I have been researching scanning software, and I am curious as to what some of you who are end users might say regarding which is the best plant piping scanning pointcloud software out there.
Also, does anyone know what the best site survey pointcloud software is for topo surveys?
We have been scanning for almost four years. We have Scanmaster, Kubit, TopoDOT, Polyworks, and PointTools. I just pay for them not run them but I'm pretty sure my techs would have no clue how to answer that question either. There are so many software packages out there it seems like they roll out daily. We were supposed to have demo'ed Kubits "Plant" but haven't gotten enough pipe work to justify it. I have been knocking at the plant work door for quite some time now. It has been hard for me to get any traction. We have done some jobs but not as much as I would like and not near what I think is possible considering how many plants are within two hours driving time from my office. If you get an answer and a rational behind it, I would appreciate some follow up. I do think TopoDot is geared more towards topographic surveying and is reasonably priced. You need Microstation, though.
I have only used Leica's Cyclone software. It's pretty good I guess although it's, well, Leica software LOL. Prepare to think backwards.
It will model pipes and things like that.
"...which is the best plant piping scanning pointcloud software out there..."
Do you mean scanning or modelling software?
For generating Topo's from scan data I would definitely recommend Leica Cyclone II Topo.
Its pretty intuitive, and basically follows how you would complete a topo on-site.
Best of all, if you already have a coding system it can be imported and used just as you would on an instrument, which can then be imported into your processing software (such as LSS) to generate the final drawing. (or directly into cad if you want)
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Tim