Leica Geosystems announces a faster, easier option for Leica ScanStation C10 laser scanner users to apply the brilliance of external camera imagery to laser scan point cloud data. The new option consists of a direct digital camera mount on the ScanStation C10 scanner and tight, automated integration of external camera images into the scanner’s onboard controller and data storage system. Cyclone v7.4 supports this new option.

ScanStation C10 users will continue to have the option of using the scanner’s convenient, embedded camera for taking precisely aligned, high-resolution digital pictures of the surrounding scene. Leica ScanStation C5’s with this internal camera option can also be used with the new external camera option.

Faster, Easier Workflow

With the growing popularity of powerful point cloud viewing software capabilities like TruView, Cyclone TruSpace, and fly-through movies, users are increasingly choosing to take advantage of the brilliance of high-end external camera imagery with point cloud data for highest viewer impact. The prior method of applying such external imagery was to (1) remove a scanner head from its tripod, (2) place a high-end camera on the same tripod, (3) take 360º full-dome pictures, and then (4) use third party software tools to apply the full dome imagery to the point cloud data. This process could be time consuming – adding as much as 15-30 minutes per scanner setup, largely in the office. The new integrated, automated external camera option slashes this total time to less than 5 minutes per setup. With dozens of setups/day typical, the new option saves many hours each day.

The new option also makes it easier to accurately align external camera imagery to point cloud data. New commands for the integrated, external camera option are in ScanStation C10 firmware v2.70.

The optional external camera support is for an 18 Megapixel Canon EOS 60D camera. An External Camera Mounting Kit includes a bracket for this camera that conveniently attaches to the ScanStation C10’s removable carry handle slot, plus a USB cable that connects the camera to the scanner for camera control from the scanner and for automatic image transfer.
Leica Cyclone v7.4 Features

In addition to supporting the new External Camera option, Cyclone 7.4 adds another useful point cloud display feature: “Gradient Display”. This feature provides users with several gradient display backgrounds for point clouds, such as a blue sky and brown ground in places where there is no point cloud data, thus making the appearance of point cloud data more familiar to new users.

Leica Geosystems – when it has to be right

With close to 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems products and services are trusted by professionals worldwide to help them capture, analyze, and present spatial information. Leica Geosystems is best known for its broad array of products that capture accurately, model quickly, analyze easily, and visualize and present spatial information.

Those who use Leica Geosystems products every day trust them for their dependability, the value they deliver, and the superior customer support. Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Leica Geosystems is a global company with tens of thousands of customers supported by more than 2,400 employees in 22 countries and hundreds of partners located in more than 120 countries around the world. Leica Geosystems is part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden.