E1199 SCENE 5.3 Manual EN PDF

SCENE Version 5.
3
February 2012
SCENE 5.3 - USER MANUAL

JUNE 2014
1
SCENE 5.3 | June 2014
©FARO Technologies Inc., 2008-2014. All rights reserved.
For personal use, this publication may be reproduced or transmitted. For commercial use, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means
without written permission of FARO Technologies Inc.
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INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
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COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR
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LASER SCANNER OR ITS MATERIALS. THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY TO FARO
TECHNOLOGIES, INC., REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE
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Table of contents
Table of contents .................................................................................... i

1. Introduction - Welcome to SCENE ........................................................ 1
1.1. System Requirements.................................................................... 2
1.2. Installing the Software .................................................................. 2
1.3. Licensing the Software .................................................................. 2
1.3.1. License Manager ...................................................................... 3
1.3.2. Single-User Licenses ................................................................ 4
1.3.3. Network Licenses (Floating Licenses).......................................... 7
1.3.4. Updating Licenses to a New Version of SCENE ............................. 8
2. Starting the Software ......................................................................... 9
2.1. Working with the Project Selector ................................................... 9
2.1.1. Default Project Location ...........................................................10
2.2. Opening scan projects ..................................................................10
2.3. Managing Projects ........................................................................11
2.3.1. Adding Existing Projects ..........................................................11
2.3.2. Creating New Projects .............................................................11
2.3.3. Project Previews .....................................................................11
2.3.4. Favorites ...............................................................................11
2.3.5. Ignore Projects .......................................................................11
2.3.6. Edit Project Details..................................................................12
2.4. Filtering, Sorting, Searching ..........................................................12
2.5. Scanner Administration.................................................................13
2.6. Remote Server Connection ............................................................13
2.7. Switch Off Project Selector ............................................................14
2.8. Local Workspace and Scan Project File Structure ..............................14
2.8.1. Scan Project File Structure .......................................................14
3. Working with Scan Projects, Workspaces and Scans ..............................16
3.1. Composition of the SCENE Window.................................................16
3.2. Project Workspace .......................................................................17
3.2.1. Scans ....................................................................................17
3.2.2. Scan Point Clouds ...................................................................17
3.2.3. Project Point Cloud ..................................................................18
3.2.4. SCENE WebShare Cloud and WebShare Data ..............................18
3.3. Workspaces .................................................................................18
3.3.1. Creating New Workspaces ........................................................18
3.3.2. Workspace Structure ...............................................................19
3.3.3. Finding Objects in the Workspace .............................................20
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3.3.4. Merging Workspaces ...............................................................20

3.4. Scan Projects ..............................................................................20
3.4.1. Typical workflow of processing a scan project .............................20
3.4.2. Creating Scan Projects ............................................................21
3.4.3. Working Collaboratively on a Scan Project .................................22
3.4.4. Clean Up and Compact Scan Project ..........................................26
3.4.5. Save Scan projects .................................................................27
3.4.6. Scan Project Revisions.............................................................28
3.4.7. Reverting to a Previous Revision ...............................................30
3.4.8. Restoring an Auto Save ...........................................................30
3.5. Working with Scans ......................................................................31
3.5.1. Importing Scans .....................................................................32
3.5.2. Initial Scan Alignment Derived from the Scanner’s Sensor Data ....33
3.5.3. Loading Scans ........................................................................33
3.5.4. Unloading Scans .....................................................................34
3.5.5. Single Scan Points ..................................................................34
3.6. Working with Scan Point Clouds .....................................................35
3.6.1. Creating Scan Point Clouds ......................................................36
3.6.2. Modifying Scan Point Clouds .....................................................37
4. Exploring Scan Data and Objects ........................................................38
4.1. Quick View ..................................................................................39
4.2. Planar View .................................................................................40
4.3. 3D View ......................................................................................41
4.3.1. Navigating in the 3D View ........................................................43
4.3.2. Objects in the 3D View ............................................................46
4.3.3. 3D Clear View ........................................................................47
4.3.4. Managing Viewpoints ...............................................................47
4.4. Visibility Settings .........................................................................48
4.4.1. View (3D View and Quick View) ................................................49
4.4.2. Scan Points (3D View) .............................................................51
4.4.3. Layer ....................................................................................53
4.4.4. Extra .....................................................................................53
4.5. Object Visualization ......................................................................54
4.5.1. Material .................................................................................54
4.5.2. Layers ...................................................................................54
4.6. Locating Objects in the Views ........................................................56
4.7. Overview Map..............................................................................57
5. Importing Data .................................................................................58
5.1. CAD data ....................................................................................58
5.1.1. IGES .....................................................................................58
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5.1.2. VRML ....................................................................................58

5.2. Survey data ................................................................................59
5.2.1. Survey Data .csv ....................................................................59
5.3. External scan data of other producers ............................................59
5.3.1. General Scan Data Format .xyz ................................................59
5.3.2. Binary Scan Data Format .xyb ..................................................59
5.3.3. Scan Data Format .ptx ............................................................60
5.3.4. Scan Data Format .ptz .............................................................60
5.3.5. Scan Data Format .e57 ............................................................61
5.4. Import pictures in SCENE ..............................................................62
5.4.1. Import high resolution pictures as Virtual Scans .........................63
5.4.2. Import CAD Layout Plans as Image Files in SCENE ......................65
6. Registering Scans .............................................................................68
6.1. Background knowledge .................................................................68
6.1.1. Natural and artificial targets .....................................................68
6.1.2. External References ................................................................68
6.1.3. Overall coordinate system ........................................................68
6.1.4. Major rules ............................................................................69
6.2. Using Sensor Data .......................................................................69
6.2.1. GPS Information .....................................................................69
6.2.2. Compass ...............................................................................70
6.2.3. Altimeter ...............................................................................70
6.2.4. Inclinometer ..........................................................................71
6.3. Manual registration with the Correspondence View ...........................71
6.4. Place Scans: General ....................................................................77
6.5. Place Scans: Target based Registration ...........................................78
6.5.1. General Target and Reference Rules ..........................................78
6.5.2. Artificial Targets .....................................................................79
6.5.3. Natural Targets ......................................................................80
6.5.4. External Reference Objects ......................................................80
6.5.5. Overall Alignment ...................................................................81
6.5.6. Rules to get Best Results from Automatic Correspondence Search 83
6.5.7. Automatic Creation of Correspondences .....................................84
6.5.8. Automatic Creation of Correspondences: Find ... .........................86
6.5.9. Manual Creation of Correspondences: Force by Manual Target
Names ..................................................................................86
6.5.10. Manual Creation of Correspondences with the Correspondence
Split view ..............................................................................86
6.5.11. Deleting Correspondences ......................................................88
6.5.12. Target based registration .......................................................88
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6.6. Place Scans: Top View based Registration .......................................91

6.7. Place Scans: Cloud to Cloud Registration ........................................92
6.8. Preprocessing Scan Data - Batch Registration ..................................93
6.9. Free Registration with bundle adjustment .......................................95
6.10. Registration with Known Position ..................................................95
6.11. Cluster Registration ....................................................................96
6.11.1. Registering Scans within a Cluster ...........................................96
6.11.2. Registering Multiple Clusters to One Another ............................98
6.11.3. Using Strict Pair-wise Registration ......................................... 100
6.11.4. Auto Clustering ................................................................... 101
6.11.5. Fix a scan or cluster ............................................................ 103
6.12. Checking Results ...................................................................... 103
6.12.1. Scan Manager ..................................................................... 103
6.12.2. Scan Results ...................................................................... 105
6.12.3. Target tensions ................................................................... 106
6.12.4. Scan Point Tensions ............................................................ 107
6.12.5. Lock and Unlock the Scan Manager ...................................... 108
7. Working with Scan Data and Objects ................................................. 109
7.1. Selecting Scan Points ................................................................. 109
7.1.1. Selecting Scan Points in the Planar View or the Quick View ........ 109
7.1.2. Selecting Scan Points in 3D View ............................................ 110
7.2. Tailor a Point Cloud View with the Clipping Box .............................. 111
7.2.1. Creating a Clipping Box ......................................................... 112
7.2.2. Manipulating a Clipping Box ................................................... 113
7.2.3. Hiding and Displaying Points by Means of Clipping Boxes ........... 115
7.2.4. Enabling / Disabling Clipping .................................................. 116
7.2.5. Working with Multiple Clipping Boxes ...................................... 117
7.2.6. Toggling Visibility of Clipping Boxes......................................... 120
7.2.7. Creating Multiple Clipping Boxes Along an Axis of an Existing
Clipping Box ........................................................................ 120
7.2.8. Working with Clipping Box Containers ..................................... 122
7.2.9. Selecting Scan Points by Means of Clipping Boxes ..................... 123
7.2.10. Exporting Scan Points by Means of Clipping Boxes ................... 124
7.3. Filtering Scan Points ................................................................... 125
7.3.1. Default Filter ........................................................................ 126
7.3.2. Stray ................................................................................... 126
7.3.3. Distance Based ..................................................................... 127
7.3.4. Dark Scan Points .................................................................. 128
7.3.5. Smooth ............................................................................... 128
7.4. Working with Objects ................................................................. 129
iv
7.4.1. Creating Geometric Objects ................................................... 129

7.4.2. Geometric Object Types ......................................................... 132
7.4.3. Documentation Object ........................................................... 147
7.4.4. Regions ............................................................................... 149
7.4.5. Exporting Objects in DXF, IGES and VRML data formats ............ 149
7.4.6. Importing Objects in VRML data format ................................... 150
7.4.7. Pictures ............................................................................... 151
7.5. Colorizing Scan Points ................................................................ 152
7.5.1. Colorizing Using Scanner Based Pictures .................................. 153
7.5.2. Colorizing Using Additional Pictures ......................................... 155
7.5.3. Enhancing the Color Overlay .................................................. 157
7.6. Creating Scans from Selected Scan Points ..................................... 158
7.7. Importing Compensation............................................................. 159
8. Analyzing Scan Points ...................................................................... 160
8.1. Inspection ................................................................................. 160
8.2. Measuring Distances................................................................... 160
8.2.1. Point-to-Point Measurements.................................................. 161
8.2.2. Object Measurements ............................................................ 162
8.2.3. Measure Objects ................................................................... 163
8.3. Visualizing Scales and Distances .................................................. 164
8.4. Surface Analysis ........................................................................ 167
8.5. Coloring the Range..................................................................... 168
9. Exporting Scan Points ...................................................................... 170
9.1. General Export Settings .............................................................. 171
9.2. Exporting Slices ......................................................................... 172
9.2.1. Single Slice .......................................................................... 172
9.2.2. Several Slices ....................................................................... 174
9.2.3. Tomograph .......................................................................... 175
9.3. File Format Related Export Settings .............................................. 176
9.3.1. DXF .................................................................................... 176
9.3.2. VRML .................................................................................. 177
9.3.3. IGES ................................................................................... 177
9.3.4. XYZ text .............................................................................. 179
9.3.5. POD (Pointools) .................................................................... 179
10. Working with the Project Point Cloud ............................................... 181
10.1. Creating the Project Point Cloud ................................................. 181
10.1.1. Preparing your Scan Project ................................................. 182
10.1.2. Project Point Cloud Creation Settings ..................................... 182
10.2. Updating the Project Point Cloud ................................................ 186
10.3. Optimizing the Project Point Cloud .............................................. 187
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10.4. Deleting the Project Point Cloud ................................................. 187

11. Creating and Uploading SCENE WebShare Cloud Data ........................ 188
11.1. Creating SCENE WebShare Cloud Data ........................................ 188
11.2. Uploading SCENE WebShare Cloud Data ...................................... 192
12. Working with SCENE WebShare ....................................................... 194
12.1. Creating SCENE WebShare Data ................................................ 194
12.2. Uploading SCENE WebShare Data .............................................. 195
12.2.1. Preparing the Upload ........................................................... 195
12.2.2. Uploading from Within SCENE ............................................... 197
12.2.3. Uploading Manually ............................................................. 199
12.3. Opening SCENE WebShare Projects ............................................ 200
12.3.1. Opening Local WebShare Data .............................................. 200
12.3.2. Opening WebShare Data on a SCENE WebShare server ........... 200
12.4. Examining a SCENE WebShare Project ........................................ 203
12.4.1. Control Panel ...................................................................... 204
12.4.2. Project Contents ................................................................. 205
12.4.3. Overview Map ..................................................................... 206
12.4.4. Panoramic Scan View .......................................................... 208
12.4.5. Measurements .................................................................... 210
12.4.6. Documentation Objects ........................................................ 215
12.4.7. Visibility of Measurements and Documentation Objects ............ 216
12.5. Downloading / Uploading Data ................................................... 216
12.5.1. Download Manager .............................................................. 216
12.5.2. Downloading Workspaces from the Web Server ...................... 217
12.5.3. Uploading Local Workspaces to the Web Server ...................... 218
12.6. Printing Project Content ............................................................ 218
13. FARO Focus3D Scanner Administration ............................................. 220
13.1. Items in the Structure View of the Scanner Administration ............ 220
13.1.1. Scanner Snapshots.............................................................. 220
13.1.2. SD Cards ........................................................................... 221
13.1.3. Projects ............................................................................. 221
13.2. Administration View .................................................................. 221
13.3. Managing Snapshots ................................................................. 221
13.3.1. Editing the Automatic Scanner Snapshot on the SD Card ......... 221
13.3.2. Creating a New Scanner Snapshot ......................................... 222
13.3.3. Restoring and Editing Manually Created Scanner Backups ........ 222
13.3.4. Restoring the Local Copy of the Automatic Scanner Snapshot ... 223
13.3.5. Transferring a New, Modified or Restored Snapshot to Your
Scanner .............................................................................. 223
13.4. Managing Scan Projects ............................................................ 224
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13.5. Transferring Firmware Updates to your FARO Focus3D Scanner ....... 225
13.6. Scanner Service Request ........................................................... 225
14. Apps ............................................................................................ 226
14.1. App Manager ........................................................................... 226
14.2. Installing Apps ......................................................................... 226
14.3. Updating Apps ......................................................................... 227
14.4. Activating / Deactivating Apps ................................................... 227
14.5. Uninstalling Apps ..................................................................... 227
15. Advanced functions ....................................................................... 228
15.1. Coordinates ............................................................................. 228
15.2. Local Coordinates ..................................................................... 228
15.2.1. Global Coordinates .............................................................. 229
15.2.2. Quick Change of Global Origin .............................................. 234
15.3. Exemplary Driver Configuration for the Stereoscopic Mode ............ 234
15.4. 3DConnexion 3D Mouse Support ................................................ 236
15.4.1. Predefined Commands ......................................................... 237
15.4.2. Adjusting the 3D Mouse Behavior .......................................... 238
16. Network Licensing and License Manager ........................................... 239
16.1. Network Licensing .................................................................... 239
16.1.1. Setting Up a License Server and Enabling Network Licensing .... 239
16.1.2. Activating Network Licenses on the License Server .................. 241
16.1.3. Detaching Network Licenses ................................................. 243
16.1.4. License Server Administration............................................... 245
17. Hot Keys ...................................................................................... 246
18. Reference Handbook ...................................................................... 248
18.1. Meaning of the symbols in the Structure View .............................. 248
18.2. Menu Bar ................................................................................ 249
18.2.1. File.................................................................................... 249
18.2.2. Edit ................................................................................... 252
18.2.3. View .................................................................................. 252
18.2.4. Tools ................................................................................. 253
18.2.5. Window ............................................................................. 270
18.2.6. Help .................................................................................. 270
18.3. Toolbars .................................................................................. 270
18.3.1. Standard Toolbar ................................................................ 270
18.3.2. Planar View Toolbar ............................................................. 271
18.3.3. Point Selection Toolbar ........................................................ 271
18.3.4. Measurement Toolbar .......................................................... 272
18.3.5. Identify Objects Toolbar ....................................................... 272
18.3.6. 3D View and Quick View Toolbar ........................................... 272
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18.3.7. Clipping Box Toolbar............................................................ 274

