An application of digital point cloud to historic architecture in digital archives

Currently, the process of conservation by digitizing historic buildings is a key technology in cultural heritage preservation that needs further improvement. However, a comprehensive survey of projects of digital archives shows that traditional, time-consuming construction methods were adopted most, as in taking pictures or cartographing physical buildings through AutoCAD to construct digital data. This study adopted reverse engineering to explore digitalizing constructions and employed a fast and precise 3-D laser scanner to retrieve point cloud data and then import the data into Rapidform XOR2, an application used in reverse engineering, to process point cloud data and construct 3-D models. The results were then converted from 3-D models into 2-D pictures by parameterization software Pro/ENGINEER to provide designers precise and realistic dimensional data, which effectively reduced time in cartography and increased historic building dimension precision during digitalization. The foregoing data was documented and compared, and a digital value-added effect could be possible in the future. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.