---
title: "Basic Tutorial | Automatic creation of a Digital Terrain Model from a point cloud"
slug: "cyclone-3dr-auto-creation-of-a-digital-terrain-model-from-a-pc"
updated: 2026-09-07T11:51:38Z
published: 2026-09-07T11:51:38Z
canonical: "rcdocs.leica-geosystems.com/cyclone-3dr-auto-creation-of-a-digital-terrain-model-from-a-pc"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://rcdocs.leica-geosystems.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Basic Tutorial | Automatic creation of a Digital Terrain Model from a point cloud

> [!TIP]
> Open a new project and import the file **ExtractGround.nsd** ([download](https://www.cyclone3dr.com/download_helper.php?File=Cyclone3DRSampleData/ExtractGround.nsd)).

You can directly drag and drop it in the 3D scene, or [Import](/v1/docs/cyclone-3dr-importc) it. Be sure to set file unit to **meter**. It is the scan of a road going through a forest, so there is a large amount of vegetation to remove in order to keep only points on the ground.

Select the point cloud and launch [DTM](/v1/docs/cyclone-3dr-dtmc).

Set the maximum slope that can be seen in the terrain to **45**°. Choose **Z axis** as the direction for the computation. The **Extraction grid size** will give you the level of details in the final mesh. This value is computed by default, but you can set it to **0.15 m**.

Choose **Check noisy points** as extraction strategy.

Choose the **Refined** meshing strategy in order to improve the result.

Click **Preview** to get the resulting mesh. You can show or hide the initial cloud in order to better see the result.

It is also possible to extract the points that are on the ground, the points that are not on the ground and the noisy points. Click **OK** to create the mesh.

![image-20251022-084256.png](https://cdn.document360.io/820e11db-8ed5-45ae-ac86-f6b77dcb2aa7/Images/Documentation/image-20251022-084256.png)