To upload files to our 3D point cloud classification platform Pointly they need to be either in .las format or in .laz (which is the compressed standard of las). Laz is preferred as it will need less storage and by that uploads will be much faster.
You can use the Open Source Tool Cloud Compare to convert the files. It can be downloaded here: https://www.cloudcompare.org/release/index.html
Step by step guide to convert your files easily
- After installation you can open the .ply file with Cloud Compare. Click “apply all” and the point cloud will be loaded.
2. Then select the file in the explorer on the left and click on the save icon.
3. In the window you can select “LAS cloud” as file type. Please do not use “LAS 1.3 or 1.4”. Then manually rename file.las to file.laz and save it.
The same process can be repeated to convert the files back to .ply if needed after export.
This process can be also streamlined in a simple pipeline by using Python libraries like LAStools or PDAL (without loading each point cloud individually into the viewer).
Any questions? Ask us at support@pointly.ai
