Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
CLR, E57, FLS, FWS, IXF, LAS, MPC, OBJ, PCG, PTG, PTS, PTX, RDS, REP, RXP, TXT, ZFPRJ, and
ZFS. If you're having a scan performed on your building, you'll want to ensure that the point
cloud you receive from the scanner will be one of those file types.
Point Cloud Size
Point clouds are made up of millions of points in a three-dimensional field. Because each point not
only contains x, y, and z data but can also contain rgB color values (in the case of a color scan),
point cloud files can be very large. They can be so large, in fact, that data from a single scan point
can be 4 or 5 gB in size, making the entire scan require up to hundreds of gigabytes of storage.
holding one or more of these scans can eclipse your office's network capabilities. Be careful not to
overload your network with scan data.
Once you receive the point cloud files from the scanner, the next step is to get them loaded
into your model. For the following exercise, we're going to use an example point cloud scan of
the lighthouse at Fort Gratiot. The lighthouse was the first in the state of Michigan; built in 1829,
it marks the entrance to the St. Clair River from Lake Huron. The point cloud was generously
donated for use in this topic by Midwestern Consulting, who performed the LiDAR scan and
created the point cloud (
www.midwesternconsulting.com)
.
