A BIM team is tasked with modelling existing conditions for an older building ahead of a refurbishment. The record drawings are incomplete and decades of minor changes have gone undocumented. Before any modelling can start, they need a reliable as-built reference layer.
Buying a scanner for a single project is hard to justify, so the team rents a Lixel K2 for the capture phase. The rental covers the reality-capture step; the modelling stays in-house where the BIM expertise lives.
Point cloud first, model second
The Lixel K2 captures a registered point cloud of the building in a series of planned walks. Processed in LixelStudio and exported as LAS, E57, or RCP, that cloud drops straight into the BIM environment as a measurable backdrop the modellers trace and verify against.
Keeping capture and modelling separate is deliberate. The renter controls schedule and site access; the BIM team controls model quality and LOD. Neither waits on the other.
Capture and model, in lockstep
The two streams stay coordinated through four checkpoints:
- Agree. Set tolerance, LOD expectations, and the formats the BIM environment needs before any capture.
- Capture. Walk the building with the rented K2, planning control and loop closures for larger structures.
- Export. Process in LixelStudio and export LAS / E57 / RCP reference for Revit or AutoCAD.
- Model. The BIM team models against the reference; a processing partner can assist if needed.
Honest about the whole chain
Device specifications describe ideal conditions. What reaches the model depends on capture technique, site conditions, control strategy, and processing. For tolerance-critical or compliance work, the team agrees requirements with the modellers in advance and states them in the rental enquiry so the right tier and onboarding are arranged. These are reference workflows, not certified survey deliverables. Where survey-grade control is required, plan for additional control and verification.
- Around 1 cm relative accuracy at device level
- Real-world results depend on technique and conditions
- Define tolerance and LOD before capture
- Reference workflow, not a certified survey
One boundary stays clean throughout: Volumet rents the capture equipment and supports the capture workflow. The BIM model is built by the team, or by a processing partner, against the point cloud reference.