sharkyus / potree

WebGL point cloud viewer for large datasets

README

• Getting Started

About

Potree is a free open-source WebGL based point cloud renderer for large point clouds. It is based on the TU Wien Scanopy project and it was part of the Harvest4D Project.

Newest information and work in progress is usually available on twitter

Contact: Markus Schütz ([email protected])

Reference: Potree: Rendering Large Point Clouds in Web Browsers

Build

Make sure you have node.js installed

Install all dependencies, as specified in package.json, then, install the gulp build tool:

cd <potree_directory>
npm install --save
npm install -g gulp
npm install -g rollup

Use the gulp watch command to

• create ./build/potree
• watch for changes to the source code and automatically create a new build on change
• start a web server at localhost:1234. Go to http://localhost:1234/examples/ to test the examples.

gulp watch

Downloads

PotreeConverter source and Win64 binaries

Showcase

Take a look at the potree showcase for some live examples.

Compatibility

Browser	OS	Result
Chrome 64	Win10	works
Firefox 58	Win10	works
Edge	Win10	not supported
Internet Explorer 11	Win7	not supported
Chrome	Android	works	Reduced functionality due to unsupported WebGL extensions
Opera	Android	works	Reduced functionality due to unsupported WebGL extensions

Credits

• The multi-res-octree algorithms used by this viewer were developed at the Vienna University of Technology by Michael Wimmer and Claus Scheiblauer as part of the Scanopy Project.
• Three.js, the WebGL 3D rendering library on which potree is built.
• plas.io point cloud viewer. LAS and LAZ support have been taken from the laslaz.js implementation of plas.io. Thanks to Uday Verma and Howard Butler for this!
• Harvest4D Potree currently runs as Master Thesis under the Harvest4D Project
• Christian Boucheny (EDL developer) and Daniel Girardeau-Montaut (CloudCompare). The EDL shader was adapted from the CloudCompare source code!
• Martin Isenburg, Georepublic, Veesus, Sigeom Sa, SITN, LBI ArchPro, Pix4D as well as all the contributers to potree and PotreeConverter and many more for their support.