Clip Layer Tool

The Clip Layer tool lets you restrict a blending layer’s visibility to specific regions. By defining clip volumes, you control exactly which parts of a layer are shown, and how overlapping layers interact with each other.

Note

The Clip Layer tool only applies to blending layers. Floating layers (such as CAD models) render independently and are not affected by clip volumes. See Managing Layers for details on layer types.

How it works

By default, an entire layer is visible when added to a Twin. The Clip Layer tool lets you restrict visibility to specific regions, defined by a Box or Polygon volume. You can add as many clip volumes as needed per layer.

• A clip volume defines a region where the layer will remain visible.

• Areas outside of the clip volume will not be displayed.

• When multiple layers overlap, the clip volume of a higher layer will take priority over lower layers.

This means that the order of your blending layers matters:

• If Layer A is on top of Layer B and you create a clip volume on a small region of Layer A, only that region will be visible from Layer A, while all other areas fall back to showing Layer B.

Example scenario

Imagine you scanned an entire facility composed of 2 layers. Two months later, you rescan a single room due to renovations:

1. You add this new scan as a third layer, placed above the existing layers.

2. Using an Clip Layer tool, you draw a polygon around the room.

3. The Twin will now display the updated room from Layer 3, while the rest of the facility continues to show Layers 1–2.

This allows you to seamlessly update specific areas without reprocessing the entire site.

Here’s a visual way to see it:

Initial state

We added a new Terrestrial Laser Scan (TLS) layer on top of the existing ones. As we can see, there’s significant overlap in the middle of the scan, and the new layer introduces a lot of unwanted noise around the edges and impact the visual quality of the SLAM and Drone layer.

Applying the include mask

Next, we select the TLS Dataset layer and add an Include mask. This tells the system: “For this layer, only keep the central part of the scan, which is the area of interest.”

Result after masking

The include mask now takes priority over the other layers. Only the defined central area from the TLS dataset is displayed, while overlaps are resolved and the surrounding noise is cropped out.

Typical use cases

• Isolating target areas: Focus only on the target area when scans capture unnecessary surroundings.

• Updating localized changes: Add a new scan of a modified section and mask it in, leaving the rest untouched.

• Layer prioritization: Explicitly define where newer or higher-quality data should appear.

How to Use the Clip Layer Tool

Adding a Clip Volume

1. Select the layer where you want to add a clip volume.

   • This can be done either by selecting the layer directly in the 3D scene or from the left-side panel.

2. From the top-center toolbar, select the Clip Layer tool.

   1. 

3. Choose the volume type:

   • Box — Create a rectangular volume.

   • Polygon — Define a custom shape for more precise control.

4. Draw the volume directly in your Twin environment.

Note

Multiple clip volumes can be added per layer, and their effects will combine.

Editing Clip Volumes

1. Select the layer that contains the clip volume you want to edit.

2. You can select an existing volume either directly in the 3D scene or from the right-side panel.

3. From there, you can:

   • Move or resize the volume.

   • Delete a volume if it is no longer needed.