Sharing Point Clouds with Sketchfab

Once you have a point cloud saved locally on your computer, sharing the point cloud can be challenging. One option is Sketchfab. Sketchfab is one of the best options for sharing 3D models online; however, the website has several disadvantages. First, Sketchfab requires a subscription with different price points, each with restrictions on file sizes. Second, for point clouds, Sketchfab does not have many options for interacting with different visualizations. Therefore, when uploading a point cloud to Sketchfab, the visualization must already be saved as RGB with all other Scalar Fields removed.

Sketchfab does not seem to support .las files. In Cloud Compare, save your point cloud as .asc. In your Sketchfab account, upload a new model. In the 3D Settings, change the “Background” to black and change “Shading” to “Shadeless.”

Here are some examples:

Cedar Key

The colorized point cloud for Cedar Key:

After adjusting the colors of the point cloud based on classification in Cloud Compare and uploading a new model to Sketchfab, the Cedar Key point cloud looks like this:

Shell Mound

The colorized point cloud for Shell Mound:

The Shell Mound data are in a more forested area with fewer buildings:

We can filter out the trees, creating a digital terrain model or bare earth surface, and we can color the points based on ground elevation.

Rosewood

Here are the point cloud data for Rosewood. What are some other ways to visualize the data?