Release Notes for As-Built for As-Built Modeler
This article lists the Release Notes for each version of As-Built™ for Autodesk Revit® Software to date. The current version release notes are displayed at the top of the article. Previous revisions are contained in expanding sections below.
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As-Built Modeler 2023 - What's New - June 2023
As part of FARO’s continuing commitment to deliver reliable and professional quality software, this new version 2023.0 of FARO As-Built Modeler includes a series of enhancements, improvements as well as fixes that address customer-reported issues.
This article provides a detailed description of each enhancement, enabling you to get started quickly.
New Features
- Supports the new FARO Flash Scans captured by the FARO Focus Scanner. You can now use this type of scans for your work to derive models from scan data.
- License management made easier for users. Starting from version 2023, As-Built Modeler comes with a changed license activation and management process. Make sure to read article License Activation and Update for SCENE 2022.2 and Later before you install As-Built Modeler 2023.0 for the first time.
Other Improvements
- Improved compatibility with the e57 standard. Less issues with importing, loading, and displaying of e57 data.
- Benefit from improved software security. We updated third-party libraries to include the most recent security patches.
- You are using a high-resolution monitor? We updated the Quality Manager App to improve the graphic user interface this type of monitors. The update also fixes a bug that caused SCENE or As-Built Modeler to crash if a scan had points recorded far from the scanner.
- To provide software updates faster and to prevent you from having to install an update, just to get access to an updated localized user manual. As-Built Modeler will no longer have translated manuals as offline resources. Translated manuals are available as online resources (User Manual for As-Built Modeler) and are updated on availability.
Fixed Issues
- SC-7118: As-Built sometimes crashed during startup when checking the compatibility with the graphics card.
- SC-7128: When exporting a project to a path containing non-ANSI characters, As-Built either used a wrong target directory for the scans or crashed.
- SC-7153: As-Built sometimes showed wrong scan times for FARO Focus Premium scans.
- SC-7170/SC-5723: Some e57 files failed to import. Resolution: The compatibility with the e57 standard has been improved.
- SC-7170: Some e57 files could be imported and scan points could be loaded and were visible, but when saving the file, As-Built reported an out of memory error and could not save the file.
- SC-7170/SC-7216: SCENE sometimes crashed when importing e57 files. Resolution: Now, SCENE will report Error Code 97: Access out of bounds. Instead of crashing, SCENE will not import the e57 file.
- Rare crash when rendering multiple scan point clouds.
- For more details see the list of fixes for SCENE 2023.0
Known Issues
Licensing
As a user of As-Built Suite or when using As-Built for AutoCAD and As-Built for Revit or As-Built Modeler in parallel on the same machine it can happen that you are not able to use As-Built for Revit while a drawing with As-Built for AutoCAD is open and vice versa. If you encounter this issue, please update the FARO License Manager using FARO InTouch.
More Information
For more details, visit FARO’s website or browse to As-Built Modeler’s knowledge base.
As-Built Modeler 2022.1 Release Notes
FARO is pleased to announce the release of As-Built Modeler version 2022.1. We would like to thank customers who provided valuable product input. This release includes feature enhancements that are designed to increase productivity, mobility and ease-of-use.
Announcements
- As-Built Modeler 2022.1 comes with a new license activation process. Make sure to read the article License Activation and Update for As-Built Modeler 2022.1 and Later before you install As-Built Modeler 2022.1 for the first time.
Improvements
- SC-5334: ReCap project export is now more robust. Unordered and ordered project exports were combined to a single rcp export which exports ordered scans as ordered and unordered scans as unordered. For more information, read the article RCS/RCP Export for Ordered Scans in As-Built Modeler.
- SC-6839: The 3D scanner model was updated to the FARO Focus Premium model with proper texture.
- SC-6927: The Help section of the Workflow bar now provides a “Contact Technical Support” button. Clicking this button opens a FARO website where you can create a support request.
Bug Fixes
- SC-6935: As-Built Modeler sometimes crashed when a project was closed. Resolution: This issue has been fixed.
- SC-6954: The normal vectors returned by the API function getScanNormalsIterator() were not in global coordinates, but the positions were. Resolution: This issue has been fixed.
- SC-7036: Scans captured with the FARO Focus Premium (but without the Stream app) were not placed correctly by sensors during the import into As-Built Modeler (single scan import and project transfer). Resolution: This issue has been fixed.
- SC-7059: As-Built Modeler sometimes crashed when creating a clipping. Resolution: This issue has been fixed.
- SC-7102: Processing a project containing both scans with and without PanoCam images sometimes caused a deadlock. Resolution: This issue has been fixed.
