What method do you all like using for extracting coordinates from a point cloud that allows you to export a TXT or CSV?
I want to be able to pull coordinates of numerous targets in a point cloud and put them into an excel spreadsheet for analysis
I know CloudCompare does a a pretty good job for this using the point list picking tool but it bogs down quite a bit on big datasets. Potree does a decent job, you cant export all points as seamlessly into a single list but you can use the copy button after picking a point so at least you're not looking at denoted coordinates on the screen and typing them out manually & it doesn't bog down as much with big datasets. Potree also lets me adjust my point after picking it which is nice.
Any recommendations on either, how to get CC to use large datasets faster without decimation or a different free piece of software?
As usual....it depends. TBC works just fine for single/multiple point extraction to any format you want. Virtual Surveyor and Pix4d work well but differently. The one we really like is SCC point cloud. It is by far the best IMO. It has a TON of options and is a very intimidating piece of software. You can get a fully functional trial from them.
There are many more out there and I'm sure others may chime in with their preferred methods.
IMO this is where many of the software companies are scrambling trying to keep up with the tools we need to make point clouds extraction more efficient.
I've only used TBC and it was pretty simple from what I remember; select the points and then export a .csv, etc.
Does Virtual Surveyor allow for working directly in point clouds?
Yes, virtual surveyor works with point clouds but it's point functionality is much different than tbc. But it does a lot of things better.
"Virtual Surveyor" does not work with point clouds in the classical sense.
It only allows you to import a point cloud and then generate DEM, DSM, DTM from it.
In "Virtual Surveyor" you cannot classify a point cloud or cut out (unnecessary) groups of points from it
