PCCTools guide

Advanced point-cloud
cropping in AutoCAD

Use persistent crop geometry for work that needs more control than a basic screen-space boundary: an editable box, a precisely positioned sphere, or a corridor following a route.

Box cropSphere cropBuffer crop

When to use an advanced crop

Use PCBOXCROP when the boundary must remain editable in 3D, PCSPHERECROP for a compact object or joint, and PCBUFCROP for a constant-width corridor around a line or polyline. Rectangle, circle, polygon and slice crops remain in the basic crops guide.

Editable box crop

The box starts from the full cloud bounds and updates when its face grips move. Run PCBOXCROP, select the cloud, then drag the grips around the working area. Running the command again offers Modify, Restore, Hide and Delete.

Video placeholderResize an editable crop box around a plant areaShow three face-grip edits and the cloud updating after each edit.

Spherical crop

Run PCSPHERECROP, snap the centre to the scan and set the radius from the live preview. This is well suited to valves, joints, fixtures and other features where a rectangular volume retains too much surrounding data.

Image placeholderSpherical crop isolating a scanned valveKeep the sphere boundary and isolated points visible.

Buffer crop along a route

  1. Run PCBUFCROP.
  2. Draw a centreline or select an existing line or polyline.
  3. Move away from the route to preview the half-width.
  4. Click or type the value to crop the full-height corridor.
Video placeholderCrop a road or pipe corridor along a curved polylineShow route selection, width preview and final crop.

Save useful crop states

Use PCCSSAVE to name the finished crop and PCCROPSTATEMANAGER to restore or remove saved states. Use descriptive names tied to levels, zones or disciplines.