Sample Point Cloud Regions

Use the Sample Point Cloud Region command to perform either random or spatial sampling on an entire point cloud region or a selection of scan points in your project to create a new sampled region for creating surfaces, exporting data, and so on.

Random Sampling: TBC provides a new randomly sampled and well-distributed cloud that does not exceed the number provided in the Number of points to extract field. If you request a random sampling with 50 million points, TBC generates a new cloud with no more than 50 million points. The maximum number of points you can sample is 100 million. This insures that TBC generates a significant sample from datasets that have more than 100 million points, which speeds up processing and provides an accurate representation of the dataset.
Spatial Sampling: TBC creates a homogenous, random sampling of your points, using the distance provided in the Spacing field. The distance between each point will not be lower than the resolution, although it may be higher.

Sampling results may vary, depending on the resolution of your data and the accuracy of the scanner.

Prerequisites:

See the Subscription Plans page. For a license matrix by command, see the License page in the TBC Community. Also see View and manage licensed features.

To sample a point cloud region:

Select Sample Point Cloud to display the Sample Point Cloud Region command pane.
In the Output point cloud region name prefix field, enter a prefix for the new sampled point cloud region that will be created.
This prefix will be added to the spacing distance you specify in the Spacing field (see step 5) to form the new point cloud region name (for example, "Sample-0.010 m").
Click in the Point cloud region selection field and then do either of the following:
- To sample an entire point cloud region, select the region in the Project Explorer.
- To sample a selection of scan points (as opposed to an entire region), select the Rectangle Select or Polygon Select selection state on the Point Cloud tab in the Trimble Business Center ribbon and draw a rectangle or polygon around the scan points you want to sample.
In the Sampling type drop-down list, select the appropriate sampling option: Spatial or Random.
- If you select the Spatial sampling option, enter the sampling distance (space between each scan point) in the Spacing field.
- If you select the Random sampling option, enter the number of points to include in the sample in the Number of points to extract field.
Click the Store button.
The newly sampled point cloud region displays in the Project Explorer. In addition, the new region is the only region displayed by default in the graphic views. To hide the new region and/or show other regions, use the View Filter Manager.