Import of Point Clouds

    Ribbon: Point Clouds > Point Cloud >  Import

    Menu: Insert >  Point Cloud

    Menu: Point Clouds > Point Cloud >  Import

    Toolbar: nanoCAD Point Clouds >

 Command line: NPC_IMPORT

 

The command allows you to import point clouds to the model space of a drawing from LAS, LAZ, BIN, PTX, PTS, PCD, TXT, XYZ, XYB, PLY, E57, RCS, RCP, NPC files. File formats are described in more detail in the Point Cloud Data Formats section.

Text Files Import Wizard

When importing point clouds from text files (TXT, XYZ, XYB…), a separate text files import wizard dialog is displayed. It allows you to set the data interpretation rules for the imported file.

 

Options:

Special

Specifies the next line character, the line from which data starts and the characters that are interpreted as the start of a line with comments.

Separator

Specifies character that separates text file data. You can choose both predefined character (semicolon, tab character, comma, space), and set any other one.

Decimal separator

Specify a character used to separate whole and fractional parts of values.

Data

Preview of text file data.

Result

Specifies the correspondence of text file columns to certain data types: point coordinates by X, by Y and by Z, intensity value, point color in RGB (red, green, blue).

The Data field displays 100 lines from the file, and the Result field displays 50.

Changing the Content Start Line value will display the next 50 lines.

The columns are selected in accordance with the filling of the table. If the column is empty, then Off, if there is data, then On.

After Text Files Import Wizard is closed, the main point clouds Import dialog box opens.

 

Point Clouds Import Dialog Box

The Import dialog box allows you to specify what data to import and how. It gives visual representation of the file’s point cloud and get understanding of the data in the file.

 

The import dialog allows you to:

·         import several files at the same time;

·         view detailed information about each file and its metadata values;

·         set an individual point cloud transformation from each file using EPSG codes (if the point cloud has a coordinate system described by the EPSG code, or the user sets EPSG for it manually);

·         organize a preview of a point cloud in 3D, as well as to select a spatial fragment in any perspective selected by the user;

·         set units of measurement for source data, as well as manage drawing units and data conversion from source units to drawing units;

·         specify the types of metadata to be imported from source data;

·         specify the classes to be imported from the source data;

·         set data thinning during import;

·         set partition into clouds by classes, sources, echoes;

·         split point clouds into blocks, both along the grid and along the flight line. In this case, the cloud is not loaded immediately into the drawing. A set of dwg files is created in the folder with the point cloud, each of which contains a block - a fragment of the cloud, obtained by splitting the source file in accordance with the specified parameters. The function is convenient to use to automate import, the resulting fragments can be loaded into the drawing separately, significantly reducing the amount of memory used.

·         remove files from the downloaded list.

Options:

Selected file

Displays the path with the name of an imported file.

Preview

Preview displays all contents of the imported file. You can specify areas to import. By default, all points will be imported, However it is possible to specify one or more areas of diverse geometry instead of loading all file points. To select areas, you must activate the set of area selection tools:

