Note: This article is based on MicroSurvey PointCloud CAD 2010, MicroSurvey CAD Ultimate 2010-2015 and MapScenes Forensic CAD 2010-2015. For newer versions, please see this article instead.
.PCI (Leica PCI Indexed Point Format)
This is the same filetype that is exported from Leica Cyclone. PCI files can be read directly into PointCloud CAD. A PCI Conversion Utility is also installed with PointCloud CAD which can be used to convert various other formats to PCI for improved performance.
.PCG (Leica PCG Point Cloud Group)
A .PCG file can contain references to multiple PCI files. Please see the PointCloud CAD help file for instructions on how to create a PCG file. The actual point data is still stored in the linked .PCI files.
Note for Leica Cyclone Users:
If you are using Cyclone 6.0, you can create a PCI and PCG file using the "Export to Topo II" option found in the File Menu.
If you are using Cyclone 7.0, you can create a PCI and PCG file using the "Export for pcE Application" option found in the File Menu.
.LAS (LiDAR Data in LAS Format)
LAS 1.0 files can be read directly into PointCloud CAD, but for improved performance it is recommended that it be converted to a .PCI file using the PCI Conversion Utility which is installed with PointCloud CAD, and the resulting .PCI file be read into PointCloud CAD.
PointCloud CAD 2010 v10.2.0, MapScenes PointCloud 2010 v10.4.0, and MicroSurvey CAD 2010 Ultimate v10.3.0 support LAS 1.0 directly, and LAS 1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3 formats via conversion to PCI.
Previous versions support only the LAS 1.0 format, but you can visit www.liblas.org and download a free utility called las2txt.exe which you can use to convert an .LAS 1.1/1.2 file to an .XYZ file which can then be converted to a .PCI file using the PCI Conversion Utility.
The LAS 1.4 format is currently not supported, nor is the proposed LAS 2.0 format.
The LAS format is extensible and therefore any LAS files based on an otherwise supported format (1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3) but extended such that it does not adhere to the official ASPRS format may not be supported.
For more information on the LAS formats please visit the ASPRS Standards Committee website.
.XYZ (ASCII Coordinates)
An ascii file containing comma separated x,y,z values (no point ids or descriptions) can be converted to a .PCI file using the PCI Conversion Utility which is installed with PointCloud CAD, and the resulting .PCI file can be read into PointCloud CAD.
An .XYZ file cannot be read directly into PointCloud CAD, it must be converted to PCI.
.PTS (Leica PTS ASCII Unordered Interchange Format)
A .PTS file can be read directly into PointCloud CAD, but for improved performance it is recommended that it be converted to a .PCI file using the PCI Conversion Utility which is installed with PointCloud CAD, and the resulting .PCI file be read into PointCloud CAD.
Please note that the Leica PTS file has a specific data format as described here, it is not a generic .XYZ ASCII Coordinate file.
.PCIX (Leica PCI Augmented with Extension Fields)
.PCIT (Leica PCI Extension)
.PCS (Leica PCS FastScan™ Format)
.PCSX (Leica PCS Augmented with Extension Fields)
.PCST (Leica PCS Extension)
The above Leica formats can be read directly into PointCloud CAD, but any custom extension data is ignored.
FARO (*.FLS, *.FWS)
Point cloud files from a FARO Laser Scanner can be converted to a PCI file for import into PointCloud CAD or MapScenes PointCloud by downloading and installing the free PCI Conversion Utility for FARO application.
PCI Conversion Utility for FARO 4.8
PCI Conversion Utility for FARO 5.1
Other Formats
Currently PointCloud CAD does not support any other formats besides those listed above. However, if your scanner or lidar system works with some other file type by default, it should also be able to export data into at least one of the previous formats, particularly .LAS or .XYZ which are generic, non-proprietary data formats.
Brian Sloman
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