18.3.8. Project Toolbar ................................................................... 275
18.3.9. Correspondence View Toolbar ............................................... 276
18.3.10. Correspondence Split View ................................................. 277
18.4. Context Menus ......................................................................... 277
18.4.1. Frequently Used Commands for Objects ................................. 277
18.4.2. Commands for Fit Objects .................................................... 279
18.4.3. 3D View ............................................................................. 279
18.4.4. 3D View – Point Selection .................................................... 281
18.4.5. Clipping Box ....................................................................... 282
18.4.6. Planar View and Quick View .................................................. 282
18.4.7. Planar View or Quick View – Point Selection............................ 283
18.4.8. Picture ............................................................................... 285
18.4.9. Plane ................................................................................. 286
18.4.10. Limited Plane .................................................................... 287
18.4.11. Plane Fit ........................................................................... 288
18.4.12. Constraints Object ............................................................. 288
18.4.13. Constrained Plane Fit ......................................................... 288
18.4.14. Slab................................................................................. 288
18.4.15. Slab Fit ............................................................................ 288
18.4.16. Sphere ............................................................................. 288
18.4.17. Sphere Fit ........................................................................ 289
18.4.18. Region ............................................................................. 289
18.4.19. Point ................................................................................ 289
18.4.20. Point Fit ........................................................................... 289
18.4.21. Pipe ................................................................................. 289
18.4.22. Pipe Fit ............................................................................ 289
18.4.23. Line ................................................................................. 289
18.4.24. Line Fit ............................................................................ 289
18.4.25. Rectangle ......................................................................... 290
18.4.26. Rectangle Fit .................................................................... 290
18.4.27. Scan ................................................................................ 290
18.4.28. Scan Fit ........................................................................... 293
18.4.29. Scan Folder / Cluster ......................................................... 293
18.4.30. Scan Manager ................................................................... 296
18.4.31. Virtual Scan (3D Picture) .................................................... 296
18.4.32. 3D Picture Fit (Fit of a Virtual Scan) ..................................... 297
18.4.33. Workspace ....................................................................... 297
18.4.34. Snapshot (Focus3D Scanner Administration) .......................... 298
18.4.35. Viewpoint ......................................................................... 299
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18.5. Properties ............................................................................... 299

18.5.1. Checkmarks ....................................................................... 299
18.5.2. Frequently Used Properties ................................................... 299
18.5.3. 3D Picture Fit ..................................................................... 302
18.5.4. Constraints Object .............................................................. 303
18.5.5. Constrained Plane Fit ........................................................... 304
18.5.6. Measurement ..................................................................... 305
18.5.7. Picture ............................................................................... 306
18.5.8. Pipe................................................................................... 306
18.5.9. Pipe Fit .............................................................................. 307
18.5.10. Plane ............................................................................... 308
18.5.11. Plane Fit ........................................................................... 308
18.5.12. Limited Plane Fit ............................................................... 309
18.5.13. Slab................................................................................. 310
18.5.14. Slab Fit ............................................................................ 310
18.5.15. Point ................................................................................ 312
18.5.16. Point Fit ........................................................................... 312
18.5.17. Sphere ............................................................................. 313
18.5.18. Sphere Fit ........................................................................ 314
18.5.19. Clipping Box ..................................................................... 315
18.5.20. Documentation Object ....................................................... 316
18.5.21. Scan Folder ...................................................................... 317
18.5.22. Scan Manager ................................................................... 318
18.5.23. Scan ................................................................................ 321
18.5.24. Scan Fit ........................................................................... 333
18.5.25. Virtual Scan (3D Picture) .................................................... 336
19. Error Messages ............................................................................. 337
20. Frequently Asked Questions ............................................................ 338
Technical Support ................................................................................... i
Appendix A: Software License Agreement ................................................. iii
Appendix B: Purchase Conditions ............................................................. v
Appendix C: Industrial Products Service Policy........................................... xi
Appendix D: Industrial Service Policy ...................................................... xv
Implementation Notes .........................................................................xviii
Trademarks...................................................................................... xxxiii
Glossary .......................................................................................... xxxiv
Table of Figures ................................................................................ xxxvi
ix
x
1. Introduction - Welcome to SCENE
SCENE is a comprehensive 3D point cloud processing and managing software

tool for the professional user. It is specially designed for the viewing,
administration, and working with extensive 3D scan data obtained from high
resolution 3D laser scanners like the FARO Focus3D.
SCENE processes and manages scanned data both highly efficiently and easily
by offering a wide range of functions and tools, like filtering, automatic object
recognition, scan registration and positioning as well as automatic scan
colorization.
Once SCENE has prepared the scan data, you can commence evaluation and
further processing right away. For this, it offers functions from simple
measuring to 3D visualization through to meshing and exporting your scan
data into various point cloud and CAD formats.
With SCENE you may also create WebShare data from your scan projects.
With SCENE WebShare your scan projects can then be published on the
Internet and viewed with a standard Internet browser.
This manual is designed to be a technical reference for the use of SCENE. In
addition, it is recommended to complete a professional hard- and software
training.
If you have any questions or need further instructions for any procedure,
contact your Customer Service Representative by Phone, Fax or E-Mail. See
Technical Support on page i. You can also reach the Customer Service
Applications and Training group via e-mail at the following addresses:
 support@faro.com
 applications@faro.com
 training@faro.com
Visit the FARO Customer Service area on the Web at www.faro.com to

search our technical support database, which is available 24 hours a day, 7
days a week.
You may also find various online tutorials in the Internet at
http://tutorial.faroeurope.com.
1 | Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE

1.1. System Requirements
In order to use SCENE seamlessly, your computer should have the following
specifications:
Minimal Specifications Recommended

Specifications
Processor 64-bit (x64) with at least Quad-core x64

2-gigahertz (GHz)
Graphics Card OpenGL 2.0 or higher Dedicated graphics card

At least 256 MB memory. At least 512 MB memory
OpenGL 2.0
Main Memory At least 4 GB At least 8 GB
Hard Disk Standard Solid state for maximum

performance.
Operating System 64-bit Windows 7 64-bit Windows 7

64-bit Windows 8, 8.1
Accessories Mouse with 2 buttons and a scroll wheel

Network card as it is required for licensing SCENE
1.2. Installing the Software
Insert the installation DVD supplied with the scanner, select the product and
follow the installation instructions on the screen. An installation wizard will
guide you during installation.
You must belong to the group of administrators to install the

software.
1.3. Licensing the Software
Once installed, you may fully test SCENE for 30 days without the need of a
software license. After the trial period, you need a permanent license to
further use SCENE.
When purchasing SCENE you can choose between two kinds of permanent
licenses:
 Single-user licenses
 Network (floating) licenses
Both types of licenses can be locked either to the computer where the
software is installed (soft lock) or to a USB dongle (hard lock). A USB dongle
is a device that you attach to the computer’s USB port.
You can buy single-user licenses and network licenses that are linked to a
software product key. Or you can obtain a USB dongle that already carries
one single-user license or one or more network licenses.
Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE| 2

To activate a new single-user license follow the steps described in chapter

1.3.2.
More information about network licenses can be found in chapters 1.3.3 and
16.1.
If you already have a license for SCENE and a SCENE maintenance contract
and you want to update to a new version of SCENE, follow the steps described
in chapter 1.3.4.
The SCENE license shipped with the laser scanner by default is a

single-user license linked to a software product key. To activate this
license follow the steps described in chapter 1.3.2.
1.3.1. License Manager
The License Manager provides an overview over all licenses available for the
currently running SCENE version and helps managing them. It offers the
possibility to activate your product and to update licenses stored on your
computer or on the plugged in USB dongle. See chapter 1.3 for more
information.
The License Manager is available under Help  Licensing:
Figure 1-1: License Manager
The list in the dialog provides information about all the licenses available on
your computer and in the network:
Stored On – Indicates where the license is stored on:
- License is stored on your computer.
- License is stored on a computer in the network (on a floating license

server).
- License is stored on the plugged in dongle.

Feature – The licensed SCENE feature. Basic is the feature required to run
SCENE.
License Type – Type of the license:

Trial – Limited trial license.

Perpetual – Full, unlimited and unrestricted license.
Other – Other types of licenses, e.g. full licenses that expire after a certain
period of time.
Days Left - Days left until expiration (for trial licenses or time restricted
licenses).
Product Key /Host Name - If the license was activated with a product key,
the product key will be shown. If the license is stored on a floating license
server somewhere in the network it will show its host name:
- Indicates that the displayed content it is a product key.
- Indicates that the displayed content is the host name of a license

server.
To get more information about the licenses, for example the licenses of other
SCENE versions, follow the link in the dialog. This will open the Sentinel
Admin Control Center (see also chapter 16.1).
To refresh the license list click on . New licenses, for example if a USB
dongle has been attached in the meantime, will be highlighted.
To update existing licenses stored on your computer or the attached USB
dongle to a new version of SCENE, click the Update Licenses button. For
more information, see chapter 1.3.4.
To add a new license linked to a product key, click the Add Product Key
button. For more information, see chapter 1.3.1.
1.3.2. Single-User Licenses
The SCENE product key consists of 18 numbers. You may get a product key
from:
 the back of the SCENE package,
 per mail in case you bought SCENE from the FARO 3D App Center
(http://3d-app-center.faro.com),
 or from FARO Customer Service.
Once received, you have to validate the key and use it to activate the SCENE
license. To do this, take the following steps:
1. Start SCENE and open the License Manager which is available under Help
 Licensing (if the trial period has expired SCENE will automatically open
this dialog at startup). See chapter 16 for more information on the License
Manager.

2. Click the Add Product Key button to open the product activation dialog.
The Product Activation dialog opens.
Figure 1-3: Activation dialog – Automatic Activation
3. Select the tab Automatic Activation to use an automatic activation

method via Internet.
4. Enter your product key and click the Activate button.
5. SCENE will contact FARO’s license server to validate the entered key.
Depending on the Internet connection, this process might take up some
time.
6. Once the key has been successfully validated, the license linked to the
product key is permanently locked to your computer and SCENE is
activated. The new license will show up in the license manager.

If your single user license

 is locked to your computer and if you change your hardware or
 if you want to use SCENE on a different computer, you will have
to renew the license, as the license is bound to some hardware
components of your computer. Please contact customer service
in that case.
In case the automatic activation fails, please check your Internet connection
or enter the product key again and retry. If activation still fails, you may
activate SCENE manually.
Manual Use the manual activation method if the automatic activation as described
Activation above fails.
with a
Product Key 1. Start SCENE and open the License Manager under Help  Licensing (if
the trial period has expired SCENE will automatically open this dialog at
startup).
2. Click the Add Product Key button to open the product activation dialog.
3. Select tab Manual Activation:

Figure 1-5: Activation dialog – Manual Activation
4. Enter your product key and click the Send button to create an activation
request file (a file with the file extension .ar) which must be sent to FARO
(this activation request file does not contain any private data):
o In case an E-Mail client is properly installed on your system an E-Mail
with the activation request file attached will automatically be
generated. Just send this E-Mail to the provided address.
o In case an E-Mail client is not installed on your system, you will be
prompted to save the file to your hard disk. Please attach this file to an
E-Mail and send it to the provided E-mail address.
Once the E-Mail has been sent to FARO you will receive an automatic E-Mail
with an activation file (a file with the extension .v2c). Save this file to your
hard disk, add it to the Manual Activation dialog under Process Activation
File, and then click Activate. Your product should now be activated and have
a permanent license.
If you do not have an Internet connection, you may contact FARO’s customer
service team to receive an activation file.
Licensing This licensing option is not bound to a single computer and adds mobility of
with an USB the license between multiple computers. The license is recorded into an USB
Dongle dongle which can be attached to an USB port on any computer running
SCENE. Once attached, SCENE has a valid license and can be used as normal;
validation and activation over the Internet are not necessary.
1.3.3. Network Licenses (Floating Licenses)
Network licenses are hosted by a license server computer and will be shared
to client computers over the network. If you start SCENE on any computer in
your network it will search the network for available licenses. If one is found,
it will use this license for the time it is executed. When closing SCENE, the
license will be released again and will be available to other SCENE installations
in the network.
Network licenses can either be locked to a dongle attached to the server’s
USB port or to the computer where the licensing software is installed.
For more information on network licensing, please read chapter 16.1.