Rectangle selection	Specifies a rectangular area whose points will be imported into the document. Several such areas may be defined.
Polygon selection	Specifies the polygon area whose points will be imported into the document. To stop specifying the area, right-click the mouse. Several such areas may be defined.
Invert selected	The tool allows you to invert the selected areas.
Select all	Select the entire contents of the file being imported.
Select by coordinates	Manually specifying the coordinates of the area whose points will be imported into the document. The button opens a dialog box, in the fields of which the coordinates of the full scan boundaries are indicated. To create an area in this case, the coordinates of the desired area are indicated in the fields. Several such areas may be defined.
Reset selection	Allows you to completely remove all previously selected areas.
UNDO, REDO selection	It is possible to undo and redo operations for creating selection areas.
	View locator, similar to that in the main window. Allows you to select standard views.
	Enlarges, reduces, or displays the entire image in the preview window.
Show all files	Upon clamping, it turns on the mode of displaying the data of all files in the preview window. When unclamped, the mode of displaying only the data of the currently selected file works.
On/Off project mode	When unclamped, it activates the mode of importing into the current document. When clamped, it activates the project work mode. In this mode it is possible to split the resulting data set into blocks, create a project file, as well as a project mosaic drawing.
Edit project information	Clicking this button opens the project description editing window. Only available in the project creation mode
Show axis	When clicked, activates the display of the project CS axes. Only available in the project creation mode
Rotate axis	Tool for setting a project coordinate system. Only available in the project creation mode
On/Off grid of blocks	Only available in the project creation mode Specifies the size of blocks and their numbering mode (to automatically generate a number, you need to use round brackets in which to place the starting number),  number of blocks perpendicular to line and  overlap width of blocks:   It is possible to measure distances in the preview window The result of this mode is the creation of a split grid
On/Off blocks by flight line	Only available in the project creation mode Specifies the size of blocks and their numbering mode  (to automatically generate a number, you need to use round brackets in which to place the starting number),  number of blocks perpendicular to line and  overlap width of blocks: It is possible to measure distances in the preview window Next comes the flight line selection
Add block	Only available in the project creation mode Works only in flightline splitting mode. Allows you to create a new block where the user specifies.
Remove block	Only available in the project creation mode Works only in flightline splitting mode. Allows you to delete an existing block.
Edit block	Only available in the project creation mode Works in both splitting modes (grid and flightline). Allows you to change the block name manually.
Show All Files	On – Shows all files. Off – Shows only the last one
Switching block numbering	Enables vertical numbering; Enables horizontal numbering; Enables start to end numbering; Enables end to start numbering.

File information

This section displays statistics on the points of the imported file. You can set the units of the cloud, its coordinate system, and adjust thinning.

It is possible to reduce the density of imported clouds, in case of its redundancy, by importing every second/third/tenth, etc. file points. To do this, check the Interval box and specify the sequence number of the imported point in the Import each <…> field.

Using the checkbox in the left corner of the panel, you can include this file in the import data set or exclude it. For text files, there is a format setting button in the upper right corner (a description of the text file import settings window can be found in the Text File Import Wizard).

Detailed file information

Further in the right corner there is a button for obtaining detailed information about a LAS or LAZ file, you can view the properties in a text dialog.

Convert to

Setting up coordinate systems works as follows. If the file does not have a georeference, then it can be selected manually. For convenience, you can use the search by CS name.

Having selected the desired coordinate system, we proceed to specify the target coordinate system in the same way.

If the file has a georeference written to the file itself, then you do not need to select the source coordinate system, it will be automatically filled in when opening the file.

When importing multiple files, the target coordinate system cannot be set differently for different files. Changing the target coordinate system for at least one file will automatically change it for all.

Also, if there are several source files and they have different source coordinate systems, when you click OK, a message appears asking for the same source coordinate systems or to set them to a target coordinate system.

Filter by metadata

This list contains all metadata (attributes) of points present in the file.

After import, the points will have only the attributes selected in this list. Unselected attributes will not be included in the document.

Filter by code

This list contains all the classes to which the points of the imported file have been distributed. If the cloud points had no classes, the list will be empty.

Only those points that belong to the classes selected in this list will be imported. Points of the classes that were not selected will not be included in the document.

Autocreate layers by codes

If the Autocreate layers by codes box is checked, after import, layers with the names of classes into which the points of the imported file are distributed will be automatically created in the document. Names are created according to the standard LAS classification. In this case, the Descriptions text field is filled in for each layer with a comment like FC#N, where FC# is a mandatory index, N is the class number. After import, you can change the names of the created layers and class numbers manually in the Layers dialog.

 

If the Autocreate layers by codes checkbox is off, then a single layer Point Cloud will be created in the document. The Description field of this layer could be filled manually.

Differentiation

By default, file points are imported into the document as a single cloud. However, it is possible to import points as multiple clouds. The division of points into clouds can be carried out according to various criteria.

Don't separate	Import of a file's points as a single cloud, regardless of the actual number of clouds, classes, or echoes in this file.
By codes	Import of file points in the form of several clouds, each of which will contain points with its own class. Including one cloud with unclassified points will be created.
By reflections	Import of file points in the form of several clouds, each of which will contain points with its own echo value.
By clouds	Import of file points divided by the number of clouds contained in the file. Differentiation "By clouds" splits only by clouds, not by files
By files	In the "By Files" differentiation mode, cloud objects (both entire clouds and their parts located in external constraints) have the same names as the files from which they were loaded.