Start from the software, not the scanner
The right format is whichever one your downstream team opens without a conversion step. Before a project starts we ask which applications will consume the data: Revit, AutoCAD, Plant 3D, Navisworks, Civil 3D, a GIS, or an in-house viewer.
Registered point cloud formats
These are the raw point cloud measured data, after registration into a single coordinate system.
- E57 — the open interchange standard; the safest default when the destination is uncertain
- LAS / LAZ — survey and GIS workflows; LAZ is the compressed form of the same data
- RCS / RCP — Autodesk ReCap; RCP is the project that indexes multiple RCS scans
- Structured versus unstructured exports, depending on whether scan positions must be preserved
Modeled and derived deliverables
These are produced from the cloud, scoped to what the project actually needs.
- RVT — a Revit as-built model, typically LOD 200–300, LOD 400 only where scoped
- IFC — the open exchange model for teams not standardized on Revit
- DWG / PDF — as-built floor plans, elevations, sections, and roof plans
- NWD / NWC — a Navisworks clash model for MEP coordination
- GeoTIFF orthomosaic, DSM, DTM, and LandXML contours from drone mapping
- CSV and PDF volume reports for stockpile and cut-and-fill work
The report that should come with the data
Every registered scan survey we deliver includes a registration report: cloud-to-cloud and target residuals, RMSE, the control network used, coordinate system, scanner settings, and a coverage note listing anything that was occluded. Without it, nobody downstream can judge whether the data supports their tolerance.
When archiving long-term facility records across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, we recommend pairing software-specific working files with an open archival format. An Autodesk ReCap project (.rcp with .rcs support folders) loads immediately in Revit, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Plant 3D, and Navisworks, while an ASTM E2807 standard .e57 file preserves structured station positions, spherical panoramic imagery, surface normals, and return intensity in a single vendor-neutral container.
For aerial drone photogrammetry and large campus topography, ASPRS LAS and lossless compressed LAZ files pair with GeoTIFF orthomosaics, Digital Surface Models (DSM), and Digital Terrain Models (DTM) tied to state plane or local plant grid control. When your team requests Scan-to-BIM or Scan-to-CAD, we build native Revit (.rvt, versions 2021 through 2025) and openBIM IFC2x3 or IFC4 models at LOD 200, LOD 300, or LOD 350 directly over those registered clouds so every wall, column, truss, and pipe run can be verified against the underlying points.