Delivering point clouds to your client?
Hello,
I’m looking for a better (more useful to them) way to deliver point clouds to my clients. Right now we typically send them the .las via dropbox with instructions on how to download CloudCompare. We’re hoping they go to the trouble of doing that and even then, what can they really do with it?
I recently came across Potree, it allows a user to upload their data set to a web server and then send a link that some can access that pulls up the point cloud and allows them to cut X-sections, pull heights, areas, volumes, angles, distances, ect. I see it being useful if the client had a quick question like, what’s the approx. height of this building or this tree canopy, or the area of this gravel driveway or volume of this pile, ect.
I still haven’t figured out how to upload the data to a web server, this is all pretty new to me, if anyone has advice on that front I’m all ears.
Does anyone use this? Or do you have a different method for delivering point clouds in this kind of format to your clients that may be better?
- 13 Replies
point clouds are huge, so I guess the first question is are they just having you collect the data so they can process it for their own needs?
Most of the clients just need to measure distanses, or some volumes.
If they know how to process, they probabaly have their own drone/scanner
Or i deliver a recap or i deliver a Ripano, that’s a webversion of the project made by my Riegl.
When it is a faro project i deliver a webshare.
I hardly ever deliver a laz or other file formats as most don’t have a clue.
we handed off our recap deliverables to the engineers because they don’t have time to play in the clouds, and they appreciated that for sure.
scan-pointcloud- C3D/Recap(QAQC) TO ENGINEERING then they used Infraworks and or Revit if the architect was involved.
Web-based viewer is the way to go. I’ve used Trimble Clarity in the past but it doesn’t seem to have caught on much here in the USA.
Otherwise, FTP or cloud storage for transferring raw files.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil PostmanOr i deliver a recap or i deliver a Ripano, that’s a webversion of the project made by my Riegl.
When it is a faro project i deliver a webshare.
I hardly ever deliver a laz or other file formats as most don’t have a clue.
Are these scanner dependent?
When you say you deliver a recap are you talking about an .rcp file from Autodesk Recap?
we handed off our recap deliverables to the engineers because they don’t have time to play in the clouds, and they appreciated that for sure.
scan-pointcloud- C3D/Recap(QAQC) TO ENGINEERING then they used Infraworks and or Revit if the architect was involved.
The issue with me doing this is my clients would need recap, the vast majority don’t. And tbh Potree seems to have more tools than recap.
Web-based viewer is the way to go. I’ve used Trimble Clarity in the past but it doesn’t seem to have caught on much here in the USA.
Otherwise, FTP or cloud storage for transferring raw files.
This looks quite similar to what I shared, not too crazy at $3100/year for 40 projects. $80/project
Duly Noted, its a weird wild market place we live in too, go figure
Clarity is a hard pill for non-tech people to swallow, and IT headaches for those that are willing to go that route.
I used it a couple of different places, and I agree, why do Trimble anywhere else, but its all about buy in and willingness to invest for the future and go withit, rather than fight it every step of the way and wonder why you’re behind.
YMMV
Or i deliver a recap or i deliver a Ripano, that’s a webversion of the project made by my Riegl.
When it is a faro project i deliver a webshare.
I hardly ever deliver a laz or other file formats as most don’t have a clue.
Are these scanner dependent?
When you say you deliver a recap are you talking about an .rcp file from Autodesk Recap?
Yes, Ripano and webshare are scaner dependant. Scene webshare can be created through an import of other scandata though.
The recaps i create are ones without bubble view but decimated ones at 5mm, 10mm and 25mm for easy viewing.
A recap straight from a fls or ptx will be very large in size and heavy too load. I also don’t like the bubble view Recap delivers. Viewing for your client will be free as reacp standalone is free. Only the pro version has to be paid for but this is not necessary.
Now other software platforms like Pointcab can also produce viewers from your scandata. There are endless possibillities.
Here is a link from a Ripano project
https://www.3dlaserscanning.be/21014/21014.html
this is a scene webshare
We just got involved with our own Floor Flatness testing using scan data. We use a GLS-2200 Topcon Terrestrial Scanner and I have found that Navisworks Freedom(by AutoDesk) works well as a free viewing and measuring software. Its easy to use and deliver, but you need Navisworks Simulate or Navisworks Manage to append the .rcs/.rcp files into a Navisworks Document. You would still need the appended Navisworks document(small in size) in conjunction with the .rcs files(large in size)
I recently came across Potree, it allows a user to upload their data set to a web server and then send a link that some can access that pulls up the point cloud and allows them to cut X-sections, pull heights, areas, volumes, angles, distances, ect. I see it being useful if the client had a quick question like, what’s the approx. height of this building or this tree canopy, or the area of this gravel driveway or volume of this pile, ect.
I still haven’t figured out how to upload the data to a web server, this is all pretty new to me, if anyone has advice on that front I’m all ears.
Does anyone use this? Or do you have a different method for delivering point clouds in this kind of format to your clients that may be better?
Potree just got on my radar as well, I think this is the solution! It??s free, the USGS uses it, and it??s remarkably easy to use (although I wish there was a way to upload shapefiles so you could quickly zoom to your specific AOI). I haven??t tried it out yet because I am a little shy with server stuff (just have no idea how to set up my own server so I don??t have to give the data to some unknown entity). But I??m going to figure this out – high on my extracurriculars list.
So long as your disclaimer is on-point, I??m not sure why you wouldn??t provide this to the client (unless the scan is meh). If they can??t figure out how to navigate and 3D orbit, that??s on them, just another file on their computer they don??t look at.
Seems like the disclaimer is pretty important though. I??m not exactly sure what legal dangers I??m envisioning, and I??m not up-to-date with the latest on how the Surveying profession is protecting itself from ??unlicensed surveying,? but at the very least the disclaimer would have to say that the data is for ??reference only, and the data provider is not responsible for any [legal mumbo jumbo?] derived from this data? Maybe a better disclaimer would also cite a civil code that carves out the legal requirement for a Licensed Surveyor to sign off on measurements intended for Design or final-stage Planning?
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