Supported formats
When uploading a scan, it is important to understand the wide range of file formats that the Prevu3D pipeline supports.
Existing Mesh Model
Prevu3D supports importing of existing mesh models (from photogrammetry or LiDAR) in the following file formats:
- OBJ file format
- FBX file format
Terrestrial Laser Scanners
Prevu3D supports the meshing of high resolution terrestrial scanners using the vendor neutral E57 file format.
The E57 file format is a compact, vendor-neutral format for storing point clouds, images, and metadata produced by the laser scanners. The supported E57 is either structured (setup locations included) point cloud with color imagery, or unified (merged) point cloud with color imagery and normal information
Recommended laser scanners:
Read more about structured, unstructured, and unified point cloud formats here
SLAM Laser Scanners
Prevu3D supports the meshing of high resolution SLAM scanners using the vendor neutral e57 or PLY file format, along with other necessary information below.
Point Cloud File Formats
Structured
- Scan locations are known as they are captured from a fixed location (tripod scans)
- Includes point cloud and 360 panoramic imagery captured from tripod scan
- Highest density of points as all raw data is preserved
- Typical data structure of a registered scan with a tripod based scanner
- Faro, Leica, Recap, etc. can all export a structured e57 (Prevu3D file preference)
- Photospheres can be generated in Prevu3D
Unstructured
- No scan locations are known from the scan
- Typical data structure of a SLAM or mobile scanner, or a point cloud generated from photogrammetry
- Photospheres cannot be generated in Prevu3D
- If 360 panoramic imagery is collected on a SLAM scanner, additional information including image location and pose information is needed to align to the point cloud. The can be used for Photosphere generation
Unified
- Merged point cloud with no station information known
- No 360 panoramic images are available
- Similar to unstructured in general