--- title: "Convert a point cloud produced in SiteMaker to another file format" slug: "how-to-convert-a-pointcloud-produced-in-sitemaker-to-another-file-format" tags: ["How to ...", "Troubleshooting"] updated: 2026-05-18T15:37:46Z published: 2026-05-18T15:37:46Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge.navvis.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How to convert a point cloud produced in SiteMaker to another file format ## Introduction ### Purpose When setting up a processing task in SiteMaker the choice for a file-format of the resulting Point cloud has to be made. By default, the PLY format is chosen. If by accident the wrong format has been chosen, the correct format can still be obtained by using a command line tool in the Ubuntu terminal. > [!NOTE] > **Note**: Available formats are: e57, ply, pts, pcd, xyz, las. Be aware that depending on the format chosen, specific information like RGB values or Normals are not available. ### Scope This applies to Desktop Processing. ## Procedure > [!WARNING] > **Important**: If you are only using the web-processed data (nvd-file) for upload, then reformatting is often not necessary. All formats including the full data (eg. RGB, intensity, or normals) will be imported as usual, and after upload, all formats will again be available for Crop & Download within NavVis IVION. 1. Open an Ubuntu terminal on your local workstation via the UI or with Ctrl + T. 2. Move to the folder `/datasets_proc/<dataset_id>` for the pointcloud you want to convert with the command ```plaintext cd //datasets_proc/ ``` 3. Within this folder, run the following command with the current format as first input and the targeted format as second input: ```plaintext nv_pcp pointcloud.ply pointcloud.las ``` 4. Adapt the point cloud name according to your project. You can check the name by opening the folder in a different window or by using auto-completion within the terminal (TAB). A three-dimensional representation of an environment, made up of many points. A point is defined by x, y and z coordinates, and it may or may not contain RGB, an intensity value, and normals. Normals are perpendicular to the tangent plane line at a particular point on the surface. They yield especially useful information about a curved surface's characteristics but conversely can tell us much about the planarity of a flat or angular surface also. Normals can tell us the rate of change of curvature when a surface has an angular departure and tell us just how perfectly flat something is. User Interface