1.3.4. Updating Licenses to a New Version of SCENE
Customers with maintenance contracts can automatically update existing

licenses if SCENE was updated to a new version and a new license is required
for that version.
To update existing licenses stored on your computer or USB dongle for a new
version of SCENE, open the License Manager under Help  Licensing:
Click the Update Licenses button. SCENE will contact FARO’s license server
and search for a valid maintenance contract. Depending on the Internet
connection, this process might take up some time.
Once a valid contract has been found, an updated license for the currently
running SCENE version will be locked to your computer or dongle. The license
for the new version of SCENE will show up in the License Manager:

2. Starting the Software
When you first start the program, SCENE will prompt you to choose a default
project location. If you already have existing scan projects in a dedicated spot
on your hard drive, you may pick this directory as your default project
location.
You can change the default project location or add further locations
at any time under Tools  Options  Tab Folder.
After having set up a project location, SCENE starts with the Project Selector
window by default. The Project Selector presents all the scan projects known
to SCENE at that time.
2.1. Working with the Project Selector
The Project Selector is a visual tool for managing and accessing scan projects
in SCENE.
An internal database is maintained by SCENE to provide a quick and
convenient access to all your scan projects and project workspaces. The
Project Selector shares look-and-feel and a lot of its features with SCENE
WebShare (see chapter 12).
Starting SCENE will bring up the Project Selector window, presenting to you
all the scan projects known to SCENE at that time.
The Project Selector requires Adobe Flash Player. The Adobe Flash
Player can be installed during the SCENE installation process.
Figure 2-1: Project selector window
9 | Chapter 2: Starting the Software

2.1.1. Default Project Location
On the first start of SCENE the Project Selector will ask you to set up a default
project location. If you already have existing scan projects in a dedicated spot
on your hard disk drive, you would typically pick this directory as your default
project location. You can add more default project locations later under Tools
 Options  Folders  Project Locations.
SCENE will scan the directory and subdirectories for existing scan projects and
immediately show up the results in the Project Selector window.
Projects are identified by their “ProjectName.lsproj” file (or the
‘ScanProject.dat’ file when a workspace was saved with a SCENE version
below version 5). It is not recommended to manually change or delete these
files except when deleting the whole project.
SCENE will verify all known projects at startup and show only existing projects
in the Project Selector view.
The displayed project names are based on the scan project file (with
the extension .lsproj). In case two projects with the same name
exist, the name of the scan project’s folder will be added to the
name to make the projects distinguishable.
The default project location may be changed in Tools  Options  Folder.
Figure 2-2: Change default project location
Multiple default project locations can be used. The first entry in the list will be
used for the creation of new Projects. All entries in the list will be scanned for
project data at SCENE startup.
2.2. Opening scan projects
To open a scan project, you can either double-click on the project’s preview
image or simply click on the preview image to bring up a selection of available
local workspaces.
Figure 2-3: Open projects
If SCENE WebShare data is available for the selected project, an option for
SCENE WebShare is added to the available workspaces. Select this option to
open a SCENE WebShare view for this project. To learn more about SCENE
WebShare please refer to chapter 12.
Chapter 2: Starting the Software| 10

2.3. Managing Projects

The features of the Project Selector provide powerful tools for quick and easy
project administration.
2.3.1. Adding Existing Projects
You can add existing projects to the Project Selector by clicking the Add
Additional Project Location icon in the top left corner of the Project
Selector view.
This will bring up a directory selection dialog, asking for the project location.
Pick the desired directory and confirm your selection. The Project Selector will
be updated with all valid projects from the selected location.
2.3.2. Creating New Projects
New projects can be created by clicking the Create New Project icon .
You will be asked for the scan project location and a unique name. The
resulting project will be created in the selected project location.
2.3.3. Project Previews
Each project preview offers several icons in the top right corner.
Figure 2-4: Project preview
2.3.4. Favorites
Favorites are your most popular projects. You can add a project to your
favorites by clicking the Add to Favorite icon . You can remove a project
from the favorite list any time later. To show only favorites, simply select the
Favorites option in the Filter drop-down menu.
2.3.5. Ignore Projects
Ignored projects are hidden from the Project Selector. They will never show
up except you select the Ignore List option from the Filter drop-down
menu. You can remove projects from the ignore list any time and they will
show up in the Project Selector view again.

2.3.6. Edit Project Details
Clicking the Project Details icon will bring up the screen shown in Figure
2-5.
Project information such as project name, project description or keywords can
be monitored and changed here. Information like the project’s location on
your hard disk drive or the project’s ID cannot be changed.
Figure 2-5: Project properties
Key words can be defined for every project. These key words are utilized by
Key Words
the search for quick access to all your data.
Position Add a position to your project to make the Google Earth View feature
available.
The coordinates have to be entered in decimal notation. Here are some
example coordinates:
 Moscow: Latitude: 55.758032 Longitude: 37.617188
 Sidney: Latitude: -33.870416 Longitude: 151.204834
 Rio de Janeiro: Latitude: -22.902743 Longitude: -43.214722
 Seattle: Latitude: 47.606163 Longitude: -122.332764
Google Earth If positional information is provided for a project, the Google Earth View icon
View becomes available in the project’s preview. Clicking this icon will open a
Google Earth view of the project’s location in your default web browser.
2.4. Filtering, Sorting, Searching

The Project Selector allows you to apply several filters and sorting
mechanisms.

Projects can be filtered to show projects with SCENE WebShare data only,
projects without SCENE WebShare data only, your favorite projects or ignored
projects. Both methods can be combined to reduce or increase the number of
projects shown by the project selector.
Figure 2-6: Sorting and filtering projects
The search field can be used to search for specific scan projects or key words
and will refine the search results on-the-fly while you type.
2.5. Scanner Administration
You can open a Scanner Administration view from within the Project Selector
by clicking the Scanner Administration icon in the top left corner.

For more information on the Scanner Administration View please refer to
chapter 13.
2.6. Remote Server Connection
Connections to remote SCENE WebShare servers can be made by entering the

server address into the Server URL text filed on the right hand side of the
Project Selector view. By pressing the Connect button, SCENE attempts to
connect to the remote server and stores the server’s address in the history
list for quick access.
Figure 2-7: Remote server access
If the connection was successfully established, a SCENE WebShare View will

be opened showing the content of the remote server. Please refer to chapter
12 for more information on working with SCENE WebShare.

2.7. Switch Off Project Selector

The Project Selector can be switched off in regular SCENE options at Tools 
Options  General.
2.8. Local Workspace and Scan Project File Structure
Local workspaces are saved in the file system as a file with the extension
.fws. In the folder where a local workspace file is saved, SCENE maintains
another folder called Workspaces. Each local workspace has one dedicated
folder inside Workspaces. This folder contains all the local scan files, local
scan point clouds, local scan meta information and other local data that are
part of the local workspace. This data is organized in several folders:
 3Scans: Local scan point clouds
 Scans: Local scans
 ScansMeta: Local scan meta information
 Revision.dat: Revision information
Local workspaces may be saved anywhere on your local hard disk drive and
do not necessarily have to be saved inside the scan project folder.
Workspaces may contain scans from different manufacturers; however, they
are uniformly saved in the much-compressed FARO Laser Scan format, to use
the capacity of the data medium efficiently. The hierarchical structure of the
scan within the workspace is not mirrored in the Windows file system.
The separation between the workspace and the scans was introduced
because, despite their compressed format, the scans take up a great deal of
space on the hard disk drive. It is therefore possible to create several
workspaces that contain the same scans without the space requirement on
the data medium increasing too greatly. You can use this, for example, if you
have made changes in the local workspace. You can save the different
versions as separate files without duplicating all scan files.
2.8.1. Scan Project File Structure
Scan projects are represented by a number of folders in the Windows file

system.
Figure 2-8: Scan project in a Windows file system

 RawScans: Contains a copy of the initial state of all scans of the scan
project. Each scan is kept in the condition it was when it was added to the
project. Consider this as a backup of the unmodified scan data of your
scan project.
 Revisions: All revisions of the scan project will be saved in this folder.
A typical revision may contain the following data folders:
o 3PointData: Project Point Cloud data is stored here.
o 3Scans: Scan Point Clouds are stored here.
o Scans: Contains all scans with modified point data.
o ScansMeta: Contains information about transformation changes of
scans.
o WebShareData: Contains all data that is exclusively generated for
WebShare.
 WorkspaceData: Local workspace data from local workspaces saved in
the scan project folder (same as described above).
For more information on local workspaces and scan projects, see chapter 3.3.

3. Working with Scan Projects, Workspaces and Scans
This chapter describes how to work with scan projects, workspaces, scans and
scan point clouds. How to create project point clouds and how to work with
project point clouds as well as working with SCENE WebShare data will be
described later on, because such data is usually created in the final stage of
project work.
3.1. Composition of the SCENE Window
The newly created scan project is initially empty and has to be filled with
scans.
Once you have opened a scan project, the typical SCENE window appears.
This window is made up of the following areas:
Figure 3-1: Composition of the SCENE window
Menu bar – contains all the menus with commands for the general
operation.
Toolbars – provide a quick and easy way to access common menu

features with the mouse.
Structure view – displays the structure of the Workspace, including all

sub-folders and objects. The structure view is moving aside if you do not
need it any more. The released space on your screen is allowing SCENE
to display more scan data. Whether the structure view stays visible or is
folded away automatically may be controlled by the pin needle icon at
the top right of the structure view window.
Status bar – displays command and scan point data details, tool tips and
responses to the last command executed.
Chapter 3: Working with Scan Projects, Workspaces and Scans| 16

Scan and object views – the visual presentation of the scan data and
other objects. Scans and objects can either be displayed in a quick view,
a detailed planar view or in 3D view.
The scan and object views can be displayed
 as tabbed
 or as unanchored windows.
Tabbed windows are the standard display option and allow you to maneuver
between multiple windows by clicking at the tabs of the windows. This is
intended to free more space on your screen. You can change between the two
display options under View  Tabbed Documents. Views displayed as
unanchored windows can be minimized by clicking on the minimize icon in
their title bar. Views displayed as tabbed documents have additional display
options that can be accessed by right-clicking on their tab or title bar. A
further display option is the presentation mode. SCENE is minimizing all
menus and toolbars to provide maximum space on the screen for scan data.
This feature is controlled via the View menu or by using CTRL-F11 or ALT-
ENTER as short cut command.
3.2. Project Workspace
The project workspace contains all the objects required to process the scans,
making the analysis comprehensible. This typically includes:
 Links to the scan files.
 Scan folders or clusters which define the structure of a scan project. They
organize many scans into a manageable arrangement.
 Geometric objects identified in the scans as well as their fit objects.
 Reference to external coordinate systems.
 Documentation objects, which provide information about user defined
points of interest in the scans or in the point cloud.
 Measurements
 CAD models for comparing scanned reality with the existing plans.
3.2.1. Scans
Scans are the scan files as they are recorded by the scanner with their
millions of data records that include position, reflectance, and color for single
scan points. Scans consist of scan points that were recorded from a single
scanner location. They are organized in a row column order. For more
information on working with scans, please see chapter 3.4.5.
3.2.2. Scan Point Clouds
Scan point clouds are an alternative representation of the scans and have to
be created from the single scans. Scan point clouds are organized in a spatial
data structure that facilitates fast visualization of scan points and automated
point loading based on point visibility. They may facilitate and accelerate the
processing of the scan points.
For more information on working with scan point clouds, please see chapter
3.6.
17 | Chapter 3: Working with Scan Projects, Workspaces and Scans

3.2.3. Project Point Cloud
The result of a scan project in SCENE typically is a comprehensive project

point cloud of the scanned object.
Unlike scans and scan point clouds, the project point cloud consists of the
points of all the scans within your scan project and can be seen as a
comprehensive point cloud of the complete scan project. It is typically created
from all the single scans in your project after they have been preprocessed,
colorized and registered.
For more information on working with the project point cloud, please see
chapter 10.
3.2.4. SCENE WebShare Cloud and WebShare Data
SCENE WebShare Cloud and WebShare data is created from the scans and
consists of panoramic scan images which can be put on the Internet, thus
enabling you to share scan information of your scan project with others.
For more information on working with SCENE WebShare Cloud and WebShare
data, please see chapter 12.
3.3. Workspaces
3.3.1. Creating New Workspaces
You can create a new and empty workspace by

 the command New  New Workspace from File menu
 or by double clicking on a scan file (with the extension .fls). SCENE will
then open a new workspace which contains only this scan.
A new workspace initially only exists in SCENE and not as a file in the file
system nor is it associated to a scan project. For this, you have to explicitly
save the workspace.
Workspaces without associated scan projects are associated to a scan project
when they are saved. The Save or Save As dialog offers these options for all
workspaces that do not have a link to an existing scan project.
Figure 3-2: Save as
Create New - create a new scan project for this workspace. You will be asked
to specify the name and the location of this new scan project.

