Upload a Generic E57/LAS/LAZ

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Uploading Generic E57/LAS/LAZ Using Cintoo Connect
• Scanning Path Requirements

The data expected by Cintoo Connect for this upload option is the following:

1. The unstructured point cloud in E57, LAS, or LAZ format
2. The trajectory /scanning path in CSV format (see Scanning Path Requirements link above for more information)

Uploading Generic E57/LAS/LAZ Using Cintoo Connect

1. Open the Cintoo project to the DATA tab, and click "Prepare & upload" on the "Mobile scanner" tile, or click "Upload indoor mobile scanner" from the drop-down menu. Cintoo Connect will launch.

2. From the "Indoor Mobile Scanner" tab in Cintoo Connect, select "Generic E57/LAS/LAZ" for Device/Format.

3. Click the ellipsis to select the E57, LAS, or LAZ file as input for Point Cloud.

4. Click the ellipsis to select the CSV file as input for Scanning Path.

• See "Scanning Path Requirements" section below for more information

5. Modify the position sampling value as needed.

• For example, "1 of 1 position" will create 1 Virtual Vantage Point (VVP) in Cintoo for every position included in the scanning path CSV. "1 of 4 positions" will create 1 VVP at every 4th position included in the scanning path CSV.
• The number of VVPs and average distance between each one will be indicated in Cintoo Connect and will be added to your scan count.

6. Enable/disable "Blur faces." 

• It is checked by default, thus enabling the automatic blurring of people (i.e. faces) captured in any panoramic images included in the scans being uploaded to Cintoo.
• Uncheck this option to prevent the automatic blurring any people in the panoramic images.
• Blurring cannot be undone in Cintoo after the scans have been uploaded.
• Any files uploaded without the 'Blur faces' option enabled must be deleted from the Cintoo project and re-uploaded with the option checked in order to apply automatic blurring.

7. Modify the "Data to process in parallel" value as needed.

• You may process more than 2 scans (default setting) in parallel if you have a multi-core PC.
• On average, you will need at least 400 MB of RAM per 10 million pixels to process. For example:
  • 8 GB of RAM will allow you to process 5 scans of 40 million pixels each in parallel.
  • 64 GB of RAM will be needed to process 5 scans of 160 million pixels each in parallel.

8. Click "Import."

• Your new 3D scans will appear one by one in your Cintoo project
• Check the ‘Messages’ tab from time to time to confirm the process is running smoothly.

Scanning Path Requirements

1. If the equipment has no camera (so no panoramic images have been captured):

• You must create a CSV file that contains the X, Y and Z location for each new 3D scan position that you will want to create.
• Use comma (,) as column separator.
• Name the columns as filename, x, y, z, qw, qx, qy, qz
• x, y and z values must be in meters, in the same coordinate system as your scans.
• When processing the point cloud data, Cintoo Connect will create a 3D scan position at each one of these XYZ location, together with a panoramic image made from the point cloud (with or without color if the point cloud is colorized or not).

2. If the equipment has captured panoramic images:

Your 360° images must be stored in a single folder together with a CSV file containing the information about the location and orientation of each panorama. The expected formats are the following:

• All the 360° images will need to be spherical images in JPEG or PNG. Example spherical image:
  
  
• The same folder will need to include a CSV file that contains 360° image name (with extension), location and orientation, for each 360° image.
• The CSV file will need to be as follows:
  • Use comma (,) as column separator.
  • The column for the file name must be named filename.
  • Filenames should have their extension (.jpg or .png).
  • For the position, name the columns as x, y and z.
  • x, y and z values must be in meters, in the same coordinate system as your scans.
  • The orientation needs to be given as a quaternion or as a simple heading.
  • Important: Since both quaternion notation and heading are supported as orientation, you cannot have heading and quaternion in the same CSV. It is either one or the other, otherwise Cintoo Connect will reject it.
• If you are using quaternions for the orientation:
  • Name the columns as qw, qx, qy, qz, 
  • That way, your first column should look like (the order doesn’t matter): filename, x, y, z, qw, qx, qy, qz,
  • Set qw = 1 and qx = qy = qz = 0 for “no rotation” with quaternions.
• If you are using a heading value for the orientation:
  • Create a column named ‘heading’ in the CSV file.
  • 
  • The heading parameter represents an angle in degrees, a rotation around the Z axis. From the top view, a positive angle represents a rotation in the clockwise direction (towards east).
  • Important: when using heading there will be no rotation applied around the X or Y axes. We assume that the 360° images are well aligned vertically (the plane crossing the “equator” line of the must be parallel to the XY plane), otherwise the image will look as it is not straight (ex: a straight building would look like it has some slope).
  • The angle takes as reference the middle of the image and the north direction:
    
    
• Heading set to 0 means that you will see the middle of the image when looking towards north (+Y). Heading set to 90 degrees means that you will see the middle of the image when looking towards east (+X).
• Heading set to 180 degrees means that you will see the middle of the image when looking towards south (-Y). Heading set to 270 degrees (or -90 degrees) means that you will see the middle of the image when looking towards west (-X).
• Note that the Navigation Map on the bottom right corner can help you to find out to which direction you are looking at.