Export TopoDOT Files (.iprj, .lst, .cal, .jpg)

Export point clouds and photo station panoramas from your project into a Raw Project Data folder that can be used to import the data into the TopoDOT application for point cloud and image management, data assessment, and feature extraction.

Prerequisites:

If you are including photo station panoramas in the export, you might want to first improve the visual quality of the panoramas by balancing the exposure and/or blending the edges of the panorama's photo images as described in Process Panoramas.

To export TopoDOT files:

Select Export in Home > Data Exchange.
In the Export command pane, click the Point Cloud tab and select TopoDot exporter.
Click in the Data field and do any of the following to make your selection of point cloud and image data:
- In the Project Explorer, select one or more point cloud regions.
- In a graphic view, "draw" a selection box around the part of the point cloud you want to export.
- Click the Options button for additional selection options.
- Press Ctrl + A to select all of the data in your project.
If applicable, check the check boxes in the Export station panoramas list for any station panoramas you want to include in the export.
Optionally, in the File Name field, change the export folder name, which, by default, is the same as the project name.
Optionally, do either of the following:
- Click the Browse button and change the location for the export folder. The default location is the TBC project folder.
- Click the Save File Remotely button to save the export folder to a remote location such as Trimble Connect.
The export folder contains the Raw Project Data folder that will be used to import the point cloud and image data into TopoDOT.
Optionally, in the Sample points field select Yes to specify that random sampling be performed on the exported scan points. Then, in the Number of points field enter the number of points to be used in the sample.
In the Export unit drop-down list, select the unit of distance to be used for both point clouds and images in the exported file.
In the Scaling drop-down list, select whether to export the point cloud as ground-scaled or grid-scaled.
A point cloud in which the distance between any two points is the same distance that you would obtain if you inversed between them. The Inverse command measures grid distances in a specific coordinate system and therefore takes into account all of the distortions associated with the coordinate system’s projection. A grid-scaled point cloud is stretched or compressed when compared to a ground-scaled point cloud. Because the scale factor depends on both the horizontal position and vertical position, the degree of stretching and compressing is position-dependent. Most photogrammetry software packages create point clouds this way because they use grid positions for camera and/or ground control points (GCPs); such point clouds are typically also georeferenced (not near 0,0,0).
A point cloudin which the distance between any two points is the same distance that you would obtain if you physically measured it yourself, such as with a tape measure. Most scanning instruments (terrestrial scanners) create point clouds this way. Typically these point clouds have positions near 0,0,0 and will need to be registered or georeferenced after import.
Click Export.
The newly created export folder contains a Raw Project Data folder as well as two subfolders:
- The Image Project subfolder contains the following:
  - An IPRJ (.iprj) file containing image project information
  - An LST (.lst) file containing image position and orientation information
  - Multiple CAL (.cal) files, each of which contains camera model information for a specific camera in a setup
  - Multiple subfolders, each of which contains one or more JPG (.jpg) panorama image files captured with the same camera to be used to create cubical images in TopoDOT.
- The LAS Files folder contains LAS-formatted point cloud files.