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PointCloudCombiner

Combines multiple geometries into a single point cloud. Point cloud features will be accumulated as is.

PointCloudCombiner is often used to accumulate multiple point clouds into a single point cloud feature, but can also convert other geometries into point clouds and merge them.

Point and linear features will be converted point for point. Polygonal, donut, surface and solid features will be converted into a grid of points lying inside the area on the 3D plane represented by the area’s calculated normal. Any existing component values stored as measures or attributes can be preserved as components.

Rasters will be converted to point clouds as follows:

  • The x and y components will be created from the columns and rows.
  • The first selected numeric band will become the z component.
  • The first selected bands with red/green/blue/gray interpretations will become the color_red/color_green/color_blue components.
  • Additional selected bands will also be preserved. If the band has a name, the component name will be the band name. If the band has no name, the component name will be bandN, where N is the band index.

Input Ports

ClosedInput

This transformer accepts all geometries. Area-based geometries will be converted to point clouds according to the spacing parameter.

Output Ports

ClosedOutput

A single point cloud feature.

Parameters

Transformer

ClosedGroup By

Use this parameter to organize point clouds into groups. Each group of point clouds will have its own output point cloud.

ClosedParallel Processing Level

Note: How parallel processing works with FME: see About Parallel Processing for detailed information.

This parameter determines whether or not the transformer should perform the work across parallel processes. If it is enabled, a process will be launched for each group specified by the Group By parameter.

Parallel Processing Levels

Parameter Number of Processes
No Parallelism 1
Minimal coresThe processor, or CPU, is the physical part of the computer that performs mathematical calculations. It is the most important part of a computer system. Traditional processors have only one core on the processor, meaning that at any given time, only one set of calculations is being performed. If a processor is dual-core, this means the single chip contains hardware for two processors, now called cores to distinguish them from the single chip, running simultaneously, side by side. (Source: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5730257_computer-core-processors_.html) / 2
Moderate exact number of cores
Aggressive cores x 1.5
Extreme cores x 2

For example, on a quad-core machine, minimal parallelism will result in two simultaneous FME processes. Extreme parallelism on an 8-core machine would result in 16 simultaneous processes.

You can experiment with this feature and view the information in the Windows Task Manager and the Workbench Log window.

ClosedInput is Ordered by Group

Yes: This transformer will process input groups in order. Changes on the value of the Group By parameter on the input stream will trigger batch processing on the currently accumulating group. This will improve overall speed if groups are large/complex, but could cause undesired behavior if input groups are not truly ordered.

No: This is the default behavior. Processing will only occur in this transformer once all input is present.

Attributes

ClosedAccumulate Attributes

If this parameter is set to Yes, the attributes from the original features will be merged onto the output point cloud features.

ClosedCount Attribute

If you specify a Count Attribute parameter (text string), an attribute with this name will be added to each output feature.

The attribute contains the number of features that were combined to create the point cloud feature.

Raster Parameters

ClosedExtract Nodata

This parameter specifies whether points should be created for nodata cells in rasters. When set to Yes, a point will be created for every cell in a raster, regardless of whether it is nodata. When set to No, points will not be created for nodata cells. A cell is considered to be nodata when, for each selected band, the value for that cell is equal to that band's nodata value. If any cell value is not equal to that band's nodata value, the cell will be considered data.

Vector Feature Interpolation

ClosedPoint Interval

This parameter controls the spacing between points in ground coordinates that will be used to generate the representative point grid used for surfaces, solids, polygons, and donuts. You can either enter a number or extract the value from a selected attribute.

Measures to Preserve as Components

ClosedMeasures to Preserve as Components

Specifies the measures on input vector geometries that should be preserved as components in the output point cloud. The type of the output component must also be specified.

Attributes to Preserve as Components

ClosedAttributes to Preserve as Components

Specifies the attributes on input features that should be preserved as components in the output point cloud. The type of the output component must also be specified. Note that if the same component is specified as both a measure and attribute to preserve, the measure value will be preferred.

Editing Transformer Parameters

Using a set of menu options, transformer parameters can be assigned by referencing other elements in the workspace. More advanced functions, such as an advanced editor and an arithmetic editor, are also available in some transformers. To access a menu of these options, click beside the applicable parameter. For more information, see Transformer Parameter Menu Options.

Transformer Categories

Point Cloud

 

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