XGRIDS Pro Guide™ / Module 8: LixelStudio

Module 8 Quick Field Guide

Pipeline stages, processing requirements, SLAM mode selection, export format reference, and Map Fusion limits for LixelStudio point cloud processing.

Section 1

LixelStudio Pipeline at a Glance

LixelStudio processes L2 Pro and K2 raw scan data into point clouds. PortalCam data goes through LCC Studio only. The two pipelines share no intermediate files and cannot be combined.

LixelStudio brings algorithm and UI upgrades. Photo-realistic coloring (especially in low-light environments such as basements and parking lots), AI-powered filtering that preserves railings and pipes while removing trailing noise, automatic leveling for indoor structured scenes via the High-Precision Optimization toggle, cleaner mesh geometry, and a redesigned UI with integrated Home Page, View Cube, and streamlined project processing settings.

Stage

What Happens

Key Consideration

1. Import

Transfer raw scan folder from device to workstation SSD. Create new project from the integrated Home Page and point it at the scan folder.

Import to NVMe SSD. SATA SSD increases total processing time by 15 to 25%.

2. SLAM Optimization

LixelStudio reconstructs the trajectory and point map from raw LiDAR and IMU data. LixelStudio adds the High-Precision Optimization toggle for indoor structured scenes in relative coordinates, which auto-corrects horizontal and vertical alignment.

Set Windows Power and Sleep to Never before starting. A sleep interruption corrupts the processing run.

3. Coordinate Transform

RTK, PPK, or GCP data is applied to place the point cloud in a real-world coordinate system. LixelStudio includes a redesigned coordinate setup with fast search of common and built-in coordinate systems.

For E57 export: use pose.csv if no absolute coordinates, pose_no_offset.csv if absolute coordinates are present.

4. Color Mapping

LixelStudio substantially improves color rendering and low-light performance. K2 produces real-time true-color point clouds from its 3 built-in cameras (2 fisheye + 1 forward-facing, 200°×200° panoramic coverage) during scanning. L2 Pro uses its 2 onboard 48 MP panoramic cameras with color mapping applied during processing.

Coloring requires CUDA 11.6+ and an NVIDIA GPU from the 20-series or newer. 10-series and older GPUs cause a coloring crash.

5. Quality Review

Check point density, coverage, noise, and control point residuals in the LixelStudio viewer. Run Accuracy Check against known control points.

Verify a known dimension. A 16 ft (5 m) corridor reading as 26 ft (8 m) indicates tracking drift, not measurement error.

6. Export

Export in E57 (unstructured or with panoramic data), LAS/LAZ, PLY, RCP/RCS,.ilas, OBJ/OSGB mesh, DXF vector drawings, or slice PNG/TIFF. Volume Calculation and Volume Comparison produce report exports.

E57 and LAS filenames must be 20 characters or shorter. Silent failure on longer names.

Section 2

Processing Requirements

The current LixelStudio release lowered the entry hardware bar significantly compared to older LixelStudio releases. A workstation that previously could not run older LixelStudio releases will likely run Basic. Most professional workstations bought in the last four years now meet the Basic specification. AMD GPUs remain unsupported.

Component

Basic / Recommended

CPU

Basic: Intel i7 9th gen / Recommended: Intel i9 12th gen

GPU

Basic: NVIDIA RTX 2060 (6 GB) / Recommended: RTX 3070 or higher. AMD not supported.

RAM

Basic: 32 GB / Recommended: 64 GB

Storage

1 TB minimum, NVMe SSD strongly recommended

Windows 10 or 11 (Pro or Home)

Basic is sufficient for K2 single-segment captures and small L2 Pro projects. Recommended is necessary for L2 Pro multi-session map fusion and any project with total scan duration above 60 minutes.

Scan Duration

Est. Processing Time

5 minutes

~100 to 150 minutes

20 minutes

~7 to 10 hours

60 minutes

~20 to 30 hours

Processing ratio: 20 to 30 times scan duration on Recommended-tier hardware with NVMe SSD. K2 datasets are smaller and faster to process than L2 Pro data.

Section 3

SLAM Mode Selection

Mode

Use When

Risk

None (default)

Standard processing mode. Use for the initial processing attempt in all environments.

May fail in degraded scenes, intense motion, or sensor interference. If it fails, try Robust before concluding the data is unrecoverable.

Robust

Enable after a None mode failure, particularly when the processing report shows "LIO trajectory drift." Improves success rate in partially degraded or high-motion scenes.

May reduce accuracy compared to None mode. Use only as a recovery step, not as a first choice.

Narrow Scene

Tunnels, mine shafts, long corridors. Effective within approximately 1,640 ft (500 m). For corridors over 500 m, segment into multiple scans with control points and use Map Fusion.

Will cause failure if used in regular environments. Only for narrow geometries.

High-Precision Optimization is a separate toggle in the processing settings, not a SLAM mode. Enable it for indoor structured scenes processed in relative coordinates (no RTK, no GCP). It auto-corrects horizontal and vertical alignment, reducing manual leveling work after processing.

Section 4

Export Format Quick Reference

Format

Best For

Key Constraint

E57 (unstructured)

Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks. Industry standard for BIM workflows. Exported directly from File > Export.