Use Existing - associate the workspace to an existing scan project. You will
be prompted to specify the location of that scan project.
In both cases, the workspace will be treated as a local workspace of that scan
project and be saved to the folder specified under Path and Filename.
Initially, a new workspace has to be filled with scans or CAD models first.
3.3.2. Workspace Structure
All objects in the workspace are arranged in a hierarchy so that they are
easier to find. This is similar to the file system, where the files are placed in
folders, which can also be nested hierarchically. There are also folders in
SCENE. There are folders for containing scans (Scan Folder) and folders for
general use that can contain all other objects (Folder). A scan is also
essentially a folder which, apart from scan points, can also contain additional
information (however, no further scans).
In the structure view you can see the hierarchy of the objects.
Figure 3-3: Structure view
On the top level of the workspace hierarchy, you can find the following
folders:
Measurements– contains the measurement logs.
Models – contains CAD models.
References – contains survey data and any self made reference points.
Documentation – contains the documentation objects.
Scans – contains scans. This folder is usually named according to the name
of your scan project and might have several scan subfolders depending on the
structure of your scan project.
You can rearrange the objects within the hierarchy. To do this, select an
object and using drag & drop, move it to the folder in which you require it to
be located. You can do this in the structure view and in the planar view. If you
use the left mouse button, the properties of the object will not change.
Especially the local coordinates will not change. But because of the hierarchy
of coordinates it may have changed its global coordinates (see chapter 15.1
for a detailed description of coordinates). If you use the right mouse button,
you’ll get an additional context menu with which you can decide what should
happen with the object.
Figure 3-4: Structure view: Drag & drop object with right mouse button

Here you can not only choose between copy and move, but also select that
the object should keep its global position.
Layers Apart from this hierarchy, the objects are also assigned to layers. Layers are
used to group objects independently of their hierarchy and to control the
visibility of these object groups. For example, in your CAD model, you can
place the interior walls of a building on a separate layer. If you then make this
layer invisible, you very easily obtain an impression of the available floor
space in the building. The visibility settings are explained in chapter 4.4.
You can give most objects their own names, which may only contain letters,
numbers, the point ‘.’ and the underscore ‘_’. Scans cannot be renamed. The
References folder should not be renamed because it is used for registering
the scans.
3.3.3. Finding Objects in the Workspace
SCENE offers a search functionality to search for objects within the current
workspace. This search can be found in the menu bar under Tools  Find and
Locate Object. A dialog will open where you can enter the name of the
object to search for.
If an object with the given name is available in the workspace, it will be
expanded in the structure view of the workspace and located in the currently
opened and active view.
The search is non-case sensitive and takes substrings into account (e.g. if you
search for “sphere”, an object named “Sphere_123” will get found as well).
In case multiple objects are found, all of them are expanded in the workspace
tree and the containing bounding box of all found objects will get located in
the active view.
3.3.4. Merging Workspaces
If you are working on a local workspace you may want to merge it with
another workspace.
 Import the other workspace with the command File  Import, select
FARO Workspaces with the file extension .fws and then select the
workspace file.
When merging, all objects of the imported workspace that do not yet exist in
the currently loaded workspace are imported. If an object already exists, it is
replaced by the object from the imported workspace.
It is also possible to import entire scan projects (with the file extension
.lsproj) or local workspaces related to a different scan project. In those cases,
objects, scans and scan point clouds will be imported as mentioned above;
project point clouds are explicitly excluded from the import process.
When importing workspaces and scan projects, data will be

imported from the current revision.
3.4. Scan Projects
3.4.1. Typical workflow of processing a scan project
A typical workflow of processing a scan project might be as follows:

1. Preparing the scan project:

o Creating a new scan project in SCENE, defining the project structure,
creating scan folders and clusters. For more information, see chapter
3.4.2.
o Transferring the project to the scanner. For more information, see
chapter 13.
2. Scanning. For more information, see the laser scanner manual.
3. Transferring / importing the recorded scans from the scanner to SCENE.
For more information, see chapter 3.5.1.
4. Processing the scan points:
o Filtering of the scans in order to remove disturbing scan points.
o Manual deletion of unwanted scan points.
o Identifying objects in the scans and creating reference objects for the
scan registration.
o Adding color to the scan points (if they were recorded with color).
For more information, see chapter 7.
5. Registering the scans and locking clusters. For more information, see
chapter 6.
6. Scan point inspection and analysis. For more information, see chapter 8.
7. Exporting the scan points into different formats:
o Exporting your scan data into various point cloud and CAD formats in
order to continue processing in third party software products.
o Creating the comprehensive project point cloud.
o Creating SCENE WebShare data.
For more information, see chapters 9, 10 and 12.
3.4.2. Creating Scan Projects
There are different ways to create new scan projects:

Creating a
new Scan
Project
 With the create new project button in the standard toolbar or under
File  New  Project.
 With the create new project button of the project selector. See
chapter 2.1 for more information.
 With the scanner administration. For more information, see chapter 13.4.
 Via scan project export: You may create a new project by exporting an
existing scan project to a different location. For this, use the command
Export Scan Project from the project toolbar or via File  Scan Project
 Export Project.
When creating a new scan project, the following creation dialog appears:

Figure 3-5: Create a new project
Enter a location and project name and proceed by clicking Create. All
necessary files and structures will automatically be created at the selected
location.
When creating a new scan project from scratch, it will have an empty project
workspace and you have to fill it first with the appropriate scan files. See
chapter 3.5.1 for more information on this.
The scan project can be identified by the .lsproj file which is accessible in the
folder of the scan project. It is usually named like the scan project itself. See
chapter 2.8 for information on the folder structure of a scan project.
Creating a Creating a new scan project from a scan folder, a so-called cluster can be a
Scan Project useful operation when only a part of a large scan project is needed for
from a another task or for splitting up large projects into several smaller projects.
Cluster
1. Select Create New Project from Cluster from the the context menu of a
cluster.
2. Select the target location and a project name.
The newly created scan project will start with a fresh revision which will be
created of all scans in the cluster.
The new scan project does not contain any point cloud, local workspaces or
WebShare data the original project might have had.
Creating Scan When opening a workspace that has been created prior to SCENE version 5,
Projects from SCENE will ask you to create a new scan project from the workspace.
Older
Workspaces If multiple workspaces exist for the same scan data in the folder of the
(prior SCENE opened workspace, you can select one of these workspaces to be the project
Version 5) workspace for the new scan project. In this case, you may select the
workspace that represents the latest state of your project. The selected
workspace will be used as a blue print for the new scan project. Once the
correct workspace has been selected, you only need to enter a name for the
project and proceed.
The new scan project will be saved to the folder of the initial workspace and
the project workspace will be created from the selected workspace; the initial
workspace will be kept as well as possible other workspaces in the folder. To
associate these workspaces with the scan project and convert them to local
workspaces of the scan project, you simply have to open and save them in
SCENE.
3.4.3. Working Collaboratively on a Scan Project
SCENE distinguishes between the shared data of a scan project – the data
Shared Data
vs. Local Data that every member of a team can access – and local data, which is owned by

individual users. Even if you are working on scan projects only by yourself, it
is important to read this chapter to understand the fundamental difference.
The scan project is considered to be the current “ground truth” of a project,
the state of a project all contributors agreed on. All unmodified point data
typically is shared data and belongs to the scan project. This means that all
the row-column based scans and the point clouds that exist in the project
workspace are shared among all users of the scan project. This data is shown
in local workspaces as long as it is not modified.
Local When working collaboratively with others on a scan project you typically
workspace maintain a local workspace of the scan project and conduct all your work on
vs. central the basis of this local workspace. From time to time you may then share your
storage
changes to the centrally provided scan project and share your changes with
server
the other project collaborators. Sharing your changes to the scan project will
update the project workspace and the scans or point clouds maintained in the
scan project. Typically, local workspaces are saved on your local hard disk
and the scan project is saved to a central storage server to which all project
collaborators have access. When working alone, you may work directly on the
scan project without maintaining a local workspace. All your work will then
have immediate effect on the project workspace.
SCENE does not offer a check-out/check-in functionality as you may

know it from file systems. So, if you and your partners want to save
data to your local workspaces you have to organize in advance who
will work with which scans. We recommend that every one copies
the scan project into his local workspace and deletes the scans he
will NOT work on. Otherwise it may happen that someone
accidentally overwrites newer data by older ones while sharing his
data with the scan project.
Local data is owned and maintained by users and is not visible to others until
changes are shared with the scan project. Scan data becomes local data once
it is modified and stays local until the changes are shared with the scan
project.
The following diagram illustrates the difference between shared data of the
scan project and local data.

Local Data Local Data Local Data
Scan
Modified
Scan Scan
Modified
Scan Scan
Modified
Scan
Scans Scans Scans
Local Scan Local Scan Local Scan

Point Clouds Point Clouds Point Clouds
Local Local Local

Workspace Workspace Workspace
Scan Project
Project Point
Project Scan Shared Scan
Scan Cloud
Workspace Scans Point Clouds
Figure 3-6: Shared and local data
Shared data can (and will) be read and visualized by every user. The project
point cloud is an excellent example for this. Once created, it will be visualized
in every (local) workspace associated with the scan project but stays part of
the shared data in the scan project. Only the changes (e.g. deleting scan
points) to the project point cloud done on the basis of a local workspace are
maintained locally until the changes are shared to the scan project.
In the further course of this document the general term “workspace”

is used, when the described functionality covers both, the local
workspace as well as the project workspace; else it will be
distinguished between both and the terms “local workspace” or
“project workspace” will be used.
Working with Working with the project workspace means working on the scan project
the Project directly; you can modify, create, add or delete any kind of data a scan project
Workspace can have. Saving your changes will immediately modify the data of the
centrally provided scan project. Scan projects maintain a history of changes of
their data. Every save operation will create a new revision of the project.
To work with the project workspace, open the scan project file (with the
extension .lsproj) or use the project selector (see chapter 2.1).
A write lock for all shared data of the scan project will assure that only one
user is able to modify shared data at a time. All modifications made to the
scan project will be visible to other users once they are saved.
For example, if you create a new project point cloud, it will be shown to other
users once they open up the project next time (in this case even if they open
up a local workspace). When scan points are deleted from a row-column
based scan these changes will be visible in all local workspaces that do not
have local modifications on the same scan and so on.
When users try to access the scan project while a write lock already exists,
the scan project will only be opened in read-only mode and modification can
only be saved as a local workspace.

When working on a project by yourself, you can directly work on the project
workspace all the time. Of course you can also create local workspaces at any
time, for example to experiment with your data and being able to save
experiments without having to modify the scan project.
In single user environments, it is recommended to work with the project
workspace at all times, mainly because deleting objects is much easier this
way. For more information, check Sharing Local Modifications.
Working with Local workspaces can be created from the current version of the project
Local
Workspaces
workspace. For this, click the Save workspace as button in the project
toolbar or use File  Scan Project  Create Local Workspace instead.
A local workspace is saved in the file system as a file with the extension .fws
(scan files have the extension .fls). Each local workspace has an associated
folder in which local changes to scan project data will be stored. This folder
has the same name as the local workspace and is created in the sub-folder
“Workspaces” of the folder of the local workspace file.
After creating a new local workspace, this folder will contain a predefined
folder structure but otherwise will be empty. No project data is copied until
changes have been made and saved.
By default the local workspace will access the shared data of the latest
revision of the associated scan project.
For more information on scan project file structure, please refer to chapter
2.8.
Modifying Once you modify data from within your local workspace, these changes are
Local Data stored inside the aforementioned dedicated local workspace folder. For
example, if you remove scan points from a scan and save your local
workspace, this scan will be copied from the scan project into your local
workspace folder and the changes are applied to this local copy of the scan.
The shared scan project data will not be changed.
As stated above, the project point cloud is part of the shared data of a scan
project. It can be accessed by all local workspaces of the scan project. The
project point cloud can also be modified from within a local workspace.
However, when saving a local workspace, the modifications to the project
point cloud are saved as part of the local workspace but unlike scans, the
project point cloud will not be copied to the local folder of the local workspace.
All modifications made in the local workspace are not visible in other local
workspaces or in the project workspace until they are shared with the scan
project. As soon as they have been shared, they become part of the project
workspace and are visible to other users.
Sharing Local If you want to share your modifications done in your local workspace with the
Modifications
scan project, click the Share Changes button in the project toolbar. You
can also share changes via File  Scan Project  Share Changes. A dialog
opens to provide information about the changes that have been made and
about the author of these changes.

Figure 3-7: Add revision information
Every sharing of data will create a new revision of the scan project and the
provided information will be displayed in the project history of the scan
project. This information can be extremely valuable when working with a scan
project for some time. It helps you to understand changes over time, enables
you to return to certain stages of the project and documents changed by all
users of the scan project. All of this information is optional. For more
information, please see chapter 3.4.6.
Sharing your local changes will update the project workspace and appropriate
scans or point clouds of the scan project.
Sharing changes from local workspaces is equal to importing the local
workspace into the project workspace (via the command File  Import).
 It is not possible to share the deletion of objects from local

workspaces. For example, if you deleted a scan from your local
workspace and share this change with the scan project, the scan
will still be present in the project workspace. Since sharing is
equal to an import into the project workspace, object deletions
can never be shared.
 To delete objects from the scan project you have to open the
project workspace and work directly on the shared data. This
way objects can be deleted.
 When sharing modifications, point data and transformation
information for scans may be stored in separate revisions. If you
want to copy single scan files with transformation information to
another location, please make sure to use Save Copy of
Scan(s) in the context menu of the scans or scan folders to
yield a version of the scans that includes the latest
transformation information. The information is also merged when
exporting the scan project (see chapter 9) of modifying point
data.
3.4.4. Clean Up and Compact Scan Project
As a project grows over time, numerous revisions may accumulate in the scan
project history. Thus it may become necessary to reduce the number of
revisions and the amount of stored data, for instance when an important
milestone has been reached and the individual steps are no longer needed. At
this point you may compact all revisions into one single revision in order to
save disk space.
 Use the command File  Scan Project  Clean Up and Compact Scan
Project or

 click on the Clean Up and Compact Scan Project button in the

project toolbar to clean up and compact the scan project.
This will accumulate all the changes in all available revisions into one single
revision.
 The scan project history is deleted when performing a clean-up.

All information about the history of a project will be lost. You will
no longer be able to revert the project to a previous revision
afterwards.
 If revision history is critical you should export the project.
Exporting the project will perform the same steps as the cleanup
and compact function but stores the results in a new scan
project. The revisions of the original project will be kept.
3.4.5. Save Scan projects
To save your work from time to time, click the Save button in the
standard toolbar.
Saving copies If you want to create a copy of a scan including modifications that were made
of Scans to the scan, for example changes to its transformation, then it might not be
sufficient to just copy the related scan file. This is due to the fact that point
data and transformation information are often stored in separate project
revisions and thus in different locations on your hard disk.
When creating a copy of a scan, it is best to use the command Save Copy of
Scan in the context menu of the scan. This exports a version of the scan that
includes all the changes that have been made to it (including transformation
changes). You may also create copies of the scans in scan folder at once with
the command Save Copy of Scans in the context menu of the scan folder.
Auto Save SCENE has an auto save functionality that helps to recover unsaved changes
which have been lost due to an unplanned application exit such as an
application or system crash or a power outage.
This functionality is not designed to replace normal save operations.

Auto save does not cover changes to the point data itself, like
deleting scan points, filtering or colorization. All other changes, like
scan registration, object operations or project structure changes will
be covered by the auto save functionality. Therefore you should use
the regular save command in frequent intervals in order to preserve
all the changes you have applied to your current workspace.
Auto Save The auto save configuration is managed under Tools  Options  General.
Configura- Here you may enable or disable the auto save functionality and set the time
tion interval for the automatic save operations. For more information, see chapter
18.2.4.
Restoring an During startup, SCENE automatically detects all auto saves available from
Auto Save SCENE instances which exited due to an unplanned event. Whenever SCENE
detects auto saves ready to be restored, it will display a dialog listing all
available auto saves. You can identify the correct auto save based on the
name of the original file for which the auto save was created and the time and
date of its creation. Auto saves will be available until explicitly deleted or until
an auto save is loaded. In this case you can choose to save or dismiss (by
closing the workspace or scan project without saving) any changes that were
stored in the auto save file.