Known Issues
- When exporting a As-Built Modeler project or parts of a As-Built Modeler project in lsproj format (with functionality Export As Project), the new project will have the same UID as the original project. If both, the old and the new exported project, are stored in the default As-Built Modeler project folder, only one of these projects will be visible in the As-Built Modeler Project Overview.
As-Built Modeler 2022.0 What's New
Overview
In the new 2022.0 version of FARO As-Built Modeler we introduce several new features and improvements, which are described in more detail in this document. Also found here are a list of the Fixed Issues and an overview on Known Issues.
New features in As-Built Modeler 2022.0
- It is now possible to export only parts of the CAD model. Choose “Export CAD Objects” in the context menu of a structure tree group or component
- Two additional options to add or subtract circular or rectangular parts from a region with fewer mouse interactions
- UI face lift (including SendTo)
- Support of the FOCUS Premium (V9)
- Support of an additional language (Korean)
- Compatibility with Windows 11
- Support for exporting single structured scan to ReCap was added.
Other Improvements
- Grip point editing has been made easier. Now, when selecting an object in the 3D View or in the tree view, grip points and object properties are being shown immediately. Hence, the two buttons “Edit grip points” and “Properties” have been removed.
- Deletions for scan point clouds and the project point cloud can be undone. (SC-6648)
- Import UI change: split button “Import Objects” into two separate buttons “Import Mesh Objects” and “Import Surveyed Points” (SC-6511)
- When deleting selections inside loaded raw scans in the 3D view, not only the points are deleted, but also the reflection and color data. Resolution: The 2D image data (reflection/color) is only deleted in 2D views (Planar or Quick View) but not when deleting selections in the 3D view. (SC-6597)
Fixed Issues
- When pressing ENTER while mouse is hovering over an object, that object got selected. This has been changed, pressing ENTER only finishes a workflow and doesn’t select an object anymore, no matter whether the mouse is hovering over an object or not (SCAB-1724)
- Merge regions workflow sometimes crashes. This has been fixed. Other workflows involving object selection behave more reliable now. (SCAB-1724)
- Quickly clicking Undo/Redo did not resume the former workflow. This has been fixed. (SCAB-1612)
- Issue: Fixed crash/failure when processing an e57 scan before manually doing a first load (SC-6540, SC-6545)
- Issue: Selections in a 3d view with a loaded scan wrongfully create a 2d selection. Fixed. (SC-6343)
- Issue When viewing more than one scan point clouds in the 3d view, creating a clipping box or deleting points after a selection would not immediately update the view, and the user had to move the camera to view the effects. Fixed. (SC-6549)
- Issue: Double click in the 3d view with raw scans would sometimes freeze for a few seconds. Fixed. (SC-6570)
- Issue: Rare crash during ABM startup while checking licenses. Fixed. (SC-6603)
- Issue: Wrong color for invalid points in Quick View and Planar View of Switch pano cam scans. Fixed. (XX-686)
- Issue: Selecting points in the 3d view of a cluster would cause a flickering of the view. Fixed. (SC-6731)
- Issue: ABM Plugin App icons get sometimes duplicated when the Apps category is refreshed. Fixed. (SC-6804)
- Issue: Exporting a project point cloud with large coordinates to RCS results in a decimated point cloud. Fixed. (SC-6711)
- Issue: Exporting to RCS or RCP from a selection or active clipping box fails with Error 18. Fixed (SC-6746)
- Issue: Exporting project point cloud in large coordinates was sometimes resulting in decimated point clouds for e57. Fixed. (SC-6661)
- Issue: Adaptive point size was not working for raw scans. Fixed. (SC-6770)
- Issue: When importing LAS scans, it was possible to have decimated point clouds. Fixed (SC-6852)
Known Issues
- ABM will no longer have translated manuals as offline resources. Translated manuals are available as online resources in FARO Knowledge Base and are updated on availability.
- Exporting structured scans and projects to ReCap might require manual FARO SDK installation.
More Information
For more details, visit the FARO website or browse to the As-Built Modeler knowledge base.
As-Built Modeler 2021.1 What's New
New features in As-Built Modeler 2021.1
- DXF import now supports US survey units
- CAD export (all formats) optionally exports cylinder axis lines
- Added support for Complementary Data via the Attach Files command, located in the Documentation Objects context menu.
- Coordinate colorization can be applied according to local clipping box rotations.
Other Improvements
- When importing CAD files, a warning will be shown if the CAD file unit cannot be interpreted, and the model may be scaled incorrectly
- When trying to export an empty CAD model, a warning message will be shown
- Faster loading of Focus scans
- Imported scans now render faster and look better in Quick View
- E57 scans are now loaded only when needed or the project is saved. This improves performance
- Exporting E57 format from the export tab now asks if you want to export images.
