XYZ point cloud in `.txt` format from an aspherical surface

Rhino
1

Dear Team,

I need to extract an XYZ point cloud in .txt format from an aspherical surface, but I’m unable to do so in SolidWorks. I imported a STEP model from Solidworks into Rhino, but it appears at an odd angle.

I’m not sure why the coordinate system exported into Rhino doesn’t match the one I originally defined in Solidworks, and as a new user, I’m unfamiliar with how to reorient the model or extract the point cloud properly in Rhino.

Could someone please walk me through this process?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Dmitry.

(339) 223-3904 (cell)

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2

I usually use CloudCompare for this. You can save the point cloud as a .asc file and just rename it to .txt – that works fine since it’s still ASCII.

Edit: If the model shows up at a weird angle in Rhino, it might be a coordinate system mismatch from SolidWorks.

Maybe this video helps you to generate a point cloud.

3

You should be able to open the .txt point file directly in Rhino. Make sure “Create point cloud” is checked when importing.

Solidworks is normally Y-up as opposed to Rhino’s Z-up. You can remap geometry from front to top in this case if you need. However if the geometry is at an “odd angle”, then it might not have been oriented correctly when scanned.