A Basic Tutorial Guide to

Cyclone Modeling
1. Cyclone Interface
1.1. Definition & Terms.
1.2. Maneuvering in Cyclone.
1.3. Toolbars.
2. Viewing the Cloud
2.1. Temporary Modelspaces.
2.2. The Limit Box.
2.3. TruSpace.
3. Modeling
3.1. Modeling Primitives.
3.2. Modeling Complex Shapes.
3.3. Modeling with tables
4. Exporting & Impoting
4.1. Exporting Objects.
4.2. Importing Objects.
5. Shortcuts

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 The process of creating CAD (Computer-Aided Design) objects. In Cyclone, models are based on 3D point cloud data.
CAD models involve more than only shapes as they can also convey information, such as materials, processes,
dimensions, and other user-specific details.

1 Cyclone Interface
1.1 Definitions & Terms

ScanWorld: A single scan or collection of scans that are aligned to a common coordinate system. Scanworlds
contain ControlSpaces and ModelSpaces.
ControlSpace : Contains the constraint information used to register multiple scans together.

ModelSpace: Contains information from the database that has been modeled, process, or changed in some way.

ModelSpace Views: Where you make any/all changes on a point cloud or create 3D models.

1.2 Maneuvering in Cyclone

Holding the left mouse button to rotate around the central point in your modelspace view. Hold the “ALT” key
to rotate slower by a factor of 10.
Holding the right mouse button to pan in your modelspace view. Hold the “ALT” key to pan slower by a factor
of 10.
Holding the middle mouse button to zoom towards and away in your modelspace view. Hold the “ALT” key to
zoom slower by a factor of 10.
This allows you to select the center point of your modelspace view. When Seeking: If you hold down ‘Shift’ then
pick your seek point on a point cloud, you will look at that particular cloud as the scanner saw the scene
Pick Mode allows you to select objects or single points of your cloud. When Picking: If you hold down ‘Shift’ you
can pick multiple picks in Single Pick Mode

1.3 Toolbars
Utilizing the Tool Bar for selection and toggling between modes will make this much easier rather than navigating
through the pull down menus. (Right Click in any part of the menu bar section to pull down the selection list –> Check
the Modes selection –> Dock it somewhere on your screen by clicking and dragging). Beware that toolbars “hide” or
dock behind others and tend to drift off of the screen. If you can’t locate a toolbar that is listed as showing, drag toolbars
to look behind them.

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2 Viewing the Cloud
Whilst viewing the cloud in its entirety is great for general information and orientation, it is important to section the
cloud when modeling, this allows for easier interpretation of the cloud, better software calculation and improved
system performance. Methods in sectioning the cloud to a desired location are;

2.1 Temporary Modelspaces

In your model fence the area in which you wish to focus your modeling:
Right Click –> “Copy Fenced to New ModelSpace”.
(Copying specific areas into temporary or smaller model spaces while modeling allows the user to focus on the pertinent
data, making navigation and file handling faster and more efficient. It also allows the user to experiment without
threatening the integrity of the original, complete model world. As long as the coordinate system has not been altered,
the user can copy/paste (CTRL + C and CTRL + V or Edit –> Copy/Paste) between ModelSpaces and data will transfer in its
correct location.
When closing the new “working” model space, the user has three options;
 Merge into Original ModelSpace - Everything re-imports, points, objects, etc.
 Remove Link from Original ModelSpace - (the “working” Modelspace will be saved but will not be associated
with the original)
 Delete after close” - the ModelSpace and all work in it will be removed.
Notes to remember:
 If this dialogue box is closed without a selection, the temporary ModelSpace will be saved in the project with a
default name assigned.
 Cyclone does not use a SAVE command; instead, every action is saved, with the option to UNDO, as the user
works. It is important to pay attention to how model spaces are closed and saved while adjusting to this.
 Cyclone allows multiple ModelSpaces to have the same name leading to confusion if not accounted for.

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 2.2 Limit Boxes
Rather than constantly clipping sections of your cloud to a new modelspace a limitbox can be used to section the area
you wish to focus on, to view your limit box:
View –> Limit Box.
A limit box has nodes which can be adjusted to resize the width, length and height. These nodes can also be manipulated
by handles. To rotate the limit box about any axis.

Figure 8 (Left) limitbox around a desired area (right)limitbox with handles.

2.3 Truspaces
Truspaces are views that are constrained to individual scanner locations. Note you cannot PAN a view in a truspace.
Once a series of scans are aligned, you can view their individual TruSpaces and also jump between them from within the
registered ModelSpace. You can also do basic measurements and extract targets in TruSpaces. To view a scans TruSpace:
I. View –> Truspace –> Show Scanworlds.
II. Select the Scanworld Icon in your Modelspace View.
III. View –> Truspace –> Open Truspace.

