Finally got my drone program running smoothly. Now the bottleneck is getting data into Civil3D for my clients. What's your workflow for going from DroneDeploy to Civil3D surfaces and contours?
Right now I'm exporting LAS, importing to Civil3D, classifying, building surface, generating contours. Takes forever. There has to be a faster way.
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Sign inFew tips that sped up my workflow:
Export classified point cloud from DroneDeploy, not raw. The classification is decent and saves time.
Use the "Ground" class only for your surface. Don't import everything.
Thin the point cloud before surface creation. You don't need 50 points per square foot for a topo surface. I thin to 1 point per 0.5-1ft depending on the site.
Build surface from point cloud not from points. Civil3D handles point clouds more efficiently now.
Generate contours from surface, not from points.
With this workflow a 50 acre site goes from DroneDeploy to finished contours in maybe 30 minutes for me.
One more thing - make sure your coordinate systems match BEFORE export. Don't export in WGS84 then transform in Civil3D. Set your output projection in DroneDeploy to match your Civil3D drawing template. Saves a step and avoids potential errors.
I'll add: invest time in Civil3D point cloud stylization. You can color by class, set up good filters, make the QA/QC process visual. When classification issues are obvious at a glance, you catch them faster.
Also point cloud object snap is your friend. Surface issues usually come from misclassified points - turn on the cloud, snap to suspect areas, reclassify, rebuild.
Also check out the Autodesk Connector app in DroneDeploy. It pushes data directly to BIM360/ACC. Not as useful for traditional Civil3D but if your clients are on Autodesk cloud it's slick.
For local Civil3D work, Craig's workflow is basically what I do too.
This is gold. The thinning tip alone is going to save me hours. I've been importing every single point like an idiot. Thanks everyone.