Figure 3-8: AutoSave detection dialog
3.4.6. Scan Project Revisions
Scan projects maintain a history of changes of their data. For every sharing
operation (this includes regular save operations when working on the project
workspace directly) a new revision of the project is created.
Every time a project is opened with write access, a new revision folder is
created for this project. All the changes that are applied to the project during
that session are stored inside this new revision folder. Once the project is
saved, this folder will be permanently stored in the revision folder of the
project. If the changes are dismissed, this revision folder will be deleted. For
more information on the file and folder structure of scan projects, see chapter
2.8.
To avoid storing massive amounts of redundant data, there are mechanisms
in place to optimize the number of files and file size when storing data for a
new revision. For example, if the transformation of a scan is changed, the
scan does not need to be saved in that revision, because the actual point data
did not change. In this case, only the information about the transformation
change needs to be stored. This data is much more compact. If the point data
of that scan is changed – for example by applying a scan point filter - the
whole scan needs to be stored in that new revision because there are now two
different versions of the scan points of that scan. This way it is assured that
going back to any of the previous revisions will work properly.
Project All revisions of a scan project are available in the project history. You may
History open the history of a scan project
 with the Project History button in the project toolbar

 or via the File menu under Scan Project  Project History.
The project history shows all revisions of a scan project with the appropriate
information.

Figure 3-9: Project history
The project history is a powerful tool that lets you track changes, export
revisions and even allows you to go back to a certain revision and revert all
the changes after a certain revision was created.
Performing a double click on a revision in the list or clicking the Load
Revision button will load the project workspace at that revision. This will not
revert the current scan project to the selected revision. This will load the
revision in read only mode and lets you view the state of a scan project at the
time the revision was created. You may export this revision as a new scan
project.
Some operations may automatically create new revisions without

user interaction. In this case the author of the revision is always
“SCENE”. This will happen for example when updating the project
point cloud.
Exporting a Exporting a revision lets you create a new scan project based on one of the
Revision revisions of your current scan project. The export process will gather all scan
project data up to the selected revision and create a new scan project at the
given location based on this data. In the project history, select a revision and
click the Export to… button. This function is similar to the clean-up and
compact scan project (see chapter 3.4.4) function. The exported scan
project starts with a single new revision and does not have any knowledge
about the project history of the source project.
The current revision of a scan project can also be exported by using File 
Scan Project  Export Scan Project or via the Export Project button in
the project toolbar.

Figure 3-10: Export revision
In the export revision dialog, select a location and enter a name for the new
scan project and press create. Please note that the export may take some
time based on the complexity of the source scan project.
Project names may not contain special characters or blanks.
The resulting exported scan project will be completely separate and have no
connections to its source project.
3.4.7. Reverting to a Previous Revision
Reverting to a previous revision will delete all changes made by later

revisions. A revert operation will restore the state of a scan project at the
time the revision was created. This can be useful to return to a state before a
certain change was made. To revert to a certain revision, select the revision in
the project history and click Revert.
All data and changes made after the selected revision will be lost.
To proceed, you have to confirm the reversion by typing the word “revert”
into the text box.
Figure 3-11: Revert to revision
3.4.8. Restoring an Auto Save
During startup, SCENE automatically detects all auto saves available from
SCENE instances which exited due to an unplanned event. Whenever SCENE

detects auto saves ready to be restored, it will display a dialog listing all
available auto saves. You can identify the correct auto save based on the
name of the original file for which the auto save was created and the time and
date of its creation. Auto saves will be available until explicitly deleted or until
an auto save is loaded. In this case you can choose to save or dismiss (by
closing the workspace or scan project without saving) any changes that were
stored in the auto save file.
Figure 3-12: AutoSave detection dialog
3.5. Working with Scans
A scan contains a variety of information for the storage and display of the
captured measurement points, such as:
 Individual measurement points (scan points) with intensity value (rf
value). The scan points of a scan are organized in a row column order.
 A preview picture (.jpg).
 Compensation information. For more information, see chapter 7.7.
 Exact position and orientation information.
 Information about the settings used to record the scan.
 Scan related objects created with SCENE, such as geometric objects or
documentation objects. For more information, see chapter 7.4.
 Pictures captured by the scanner’s photo camera if the scan was recorded
with color. For more information, see chapter 7.5.
All this data is combined in the scan file but it is handled separately in SCENE.
It is therefore possible to access additional scan data without the scan points
having to be loaded in the memory.
In the structure view, the scans in the workspace are listed under a scan
folder. A scan is identified by the cloud symbol . Modified unsaved scans are
marked with a star in the cloud symbol .
A scan may be examined with the quick view, the planar view or the 3D view.
Learn more about this in chapter 4.

3.5.1. Importing Scans
The FARO laser scanner Focus3D saves the scans to a removable SD card. It
Importing
Scans from initially generates several files for one scan and puts them all into one folder
the FARO on the SD card. This folder is named according to the specified scan name.
Laser During the import process SCENE combines all the files of this folder to one
Scanner .fls scan file.
Focus3D
You may import those scans automatically or manually.
Do the following to import scans automatically:
1. Start SCENE.
2. Insert the Focus3D SD card into the memory card slot of your computer
or a connected memory card adapter.
The SD card will automatically be recognized by SCENE and you will be
asked whether to import the scans or not. Clicking yes starts the transfer
and import process of the scans.
o If the scans belong to a scan project that is unknown to SCENE, a new
folder in your regular project location (specified under Tools  Options
 Folder  Project Locations) will be created and the scans will be
transferred to this folder.
o If the scans belong to an existing scan project that is already known to
SCENE, they will be transferred to the corresponding project folder on
the harddisk and imported to the existing project workspace.
3. Do one of the following to import scans manually:
o Drag and drop the appropriate scan folder from the SD card to the
currently opened workspace in SCENE.
o Use File  Import: navigate to the folder of the appropriate scan and
select the scan’s identification file. This identification file bears the
name of the scan and has the extension .fls.
This file may not be confused with the .fls scan file that is created
by SCENE during the transfer and import process as described
above.
Importing If you already have scan files on your hard disk, then start their import either
Scans From with the command File  Import or by Drag & Drop. SCENE can import scan
the Local files from different scanner manufacturers. You can import the scan files in
Hard Disk
FARO Laser Scan format, E57, Leica PTZ, PTX format or as an XYZ text file.
With the last two formats listed, however, you have to make sure that the
scan points in the scan file are arranged so that they correspond to the row or
column-oriented recording process of the scanner. You also have to make
sure that the scan was not registered.
Scans are always saved in FARO Laser Scan format. Therefore, if the scan
does not originate from a scan file in FARO Laser Scan format, a new file is
created in this format when saving the workspace.
For more information on the available file formats, see chapter 5.3.1.
You may adjust the settings for the import of XYZ text files under Tools 
Options  Import. For more information, see chapter 5.3.

3.5.2. Initial Scan Alignment Derived from the Scanner’s Sensor Data
Scans from the FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D might have positional data
derived from the different sensors in the scanner. This can be a GPS position
from the GPS sensor, an altitude from the height sensor, an orientation from
the compass and an inclination from the three axis compensator. This
information, if available, is used for a rough initial and automatic alignment of
the scans after their import.
The first imported scan with GPS coordinates is selected as a reference, its
coordinates in the overall coordinate system will be set to x=0, y=0,
z=altitude from height sensor. This position is then the base for the
corresponding alignment of the remaining scans. The absolute positional
values of the scans as they were measured by the scanner’s sensors can still
be viewed in the properties of the scan. For more information, see chapter
18.5.23.
As this initial alignment is only a rough placement of the scans, a scan
registration has still to be applied to the scans of the project to refine their
placement. The information derived from the sensor data thereby greatly
facilitates the registration process. For more information on registering scans,
see chapter 6.
Figure 3-13: Initial scan alignment of project after import
3.5.3. Loading Scans
To view and process the scan points of a scan, the scan has to be loaded into
the memory first. A scan is either loaded automatically when opened in one of
the above mentioned views or it is loaded explicitly.
 To do this, open the context menu of the scan and select Loaded.
In the context menu you will also see a small check mark if the scan is
loaded.
A scan may contain several million scan points and loading scans into the
memory of your computer may have large memory requirements, especially if
the scans were recorded with high resolutions. For this reason, you should
avoid loading a lot of large scans simultaneously and remove their scan points
from the memory by unloading the scans if they are no longer required. For
more information about this, please see chapter 3.5.4.

In some cases, depending on the memory of your computer, you might not be
able to load large scans completely, e.g. if they were recorded with full
resolution. In this case you may load these scans in reduced size. You can set
the maximal size for a scan under Tools  Options  Scan Data (see chapter
18.2.4).
 If a scan is loaded in reduced size and its scan points have been
manipulated (e.g. by applying filters or by deleting scan points),
it will be saved with the loaded (and reduced) resolution when
saving the workspace. Hence, it is recommended to make a
backup copy of your raw scan files.
 If you would like to record scans in full resolution, but the
memory of your computer is limited, you may have to limit the
horizontal and vertical scanning area to the area of interest
before scanning.
If a scan is loaded in full size it is marked with a symbol, if it is loaded in

reduced size it is marked with .
Figure 3-14: Structure view of a workspace
3.5.4. Unloading Scans
If the scan points of a scan are no longer required for what you are currently
working on, you should remove them from the memory. To do this, open the
context menu of the scan and select Scan Loaded. The check marks by the
entry and by the cloud symbol will disappear. All planar views of the scan are
closed and the scan points of the scan are removed from the 3D views. Quick
views are not affected.
Closing a view of the scan does not remove it from the memory.
3.5.5. Single Scan Points

Figure 3-15: Scan point data in the status bar
If you open the planar or the quick view of a scan, you can view the data of
single scan points. To do this, move the mouse pointer over the planar view.
In the status bar, you will find the following details for the scan point that is
currently under the mouse pointer:
 Row, Column – The row and column within the planar view.
 Polar Coordinates – Horizontal angle from 0° to 360°, the vertical angle
from +90° to -90°, and distance from the scanner. Polar coordinates have
their origin in the scanner position.
 Cartesian Coordinates – Coordinates along the three axes x, y, and z.
Cartesian coordinates take into account the placement of the scanner
within the coordinate system.
 Reflection or Color Value – For a scan point with color, the red, green,
and blue values are displayed. Otherwise the reflection value is displayed.
Dark scan points have a small reflection value, bright scan points a high
one. The reflection value of scanners from different manufacturers is not
necessarily comparable. There are for example scanners with a brightness
range from 0 to 255, and there are scanners with a range from 0 to 2047.
3.6. Working with Scan Point Clouds
Scan point clouds are optimized for fast visualization of large amounts of scan
points. Scan point clouds have to be created from the single scans and thus
consist of points from only a single scanner position, but are fundamentally
different from traditional row-column based scans. Scan point clouds are not
organized in a row-column order; they are organized in a spatial data
structure that facilitates fast visualization of scan points and automated point
loading based on the camera position and point visibility.
Scan points clouds do not have to be loaded prior to be visualized in the 3D
view. This empowers you to actually see all scans of a project at once. This is
highly beneficial for example when registering scans in the correspondence
view since you can see all your data at once while moving scans around
interactively. For more information, see chapter 6.3.
However, the row-column based scan data will still be used for planar view
visualization and for operations in the quick view and can be used for
visualization in 3D views if needed. To switch from scan point cloud
visualization to row-column based scan points in 3D views, simply load the
scan as described in chapter 3.5.3 and the view will draw the row-column
based points instead of the scan point cloud. Unload the scan, to see the
points of the scan point cloud again.
Scan point clouds behave very similar to scans. They can be transformed and
moved around like the scans. However, scan point clouds do have some
significant advantages:
 Fast visualization without manually loading scans.
 Highly interactive registration in correspondence view.
 Visualization of large amounts of scans at once.
 Transformable like traditional scans.
 Advanced 3D point selection tools like the Brush Selector (See chapter
7.1.2)

3.6.1. Creating Scan Point Clouds
Scan point clouds can be created for each scan in your workspace. Scan point
cloud creation can be done on a per-scan-basis or for folders of scans at once.
Right-click on a scan or scan folder, choose Operations  Point Cloud Tools
 Create Scan Point Cloud or use the preprocess function to create scan
point clouds and apply other processing steps to the scans in a batch mode.
For more information, see chapter 6.8.
Once the creation of scan point clouds has been initiated, a settings dialog will
show up.
Figure 3-16: Point cloud settings
The following settings for the scan point cloud creation are available in the
dialog:
 Homogenize Point Density: Enable / disable point density
homogenization.
 CPU load: Adjust the number of CPU cores used for the point cloud
creation.
 Temporary Data Folder: Specify the folder used for temporary data
which will be created during the creation process. SCENE checks if
sufficient space is available.
As the menu is valid for both the scan point cloud and the project
point cloud, the option to eliminate duplicate points is always greyed
when creating a scan point cloud. This option only works when
creating the project point cloud.
These settings are similar to the settings for the project point cloud creation.
Section Disk Space provides information about the available space on the
hard disk used for the temporary data and on the (target) hard disk used for

saving the final point cloud data. The target hard disk is the disk on which the
scan project data or the data of the local workspace is stored.
Scans for which scan point clouds have been created will get a icon in the
structure view.
To remove scan point clouds right-click on a scan or cluster, choose
Operations  Point Cloud Tools  Delete Scan Point Cloud. Please save
the scan project in order to make this change persistent. In order to delete
the scan point clouds from the hard disk, please clean up and compact the
scan project.
3.6.2. Modifying Scan Point Clouds
Scans and scan point clouds are closely related to each other. Certain changes
to the related scans will also have an effect on the scan point clouds and vice
versa:
 Transformation changes for scans are applied to both, scan and scan point
cloud.
 The deletion of points in a scan point cloud will also be applied to the
associated scan.
 When points are deleted or otherwise modified in the scan, the scan point
cloud of this scan will be removed. If the scan point cloud is part of the
shared data of a scan project, it will be automatically recreated after the
next sharing (when working on a local workspace) or saving (when
working on the scan project). To apply point modifications in a scan to the
scan point cloud without sharing, when working on a local workspace,
recreate the scan point cloud manually.

