8.5 Export Formats and Delivery

Two Export Paths

LixelStudio provides two distinct ways to produce output files. Choosing the wrong path is a common source of failed or unusable deliverables.

Direct Export (File > Export)

Exports the selected point cloud data to a file. Available formats: LAS, LAZ, PLY, unstructured E57, and .ilas. This path requires no prerequisites beyond having processed point cloud data loaded in the project. Select the point cloud, choose export directory and filename, select format, and click Export.

Conversion Tools (Tools Menu)

Specialized conversion tools that transform LAS data into formats with additional structure or bundled assets. Each tool has specific prerequisites and produces different output than direct export.

Additional export-capable tools include Horizontal Slice and Vertical Slice (LAS, RCP, PNG, or TIFF), Clipping Box (LAS), 2D Drawing / Plane Draw (DXF), Data Recording (annotation CSV and report documents), Volume Calculation (volume report), and Volume Comparison (multi-period comparison report). These tools are covered in 8.4 Quality and Editing.

Third Path: Files Already on Disk

A category of deliverable that is not produced by an export action at all: panoramic 360 JPEGs and the supporting pose data are written to the processed project folder during Project Processing itself, when Output Panoramic Images is enabled. These files are ready to deliver as soon as processing completes. No export step is required. See Section 3: Panoramic 360 Image Delivery below for the full workflow.

Format Reference

The correct format is determined by what the recipient needs to do with the data. Delivering a format the recipient cannot open is not a completed deliverable.

Panoramic 360 Image Delivery

Panoramic 360 images are one of the most directly client-facing deliverables LixelStudio produces. They support interactive virtual tours, marketing collateral, condition documentation, and AEC visualization workflows. Unlike point clouds, panoramic JPEGs require no specialized software for the recipient: any modern 360 viewer renders them as a flat, natural-looking interactive scene.

This section covers where the files live, how to select for quality, the projection geometry that explains how to view them, and the delivery channels that turn a folder of files into a shareable client experience.

Where the Files Live

After Project Processing completes with Output Panoramic Images enabled, the JPEGs sit in a panorama folder nested inside the project's processed result directory. The full path takes the form:

<project root>/ResultData<scanID>_<runIndex>/<scanID>/panoramicImage/

Each JPEG file is named with the Unix timestamp (seconds plus microseconds) of the moment that panoramic frame was captured during the scan. The filename is the join key linking each image to its 3D position recorded in the panoramicPoses.csv file in the same parent folder.

EXIF metadata embedded in each JPEG includes Camera maker = "XGRIDS" and Camera model = "Panorama". This tags the files for downstream tools that auto-detect 360 photo origin, and it remains visible to any recipient who inspects the file properties. For privacy-sensitive engagements where source attribution should be stripped, run the files through an EXIF removal step before delivery.

Resolution Selection

Panoramic resolution is set during Project Processing on the Colorization tab. LixelStudio offers three options:

Understanding the Equirectangular Format

A panoramic JPEG straight out of the panorama folder looks distorted when opened in Windows Photos, macOS Preview, or any standard image viewer. Ceilings curve. Floors stretch. Vertical walls bend. This is not a quality defect. It is a property of how a 360-degree sphere is unwrapped into a flat 2:1 rectangle for storage.

Every 360 camera on the market produces files with the same kind of distortion in the raw format. The fix is not to "correct" the file, it is to view it in a 360 viewer that re-projects the sphere onto a flat window in real time. In a proper viewer, the distortion disappears and the scene looks natural, like Google Street View or a Matterport tour.

This distinction matters for client communication. A client who asks for "flat 360 images" usually means one of two things:

Clarify the client's intent before delivery. Interactive tour is the right answer for most AEC engagements because it preserves the full scene context. Static perspective extracts are appropriate for documents that need fixed viewpoints with no interactivity.

Operator and Equipment Artifact Treatment

Every handheld scan captures the operator in the resulting panoramic frames. This is geometry, not a software defect: the panoramic cameras look in all directions, and the operator is one of the directions they look in. Equipment mounted on the scanner (phone, harness, accessories) is also visible.

The 2 m or 3 m extension pole (compatible with both L2 Pro and K2) is the primary control. With the scanner elevated above the operator's head, the operator drops from filling 25 to 30 percent of the frame at equator height (handheld) to occupying roughly 5 to 10 percent of the frame at nadir (pole-mounted). A nadir crop or patch then removes the operator cleanly.

See Module 3 Field Technique for the field-side rules that minimize artifacts at capture time, including the rule to detach the phone from the scanner before recording client-facing scans.

Delivery Channels Compared

The panoramic JPEGs themselves are universal. What differs across platforms is the viewing experience the client receives, the setup effort on the dealer side, and any limits on file size or count.

Recommended Client Delivery Workflow

1. Confirm panoramic output was enabled and processed at 10600×5300. Open the panorama folder, check that JPEGs exist, right-click one and verify dimensions in Properties. If the resolution is lower, reprocess at 10600×5300 before continuing.
2. Apply nadir treatment to remove the operator (crop, patch, or AI removal per the section above). Run the chosen workflow across the entire folder, not just a few hero frames.
3. Spot-check three frames in the target 360 viewer before bulk upload. Pick one from the start of the scan, one from the middle, and one from the end. Rotate around the full sphere in each. Confirm no remaining artifacts and no unexpected content.
4. Upload to the chosen delivery platform. For most AEC and real estate clients, Kuula is the default. For dealer-branded experiences, Pannellum self-hosting.
5. Generate the shareable link or embed code. Test the link from a separate browser and on a mobile device before sending.
6. Send the link with a brief orientation note. Clients new to 360 viewers benefit from one sentence explaining the drag-to-pan and scroll-to-zoom interaction.

