Cropping and Downloading Point Clouds

In a Site, you can crop and download sections of a Point cloud in different file formats, so that you can edit your point clouds and import them into other software programs.

Notes:

• You need a valid instance key to use this feature.

• You need admin or editor permissions to crop and download point clouds.

• The georegistration of your data is preserved and you will be able to automatically place the cropped point cloud in the right location in the third-party point cloud tool of your choice. You can choose to use a Site Coordinate system, Spatial Reference System or one of your Datasets as a reference (in particular for external .e57 data).

The following data formats are available for download:

• .e57

• .e57 with panoramas

• .las

• .ply

• .pod (Pointools)

• .rcs

Cropping and Downloading Point clouds in 2D Map view

Procedure

1. Open the Crop & Download menu (Scissor icon), or right-click and select Crop and Download Point Cloud from the context menu.

2. If you're not already viewing the 2D map, click 2D at the top right corner. A 2D Map view of the current floor will open.

   

3. Use the floor changer on the right of the Map view to navigate to the floor you want to download your point cloud section from. By default, cropping a point cloud is limited to one floor.

4. On the map, from the square with the orange-colored border:

   1. Click the center of the square, hold down the left mouse button, and drag it to the section of the map that you want to crop.

   2. To expand or shrink the area you will crop, click on a point on the border of the square, hold down your mouse button, and adjust the size.

   3. Click the rotation arrow at the top of the square, hold down the left mouse button, and rotate it left or right.

   Note: If you want to further refine the area you have selected for cropping, go to the 3D view by clicking 3D in the top right corner. However, once you have made changes in the 3D view you cannot go back to the 2D view

5. If you want to exclude a dataset from the download, hover over the dataset in the Site structure list and click the eye icon to hide it.

   

6. From the Coordinate system options, select a coordinate system for the download. The following options are available:

   1. Select Site coordinate system to download the point cloud in the coordinate system that was previously chosen for the site.

   2. Select Spatial reference system to download the point cloud in another spatial reference system. Search for a spatial reference system and select it from the drop-down menu.

   3. Select Dataset to download the point cloud in the coordinate system of a specific dataset. Search for the name of a dataset and select it from the drop-down menu.

7. If you want to give the point cloud a custom name, select the pointcloud field at the bottom right and enter a name. You can also keep the default name pointcloud.

8. From the point cloud format drop-down menu, select the format for the point cloud (.e57, .ply, .las, .rcs, .pod (Pointools)).

9. Click Download.

Cropping and Downloading Point clouds in 3D View

Procedure

1. Open the Crop & Download menu (Scissor icon), or right-click and select Crop and Download Point Cloud from the context menu.

2. Start in the 2D view to first outline the area you want to crop. See Cropping and Downloading Point Clouds in 2D Map View for more details.

3. Switch to the 3D view by selecting 3D in the top right corner. A top-down view of your point cloud will open with a cube around the area selected for cropping.

   

4. Use the blue, red, and green axes to move, extend and rotate the selected area. Red represents the x-axis, green the y-axis, and blue the z-axis. Use the dots to enlarge the area selected for cropping: the straight axes move the selected area and the curved axes rotate the area along the x, y, and z dimensions.

   

   The 2D map in the bottom right corner will reflect the changes you make in the 3D view.

5. If you want to exclude a dataset from the download, place your cursor over the dataset in the Site structure list and click the eye icon to hide it.

   

6. From the Coordinate system options, select a coordinate system for the download. The following options are available:

   1. Select Site coordinate system to download the point cloud in the coordinate system that was previously chosen for the site. When you download a point cloud in site coordinate system, you will get point cloud coordinates with the base point selected for your site representing the origin of the local coordinate system.

   2. Select Spatial reference system to download the point cloud in another spatial reference system. Search for a spatial reference system and select it from the drop-down menu. The point cloud will be referenced in your EPSG geospatial coordinates. This is the option you want to use if your control points were georeferenced (in EPSG units).

   3. Select Dataset to download the point cloud in the coordinate system of a specific dataset. Search for the name of a dataset and select it from the drop-down menu. The point cloud will not be edited and the 0,0,0 point will be set to where the mapping was started with the VLX, meaning that all the points will be in the local coordinate system of the selected mapping.

7. If you want to give the point cloud a custom name, click the pointcloud field at the bottom right and enter a name. You can also keep the default name pointcloud.

8. From the point cloud format drop-down menu, select the format for the point cloud (.e57, .ply, .las, .rcs, .pod (Pointools)).

9. Select a file format from the drop-down menu.

   Note: The .las file format does not support Normals.

10. Click Download.

Cropping and Downloading .e57 files with panoramas

Export point clouds with embedded panoramas in .e57 format using the Crop & Download tool by clicking on the .e57 with panoramas option in the drop-down menu. This will include all panoramas inside the cropped area.

Notes:

• Only equirectangular panoramas are currently supported.

• The .e57 files contain unstructured point clouds and panorama images in a spherical representation if you enabled the option Include panoramas in .e57 point cloud in the processing settings. The files are compatible with the following third-party software:

  • Leica Cyclone 3DR Viewer

  • Cloud Compare

  • AVEVA

  • Prevu3D

  • PTC

  • Cintoo