4. Exploring Scan Data and Objects
There are various views to display and explore scans and point clouds:
 Quick View – The standard scan view to examine single scans. For this,
the scan does not have to be loaded. The quick view is available within a
few seconds; in the meanwhile the scan data will be loaded in the
background. You can manipulate the scan points as soon as background
loading is finished. Until then you are only able to view and navigate.
 Planar View – Used to examine single scans. The scan must be loaded;
this will happen automatically if required.
 3D View – The 3D view is not limited to display the scan points of a single
scan or scan point cloud, it also offers the combined viewing of all the
scans and objects in your project point cloud or workspace.
 Overview Map – With the overview map you get a top view of your
complete scan project. The overview map is only accessible if WebShare
data of your scan project is available.
In the views, you take a position as an observer in the room and look in a
certain direction to observe the scanned area with a freely selectable scale.
Depending on the type of view, your selection of position may be limited; in
the quick view and the planar view, you can only assume the position of the
scanner, i.e. you cannot move freely in the room as an observer. This is only
possible in the 3D view (see chapter 4.3). Line of sight and scale are freely
adjustable in all types of view.
When you open the view of a single scan, at first you are in the position of the
scanner when it recorded the scan. You will see the scan points of the
scanned area all around you. To change the scale, use the scroll wheel of your
mouse. If you turn the wheel towards you, you increase the scale; the
displayed area becomes smaller. This is similar to using a telephoto lens on a
camera. If you turn the wheel away from you, you decrease the scale. The
displayed area becomes larger, similar to using a wide-angle lens.
Chapter 4: Exploring Scan Data and Objects| 38

4.1. Quick View
Figure 4-1: Quick view
The quick view displays the content of a single scan. Start the quick view by
double clicking on the scan in the structure view or via the command View 
Quick View in the context menu of the scan. The scan points do not have to
be loaded to be displayed. Therefore, the quick view of a scan is available
within a few seconds. Once the quick view has been opened and is displayed,
the scan point data will be loaded in the background. However, until then you
can view the scan and navigate but you cannot access and thus not
manipulate the scan points. You will be able to access the scan points and get
all the scan point manipulation functionality as soon as the scan data has
been fully loaded. The quick view is the standard view.
The following restrictions apply in the quick view:
 You always see the scanned area from the scanner position, which means
you cannot leave this position. However, you can of course change your
line of sight and scale.
 The field of view cannot exceed 180°.
You can adjust the line of sight by holding the left mouse button down and
moving the scan points in the direction required. To switch into navigation
mode, click on the Examine button in the 3D view toolbar.
39 | Chapter 4: Exploring Scan Data and Objects

4.2. Planar View
Figure 4-2: Planar view
Like the quick view, the planar view displays the content of a single scan only.
Start the planar view with the command View  Planar View in the context
menu of the scan. At first glance, the planar view may appear very strange
because the scanned area seems to be distorted. Straps and supports do not
run in a straight line but are curved. For the planar view, SCENE uses the
same technique as it is used for depicting the earth's surface on a map where
the area around the poles appears to be magnified, and the flight route
between two distant cities is not straight but bent.
The consequence of the distortion is that it only succeeds approximately in
displaying other objects congruent with the scan points. If a scanned
reference sphere already appears in the view more like an ellipsoid than a
sphere, do not be surprised that the added reference object does not cover
the reference sphere completely. For this reason no CAD models are displayed
in the planar view; use the 3D view for this instead.
The planar view is useful because of the fact that with some scanners, it is the
most natural display format of the scan points. A lot of scanners process the
horizontal and vertical angles step by step; it is therefore practical to display
the scan points in a column and row oriented manner accordingly.
The view starts at the left margin with the first column the scanner recorded.
In the local coordinate system of the scanner, this column normally has the
horizontal angle of 0°. The subsequent columns then come to the right, with
an increasing horizontal angle until 360° is reached with a circumferential
scan. In the top row, the scan points with the greatest vertical angle reached
are displayed, for example, the zenith with +90°, which is directly over the
scanner. From top to bottom, the vertical angle decreases, reaching 0° at the
horizontal line and then becoming a negative value. The smallest possible
vertical angle is –90°.
As in the quick view, you always view the scanned area from the scanner
position - you cannot leave this position. However, you can of course change
your line of sight and scale.

As in all views, you can set the scale using the scroll wheel of your mouse.
There are also further buttons in the toolbar for the planar view which you can
use to change the scale. By clicking on the Zoom Out button you
decrease the scale to see a larger area. The Zoom In button increases
the scale so you can see more details. You can see the scale set at any time
as a number in the toolbar . 100% stands for the 1:1 correlation
between a scan point and a pixel. You can also set any scale you wish by
entering a number directly in this field. Furthermore, you can also select the
required scale from a list of scales available. For this, click on the arrow next
to the field with the scale and then click on the scale you require.
You can adjust the line of sight either by using the scroll bars, or in navigation
mode, by holding the left mouse button down and moving the scan points in
the direction required. To switch into navigation mode, click on the camera
pan button ; the mouse pointer indicates it is in navigation mode .
When moving the mouse, the pointer changes to . The mouse movement is
object-based, i.e. if you move the mouse to the right; the objects appear to
move from the center of the image to the right margin. Moreover, you can
also change the line of sight using the keyboard, with the left arrow, right
arrow, up arrow and down arrow keys. The keyboard entries are observer-
based, i.e. if you press the right arrow key; your head seems to turn to the
right and the objects from the right margin move towards the center of the
image.
4.3. 3D View
With the 3D view, you can achieve the most easily comprehensible view of the
scan points and CAD models. The 3D view is normally set up with the field of
view corrected, so that you get an impression close to reality. Unlike the quick
view and the planar view, scan points manipulation and analysis is limited in
the 3D view.
On systems with NVIDIA Quadro graphics processors, rendering

performance in the 3D view might be slow or intermitted. In order
to improve rendering performance, start the NVIDIA Control
Panel application (available in the Windows Control Panel) and
select the global preset 3D App – Game Development from the
Global Settings tab.
Start the 3D view of a single scan via the command View  3D View in the
context menu of the scan. If the scan is not loaded or no scan point cloud is
available for the scan, only its objects are displayed.

Figure 4-3: 3D view of a single scan
You can also open the 3D view for all the scans within a scan folder with the
command View  3D View in the context menu of the folder. If scan point
clouds for the single scans are not available, only the points of the loaded
scans will be displayed. If scan point clouds of the scans are available, the
scans do not have to be loaded to be displayed. In the 3D view, the points of
scans have priority over the points of scan point clouds, which means that the
points of loaded scans will be displayed instead of the points of the related
scan point clouds.
Figure 4-4: 3D view of a complete scene
If a project point cloud is available, open its 3D view with the Create 3D view
button from the toolbar or via the command View  3D View in the
context menu of the workspace. If no project point cloud is available, this
button or command will open the 3D view of the scans in the workspace.

Displaying the scans of a workspace behaves like displaying the 3D view of a

scan folder as described above.
Normally, the 3D view displays the scan points and objects with the correct
field of view, in other words, objects of the same size appear smaller with
increasing distance (Perspective View). You can also change the view to an
orthographic representation. Then, objects of the same size always appear
the same size, regardless of how far away they are. This type of
representation is common in a lot of CAD systems. You can switch between
these two representations in the context menu of the 3D view under Camera
or in the visibility settings (see chapter 4.4).
 If you would like to see and work on the original scan points
organized in a row-column order the scan has to be loaded and
the scan points organized in a spatial data structure (points from
scan point clouds) will not be displayed. Operations on the points
made in the 3D view will then be applied to the row-column
organized scan points.
 If there are scan point clouds and if you want to see and work on
the points organized in a spatial data structure you have to
unload the scan first. Operations made in the 3D view will then
be applied to the points of the scan point clouds.
 When working on the scan points in the 3D view of a scan folder,
please keep in mind that you see the row–column organized
points for the loaded scans and the points organized in a spatial
data structure for those scans that are not loaded.
4.3.1. Navigating in the 3D View
The 3D view is used just like the other views. In addition, in the 3D view you
can position yourself at arbitrary positions in space and have a look at the
scan points and CAD models. The mouse is used to define the turning
movements you want to perform, and with the keyboard you define the actual
movement in space.
There are several navigation modes available. Select them from the 3D view
toolbar:
There are several navigation modes available. Select them from the 3D view
toolbar:
 The fly mode of the observer-based navigation simulates flying

through the 3D world.
o Clicking and dragging the 3D view with the mouse simulates a flight
around the scanner’s position.
o The cursor keys left, right, up, and down move you to the left, the
right, forward, and backwards. The keys page-up and page-down move
you up and down. In addition, you can press the shift key to accelerate
these movements.
 The walk mode of the observer-based navigation is similar to the

fly mode but you are constrained by the XY plane, you travel along the XY
plane. For example, the walk mode is useful to limit movement to a floor
of a building.

 Examine button – starts the object-based navigation, it seems as if

the objects move while you stand still. The center of rotation (rotation
point) is fixed in the center of the scan.
 Camera pan button – There is no turning available in this navigation

mode. Mouse movements are interpreted as observer movements.
 The center of rotation (rotation point) is somewhere in the 3D world. It
is set automatically by some functions, e.g. when using the object-based
navigation (see above). It can also be set manually by clicking the Set
rotation point button of the 3D view toolbar and then the scan point
or object.
Adjust the speed of movement, the variability of rotation, the behavior of the
mouse wheel and the setting of the rotation point under Tools  Options 
Navigation:
Figure 4-5: Navigation options
Default Speed - change the speed of the left, right, forward and backwards
General
Settings movement triggered by pressing the cursor keys.
Accelerated Speed - determine the speed of the accelerated left, right,
forward and backwards movement triggered by pressing the cursor keys in
combination with the shift key.
Invert Mouse Wheel - changes the forward and backwards movement by
the mouse wheel. The default behavior of the mouse wheel is: spinning it
forward will move you backwards in space and vice versa.
Snap to Z-Axis (enabled by default) – if enabled the rotation is stabilized by
a locked z-axis. Disabling this option will results in an unlock z-axis and thus
in a completely free rotation. If Snap to Z-axis is turned off, you can rotate
the 3D view around the line of sight. To do this, click near to the left or right
border of the open 3D view and drag the mouse in any direction. A circle will
appear in the middle of the view indicating the rotation angle.

Figure 4-6: Rotation around the line of sight
Setting of rotation point

Examine
Mode  Set rotation point automatically during movement – Automatically sets the
Settings rotation point to the point or object that is currently nearest to the center
of the current field of view. This will be done dynamically while navigating
in the view.
 Set rotation point automatically after movement – Automatically sets the
rotation point to the point or object that is nearest to the center of the
current field of view. This will be done after movement has stopped.
 Don’t set rotation point automatically – The rotation point will not be set
automatically. You may set it manually with the Set rotation point button
from the 3D view toolbar
Use selected object as rotation center– Uses the center of the currently
selected object as the rotation point.
In case the automatic setting of the rotation point and Use

selected object as rotation center are both enabled, Use
selected object as rotation center has the precedence.
Visibility of rotation point

 Always show rotation point– Always show the rotation point (the rotation
point is visualized as a red dot in the view).
 Show rotation point during movement – Show the rotation point only when
the point cloud is being moved.
 Always hide rotation point – Never show the rotation point.

You can also find the rotation point settings in the context menu of the 3D
view.
Find more functions that are available in the 3D view in chapter 18.3.6.
For an overview of the available navigation hot keys in the 3D view, see
chapter 16.
4.3.2. Objects in the 3D View
Figure 4-7: CAD object in 3D view of a scan
The 3D view is usable even without scan points if you want to view CAD
models. The most interesting view is the combination of CAD model and scan
points. With this you can very easily compare the CAD model with the
scanned reality.
If desired, selected scan points may be compared with each other or with the
CAD model. Start with the 3D view of your CAD model or a selected area of
the scan points. Then arbitrarily select other scan points. This selection may
also belong to a different scan! Add the selected scan points to the 3D view
with the command Add Scan Points in the context menu.
If you start the overall 3D View in the context menu of the workspace or with
the Create 3D view button from the toolbar, all objects in the Models
folder will be displayed.
With observer-based navigation, you are always the center of rotation. With
object-based navigation it is different: When you start a 3D view on a scan,
the scanner position itself is the initial center of rotation. When you start the
3D view on a CAD model or a selection of scan points, their center will be the
initial center of rotation. You can select a different center of rotation by simply
selecting a visible CAD object and using the command Set Rotation Point in
its context menu.
Very often, CAD objects are hierarchically structured. For example a robot
may consist of a platform, an arm, and a tool. When you now click with the
mouse on the platform, it isn’t evident whether you want to select the whole
robot or just the platform. In SCENE, you’ll start on the highest level of the
hierarchy, in this case the whole robot. If you want to select an object at a
lower level of the hierarchy, simply click again without moving the mouse in
between. By this you can descend the hierarchy step-by-step until you have
reached the part of the object you are interested in. You can also ascend in
the hierarchy when you press the shift-key while clicking.

In the context menu of a CAD object in the 3D view you can also set
individual objects to be visible or invisible. To do this, place a check mark by
the entry Visible. This setting works in combination with the visibility of the
layer and the visibility of the object type. This means an object is only visible
if it is set to visible on all three levels.
4.3.3. 3D Clear View
The 3D view also has another representation, the 3D Clear View. The clear
view mode gives an improved and high-quality presentation of scan points in
3D view. It adds transparency to the otherwise completely opaque point cloud
rendering. This allows for viewing through walls or ceilings and may give a
much better impression of the spatial structure of the underlying point cloud.
Points in areas with low point density will be displayed more transparently and
points in areas with a high point density will be displayed more brightly.
1. Select View  3D View to open the 3D view.
2. Right-click into the view and select Clear View Mode.
The clear view mode is only available if 32 bit color depth has been selected in
the display properties of Windows and Offscreen Rendering under Tools 
Options  View is enabled. For more information, see chapter 18.2.4.
Figure 4-8: Clear view
4.3.4. Managing Viewpoints
You may save the current camera position and line of sight in the 3D view as
a viewpoint. This enables you to return to saved viewpoints later at any time.
When you have moved the camera in the 3D view to a position that you would
like to keep for later use, you can create a viewpoint from it
 with Ctrl + F2 or
 with the Manage viewpoints button from the 3D view toolbar.

