CloudCompare What dose it do?

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James Hall
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CloudCompare What dose it do?

Post by James Hall »

Hello all,

I have been using Cyclone for most of my cloud registration and cyclone, microstation and autocad for data extraction over the last 13 years.
In that time, I've had a few .las files that would not load. My work around has been to load them into CloudCompare and re-save them so cyclone can do its thing.
Recently I have needed to look at meshing some non-tin surfaces for a side project and I keep running across CloudCompare as having good tools for that purpose. Currently I'm in the process of watching and taking notes on every CloudCompare Video I can get my eye balls on.
I'm always examining and trying to refine my process. What other ways could I utilizes CloudCompare in my normal tasks.

I have not been able to discern a good list of what CloudCompare can do Vs Cyclone.
Dose CloudCompare Register point Clouds, Yes.
Can it to do a rotation translation, Yes.
Dose CloudCompare handle common file formats, Yes.
Dose it have Meshing tools, Yes.

Here is what I'm trying to confirm.
Can you use it for drawing Poly-lines?
Can you use it for drawing vertexes?
Dose it support layering for Poly-lines and vertexes.

What are the difference between the programs? What can one do that the other cannot?

If I can confirm CloudCompare can do the most of the same things Cyclone dose then I can expand my data extraction capacity without major changes to our work flow. I do a lot of road and area Topo data extractions. The process is to draw Poly-lines and Vertexes and convert them into .txt files in C3D so the data can be read into a client's field to finish systems without any change to the deliverables or QA procedure.

Some of the resource I’ve been looking over.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CloudCompare
http://www.cloudcompare.org/doc/qCC/Clo ... manual.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFDjQYHI5kk

What other resources would be recommended?

James,
Last edited by James Hall on Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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3DForensics
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Re: CloudCompare What dose it do?

Post by 3DForensics »

Hi James,

The main limitation to CloudCompare is that it does not register multiple scans simultaneously. It only does 2 at a time and does not have global registration as far as I know. So you can draw polylines and vertices but it has a lot of other functions like filters, editing tools and such that are sometimes better than what you get in paid packages.

I am not a Cyclone user but by all accounts, it is a comprehensive package. CloudCompare lets you do some things that you can't do in other packages like take a height ramp and apply the colors as the new RGB values. You can also have many scalar fields (intensity, height or whatever). You can also create a point picking list and it will export as a text file for you (if that is your thing).

The resources you listed are decent and YouTube seems to be my best friend for learning these days.

Regards,

Eugene
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Re: CloudCompare What dose it do?

Post by James Hall »

3DForensics wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:29 pm You can also create a point picking list and it will export as a text file for you (if that is your thing).

Eugene
Good to know!

The text file thing is a requirement of a State DOT "department of transportation". They require rw5 files as part the survey deliverable.
I code objects and add start and stop codes per their survey spec so the files they receive match GPS / total station files. This is a MicroStation / seed file /Template deliverable issue. All data is going though Inroads MicroStation with no file conversions from tried party software.
The line work, coding and QA checks start with rw5 in their state plane coordinates. No assumed anything, all must be done in their grid, localized to their control. The DOT is aware that rw5 are not Laser Scan friendly and have been informed on the process we are using.

The txt file gets edited into the rw5 starting with a comma delimited files.
It's round about I know but it makes them happy. :roll:

James
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Re: CloudCompare What dose it do?

Post by Mike Annear »

Hi James,
CloudCompare is one of my favorite software packages, I use it every day.
I am pretty sure it is capable of far more than what I use it for.

It is brilliant if you work with Classified LAS files,
It is great as a simple file translater, ie from LAS to E.57
It is very fast for subsampling large files.
It does a pretty decent job of meshing a pointcloud,(with the poisson Recon plugin)
It will extract a nice neat pointcloud from a CAD model.
It can transfer scan Intensity to RGB (very handy for Rhino 3D users like me)
It is great for quickly rotating,translating and trimming pointclouds.
Brilliant for cleaning pointclouds using SOR/Connected Components tools and the CEA Virtual broom.
It's Cloud to cloud , cloud to mesh comparison tools are fantastic. (especially scripted M3C2 for road /wall monitoring )
Great for making quick animated flythroughs of pointclouds

Most of its functions can be scripted and run from a batch file.
it works great with a 3D mouse.
Support from Daniel is fantastic...

... it is FREE
Please don't forget to donate if you use it !
regards,
Mike
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Mike Annear
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QLD, Australia.
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