- Coordinate Coloring displays in lighter colors, and the Blending option is now active by default.
- Performance improvements during creation of overview maps
- Crash handler improvements (e.g., upload reports directly to FARO, improved rendering on high-DPI displays)
- VR improvements (overview map shows orientation of the user, background image visible)
- Orthophoto App improvements (resolve the problem that hidden points in clipping boxes are ignored, retain view settings from the open view)
- Note: Virtual scans are now be created with a white background. (It was previously black.)
Fixed Issues
- Cancellation of cylinder detection process is sometimes taking a long time. Resolution: This issue has been fixed (SCAB-1500)
- Intermittent crashes on ABM shutdown
- UCS grip point can’t be moved in Quick View. Resolution: This issue has been fixed (SCAB-1591)
- SCAB-1542
- Some issues with respect to E57 import and export have been fixed (SC-6495, SC-6368, SC-6273, SC-5794)
- Some issues with respect to VR have been fixed (SC-5973, SC-5930)
- Right-clicking in the 3D view after making a selection and then marking the project point cloud as deleted causes a crash. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5932)
- When running ABM on a PC with an NVIDIA driver 419.X, closing the 3D View causes ABM to crash. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5888)
- XYZ files that are separated by comma instead of whitespace do not import. Resolution: XYZ files that are separated by commas or whitespace import correctly. (SC-5715)
- In some cases, the scan point cloud is empty after processing imported scans. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5923)
- ABM crashes when double-clicking on a scan while a view is being initialized. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SCAB-1473)
- The transparency slider in the visibility settings has no effect for single point cloud rendering and clear view. Resolution: This issue has been fixed (SC-5966)
- Some issues with projects containing PanoCam data have been fixed (SC-5957, SC-6128, SC-6220, SC-6183, SC-6182)
- Intermittent crashes when shutting down ABM. Resolution: This issue has been fixed (SC-5910, SCAB-1472)
- Crash when interacting with the structure tree during project load (SCAB-1473)
- White pixels display at the top of full-color panoramic images.
- Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5906)
- Rare crash during ReCap export. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5452)
- Importing PTX/ASCII point clouds caused ABM to freeze. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-6221)
- Marking objects in the Quick View could cause a crash. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5901)
- Attached files in documentation objects does not export properly and the exported file is often corrupted. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-6263)
- When deleting an object (e.g., a scan) and multiple 3D views on that object are open, ABM sometimes crashes. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-6282)
- ABM can freeze when importing scans by dragging. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5344)
- ABM crashes when dragging in Planar View or Tree View. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5719)
- It is not possible to export normals data in unstructured scans or scan projects from the Recap export plugin within ABM. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-6313)
- ABM sometimes crashes when exporting a revision that contains PanoCam data from an earlier version of ABM. Resolution: This issue has been fixed.
- Loading an imported scan caused ABM to freeze briefly. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. (SC-5616)
Known Issues
- Description: An error occurs when trying to process an imported E57 point cloud. Workaround: After importing an E57 point cloud, you must manually load it or save the project before processing it.
As-Built Modeler 2021.0 Release Notes
Overview
In the new 2021.0 version of FARO® As-Built Modeler we introduce several new features and improvements, which are described in more detail in this article. Find here also a list of the Fixed Issues and an overview on Known Issues.
Figure 1- Example of a colorization setting. Here, the view is colorized with the rainbow color bar for the distance to the camera. The colorization is used as overlay to the point cloud.
New features in As-Built Modeler 2021.0
Coloring and Shading
In the new version we introduce coloring and shading to the application (Figure 1). The colorization and shading can be used separately or in combination with each other. They allow multiple customization settings for a wide range of scenarios. The options are primarily applied to the point cloud. Shading can also be used to add depth to opaque CAD geometry and imported meshes. The shading and colorization options are added to the 3D toolbar, while detailed settings can be found in the Visibility Settings of the 3D view.
Coloring Options
The coloring is applicable to point clouds and provides the following options:
- Use coloring as a function of the surface normal.
- Colorize by using the coordinate components X, Y, Z as RGB values.
- Colorize relative to X, Y, Z axis, or distance to using one of three predefined color maps.
Most coloring modes allow setting reference objects or fixed coordinates as reference. Also, the color can be blended with the point cloud information. The color gradients can be set to continuous or discrete steps with user-defined increments. Colorization settings as well as the colormaps and color ranges can be set in a dedicated tab in the Visibility Settings of the 3D view.
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(A) Colorization with respect to the surface normal information. The colorization is combined with light shading to add spatial information. |
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(B) Top view of the pavement of an underground parking garage. Here, a placed clipping box is used as reference for colorization in respect to the vertical axis. Here, the locations of drain pipes become visible. |
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(C) Colorization with respect to distance, based on a placed clipping box. A discrete color map is used with user-defined increments. |
Figure 2 – Three colorization examples. See individual captions for details.
