Tutorial 3, Part 2a – Importing a Pointcloud into Cyclone

(Part 2 of this tutorial will give you a general overview of the steps involved importing a Pointcloud file into Cyclone. It is not necessary to follow this section to complete the tutorial. If you have a Leica Geosystems scanner or if you already use Cyclone to register and post-process your scans, skip to Part 2b.)

You must have Leica GeoSystems Cyclone installed to proceed with this Tutorial. If required you can download it from here:

Download Cyclone from this Page

Save this file to your computer, right click and "extract all..."

Then install the program as a free viewer version.

 

If you want to practice, you can find a sample LAS file in:

C:\Users\YOUR LOGIN\Documents\Leica Geosystems\IMS Map360\Forensic Scenes

 

Compatible Pointcloud formats:

 

If you use a non-Leica branded Scanner or point clouds generated by either photogrammetry software or a third party registration tool you will need to follow this procedure. The exercise will make use of the "Viewer" functionality of Leica Cyclone to create an IMP file, or Cyclone database which can later be imported into Map360. We are using the LAS format for the exercise.

This procedure will allow you to import data from a variety of pointcloud formats. Other available formats include:

 

In IMS Map360:

RunIMS Map360,

 

Open or create the Drawing which you intend to import the pointcloud data into

 

Start "Import MSView command from the Import/Export or Pointcloud ribbons.

This will make a connection to the EpcA engine and connect IMS Map360 to Cyclone. You’ll see a progress bar for several seconds while it establishes this connection.

 

When the Import ModelSpace dialog appears you may cancel the import command, but it's not mandatory:

In Cyclone:

Leave IMS Map360 running in the background and launch Cyclone:

Expand “SERVERS” in the tree

Right-click on the “YOURCOMPUTERNAME (unshared)” database.

 

Click the “Add” button

Pick the "..." button and browse to the folder you would like to create your Cyclone database:

 

Enter a name for your Cyclone Database (IMP) file and Pick "Open" twice:

 

Select "OK"

 

The new database is added to the list, make sure it’s checked and click Close.

 

In the Cyclone Navigator, right-click on your new database and select “Import”

Browse to your .las file (many supported formats) and Open it.

(It may take some time to import, depending on how big the scan is.)

Expand your database, and you’ll see that it created a new “ModelSpace”.

 

Close Cyclone

 

In IMS Map360

Run IMS Map360 and create a new scene, or re-open one that you have already created.

Use the “Open MSView” command on the Import/Export tab (Sketch mode) or on the PointCloud tab (Advanced mode) or type CWIMPORT at the commandline.

 

Set the units for your drawing, and pick on "..." to start the import.

Expand the Database tree as shown to find your database. Right click and "Create View"

 

Then click the "+" to expand the tree:

 

Highlight "ModelSpace View" and select "Open."

 

Pick on "OK"

 

The Result:

A database is now created, and is linked to your drawing

 

Save

 

Pick the "Save" button to save your work:

Part 2b will walk you through importing the sample data that has been prepared for this tutorial.

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