Why did NavVis switch to a more efficient point cloud format?

On 28th May 2024 NavVis announced that it would be transitioning to a more efficient point cloud format, resulting in approximately 40% savings in dataset space and improving the overall performance once the migration is finished. This FAQ article answers some questions which might arise throughout the migration period.

Why is NavVis switching to a new point cloud format?

NavVis is switching to a more efficient, newer point cloud format. This transition is done in order to benefit from the following improvements:

• An approximate 40% savings in dataset space (freeing up storage for new projects).

• An improvement in the overall performance when viewing point clouds in NavVis IVION.

What will be the migration process?

Your datasets will be migrated in the upcoming weeks. During this period, the following functionalities may be temporarily unavailable during off-peak hours:

• Downloading bundles will not be available.

• Importing of datasets will be put on hold until the migration has finished.

• Loading datasets, bundles and maps will be put on hold until the migration has finished.

The migration process is scheduled to occur during off-peak hours, and you will receive direct notifications through the dataset management tab. For smaller IVION instances below 4TB of data storage, our numbers indicate that the migration takes between 3 to 6 hours for such instances.

For Enterprise instances with sizes larger than 4TB, the migrations are scheduled individually in collaboration with your Customer Success Manager (CSM). Your CSM will approach you individually to align and schedule a suitable migration period.

What are the requirements in order for my data to be migrated?

The migration is supported for Navvis IVION instances running IVION 11.2.2. and above.

In order to ensure that the migration can be run it's therefore mandatory to update to IVION 11.2.2.

What happens to older dataset? Are they still supported?

Yes, NavVis IVION will still support older datasets and they can be imported into NavVis IVION without any problem.

• Older datasets can be imported as usual.

• There will be a check to see if there is anything to import after the migration.

When using NavVis IVION On-Premise (NavVis IVION On-Premise) please ensure that you update to IVION v10.9.3. This is this minimum version that supports the new point cloud format.

Will the output format for IVION Processing and NavVis SiteMaker change?

NavVis IVION Processing: IVION Processing is already using the new point cloud format whenever data is processed. This means that all data being processed using IVION Processing has already been using the new point cloud format since the 24th of June 2024.

If you’re having difficulties importing your processed data into your NavVis IVION Instance make sure you’re using at least IVION version 11.2.2. to guarantee full compatibility.

NavVis Desktop Processing: NavVis SiteMaker does still output data using the old point cloud format for now. A switch to the new point cloud format is planned for one of the upcoming updates to NavVis SiteMaker and will be communicated in the changelog: NavVis Desktop Processing Changelog

Please ensure that you’re using the newest version of SiteMaker in order to guarantee full compatibility.

Does the output format for Crop&Download jobs change?

Since Crop & Download (Cropping and Downloading Point Clouds) does not rely on a proprietary NavVis format (e.g. .nvd, .bundle) there is no change for the output generated by our Crop & Download feature.