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 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.