Figure 2 showcases three examples. Note, that some of the examples use the optional shading in combination with the colorization.
Shading Options
The colorization can be combined with shading of the point cloud or other objects. The shading adds depth to point clouds that lack color or intensity data (Figure 3). The shading can also be applied to point clouds with color or intensity information and can improve the spatial impression. Two shading modes are available for this in the 3D View Tool Bar. For tine-tuning, a slider to set the shading strength is in the Visibility Settings of the 3D view.
Figure 3 – Three visual settings for a point cloud lacking color. The first image shows a point cloud without color. The second image uses light shading to add depth for more clarity. The third image combines the latter setting with Z-axis coloring.
Shading can be activated for the point cloud. Optionally, it can also be activated for mesh and CAD objects (Figure 4).
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Figure 4 – The two shading options applied to project using the distance colorization. The left image shows point cloud shading only. The right image shows the shading also applied to mesh objects, which includes CAD geometry.
Angular Measurements in the SendTo App
Figure 5 – Four new measurement tokens for angular measurements are added to the SendTo app. The four predefined macros (lower row) illustrate their use.
The SendTo app now supports tokens for angular measurements. The four introduced measurement tokens include the following options (Figure 5):
- Spatial Angle measurement by clicking three points.
- Inclination Angle by clicking two points.
- Directional Angles by clicking two points. Output can be reported counterclockwise to X-axis (mathematical angle) or clockwise relative to N (azimuth).
Angles can be reported to your target application in decimal degrees (0…360°), radians (0…2π) or grads (0…400g). The measurements can be applied relative to a UCS or the horizontal plane.
SendTo and SendToSEMA Apps Support Measurements Relative to UCS
Measurements taken in the SendTo and SendToSEMA apps now support the UCS. When an UCS is set to active, the measurements taken by the apps will report back the coordinates relative to the placed UCS instead of the world coordinate system. Without an active UCS, the world coordinate system is used as before.
Other Improvements
PanoCam Project File Support
As-Built Modeler 2021.0 can read and write SCENE project files containing data from FARO’s PanoCam functionality. As-Built Modeler does not contain processing capabilities for colorization of scan point clouds with the PanoCam data. This functionality is provided in the processing section of SCENE.
Fixed Issues
- Selection Tool window in the Explorer tab now supports higher screen scaling values (SCAB-1300).
- Interaction with manipulators resulted in some cases in ABM becoming unresponsive. This is now fixed (SCAB-1332).
- Projects using transformations resulted in some cases in an orientation mismatch between the UCS and the coordinate system. This is now fixed (SCAB-1442).
- Changes to the Visibility Settings are now directly applied and provide instant visual feedback.
- Variety of other stability and UI improvements.
Known Issues
- As-Built Modeler 2021.0 is not compatible to Windows version earlier than Microsoft Windows 10 as we depreciated outdated elements.
- Some handbooks provided with the initial release do not describe the latest functionality. Updated localized handbooks will be provided in a patch as soon as they are available. Until then, refer to the English handbook for description on the latest functionality.
- Shading and Colorization Settings are not saved in the project file. Upon saving and re-opening the solution, settings will need to be re-entered to obtain the same visual effect.
- Light Shading on CAD objects or mesh objects may lead to a stronger visual effect as the use of Dark Shading. In such cases use the Shading Strength slider in the Visibility Settings.
- Virtual Reality Views may initiate at 0,0,0. When entering the Virtual Reality view, the viewer is placed on the position of the first scanner. If your project contains only a project point cloud but no scanner position, you will enter the VR view at the location 0,0,0. This can be far from your intended position. Please save a Viewpoint prior to entering the VR mode and select the viewpoint from the VR menu to jump to the appropriate location.
- Some imported CAD objects show triangles. There are differences in how CAD applications structure their data when exporting. In some cases, CAD geometry is therefore rendered in outlined triangles when imported into As-Built Modeler. In this case, hiding the lines will improve rendering performance and quality.
- CAD import supports CAD geometry with an internal memory consumption of up to 2GB. The memory consumption is a function of the complexity and structure of the CAD file. Should your imported CAD model exceed this threshold you may need to split your model for import. You can combine the model after import back to a composite geometry.
- Clipping box parameters cannot be accessed from the Orthophoto app. The button to open the clipping box properties from within the app works only when used within SCENE. The change the properties, right-click onto the clipping box in the structure tree and access the properties from there.
More Information
For more details, visit the FARO website or browse to the As-Built Modeler Knowledge Base homepage.
As-Built Modeler 2020 and Earlier Release Notes