Importing 3D Outcrop Data

VRGS supports a variety of formats for both point clouds and mesh data. The common 3D data formats that VRGS supports include PLY, OBJ, LAS (point cloud), and a variety of ASCII types. Other formats may be added as requested (if possible).

The method to import data is similar for all 3D model data types:

1. Right + Click on the menu that you'd like to imnport the data into (e.g., Triangular Meshes)
2. A drop-down menu will appear. Choose Import or Import Item from the menu.
3. Navigate to the file to import.
4. Select the file type that suits the data

Initial import of data may be slow, but once saved within VRGS, data loading is much faster

Below are descriptions of the common 3D model data types that may be imported into VRGS.

1. Point cloud data

VRGS can import several point cloud filetypes. Import functions support multiple attributes in the input file.

Type	Extension	Description
PLY	.ply	The Stanford Triangle Format, or Stanford Polygon File Format (PLY) format stores 3D geometric data and colour information. The points may contain scalar information (e.g., RGB colour).
USGS DEM	.dem	Digital Elevation Model from the US Geological Survey.
PIF Point Cloud	.pif, .pf	The PIF file is a point cloud that is a Polyworks-specific file.
VRGS Point Cloud File	.pcl	This is a point cloud file created by VRGS. These may be re-imported into any project.
Arcinfo ASCII	.asc	This a non-proprietary and non-binary ESRI grid format.
LAS Lidar Exchange File	.las	This is the uncompressed file format for lidar point cloud data.
Band nterleaved by Line	.BIL	This is format that accepts multi-band raster files

Available options when importing:

• Re-scale input data to metres.
• Skipping header lines in files, if desired.

For example, the steps below are used to import a generic ASCII point cloud.

1. Data is imported via the Import menu from the Point Clouds group.
2. Select ASCII as the format to be imported from the File dialog. The data import dialog shows a preview of the file to be imported.
3. Select the template which best suits the data and select appropriate separators (comma, tab, space) and click OK to import the data.

2. Meshes

PLY and OBJ files can be imported via the import menu from the relevant group in the Data tab. Select PLY or OBJ as the format to be imported from the File dialog. The easiest way to import a PLY or OBJ file is to drag and drop it from a directory/folder into the 3D view.

The preferred format for meshes is OBJ, though other formats are supported.

1. PLY - These filetypes can be imported as either point clouds or as triangulated meshes. If they are imported as meshes, then textures are also supported. If the PLY file has a texture associated with it, then the texture will be imported automatically.

2. OBJ - These filetypes will be imported as meshes only. Textures are supported if a MTL file if present.

• Other less common 3D mesh types that VRGS can import are GLB, GLTF, FBX, STL.

Common Issues

There are a few common problems that occur when importing meshes. Possible solutions are outlined here.

1. ❓ My mesh lacks the resolution I see in my photogrammetric software.

   This is usually because of missing textures. Either you have not exported the model with textures from the photogrammetric software, or you may have moved the file from where you exported it and not moved the additional files as well.

   An OBJ file will have an MTL file and one or more textures associated with it. The MTL and textures MUST be in the same folder as the OBJ file, if not then VRGS will not be able to find the textures and will import the OBJ with vertex colours only.

2. ❓ My mesh doesn't have any colour - it's black and white!

   This usually a problem with PLY 3D models. There is a simple fix that only requires you to open the attributes of the mesh and turn (tick box ☑️) on the Red, Green, and Blue one by one.