3 Modeling
3.1 Modeling Primitive Objects
Cyclone modeling can be very complicated or simple based on the modeler’s interpretation of the point cloud. The
recommended method to approach modeling is to first break down the object to primitive shapes such as cylinders,
boxes, cones, spheres and patches. Cyclone has tools for advanced modeling methods however primitive objects can
provide a start for which more complex objects can be added. Primitive Objects can all be created by one of three
methods.
Method 1 – Create Object:
1. Select the point where you would like to insert the primitive.
2. Create Object –> Insert –> Cylinder/Box/Sphere, etc.

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The created primitive can then be modified and repositioned to fit the cloud.
Method 2 – Fit to Cloud (More Conservative):
1. Draw a fence across cloud using appropriate fence tool.
2. Once the fence has been drawn, right click, Point Cloud Sub Selection –> Add Inside Fence.
3. Next, make sure there are no points BEHIND the surface that may have accidentally got selected. If there are, draw
another fence around them, right click – Point Cloud Sub Selection –> Remove Inside Fence (may have to repeat
multipe times).
3. Once you have the cloud area properly selected, Create Object –> Fit to Cloud –> Cylinder/Box/Sphere, etc.
Method 3 – Fit to Fence:
1. Draw a fence across cloud using appropriate fence tool.
2. Next, make sure there are no points BEHIND the surface that may have accidentally got selected. If there are, you
may need to pan around to a clearer section then repeat step 1.
3. Once you have the cloud area properly selected, Create Object –> Fit Fenced –> Cylinder/Box/Sphere, etc.

3.2 Modeling Complex Objects

Complex objects can be modeled in by combining primitives with other complex creations eg. extruded patches. Or by
using the 2D drawing mode to create the complex shapes.
Editing Patches:
Make Rectangular: When patches are created, they have multiple edges and vertices. It is a good rule of thumb, to
make all patches rectangular before editing them. To make patches rectangular;
1. Multi-select all patches –> Edit Object –> Patch –> Make Rectangular.
Note: When made rectangular, patches will sometimes extend beyond the surface being modelled. Use the handles to
drag the corners/edges so that they are completely within the area of the surface being modelled.

Figure 8 (Left) Surface to apply patch to is highlighted in yellow; (Center) Patch created and made rectangular – note
the corners extend beyond the surface being modeled; (Right) Using the handles, the patch has been dragged so that it is
completely within the surface being modelled.

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Extending Patches:
Extending patches extends the boundary of the selected patches to intersect together. There are several options to
do this. To extend all patches to one another:
1. Multi-select the patches to extend –> Edit Object –> Extend All Objects.
To extend patches to a single patch:
1. Multi-select patches to extend
2. Selec the patch which the others are to extend to
3. Edit Object –> Extend to Last Selection
Note: you may also extend to a reference plane with this command.
Slicing Patches:
As objects/patches are extended, they may extend beyond the plane or object specified. Patches may be sliced by
adjacent patches to clean up corners. To slice patches:
1. Multi-Select Patches to Slice -> Create Object -> Slice ->
 By All in Selection (Every patch selected is sliced where it intersects with every other patch).
 By Last Selection (Every patch selected is sliced where it intersects with the last object selected).
 By Reference Plane (Every patch selected is sliced by specified Reference Plane).
Extruding Patches:
1. Select the patches to extrude.
2. Edit Object –> Extrude.
 Extrude Perpendicular (Selected patch is extruded perpendicular to its surface to a specified distance).
 Extrude to last Pick (Selected patch is extruded to the last pick point in the respective axis).
 Extrude Along Axis (Selected patch is extruded along a specified axis in a specified distance).

Figure 11 (Left) Creating a rectangular patch then multi-selecting the patch (1) and a point on the wall (2) to extrude it to (Right) The resulting
extrusion
3.1 Modeling a Non-Rectangular Patch
Quick Discussion on 2D Drawing and Reference Planes

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 To create a non-rectangular patch, you use the tools on the 2D drawing toolbar. If the drawing toolbar is not
enabled, right click anywhere in the Toolbar area and add the Drawing Toolbar
IMPORTANT: All 2D drawings in Cyclone are constrained to a base plane. To view the active reference plane, go to
Tools –> Reference Plane –> Show Active Plane. All cyclone projects come with a default XY plane (Z normal) – shown to
the below.
You can add numerous reference planes to a project: Tools –> Reference Plane –> Add/Edit. You can also move
reference planes and assign them to selected objects: Select Object -> Right Click -> Set on Object. If you are not working
in a specific coordinate system, it is easiest just to move the active reference plane to the object that you are trying to
model.

Figure 12: The base XY plane in all Cyclone projects.

