Case Study: Paul3D achieves rapid, accurate 3D as-built models for a historic Dutch village with Trimble X7

Scanning Brings New Light to a Historic Dutch Village

Paul3D, a Netherlands–based reality capture specialist founded by Paul van der Linden, was asked to produce a full as-built 3D model of the historic town center of Franeker for a lighting design project. With many structures dating back to the 1600s and few existing record drawings, traditional manual surveys would have taken months and been costly and time-consuming.

Using the Trimble X7 laser scanner with Trimble Perspective and RealWorks software, Paul3D completed 125 scans in two days plus 5,000 photos over three days, auto-registering scans in the field and delivering a single high-fidelity point cloud that was used to build an Autodesk 3DS Max model for the lighting designers. The workflow cut survey time from months to days, produced dimensionally accurate models even in wet weather, and has become the company’s standard approach for restoration and repair projects.

Paul3D

Paul van der Linden

Principal