So awhile back I downloaded a trial of Studio to check it out to see if it was worth going to subscription over my 2021 perpetual. Never got to try Scan Essentials as I didn’t have a point cloud or the time to play with. Now I have a job with a point cloud and figured I would trial Scan Essentials with my perpetual license and see how it works before purchase. Apparently since I trialed Studio I can’t trial Scan Essentials. Is there a remedy for this or do I just need to get a month of Undet ? I could probably do most of the work in TBC but it looks like Scan Essentials and Undet would both be faster.
Well nevermind, I see Scan Essentials is no longer a stand alone extension, only comes with Studio. Another bad move Trimble. Looks like Undet it is then.
? The difference between Pro and Studio is cheaper than a 1 year lease of Undet… switching to Studio would save you money, and get you V-Ray…
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TheOnlyAaron but it’s not cheaper than 1 month of Undet at $60 but we’ll see, I will have access to the SX10 and X7 so more point clouds may be in the horizon but I also have access to TBC. As far as Vray, don’t really want to learn a new rendering software, I currently have Thea and Enscape which I’ve been using both for a few years now.
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Too true! It’s good to have options!
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TheOnlyAaron though I never got to use Scan Essentials, I haven’t seen the one feature advertised that Undet has and that is to be able to use the coordinate system of the point cloud. To me this is huge and is something I think SU needs to address, not just for point clouds but in general, 90% of the files I receive are georeferenced to some coordinate system. Makes it hard to exchange data with other professionals, see my rant here Accurate Location of Model
In UNDET you can easily use georeferenced point cloud data set. Opening the UNDET project if your point cloud is georeferenced, software will offer to move your point cloud model to 0,0,0 point for smooth modelling without screen glitching. You can also try to model in large coordinates,but in most cases, it is impossible due to screen glitching and some tools will not work correctly.
Once the point cloud modelling work is done, just open Undet “coordinate system manager” and select “original” coordinate system. After this selection software will ask if you want to move your created 3D model together with point cloud to the “original” (georeferenced) position. When you do this, your model will be in the correct georeferenced position for further use or export.
Another use of this tool is when the position of the point cloud object is not important to you. And using UNDET coordinate system manager, you can align your point cloud to the existing 3D model, or align it to axes for easier modelling.
https://youtu.be/JvMug4Gh250 - this video will help you, if you are new with Undet and point cloud modelling workflow.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
MariusP, yes this is a great feature. Any plans on expanding this to include CAD files, survey points, shape files, etc. Maybe a separate extension ? If you look through this forum or over at Sketchucation seems a lot of people are looking for ways to import georeferenced data into SU without losing that georeferencing. And being able to export georefenced data out of SU would make it much easier to exchange data.
SketchUp is fascinating in that it has a large developer team. If there is such a need for a plugin, I think someone should develop it soon. With UNDET we are focused on point cloud data processing and working with them. 
P.S. You can import “Survey Points” with UNDET using “Custom TXT/ASCII Import” by selecting XYZ columns during UNDET project creation. https://youtu.be/6GoJwQSSpls
MariusP, I have downloaded the Undet trial, on the latest version of SU 2021, it seems to be hanging up SU, never opens, just the not responding message. Seems to load fine in SU 2020. I have the same extensions loaded in both so I don’t think it’s a conflict with another extension.
Our technical support will contact you today. I sent you a PM message.
I have some comments and a question regarding Scan Essentials.
I am using point clouds quite a bit in my workflow now, which is amazing. I had been using Undet over Scan Essentials, because when I first tried SE (via the extension/30 day trial) I was not able to move or modify the point cloud location. That issue has been resolved in the Sketchup Studio version and am now able to re-position the point cloud to align with my model.
In terms of comparing the two now, I can say it performs much better than Undet. I was constantly having models crash on startup with Undet point clouds, which is why I opted to subscribe to SU Studio/Scan Essentials. One big feature that Undet has and SE is missing is the ability to generate a mesh. I was able to extract a ground plane mesh for a very high-def site plan which was great. Hopefully SE will incorporate soon.
That said, I am having an issue with SE now. My point cloud is not saving it’s location setting in the model. Every time I open up the model that has my point cloud linked to it, it loads in a different location. I have to manually move it back in place each time which is consuming a lot of time throughout the day as I am working in multiple models. How do I lock/save the location of my point cloud??
The location is normally saved in the model. I have sent you a PM.
Martin, when did this start to happen? I can’t find your support ticket in our system. We had some issues with SketchUp 2021, and this Monday we released a bug fix update.