting files must accompany the delivery, and how the data should be positioned for its workflow. Do not assume a building point cloud establishes property boundaries, certified elevations, or a survey reference system.
Already have a team that creates its own drawings or models? Discuss scan-only capture with Spot On Measure. Describe the spaces, intended use, and required file format so the deliverable matches the next step.
References
1. Autodesk - About Point Clouds