Autodesk ReCap Pro for Windows

Autodesk ReCap Pro turns laser scans and photographs into point clouds and meshes you can work with inside AutoCAD, Civil 3D and Revit. It is the bridge between what a scanner captures on site and what your design software can actually use.

What Autodesk ReCap Pro does

A laser scanner or drone produces millions of raw measurement points. That data is unusable in CAD until it has been registered, cleaned and converted into a format your design software reads.

The Autodesk ReCap Pro software indexes the raw scan files, aligns multiple scan positions into one coordinate system, removes noise, and outputs RCP and RCS files that AutoCAD, Civil 3D and Revit attach directly.

The workflow in practice

1. Capture the site with a laser scanner, drone or camera
2. Import the raw scans or photos into ReCap Pro
3. Register the scan positions into one aligned point cloud
4. Clean, classify and decimate the data to a workable size
5. Export as RCP or RCS and attach it in your design software

Step three is where most of the value sits. Registering scans by hand is slow and error-prone; the reality-capture tools in ReCap Pro automate the alignment and let you correct it where needed.

What the recap pro subscription unlocks

The free tier is now called ReCap Standard, and it is the same desktop application as the paid product — a recap pro subscription simply unlocks the professional features on top of it.

The short version: if you only need to view and attach point clouds someone else prepared, the free Standard tier covers it. If you are processing your own scan data, the recap pro subscription is what you need.

One honest caveat about cloud processing

The desktop registration and editing tools are included in your plan. But cloud-based services — Scan to Mesh and ReCap Photo photogrammetry — consume Autodesk Flex tokens on top of the subscription. Budget for those separately if your workflow leans on cloud processing rather than desktop registration.

Point clouds into AutoCAD, Civil 3D and Revit

This integration is the reason to choose ReCap Pro over standalone scan-processing software.

AutoCAD

Attach an RCP file and draft directly against the scan. Object snaps work on point cloud geometry, so you trace existing conditions rather than measuring from photographs.

Civil 3D

Point clouds become existing-ground surfaces. Ground classification separates terrain from vegetation and structures before you build the TIN surface, which is the difference between a usable surface and a mess.

See Autodesk Civil 3D for the surface, corridor and earthwork side of that workflow.

Revit

Scan-to-BIM work starts here. Attach the point cloud, then model walls, floors and structure against real measured geometry instead of drawings that may not match what was built.

See Autodesk Revit for the BIM modeling side.

Photogrammetry — building 3D from photographs

You do not need a laser scanner to use ReCap Pro. It processes overlapping photographs into a textured 3D model.

Drone photography of a site, or handheld photos of a building facade, both work. Accuracy is lower than laser scanning, but for visual documentation and rough as-built context it is often sufficient — and considerably cheaper than hiring a scanning crew.

What photogrammetry suits

• Drone capture of sites, roofs and stockpiles
• Facade documentation where scanner access is difficult
• Visual records for progress documentation
• Rough existing-condition context ahead of detailed survey

For dimensional accuracy that a design will be built from, laser scanning remains the right tool.

Point cloud to mesh conversion

Point clouds are collections of individual points. Some workflows need continuous surfaces instead — visualization, 3D printing, or handing geometry to software that cannot read point data.

The autodesk recap pro software converts scans to mesh, with decimation controls that reduce the polygon count without destroying the shapes that matter.

Intelligent decimation is worth understanding here: rather than removing points evenly, it keeps density where geometry is complex and thins it where surfaces are flat.

Supported formats

Most scanners export E57 as a common denominator, so brand compatibility is rarely the obstacle it once was.

Recap pro price and the collection question

Autodesk sells this as a subscription only. Here is what the recap pro price looks like on a 12-month term, and how it compares against the collection.

Be honest with yourself about which one you need

ReCap Pro on its own is only useful if you already own the design software you are feeding. Point clouds are not the deliverable — they are an input.

If you need Civil 3D or Revit as well, the AEC Collection includes ReCap Pro alongside both and costs far less than buying them separately. Most people arriving at this page are better served by the collection.

Standalone makes sense when you already have the design tools and only need to add scan processing.

Who uses ReCap Pro

Surveyors

Registering scan positions, classifying ground, and delivering point clouds clients can actually open in their own software.

Civil engineers

Existing-ground surfaces from scan or drone data for road, drainage and site design.

Architects and BIM managers

Scan-to-BIM on refurbishment and retrofit projects, where drawings rarely match what was built.

Construction teams

Progress documentation and verifying built work against the model before problems become expensive.

Version years and device use

An active autodesk recap pro subscription includes access to the three previous releases through your Autodesk account, so you are not locked to the newest version.

You can install the software on up to three devices, though only the named user can sign in and use it on one machine at a time.

Version access matters when a client specifies which release their deliverables must be produced in, or when a scanner’s file format is only supported from a particular version onward. Note that ReCap 360 was the older cloud-based name for this product line — today’s product is ReCap Pro.

How to buy and activate

1. Add the 12-month subscription to your cart
2. Complete checkout using Visa, Mastercard or PayPal
3. Receive your license details by email, usually within minutes
4. Sign in to your Autodesk account and redeem the entitlement
5. Download the installer from Autodesk and sign in to activate

Instructions come with the email. If activation stalls, email support@zoftis.com or call +1 934-202-5786 — we reply within an hour, almost around the clock.

When your 12 months end

The professional features stop, dropping back to the free Standard tier. Your RCP and RCS files remain on disk — and importantly, point clouds already attached in AutoCAD, Civil 3D or Revit keep working, because those applications read the files directly.

What you lose is the ability to register and process new scans. Renewing the autodesk recap pro subscription restores it with nothing lost.

Related Autodesk products

• Autodesk AEC Collection — includes ReCap Pro with Civil 3D, Revit and AutoCAD; usually the better buy
• Autodesk Civil 3D — turns your processed point clouds into surfaces, corridors and earthwork
• Autodesk Revit — model against scan data for scan-to-BIM and retrofit work
• AutoCAD for Windows — draft directly on top of an attached point cloud
• BIM Collaborate Pro — coordinate scan-based models across the whole project team