LAS to E57 Conversion

The LAS to E57 tool merges LAS point cloud data with panoramic photos captured along the acquisition path, producing an E57 file compatible with BubbleView in BIM platforms. This is a different operation from the direct E57 export in File > Export, which produces an unstructured E57 without panoramic data.

Procedure

1. Verify the LAS filename is ≤20 characters. If the filename exceeds this limit, the conversion will fail, hang, or crash. Shorten the filename before starting.
2. Click the point cloud data in the data layer to select it.
3. Click LAS to E57 in the data conversion tools.
4. Select the correct pose file corresponding to the colored point cloud. pose_no_offset.csv for absolute coordinates. Standard pose file for relative coordinates.
5. Select the panoramic photo output interval. This controls how panoramic images are sampled along the trajectory in the E57 output.
6. Click Confirm and wait for conversion to complete.
7. Verify the output file exists and has a reasonable file size. A zero-byte or missing file indicates a failure.

LAS to RCP Conversion

LixelStudio includes a built-in LAS to RCP conversion tool. This converts up to 10 LAS files per operation into RCP format for use in AutoCAD and Recap 2020+. You do not need Autodesk ReCap Pro to perform this conversion.

Procedure

1. Verify all LAS filenames are ≤20 characters. Filenames exceeding this limit will cause the conversion to fail, hang, or crash.
2. Open the LAS to RCP tool. Optionally click Import External Data to add LAS files beyond those already loaded in the project (up to 10 total).
3. Choose the output path.
4. Click Confirm and wait for conversion to complete.

Mesh Export (OBJ / OSGB)

The Mesh tool generates textured 3D models from point cloud and panoramic data. Output formats are .obj and .osgb. LixelStudio improved both geometry and texture quality. On the geometry side, noise resistance has been strengthened, reducing holes and improving separation of fine structures for clearer geometry. On the texture side, color fidelity and sharpness have been noticeably improved.

Requirements

Procedure

1. Click Mesh in the Application menu.
2. Select the scanned result data folder (the folder containing colored LAS data and panoramic images from processing). You do not need to load the result point cloud into the project first.
3. Select the export path and format (.obj or.osgb).
4. Wait for mesh generation to complete. View the result in software such as MeshLab or any OBJ/OSGB-compatible viewer.

Volume Reports

LixelStudio offers two application tools for stockpile and volumetric measurement, with their own report-format outputs. These are not point cloud exports; they are measurement reports derived from point cloud data.

Volume Calculation

Calculate stockpile volumes from point cloud data in three steps. The output is a Volume Calculation Report containing cut volume, fill volume, total volume, area, density (configurable), weight (computed from density), length, width, and height fields.

1. Select the point cloud containing the stockpile in the data layer.
2. Click Volume Calculation in the Application menu.
3. Draw the border around the stockpile.
4. Configure the base plane. The base plane is the reference surface from which volume is measured.
5. Configure density if weight calculation is needed.
6. Click Export Report and select save path and filename. The report exports to the Report folder by default.

Volume Comparison

Compare two periods of stockpile data to measure change over time. Use cases include inventory tracking, deposit and withdrawal verification, and progress monitoring on active sites.

1. Select both point clouds (the two periods you want to compare) in the data layer.
2. Click Volume Comparison in the Application menu.
3. Configure the comparison parameters as prompted.
4. Export the comparison report when calculation completes.

Downstream Integration

360 Viewer Platforms

For full panoramic delivery workflows including Kuula, Pannellum, Marzipano, Facebook 360, and native phone viewers, see Section 3: Panoramic 360 Image Delivery above. The summary integration notes below highlight platform-specific details that matter when matching a client to a delivery channel.

Autodesk Platforms (Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks)

RCP files produced by LixelStudio's built-in converter are compatible with Recap 2020 and later. E57 files can also be imported directly into Revit or converted to RCP via ReCap Pro if additional indexing options are needed.

When importing into Revit, the coordinate system of the point cloud must align with the Revit project's shared coordinates. Coordinate alignment is configured in the Revit project settings, not in LixelStudio. Establish shared coordinates in Revit before importing.

2D CAD (DXF and Slice Images)

DXF files exported from the 2D Drawing / Plane Draw tool can be opened in AutoCAD, BricsCAD, and other DXF-compatible CAD platforms. The AI-Extract feature produces vector contours that can be manually refined within LixelStudio's drawing tools (Line, Polyline, Arc, Rectangle, Split, Trim, Delete) before export.

For drafting workflows that prefer image overlays, the PNG and TIFF slice exports provide direct image output from Horizontal and Vertical Slice tools. These can be brought into AutoCAD as raster underlays for 2D documentation work without DXF conversion. See 8.4 Quality and Editing for slice tool details.

Filename Checklist Before Export