ASCII (XYZ) to LAS

[KlausB__Vestergaard]

Thank you for implementing LAS Dataset and the new toolbar.

Since the new tools only supports LAS files, I need a tool to convert ASCII to LAS, so large ascii files containing xyz can be handled in a efficiant manner?

When I Google "ASCII to LAS" I get some very interesting hits, but I'm unsure where to start ....

[ClaytonCrawford]

Do you have return numbers, class codes, intensity values, etc., that you need access to? What do you intend to do with your lidar data? Going to LAS may not be your best option.

[KlausB__Vestergaard]

The ambition is to work with 100's of millions of xyz registrations from bathymetric dataset currently stored as .asc files.

Both QA/QC and the ability to rapidly build terrains, extracting profiles, 3d visualization etc. is of interest.

I'm told that there's additional attributes in the files, origin from the raw scan data, that are similar to those from airborne Lidar.

Is there any other way to handle very large xyz (100 -1.000 mio points) as effectivly as the LAS Dataset?

K

[KlausB__Vestergaard]

Do you have return numbers, class codes, intensity values, etc., that you need access to? What do you intend to do with your lidar data? Going to LAS may not be your best option.

Hi Clayton!

Can Esri provide a LAS sample dataset complete with RGB, Intensity, Class etc.?

The Harrison.las from the "Working with 3D Analyst" class has no RGB, and only contains Ground Points, so it makes it difficult to test the new filtering options in the LAS Dataset Toolbar.

Brgds,

Klaus

[XanderBakker]

There are several websites that provide LAS files. I have tested ArcScene 10.1 beta with some of the LAS files located at http://liblas.org/samples/.

LAS file "2398_400.las" contains RGB values.

Alternatively, you could use software to convert your text files to LAS. I have installed LP360 (30 day evaluation) and it can convert text files (like PTS) to LAS. Make sure to choose LAS version 1.2 in LP360 to enable RGB.

Good luck!

[ClaytonCrawford]

You might try the txt2las utility from LasTools: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~isenburg/lastools/

[XanderBakker]

You might try the txt2las utility from LasTools: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~isenburg/lastools/

Indeed Clayton is right, the LAS tools by Martin Isenburg are a great resource for converting ASCII files to LAS (and for a lot more). It would be nice though if Esri would get in touch with Martin Isenburg and include some of this functionality in ArcGIS, in order to avoid the command line usage.

BTW I used the command below to convert a PTS file to LAS which was successfully converted to LAS dataset and visualized in ArcScene:

txt2las -i Vopak023col.txt -parse xyzsRGB -skip 1 -o vopak023col.las -set_version 1.2

I wasn't able to import the intensity (4th column) since the value is out of range...

[LucienDavids]

There are several websites that provide LAS files. I have tested ArcScene 10.1 beta with some of the LAS files located at http://liblas.org/samples/.

LAS file "2398_400.las" contains RGB values.

Alternatively, you could use software to convert your text files to LAS. I have installed LP360 (30 day evaluation) and it can convert text files (like PTS) to LAS. Make sure to choose LAS version 1.2 in LP360 to enable RGB.

Good luck!

Hi Xander,

I downloaded the file to experiment with. I seem to be unable to load *.las (v1.2) in ArcScene (and toolboxes). Could you tell me how to do this?

Thanks in advance.

regards Luc

[XanderBakker]

I downloaded the file to experiment with. I seem to be unable to load *.las (v1.2) in ArcScene (and toolboxes). Could you tell me how to do this?

Hi Luc,

You have to create a LAS dataset with the new "Create LAS Dataset" tool. You'll find this in 3D Analyst Tools / Data Management / LAS Dataset (or just do a search for "LAS Dataset"). You are not able to add LAS files to ArcMap or ArcScene directly, but after you create the LAS Dataset you're good to go.

You may also be interested in this Esri video where native support for Lidar is explained by Nathan Shephard:

http://video.esri.com/watch/454/native-support-for-lidar

Good luck!

Kind regards,

[LucienDavids]

Hi Luc,

You have to create a LAS dataset with the new "Create LAS Dataset" tool. You'll find this in 3D Analyst Tools / Data Management / LAS Dataset (or just do a search for "LAS Dataset"). You are not able to add LAS files to ArcMap or ArcScene directly, but after you create the LAS Dataset you're good to go.

You may also be interested in this Esri video where native support for Lidar is explained by Nathan Shephard:

http://video.esri.com/watch/454/native-support-for-lidar

Good luck!

Kind regards,

Hi Xander,

Thanks for the reply. I found out how to deal with it with some help from esrinl how to create the LASD. Now I am going to watch the video :).

regards

Luc