Real View on Autodesk ReCap 360:

Getting Started Guide

Real View on Autodesk ReCap 360 is an online service that provides viewing, measurement,
annotation and sharing of laser scan projects through a web browser.
Laser scans collected from terrestrial 3D scanners such as the FARO Focus3D or Z+F IMAGER 5010 create
panoramic range images that are booth visually compelling as well as measurable. These panoramas are
excellent communication tools for conveying real-world conditions of a scanned environment without
having a physical presence. Real View provides an online and installation-free tool for viewing and
sharing this data without owning or managing a server.

Real View on Autodesk ReCap 360

Contents
1.

Publishing a ReCap project ................................................................................................................... 3

2.

Viewing a Published Project with Real View ......................................................................................... 8

3.

Real View Overview ............................................................................................................................ 11

Real View Interface ................................................................................................................................. 11
Measurement and Annotation ............................................................................................................... 11
Sharing from ReCap 360 ......................................................................................................................... 15

1. Publishing a ReCap project

Publishing a scan dataset to ReCap 360 requires Autodesk ReCap. If you do not currently have ReCap
installed on your desktop, it can be downloaded for free from www.autodesk.com/recap.

(1) Open ReCap.

1. Once ReCap is started, publishing begins with either (A) opening an existing project of scans or
(B) creating a new project and importing scans. NOTE: Real View only supports data created
from terrestrial laser scanners, which include file types FLS, ZFS, PTX and E57.

(2) Option (B) create a project and set the working directory.
2. If you start with option (A), first open a project fie (.RCP) and launch the project (skip steps 3 to
4). If you start with option (B), create a new project by naming the project and selecting a
working data directory. Click proceed to continue.

(3) Import scans.

3. Next, import scans by browsing to the scan directory or dragging-and-dropping scan files into
the screen. Each scan will be represented as an icon with an import progress bar encircling it.
NOTE: If you are creating a new project, your scans may not be registered. Registration is the
process of aligning scans into the same coordinate system. Registration is exclusively a feature of
ReCap Pro, which is not covered in this guide. To learn more about registration and how to
obtain ReCap Pro, go to www.autodesk.com/recap.

(4) Index scans and launch the project.

4. If your scans have not been indexed, you must first wait until all scans have been indexed and
prepared for publishing. A progress bar on the left hand side of the application will inform you
of index completion. When everything has been indexed, click launch project to proceed.
Publish icon.

5. Sign into Autodesk 360

5. To publish the project, click on the

icon at the top of the application. Note: you must have
an Autodesk 360 account and be logged into Autodesk 360 before you can publish. If you have
not logged in, you will receive the following message and must sign into Autodesk 360 by clicking
on the sign-in icon at the top of the application:

Note: you must save the project before you can publish. If you did not save you will receive the
following message and be prompted to save:

6. After logging into your Autodesk 360 account and saving the project, a window will pop up
asking you to name the Real View project. You also have the option to add project collaborators
once the project is completed uploading. If you choose not to invite collaborators now, you can
always add or remove collaborators from Real View on ReCap 360. Click publish to proceed.
Upload progress

(7) Wait for the project to complete uploading.

7. The project will now be uploaded to Real View. A progress bar at the top of the application will
show how much data has been uploaded. Upload time depends on the size of the project and its
associated scan files. Wait until the project has completed publishing before shutting down the
application.

8. If you checked the display sharing options after publish option, a dialog box will appear after
publishing is complete. You can now add project collaborators to the project by typing their
email address in the connection textbox and clicking Add. Click Save and Invite to proceed.

2. Viewing a Published Project with Real View

To review the project, you must now log into ReCap 360. Open a browser and go to
recap360.autodesk.com or click on the
Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

icon in Autodesk ReCap. Note: supported browsers include

(1) Open recap360.autodesk.com and sign in.

1. When you arrive on the ReCap 360 landing page, sign into the site by clicking on the sign in
button. If you do not have an Autodesk 360 account, click on the link Do not have an account?
to sign up.

Most recent project

(2) Open the published project by clicking on its thumbnail from the gallery preview.
2. Open the recently published project by clicking on the project thumbnail from the recent
projects viewer. If you wish to learn more about ReCap Pro or see more examples of scan
projects, click on the

icon and then click on either videos or examples buttons.

(3) Open the published project by clicking on its thumbnail from the gallery preview.
3. When the published project first loads, you will see a photo-realistic plan view of the project. To
load one of the panoramic views, click on one of the circular scan icons.

3. Real View Overview

(1) Return to main page
(2) Navigation map

(3) Scan list

(6) View window

(5) Tool menu

(4) Project navigator

Real View Interface

The Real View interface allows you and your collaborators to navigate, view, measure and annotate
scans. The interface is composed of the following components
(1) Home button. Clicking this returns you to the ReCap 360 home page.
(2) Navigation map. This shows a top-down view of the scan data set. Clicking on a scan icon in this
map will load a scan in the View. Clicking the arrow buttons will maximize and minimize the map
view. Clicking the +- buttons will zoom into or out of the map, respectively.
(3) Scan list. These list all scans in the project. Clicking on one of these will load a scan in the View.
(4) Project navigator. This button toggles the Scan list.
(5) Tool menu. This button toggles the measurement and annotation tools.
(6) View window. This is the main view for reviewing scans. You can zoom in and out and pan
around the image.

Measurement and Annotation

Real View provides the ability to measure and markup scan views. By default, measurements and
markups are not saved. You will be explicitly prompted to save your changes each time a measurement
or annotation is made. Once save, all project collaborators will also see and be able to edit these
markups.

(1) Click on the tool menu and select distance to measure.

1. To take a measurement, click on the tool menu. Two menu options will appear. Clicking on the
Distance icon will place you into measurement mode.

(2) Click to points in the image to measure.

Save the project
2. Click on two points and a measurement will appear. Note: units of the measurement are defined
in the project. To change the units, you must change the units setting in Autodesk ReCap and
re-publish the project.
By default, the measurement is not saved to the project. A blue icon will appear at the bottom
of the screen prompting you to save. Click on it to save the project.

(3) Click on the tool menu and select note to annotate.

3. To make an annotation, click on the tool menu. Two menu options will appear. Clicking on the
Note icon will place you into annotation mode.

(4) Click on a location in the view to make an annotation.

4. Click on a spot in the image to make an annotation. A text box will appear where you can enter
your markup. Note: you can also embed hyperlinks into the text box. Hyperlinks are convenient
ways to link support documents, maintenance logs or other network based asset documentation
to your data.
By default, annotations are not saved to the project. A blue icon will appear at the bottom of the
screen prompting you to save. Click on it to save the project.

(5) Click on the annotation maker to review and edit the annotation.

5. When you save an annotation, it will appear as a marker in the View. Click on the marker to see
the annotation. You may also edit or remove the marker.

Sharing from ReCap 360

Change collaborators

To add or remove collaborators, return to ReCap 360 and mouse over the project thumbnail. Three
icons will appear. Click on the

icon to change collaborators.