Viewpoints are added to a folder called Viewpoints in the structure view.
Viewpoints are part of the workspace and will be saved when saving the
workspace or project.

Figure 4-9: Viewpoints in Structure View
 To go to a viewpoint select Activate in its context menu in the structure

view.
All viewpoints can also be successively activated in the order of their creation
by using the hotkey F2 or in reverse order by using Shift+F2.
In the Structure View, you can organize the viewpoints into folders:
Figure 4-10: Viewpoints grouped into folders
4.4. Visibility Settings
The views can also show objects other than the scan points, such as:
 The positions of the other scans in the workspace.
 The simple objects assigned to a scan that were created by a fit, for
example spheres, and 3D points.
 CAD models.
Not all views can display all these objects. For further information, please see
the more detailed description of views.

You can decide whether or not to display the objects using the visibility
settings, which are arranged in three levels:
 The visibility of the layer to which the object is assigned.
 The visibility according to the prominence of the object.
 The distance of the object from the observer.
An object is only visible if the visibility on the first two levels is set accordingly
and it is located in the set range.
 Press the Visibility settings button to get the dialog box for the
visibility settings.
The visibility settings are maintained separately for each view. It is therefore
possible that an object is visible in one view and not in another. When you
open a new view, this view initially takes over the default values of the
visibility settings. You can also change these default values. In the context
menu of the Workspace, select Planar View Visibility Settings for the
default visibility settings of the planar view, or 3D Visibility Settings for the
default visibility settings of the quick view and the 3D view.
4.4.1. View (3D View and Quick View)
Figure 4-11: Visibility settings -View
Camera
Perspective / Orthographic – Switch between the perspective and
orthographic camera. For more information, see chapter 4.3.
Frustum Culling – Enable to draw only the objects that are within the
view frustum.
Back Face Culling – Enable to skip rendering the (not visible) back face
of objects.
Navigation Hint - Display or hide the small coordinate system in the
view.
Render Mode
Wireframe – Show objects as wire frames.
Smooth Shading – Perform smooth shading on surfaces.

Accelerated Rendering – Accelerates the rendering of scan points in 3D

view. This option is only available if scan points of scan point clouds or
project point clouds are visualized.
Background Settings - Select either a single or gradient background
color. As single background color the selected top color will be used. The
gradient background color starts with the selected top color and
transitions linearly to the selected bottom color.
Statistics - Displays the number of frames per second
Stereoscopic Mode - SCENE supports viewing the scan points in a 3D
stereoscopic mode which is only available in the 3D view. This mode
greatly enhances the 3D perception of the viewed point cloud by
representing two offset images to the viewer, one for each eye. Viewing
the point cloud in the stereoscopic mode greatly improves the orientation
in your scan project and facilitates to distinguish between near and far
objects; stray points are perceived as less disturbing. This mode is only
available in the 3D view and has no effect on the other views.
To fully benefit from this mode, several system requirements have to be
fulfilled:
 For generating the stereoscopic output, SCENE uses the Quad Buffering
technology, so your graphic card and the installed graphic card driver have
to support OpenGL quad buffering. Graphic cards supporting this
technology are e.g. AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadpro (except NVIDIA
Quadpro NVS) cards.
 You need a 3D Stereo capable output device. Depending on the graphic
card, different output devices are supported, e.g. 120Hz monitors with
shutter glasses, HDMI 1.3 capable DLP devices or 60Hz monitors with
anaglyph glasses. We recommend using a bundle consisting of a NVIDIA
Quadpro series graphic card, a NVIDIA 3D vision kit (shutter glasses) and
a 120Hz Monitor.
To switch to the stereoscopic mode, please follow these steps:
 Prior to starting SCENE, enable OpenGL quad buffering in the settings of
your graphic card driver. For more information on setting up the graphic
card driver, please read the manual of your graphic card or see chapter
15.3. This chapter describes the driver configuration for an exemplary
hardware system.
 Start SCENE, load your scan project, switch to the 3D view and open its
visibility settings (from the context menu of the 3D view).
 Enable the stereoscopic mode and use the slider on the right to adjust the
depth effect of the 3D visualization. This setting changes the perceived
distance of the focal point. You might have to adjust this repeatedly until
you get the best 3D viewing results.
It is recommended to enable SCENE’s presentation mode under View 
Presentation Mode in the main menu (see also chapter 18.2.3) when
viewing the point cloud in stereoscopic mode as interface elements such as
the menus and the toolbars are still displayed in 2D and this may affect your
3D viewing experience.
 The stereoscopic mode is for examining the point cloud,

operations such as point selection or measurements are disabled
in this mode.
 If the stereoscopic mode is not available, Offscreen Rendering
under Tools  Options  View might be disabled. Offscreen

Rendering must be enabled for the stereoscopic mode. For more

information, see chapter 18.2.4.
4.4.2. Scan Points (3D View)
Figure 4-12: Visibility settings –Scan Points
Scan Point Size - Set the size of the scan points in the 3D view. You can
select between two preset sizes or change the size manually with the slider. If
Auto Apply is enabled, new settings are visible immediately; you do not need
to click on the Apply button.
Color Settings - Select the color for the scan point. You can select between:
Measured Value – Grey value according to the measured value.
White – White points.
Black – Black points.
Unique for Scans– The scan points of each scan are displayed in unique
colors.
Unique for Clusters – The scan points of the scans within each cluster
are displayed in unique colors.
Subsample Settings - Reduce of the point density during navigation in 3D
view. A value of e.g. 30 means that at least every thirtieth point will be
displayed when moving the point cloud. Lower values mean that more scan
points will be displayed, which could, depending on the performance of your
computer system, result in a slower animation of the point cloud. When you
turn this function off all points will be displayed during navigation.
Clear View Settings - In the clear view mode, points in areas with low point
density will be displayed more transparently and points in areas with a high
point density will be displayed more brightly. By changing the settings with
the slider you can intensify or weaken this effect.
Gap Filling - The gap filler fills gaps between scan points that are physically
close to each other.

Figure 4-13: Gap filling turned off (left) and turned on (right)
If clear view and gap filling are greyed out, Offscreen Rendering
under Tools  Options  View might be disabled. Offscreen
Rendering must be enabled for gap filling and clear view. For more
Supersampling – Supersampling renders the point cloud with a resolution

higher than the resolution of your screen and then shrinks the point cloud to
fit the screen resolution. This reduces anti-aliasing effects and gives the point
cloud a smoother visual appearance. Fine and filigree structures look sharper
and stray points will appear less annoying. Set the resolution of the initially
rendered point cloud compared to the screen resolution by selecting one of
the options 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4. For example, choosing 2x2 means that the point
cloud will be rendered with a resolution that is 4 times the resolution of your
screen.
Figure 4-14: Supersampling turned off (left) and turned on (right)
 Objects like walls might get transparent when using small point
sizes in combination with supersampling
 High supersampling resolutions like 4x4 require large amounts of
graphics card memory.

4.4.3. Layer
Figure 4-15: Visibility settings -Layer
Toggle the visibility of the available layers and their related objects and the
object names in the view. See chapter 18.4.3 for more information.
4.4.4. Extra
Figure 4-16: Visibility settings -Extra
Objects - Display or hide certain types of objects:

Models Folder – Display CAD models.
References Folder – Display reference objects.
Scan positions – Display the scanner positions in the view. If enabled,
the positions will be visualized by this symbol:

Figure 4-17: Scanner position
Cameras – Display the camera positions of other views.

Scan objects – Display or hide the objects that are assigned to the scans in
the view. You may display these objects only if the scan is loaded.
Visibility – Set the minimum and maximum distance at which objects are
shown.
Documentation Objects – Set the maximum distance at which
documentation objects are shown.
4.5. Object Visualization
4.5.1. Material
The appearance of objects is determined by their shape, color, the

composition of their surfaces and the basic material characteristics. For
example, glass has the basic material characteristic of being transparent.
Independent of that, it can be clear or colored, smooth ground or abraded. In
SCENE, all these characteristics are included in the term material, so in this
example, material does not simply mean glass, but a particular abraded green
glass.
Objects that are created from a fit have a material that reflects the quality of
the fit in its color. Of course, imported objects have the material that is preset
in the VRML model. The objects created directly by you initially have a
material with a neutral grey as the color.
You can change the material of an imported object. To do this, open the
Material dialog in its context menu. You will find further explanations in
chapter 18.4.1.
It is possible that several objects can share the same material definition. For
example, imagine the model of a car. Here it makes sense for all tires to have
the same material definition so that they all have the same color.
You can also make use of the hierarchical structure and change the material
characteristics of several objects at the same time. To do this, open the
Material dialog for the appropriate folder (see chapter 18.4.1).
4.5.2. Layers
Layers are used to group objects independently of their hierarchy and to

control the visibility of these object groups. For example, in a CAD model, you
can put buildings and machines on different layers. If you then make the layer
with the machines invisible, you can view the cleared building.
In its basic state, the workspace contains the following layers:
MatchedObjects – The layer for objects that were created by a fit.
Measurements – The layer for measurements.

Models – The layer for CAD models. When importing CAD models, they
are automatically attached to this layer.
ObjectMarker – The layer for object markers.
References – The layer for reference objects.
Scans – The layer for the scan points of a scan.
PointCloud – The layer for the scan points of the scan point clouds and
the project point cloud.
Text – The layer for text fields.
Trajectories – The layer for trajectories.
InternalObjects – The layer for internal objects.
AncillaryObjects – The layer for lines or objects that belong to category
2 and for corner points that are categorized as children of nearby corner
points.
Deleting a You can delete a layer by selecting the command Delete in its context menu.
layer If there are still objects in these layers, they automatically move to the layer
that is currently active. The active layer cannot be deleted.
Visibility of You can set the visibility of the layers in the views, rename layers, create
layers more layers and delete layers that are no longer required. To do this, start the
command Layer Manager... in the context menu of the Workspace.
Figure 4-18: Layer manager
The Layer column shows the existing layers.

You can change the active layer in the Active column. The active layer is
marked with a blue box. Click into the box of the layer which shall now be
active.
To rename a layer, click on the name of the layer and enter the new name.
Names must be unique; two layers may not have the same name. You can
create a new layer by entering a new name in an empty field of the first
column.
The layer assignment of an object can be changed in its General tab:

Figure 4-19: Layer assignment
By using the Select active layer button, the object is assigned to the
currently active layer.
You can also set the layer assignment for a folder and can then choose
whether this layer assignment should apply to all objects from the hierarchy
of the folder. Generally, the hierarchy and the layer assignment are
independent of each other, which means an object does not have to be
assigned to the same layer as the folder it is in.
Figure 4-20: Layer assignment for a folder
4.6. Locating Objects in the Views
Objects can be visible in both the structure view and scan views. To find
objects in the scan views, use the command Locate in the context menu of
the objects. If, for example, you have an object in the structure view in front
of you and now want to see its embedding within the scan points in another
view, first activate this other view and then call the command Locate in the
structure view in the context menu of the object. The field of view and scale
of the other views are then set so that you can view the object required.
In the same way, you can also select an object in a different view than the
structure view and call the command Locate in the context menu of the
object. The field of view and scale are then reset in this view and the object is
also selected in the structure view.

4.7. Overview Map

SCENE can display an overview map of your complete scan project that helps
orienting in the project. You can access the overview map of your scan project
with the button in the toolbar.
The overview map is only available in SCENE if WebShare data of your scan
project is available. This means that a WebShare export of your scan project
has to be processed in order to access the overview map. See chapter 11 to
learn how to create WebShare data.
Figure 4-21: Overview map
The overview map in SCENE has nearly the same functionality as the overview
map in SCENE WebShare. For example, it also supports Point-to-point
measurements (start them with the button) and area measurements
(start them with the button). Hide and display the measurements with the
button. Measurements created in SCENE’s overview map are added as a
child to the “Overview Map” object in the Structure View of the workspace. To
open the property dialog of measurements, double-click on it in the map or in
the Structure View.
The circular icons represent the various scanner positions. A double-click on
them opens the Quick View of the related scan.
Please see chapter 12.4.3 to learn more about navigating and working in the
overview map.

5. Importing Data
This chapter gives an overview which formats are supported by SCENE to

import objects or scan points.
5.1. CAD data
5.1.1. IGES
IGES is a multivendor-capable standard for the exchange of CAD drawings.

SCENE uses IGES version 5.3 with the following objects:
 Scan point: IGES type 116 (Point Entity)
 Point: IGES type 116 (Point Entity)
 Sphere: IGES type 158 (Sphere Entity)
 Plane (idealized): IGES type 108, form 0 (Plane Entity, unbounded);
 Plane (as a square): IGES type 108, form 1 (Plane Entity, bounded); edge
as IGES type 106, form 63 (Simple Closed Planar Curve Entity)
 Limited plane: IGES type 108, form 1 (Plane Entity, bounded); edge as
IGES type 106, form 63 (Simple Closed Planar Curve Entity)
 Object name: IGES type 212 (General Note Entity)
Unfortunately not all CAD systems convert the IGES standard completely and
correctly.
For example, CATIA and Autodesk Mechanical Desktop do not import IGES
type 158. Therefore, you cannot display any spheres in these systems.
CATIA does not import IGES type 212 either, so the object names are also
dropped.
5.1.2. VRML
To compare the scanned reality with the models from the CAD system, you
can import the model into SCENE. For this, the model must be in the
multivendor-capable VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) data format. A
lot of CAD systems give you the option of exporting models in this format. For
this, please read the instructions for your CAD system.
Although the VRML standard recommends a specific coordinate system and a
specific unit of length, not all VRML files are modeled that way. The standard
defines the unit of measure of the world coordinate system to be meters, and
a coordinate system in which the y axis points upwards. Because many VRML
files are modeled differently, you can select different settings.
When importing a VRML model, you can ask SCENE to combine any meshes in
the model into a single one. This will increase the performance.
SCENE does not support all objects or object properties that are available in
VRML. The following parameters are not transferred:
 Light sources
 Textures with 8 or 16 bit per pixel (use 24 bit per pixel instead)
 The Inline node
Chapter 5: Importing Data| 58

Chapter 7.4.6 describes in detail how objects can be imported.
5.2. Survey data
5.2.1. Survey Data .csv
Each row of the file contains one single reference point with the following
specifications: name, x coordinate, y coordinate, z coordinate and
measurement quality. All four specifications have to be given and have to be
separated by the same separator, which can be a blank space, a colon, a
semicolon or a tab. The coordinates are specified in the unit that has been
defined in Tools  Options  Units.
SCENE uses a right handed coordinate system.
5.3. External scan data of other producers
5.3.1. General Scan Data Format .xyz
Each row of the file contains one scan point. There are two variants:
With the first variant, the x coordinate, y coordinate, z coordinate and the
reflection value are specified for each scan point.
With the second variant, two additional specifications are made for each scan
point: the row and the column in the planar representation.
When exporting, the coordinates are converted into the export unit selected
at the time; when importing it is assumed that the coordinates will be
received in the selected import unit.
When exporting, the reflection value that was also used for the screen
representation is taken, so it lies between 0 and 255.
When importing a xyz file that contains both, RGB and intensity values, the
RGB values are used.
5.3.2. Binary Scan Data Format .xyb
The file starts with details in ASCII format.

