I have a Leica C10 terrestrial LiDAR (laser scanner) system. The system creates and stores point cloud data in a proprietary .bin file. Currently I have to use Leica's proprietary LiDAR software, Cyclone, to convert the files generated by the system to a format (e.g. LAS, e57, or ASCII) that can be read by other open-source software for processing point cloud data. Does anybody know of an open-source software that can read and convert the C10 .bin format? There does not appear to be a public description of the file format such that I can write my own translation tool.
[GIS] Open-source reader of Leica C10 terrestrial LiDAR proprietary file format
file formatslidaropen-source-gispoint cloud
Related Solutions
I'm a little late to the party but here is another suggestion: http://potree.org/
It's an open souce, WebGL based point cloud viewer I've been working on for quite a while.
== UPDATE ==
It can render large amounts of colored point clouds. LIDAR data without colors will be supported soon.
- Showcase: http://potree.org/wp/demo/
- Source code: https://github.com/potree/potree
Potree is based on three.js which means, you can also do everything that three.js offers, like rendering meshes, splines, lights, shadows, etc.
== OLD ==
Here is a nice demo: http://potree.org/demo/pompei/pompei.html
And here is a showcase from pix4d using potree: http://pix4d.com/discover-interact-3d-pointclouds/
Source code is available at github: https://github.com/potree/potree
And currently I'm working on a rewrite from scratch as a three.js based project: http://potree.org/demo/potree_rewrite/
This rewrite will have to advantage, that you will be able to use everything three.js has to offer as well, once it's finished.
ArcGis has a new LiDAR dataset at 10.1 which will allow you to view your LiDAR data directly and also see more information than what's in a raster... for example you can add to ArcMap and then filter down the display to just tree classes, or just first returns!
LiDAR data contains much more than just elevation, there's intensity that is stored by default (which can assist where no orthos are available) and they should be classified to ground/non-ground at the very basic; full classification is the most useful (ground, low/medium/high vegetation, buildings, water, bridges, powerlines...) for filtering depending on what you're looking for.
Should you have access to a 3d analyst licence you can convert your LAS dataset to a raster with any cell size you desire or you can view with facets...
IMO I think that it is very wise to get both a raster (use now and with existing processes) and LiDAR data (develop new processes) in a delivery.
Best Answer
You might check whether or not the C10 .bin file is actually a TerraSolid file. PDAL provides a reader for TerraSolid .bin plus numerous other point cloud formats.