Filename must be 20 characters or shorter. Silent failure on longer names. Select correct pose file: pose.csv (no absolute coords) or pose_no_offset.csv (with absolute coords).

E57 (with panoramic data)

BubbleView-compatible workflows in Autodesk, Leica, FARO platforms. Merges point cloud with panoramic photos along the acquisition path.

Requires a colored point cloud with panoramic photo output and corresponding pose data. Converted via the LAS-to-E57 tool in LixelStudio (Tools > LAS to E57). See 8.5 Export Formats.

LAS / LAZ

GIS platforms, CloudCompare, ReCap Pro. LAZ is LAS compressed 80 to 90% with no quality loss.

Filename must be 20 characters or shorter for downstream RCP or E57 conversion workflows.

PLY

General 3D tools, research, custom pipelines.

Large files. No built-in coordinate system metadata.

RCP / RCS

Autodesk ecosystem: Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks via ReCap Pro.

LixelStudio includes a built-in LAS-to-RCP converter (up to 10 LAS files, for AutoCAD and ReCap 2020+). Also convertible in ReCap Pro. LAS filename limit applies.

.ilas

Internal XGRIDS format for processed point cloud data transfer between LixelStudio instances or XGRIDS ecosystem tools.

Not compatible with third-party software. Use LAS, E57, or PLY for external delivery.

OBJ / OSGB

Textured 3D mesh models. Mesh output has cleaner geometry and improved texture quality.

Source colored LAS data must be under 50 GB. Requires panoramic images in result folder. L2 Pro upsampled chunks cannot be used.

DXF

2D vector line work for CAD. Floor plans and section drawings extracted via Plane Draw / AI-Extract.

Vector quality depends on AI-Extract parameters and source point cloud density.

PNG / TIFF (slice exports)

Direct image output from Horizontal Slice and Vertical Slice tools for downstream drafting and documentation.

Image-only output. For point cloud data of the slice, export as LAS or RCP instead.

Volume Reports

Volume Calculation produces stockpile measurement reports with cut/fill/volume data. Volume Comparison compares two periods.

Volume Comparison requires registered point clouds with consistent base plane between the two periods.

Section 5

Map Fusion Quick Reference

Map Fusion in LixelStudio combines multiple scan segments into a single registered point cloud. The interface was redesigned, but the field collection hard limits remain unchanged.

Limit

Value

Maximum segments per job

Maximum total scan duration

200 minutes

Maximum duration per segment

20 minutes

Device consistency

All segments must be from the same device model. L2 Pro and K2 cannot be mixed in one fusion job. L2 Pro 16-channel and 32-channel variants also cannot be fused together.

Coloring method

Consistent across all segments. Device consistency (same model across all segments) ensures the onboard camera source is uniform within a single fusion job.

Connection method

RTK (all segments Fixed status) or matching control point names (case-sensitive)

Minimum overlap between segments

50 ft (15 m) of shared geometry

Section 6

Critical Warnings

Data loss Set Windows Power and Sleep to Never before any processing run. A sleep or hibernate event during SLAM optimization corrupts the project. The run must be restarted from import.
Silent failure E57 and LAS filenames longer than 20 characters cause silent export failure. LixelStudio completes the export without error but the output file is corrupt or missing. Rename projects before exporting.
Silent failure Wrong pose file selection for E57 export produces unusable coordinates. Use pose.csv for scans without absolute coordinates. Use pose_no_offset.csv for scans with RTK or GCP absolute coordinates. The software does not warn you if you pick the wrong one.
Warning Coloring requires CUDA 11.6+ and an NVIDIA 20-series or newer GPU. The Basic GPU spec (RTX 2060) satisfies both. If coloring crashes on a workstation with a 10-series or older GPU, coloring cannot be performed on that machine. Process SLAM locally and transfer the project to a compatible workstation for coloring.
Warning Narrow Scene mode will fail in normal environments. Use it only for tunnels, mine shafts, or long corridors. Using it on a standard interior scan produces a processing failure.
Warning If SLAM processing fails, enable Robust Mode before concluding the data is unrecoverable. Robust Mode is off by default. It is a Special Mode in LixelStudio Advanced Settings. If a scan fails in the default None mode, re-run with Robust Mode enabled before submitting poses.csv to XGRIDS support.
Warning SATA SSDs increase processing time by 15 to 25%. For large projects or tight delivery timelines, NVMe SSD is the correct storage choice for the processing workstation.
Warning AMD GPUs are not supported in LixelStudio. LixelStudio still requires NVIDIA GPU architecture with CUDA. There is no driver update or workaround for AMD GPUs.
Warning Drone Mode requires LixelStudio a current LixelStudio release; LixelStudio supports Drone Mode by default. Drone Mode is L2 Pro only. K2 is handheld only and is not drone-mountable. Verify your LixelStudio version before attempting to import L2 Pro Drone Mode scans.
Warning Map Fusion segments must use the same device model. L2 Pro and K2 cannot be mixed in one fusion job, and L2 Pro 16-channel and 32-channel variants cannot be fused together. Device consistency ensures uniform onboard camera coloring across the fused output.

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