The Global Archicad Community

[David Belle]

Hi,

Just wondering when ArchiCAD will support CPU Multithreading and better support or point clouds.

Currently, as I work with a point cloud the GPU and CPU utilization remains under 50%. I can confirm this is not a hardware issue on my end and is a software limitation with AC. Wondering if this will be address in future editions?? A good benchmark would be Autodesk recap pro or Revit. Point clouds appear to be the only thing that Autodesk got right.

[Christophe Fortineau]

Hello David Belle,

I have been using point clouds in Archicad since 2015 : often these are very large e57 files about 1Go.
I do not use e57 before optimizing it with the excellent CloudCompare to delete some parts or to make my e57 lighter. I'm not sure it deals with Multithreading cause I use different kind of computers and I have never experienced a slowdown (with a old 2011 Macbook pro).

Did you use your e57 without prepare it ? How do you do ?

You can read this article about Multithreading :
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/knowledgebase/25850/

[David Belle]

Hi Christophe,

I tend to prepare my point clouds by trimming some unnecessary points and then exporting to e57 format. Files size can range from 1 - 10Gb so they are quite large.

My issue is panning and moving around the point cloud in the 3D window. It is laggy and slow as more and more points come into view.

Again it is not a hardware issue on my end for two reasons;
1. The exact same point cloud file runs perfectly in Autodesk Recap and Leica Cyclone software packages smoothly with no issue at all.
2. While panning/moving around the point cloud in AC 3D window my GPU utilization appears to be capped at under 50%.
3. I have a Quadro P4000 which is overkill for the point clouds that im working with.

This ultimately means that Archicad needs to work on their point cloud optimization. As points clouds become more mainstream this is going to be a serious issue moving forward and may lead people down the Revit route.

Also, I do not believe that converting the e57 file to an 'object' file is the best solution and comes across as a quick fix that Graphisoft came up with in order to say "yes, point clouds work in AC".

[Christophe Fortineau]

Hello David Belle,

I have no computer hardware expertise but what is certain is that waiting for the function of one software over another software is never a solution. Many functionalities have no correspondence between the different actors of BIM design. Having an Archicad user decide to switch to Revit because of the point clouds seems to me to be as improbable as it is funny. There are certainly improvements to be made to the processing of point clouds in addition to those you mention. The processing of scalar fields in particular seems essential to me. When I use point clouds I optimize them for BIM design via CloudCompare to considerably reduce their weight without losing quality of information for modeling. For example, I delete unnecessary plants and elements (furniture, characters, reading errors, etc.) then I delete the maximum number of points while keeping the strategic points (angle, carpentry frame, relief, etc.). Before concluding on a software defect it is certainly preferable to consider the method used. while waiting here for a response from a hardware expert, I am at your disposal to guide you in optimizing your e57 files with CloudCompare.

[sboydturner]

David,
What is your hardware configuration? Processor and access to ram can really cripple some tasks especially with high thread count processors such as last generation Threadripper as each processor core needs to wait its turn to access the memory so you may have lots of processor capacity but the ram feeding it cannot keep up, a rule of thumb I’ve heard is a minimum of 2Gb of Ram per thread is optimal
Scott

[David Belle]

Hi, I am quite informed with the hardware side of computing as i frequently build my own work stations.

Current set up was built around 2017-18

Ryzen 1700x
32GB Gskill ram
Quadro P4000 graphics card.

Keep in mind that the points clouds function perfectly in other software, Archicad has not been optimized for This purpose. so all issues point to a software optimization issue.

Is there a way I can log a report to Graphisoft to make them aware of this?

I am at your disposal to guide you in optimizing your e57 files with CloudCompare.

Thank you for the offer, i will take a look into cloud compare.

[Christophe Fortineau]

Thank you for the offer, i will take a look into cloud compare.

It's an awesome freeware for Linux, Windows and MacOS which IS able to make your pointcloud 10x lighter without loosing 3D informations you need.

[sboydturner]

Any single task specialist tool such as Recap will almost certainly be more optimised at dealing with pout clouds than a multipurpose tool such as Archicad. How well will Recap deal with publishing 150 working drawings to PDF, exporting IFC models and saving Excel spreadsheets for FFE purchase all from a push of a single button? Of course it won’t because that is not what that tool is for, but I can in Archicad.

Having a basic point cloud tool within Archicad which is ‘good enough’ for the majority of users is appropriate, if you need more advanced tools it is appropriate that a specific tool is purchased for that specific need.

[Christophe Fortineau]

it is appropriate that a specific tool is purchased for that specific need.

Cloudcompare is free
http://www.danielgm.net/cc/release/

[Moonlight]

A 10GB Cloud can cripple any computer with todays specs, may be you should divide them in smaller ones