PointCloudCombiner

Combines features into a single point cloud. Point cloud and non-point cloud geometries are supported.

Typical Uses

Combining multiple point clouds into a single feature
Converting non-point cloud features to a point cloud in order to process them against point cloud features
Converting non-point cloud geometry to a point cloud to take advantage of processing efficiency gains

How does it work?

The PointCloudCombiner receives one or more features and combines them into a single point cloud output feature, converting geometry to point clouds if necessary.

When combining multiple input features, all features must be in the same coordinate system, regardless of geometry type.

Attributes and measures may optionally be preserved as point cloud components.

The various input geometry types are each handled differently.

Point Clouds

Input point cloud features are simply combined with no further modifications. They may be combined with additional point clouds and/or any other input geometry type.

Vectors

Vectors are converted as follows:

Point and curve features are converted vertex for vertex - that is, each vertex in the vector geometry will produce a point in the point cloud.
Polygonal, donut, surface and solid features are converted into a grid of points lying inside the area on the 3D plane represented by the area’s calculated normal. The density of the grid may be adjusted with the Point Interval parameter.

Rasters

Rasters are converted as follows:

The x and y components are created from the cell ground coordinates, or columns and rows if the raster has no coordinate system.
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.
Nodata may optionally be extracted.

Examples

Usage Notes

When combining multiple input features (regardless of format), they must be in the same coordinate system. The CoordinateSystemSetter and Reprojector transformers may be useful.

Choosing a Point Cloud Transformer

FME has a selection of transformers for working specifically with point cloud data.

For information on point cloud geometry and properties, see Point Clouds (IFMEPointCloud).

Point Cloud Transformers

Configuration

Input Ports

Output Ports

Parameters

Group Processing

Editing Transformer Parameters

Transformer parameters can be set by directly entering values, using expressions, or referencing other elements in the workspace such as attribute values or user parameters. Various editors and context menus are available to assist. To see what is available, click beside the applicable parameter.

How to Set Parameter Values

Dialog Options - Tables

For more information, see Transformer Parameter Menu Options.

Reference

Processing Behavior	Group-Based
Feature Holding	Yes
Dependencies	None
Aliases
History

FME Community

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Search for all results about the PointCloudCombiner on the FME Community.

Examples may contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver, Open Government Licence - British Columbia, and/or Open Government Licence – Canada.

PointCloudCombiner	Combines features into a single point cloud. Point cloud and non-point cloud geometries are supported.
PointCloudComponentAdder	Adds new components with constant values to a point cloud.
PointCloudComponentCopier	Copies selected component values onto either a new or existing component
PointCloudComponentKeeper	Keeps only specified point cloud components, discarding all others.
PointCloudComponentRemover	Removes specified components from a point cloud.
PointCloudComponentRenamer	Renames an existing component.
PointCloudComponentTypeCoercer	Alters the data type of point cloud components, and converts component values if required.
PointCloudConsumer	Reads point cloud features for testing purposes, including any accumulated point cloud operations. No additional operations are performed, and nothing is done with the features.
PointCloudCreator	Creates a point cloud of specified size and density, with default component values.
PointCloudExpressionEvaluator	Evaluates expressions on each point in a point cloud feature, including algebraic operations and conditional statements, and sets individual point cloud component values.
PointCloudExtractor	Serializes the geometry of a point cloud feature into a Blob attribute, encoding the contents according to a choice of common binary point cloud formats.
PointCloudFilter	Separates point clouds into multiple features, based on evaluating expressions including component values, and creates a separate output port for each expression defined.
PointCloudMerger	Merges point clouds by joining points where selected component values match (join key), including x, y, z, and other components. Component values are transferred between point clouds and output is filtered based on matching success and duplication.
PointCloudOnRasterComponentSetter	Sets point cloud component values by overlaying a point cloud on a raster. The component values for each point are interpolated from band values at the point location.
PointCloudPropertyExtractor	Extracts the geometry properties of a point cloud feature and exposes them as attributes, optionally checking for their existence, retrieving component properties, and finding minimum and maximum values. Extents may also be recalculated and updated.
PointCloudReplacer	Decodes a binary attribute containing encoded point clouds stored as Blobs, replacing the feature’s geometry with the decoded point cloud.
PointCloudSimplifier	Reduces the number of points in a point cloud by selectively keeping points based on the shape of the point cloud. The simplified and removed points are output as two discrete point clouds.
PointCloudSorter	Sorts the points within a point cloud by one or more component values.
PointCloudSplitter	Separates point clouds into multiple features based on component values, color, or first/last return.
PointCloudStatisticsCalculator	Calculates statistics on point cloud components and adds the results as attributes.
PointCloudSurfaceBuilder	Takes an input point cloud and reconstructs it into an output mesh.
PointCloudThinner	Reduces the number of points in (thins) a point cloud by keeping points at a fixed interval, a maximum number of points, or a set quantity of first or last points. Remaining points are discarded.
PointCloudToPointCoercer	Converts point clouds to point or multipoint geometries, optionally retaining attribute and component values.
PointCloudTransformationApplier	Applies a point cloud’s scale, offset, or transformation matrix to it, recalculating component values and removing the transformation values.

Measure	Specify the name of the measure to be converted to a point cloud component.
Data Type	Specify the measure’s numeric data type.

Attribute	Specify the name of the attribute to be converted to a point cloud component.
Data Type	Specify the attribute’s string or numeric data type.

String Functions	These functions manipulate and format strings.
Special Characters	A set of control characters is available in the Text Editor.
Math Functions	Math functions are available in both editors.
Date/Time Functions	Date and time functions are available in the Text Editor.
Math Operators	These operators are available in the Arithmetic Editor.
FME Feature Functions	These return primarily feature-specific values.
FME Parameters	FME and workspace-specific parameters may be used.
Creating and Modifying User Parameters	Create your own editable parameters.