Model a Non Rectangular Patch

To model a non-rectangular patch such as a unique outline of a wall, first fence and create a small patch on the wall.
Next, go to Tools –> Reference Plane –> Set on Object to align the reference plane along the same direction as the newly
created patch. Select the patch, select ViewPoint –> Align to Selection, this constrains the view to be directly
perpendicular to the patch. At this point, it is important not to rotate the view, if necessary choose View –> View Lock –>
Rotate.
Next choose the appropriate 2D drawing tool, in this case Draw Polygon tool ->Trace the feature of interest ->
Accept/Create the drawing by either clicking the green check button at the top of the Drawing Toolbar or Right Click ->
Create. The 2D sketch should turn bright green with orange handle at the intersections. Edit the sketch as needed. Next
to create a patch from the 2D sketch, select the sketch -> Create Object –> From Curves –> Patch.
Note: viewing orthogonally or perspectively affects visibility and clarity of features; toggle between views with hot

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 Figure 13: (Left) Drawing a small patch along a section of wall and (Right) Aligning the base reference plane to that patch in order to use the 2D
drawing tools

Figure 14: Mode Toolbar shows whether current view is orthogonal or perspective

Figure 15: (Left) 2D Curve sketched on building feature profile (Right) Patch fit to the curve

3.2 Modeling with Tables

Objects with industry standard information can be easily created, giving your model a level of intelligence and added
value. To model with standard information tables you must first select the tables you wish to work with. To work with
tables:
I. Edit –> Object Preferences.
II. Select the objects and the specification you wish to model to.
III. Apply and accept the settings you require.
Piping Models can quickly and easily created with the aid of the pipe modeling tool, to access this tool simply:
I. Tools –> Piping –> Pipe Modeling.

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 II. Standard piping object components can quickly be added to the model without the need to region grow or fit to
fenced.
III. Select the object type, size and placement location, preview the object then create to accept and insert.

Figure 6: (Left) object preferences window. (Right) Pipe Modeling window.

Creating standard object components
1. Standard Cylinders:
I. Model a cylinder using any of the methods mentioned.
II. When prompted select the objects and the specification you wish to model.
III. Apply and accept the settings you require.

Figure 6: insert standard pipe size selection

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 2. Standard Steel Components:
I. Select the section of the cloud you wish to insert the steel component into, using any of the cloud selection
methods.
II. Create Object –> Fit to Fence / Fit to Cloud –> Steel Section –> Angle/Channel/Wide Flange, etc.
III. When prompted select the objects and the specification you wish to model.
IV. Apply and accept the settings you require.

Figure 6: insert standard steel component selection

Adding standard Piping Components
I. Select the center node of the cylinder.
II. Select the component and the specification you wish to insert. Preview the component
III. Apply and accept the settings you require.

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 3.3 Modifying Objects
Objects in cyclone can be modified either by use of handles and constraints or by use of the object properties window
for a more defined modification.

Copying & Pasting Objects

I. Select the desired Object.
II. Edit –> Copy, deselect the object
III. Edit –> Paste (the copied object pastes in the exact location as the base object).
IV. Move to the desired location
Moving Objects
I. Select the desired Object, select any constraint node on the object.
II. Holding the ctrl key and drag the object to the desired location.
Resizing Objects
I. Select the desired Object, select any constraint node on the object.
An object’s constraint node determines what aspect of the objects geometry you wish to resize e.g, a cylinder
has constraint two(2) nodes, one at the center of the cylinder end and the other at a quadrant.
 The centre constraint node modifies the length of the cylinder.
 The quadrant constraint modifies the diameter of the cylinder.
II. Drag the constraint node to resize the object within the direction of the constraint.

4 Exporting and Importing

4.1 Exporting a COE file

On completion of your cyclone model you can then export from cyclone to a format readable and editable by other
softwares, the most common of which would be AutoCad, this is done by exporting a COE (Cyclone Object Exchange)
file, this file is known by the extension “.coe”. To export a .coe file:
I. Turn your point cloud off or ensure the cloud is un-selectable.
II. Zoom out of your model ensuring all the components you wish to export are visible in the window.
III. Select all the objects you wish to export. (cyclone does not export grouped objects, ungroup all objects before
exporting).
IV. File –> Export –> (select the export location, name the file and choose the file type) –> Click Save.
V. When prompted with the export option window. Ensure the “selected” box is checked –> Click Export.

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4.1 Importing a COE file
Brining a model together is easy by combining sections of models completed by various personnel. Importing a
completed model into a database can be quickly and easily performed. This is done by importing a COE (Cyclone Object
Exchange) file, this file is known by the extension “.coe”. To import a .coe file:
I. In your Cyclone Navigator, select the database you wish to import your model into.
II. Right click –> Import –> Navigate to the file you wish to import –> Open.
The imported model would now show up as an isolated modelspace completely separated from the modelspaces folder.
Moving your model from that modelspace to the working modelspace is simply by copying all the objects from that
modelspace to your working modelspace.
Note: importing an autocad model into your pointcloud is done by following the same steps however it must exported
on the same UCS as in cyclone.

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