A Point Cloud data set is optimised for high performance loading and rendering of large scale, high detail point cloud data. It features several levels of detail that dynamically load and unload based on the distance from users position. Several types of data can be used, including Aerial Laser Scan, Terrestrial Laser Scan, Mobile Laser Scan, and others.
A regular high detail or large scale point cloud data set may be comprised of hundreds of gigabytes of point data. This is not suitable for fast loading across LAN or Internet connections. It will not achieve high performance due to large quantities of data to render. The Urban Engine model conversion pipeline can convert this data into a structure and format suitable for web streaming and high performance rendering.
Rendering Options
Point Clouds can be rendered in several ways:
- Coloured by Red/Green/Blue (RGB) – points are tinted with their included RGB value.
- Coloured by Intensity – points are tinted with their included Intensity value.
- Coloured by Classifications – points are tinted with various colours based on their classification.
Available Resolutions
Due to the large quantity of data often found in point clouds, the Urban Engine filters point cloud datasets to the following resolutions to ensure fast loading times and maximum performance.
- 12.5cm point spacing
- 25cm point spacing
- 50cm point spacing
Filtering occurs by overlaying a 3D grid with the above spacing onto the point cloud data set and picking the point closest to to the centre of each cube in the grid. This creates a dense but uniform dataset that is perfectly suited to visualisation in an urban environment. For requirements of higher resolution, please contact Urban Circus to discuss options.
Supported Data Formats and Types
Point Cloud data can be converted into an Urban Engine format using our model conversion pipeline. Note: All data sets must be geo-located in the same coordinate system as your model. If your data differs from the below requirements, contact Urban Circus.
- Type: Laser Scan / Point Cloud Data
- Formats: Lidar (.LAS)
- Rendering options:
- RGB Values: 0-65535 ( RGB rendering only)
- Intensity Values: 0-65535 ( Intensity rendering only)
- Classification Values – ( Classification rendering only)
- Maximum Resolution: Unlimited (will be filtered to a maximum detail of 12.5cm point spacing)