The first line reads: # FARO XYZ binary format v1.0
The second row contains the specification ScanPosition, made up of the x
coordinate, y coordinate and z coordinate of the scan position.
The third row contains the specification Rows followed by the number of
rows.
The fourth row contains the specification Cols followed by the number of
columns.
This is followed by 4 bytes with 0 displayed to mark the start of the binary
data.
This is then followed by the binary data for each scan point: x, y, and z as the
double and the reflection value as the unsigned short. There is no separator
between scan points.
59 | Chapter 5: Importing Data

All scan points of the area are exported, the values are metric.
5.3.3. Scan Data Format .ptx
This format is especially suited for exchanging scan points and their
corresponding coordinate transformation.
All values are given in ASCII and are metric. The first line states the number
of columns, the second line the number of rows. In the next line, the
translation part of the transformation is given (a 3D vector). After that, 3
lines with the rotation part follow (a 3x3 matrix). The next 4 lines contain the
full transformation (a 4x4 matrix). Finally the scan points are written, one
scan point per line: x, y, z, and a reflection value. In addition, 3 RGB values
may follow. The reflection value is between 0 and 1.
When importing a PTX file, the following dialog pops up:
Figure 5-1: PTX import dialog
Row/Column Orientation
Rows per column - The input file contains the data column-wise, i.e. it
starts with all the rows of the first column, then all rows of the second
column, and so on. Good when importing FARO PTX files.
Columns per row - The input file contains the data row-wise, i.e. it starts
with all columns of the first row, then the second row, and so on.
Intensity Mapping
Linear - A linear mapping of intensity values to grey values.
Non-linear - A non-linear mapping of intensity values to grey values.
Good when importing e.g. Leica PTX files.
If the PTX file contains RGB values, intensity mapping is not done. The RGB
values are used instead.
If the PTX file contains both, RGB and intensity values, the RGB values are
used.
If your input looks like garbage in the planar view, but seems to be OK in the
3D view, then try the import again with a different row/column orientation.
5.3.4. Scan Data Format .ptz
PTZ is the binary data format of Leica HDS scan files, which are usually
created with the scan software Leica Cyclone.
When importing a PTZ file, the following dialog pops up:

Figure 5-2: PTZ import dialog
Intensity Mapping
Linear - A linear mapping of intensity values to grey values.
Non-linear - A non-linear mapping of intensity values to grey values.
Good when importing e.g. Leica PTZ files.
If the PTZ file contains colors, intensity mapping is not done. The colors are
used instead.
5.3.5. Scan Data Format .e57
This scan data format is a vendor-neutral standard for storing point cloud
data produced by 3D imaging systems. The “ASTM E57 3D file format”
(officially ASTM E2807) is a format for three dimensional imaging data such
as laser scans. The E57 file used as shorthand for “ASTM E57 3D file format”
and is a combination of binary data and XML (extensible Markup Language).
An E57 file can store 3D point data, attributes associated with 3D point data
such as RGB and/or intensity values.1
When exporting scans to the E57 file format, the following information will be
stored in the exported file:
 For each scan point, the xyz-coordinate, RGB and/or intensity values and
the corresponding index of row and column. This information is part of the
binary section of the E57 file. It is possible to store several scans in one
E57 file.
 Additional Meta information like the scan name, the unique ID (Uuid) of a
scan and the software version that is used for the export 2. This information
is stored in the XML-part of the E57 file.
SCENE supports the import of several features of the E57 file. When
importing, the E57 file has to contain xyz or spherical coordinates as well as
RGB and/or intensity values for each scan point. If the E57 file contains RGB
and intensity values, the RGB values are used. If the E57 file doesn’t contain
information about row/column ordering, the following dialog pops up asking
you to manually select the correct ordering of the file.
1
The specification of the new format is available on
http://www.astm.org/Standards/E2807.htm.
SCENE uses the library libE57 V1.0.224 to write and read E57 files.
2
For more detailed information we refer to http://www.libe57.org or
http://www.astm.org/Standards/E2807.htm

Figure 5-3: E57 import dialog
Row/Column Orientation
Rows per column - The input file contains the data column-wise, i.e. it
starts with all the rows of the first column, then all rows of the second
column, etc..
Columns per row - The input file contains the data row-wise, i.e. it starts
with all columns of the first row, then the second row etc..
Currently, SCENE doesn’t support import or export of associated 2D images.
5.4. Import pictures in SCENE
There are two ways to employ pictures in SCENE:

 Pictures can be added with their original resolution to the workspace and
thus provide additional information about the scan environment (see
chapter 7.4.7).
 Pictures can be used to add color information to already existing scan
points (see chapter 7.5).
For this:
1. Import a picture into SCENE by selecting File  Import.
2. Select Image file from the dropdown menu.
3. Select the image to be imported and click Open.
The following dialog appears:
Figure 5-4: Import picture dialog
4. Select for what you want the picture to be used. If there are several
pictures for one application, select Apply to all, or select the appropriate
ones.

5.4.1. Import high resolution pictures as Virtual Scans
This method allows including high resolution pictures (e.g. digital photos of
small details of the scan environment) into the 3D world by importing them
with their full resolution into virtual scans.
Such pictures will then be interpreted like a high resolution scan of a plane
surface and can be placed on arbitrary positions in the 3D world.
For this, import a picture into SCENE as virtual scan (see above).
If you choose to create a virtual scan, the picture will be placed in the scan
folder of the structure view and be marked with a special icon , signifying
that it is a picture with 3D information.
Figure 5-5: Virtual Scan in the structure view
Initially, the virtual scan is scaled in such a way that the longest side of the
picture is equal to 1 meter. The initial position in the 3D world is in the origin
of the coordinate system.
Figure 5-6: Virtual scan in 3D view
The main application for virtual scans is to complement existing 3D scans with
detailed information from high resolution photos of flat surfaces.
In this case, size and location of the virtual scan are fixed and can be
determined by using the Place on Surface command under Operations 
Registration in the virtual scan’s context menu.
The command Place on Surfaces scales and places the virtual scan in the 3D
world using a plane and corresponding points in the virtual scan and a scan in
the 3D world. The command Place in 3D places the virtual scan upright in
the 3D world.
The technique to place and scale virtual scans is similar to the one used to
colorize existing scan points. This time, however, new points are created from
the pixels of the picture and added at the proper position in the 3D world.

Figure 5-7: Place and scale dialog
The position of the virtual scan is defined by a plane that has to be created in
one of the scans at the approximate position where the virtual scan should be
placed. The exact position and size on this plane is then determined by
selecting matching points in the virtual and in a real scan.
After selecting both, the plane and the scan that is being used to associate
points, at least 4 pairs of matching points have to be marked.
Figure 5-8: Associate points
When you are done with selecting points, click on Done to place and scale the
virtual scan.

Figure 5-9: Placed and scaled virtual scan in 3D view
5.4.2. Import CAD Layout Plans as Image Files in SCENE
This method allows importing image files, e.g. CAD layout plans, into a scan
project.
In 3D view, this image can be aligned and modified
 with the manipulators known from the Clipping Box.
 by entering dimension and aligning values in the Properties menu of the
image.
After the image is aligned as required, it can be exported to WebShare Cloud
as part of the scan project.
This is done 1. Select File  Import.
as follows
2. Select Image file from the dropdown menu.
3. Select the image and click Open.
Figure 5-10: Import picture dialog
4. Select Layout plan that may be used as map layer in WebShare

Cloud.
5. If there are several pictures, you can select Apply to all.

Figure 5-11: Predefine alignment dialog
6. Predefine the position, the size (width and height) and the resolution in
which the picture shall be imported. If a TIFF image with valid GeoTIFF
coordinates (http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/) is imported, the position and
size will be preset automatically.
7. Click OK to import the picture.
Manual 8. In the 3D View, use the manipulators to move, rotate and scale the picture
alignment in an easy way.
Figure 5-12: An imported layout plan with scale manipulators (left picture)
and rotation manipulators (right picture)
9. Choose an appropriate button from the toolbar to align the layout plan to
the point cloud.
Scale Manipulator - Select to resize the picture. Handles will appear

on the picture allowing you to resize it.
Rotate Manipulator - Select to rotate the picture. Handles will appear

on the picture allowing you to rotate it around different axes.
Translation Manipulator - Select to move the picture. Handles will

appear on the picture allowing you to change the position.
Restore previous transformation - Undo the last transformation

change.

Reapply transformation change - Reapply a transformation change.
Restore initial transformation - Restore the initial transformation of

the picture.
To align the picture in a precise manner, use the properties dialog of the
picture.
Figure 5-13: Properties dialog with transformation settings
10. Set or modify

o Position
o Rotation angle
o Size
Every setting offers a fine-tuning setting.
Global Coordinates – see chapter 18.5.1.
Activate Auto Apply if you want your changes to take place immediately.
11. Click Apply to use the changed values and OK to use them and close the
dialog.

6. Registering Scans
This chapter explains a lot about targets and how they are used to register
scans by SCENE, either automatically and/or with your support.
6.1. Background knowledge
Registration Scan points are recorded and saved in a coordinate system which is relative
means what? to the scanner. The point of origin for this scan coordinate system is the
position where the laser meets the mirror. The coordinates of this point are x
= 0, y = 0, z = 0. If you have two or more scans taken at different locations
in a room, right after scanning they will only know their own scan coordinate
systems. But of course in reality the origins of these scan coordinate systems
have been at different positions in the room, and therefore it is necessary to
determine the spatial relationship between them. This is called registering the
scan, and the step from the scan coordinate system into the overall
coordinate system is called transformation.
The scans of your scan project might have a rough initial placement derived
from the sensors of the laser scanner (GPS, Altimeter, Inclinometer or
Compass), but, in general, it is still necessary to perform a scan registration
to get a more precise spatial relationship between the scans. This initial scan
placement thereby facilitates scan registration.
The basic principle behind scan registration is very simple: so called reference
objects are identified for which not only the scan based coordinates can be
determined, but for which also their coordinates in a more general overall
coordinate system are known. If there are at least 3 reference objects in a
scan (scan reference object), it is mathematically sufficient to calculate the
transformation, i.e. the exact position and orientation of the scan. Then not
only the selected reference objects, but all scan points get their coordinates in
the overall coordinate system.
6.1.1. Natural and artificial targets
In SCENE various types of targets objects can be used for the registration.
Common are natural targets, such as planes, slabs, pipes, corner points, or
rectangles, and manually placed artificial targets, such as spheres or paper
targets (circular flat or checkerboard targets).
6.1.2. External References
Usually external reference objects are measured with survey equipment like
total stations. This data can be imported into a scan project.
Further, external references, e.g. from an imported CAD or a layout plan can
be used as references. See chapter 5.4 for more information.
In addition, scanner sensors like e.g. the inclinometer can be used as a
reference.
6.1.3. Overall coordinate system
It is possible let a surveyor establish an overall coordinate system, and to put

the scans into it. For example, you may place the scans of a plant into the
plant wide coordinate system that is used by the facility management.
Chapter 6: Registering Scans| 68

And also this overall coordinate system can be very simple: It might be
sufficient that all the scans have their correct spatial relationship to each
other, but it is not really important where the origin of the overall coordinate
system is. Then simply one of the scans is selected as a reference, and its
scan coordinate system will be the base for the overall coordinate system.
As the same reference object may appear in more than one scan, it is useful
to use their combined information for scan registration. This is the default
behavior in SCENE, and called cluster registration with bundle adjustment.
Chapter 6.9 will give more details on this.
If you like, you may also switch to a pure pair wise assignment of scan
reference objects to their external equivalent (external reference object).
Then the appearance of this reference in other scans will not influence the
registration result of this scan. Chapter 6.9 will tell you how to switch off the
cluster behavior.
6.1.4. Major rules
Target based registration works best if you have well measured targets like
spheres or checkerboards, or at least lots of natural targets like corner points.
Top view registration requires inclinometer data and is the tool of choice for
targetless registration.
Cloud to Cloud registration requires a preceding rough registration, which
could be done with Correspondence View or a registration using scanner
sensor data. Cloud to Cloud registration can also be used as a fine registration
after Target based or Top View based registration.
6.2. Using Sensor Data
6.2.1. GPS Information
Scans of the Focus3D X scanner can have a GPS position obtained from the
scanner’s GPS sensor, but you can also manually add GPS information to
point objects or spheres (see chapter 7.4.2 for more information). This GPS
information consists of the position (latitude / longitude or UTM coordinates),
the altitude above sea and the position accuracy. The manually added GPS
data as well as the GPS data of the scanner’s GPS sensor is not only used for
correspondence search (see chapter 6.5.7 for more information) but also for
the scan registration, where the GPS information of objects in the scans is
used for the scan placement. You can enable or disable the use of GPS
information for registration in the Place Scans Settings under Tools 
Options  Matching (see chapter 18.2.4 for more information).
While SCENE uses a plane coordinate system, GPS takes the earth’s curvature
into account. Using GPS information for the registration of scans located very
far away from one another may affect the registration accuracy as great
distances on the surface of the earth are different than on a flat map. To
prevent such registration inaccuracies, SCENE defines a GPS reference
position for the workspace. GPS information of objects within a certain radius
(10.000m) from this reference will be used for scan registration; GPS
information of objects further away will be ignored.
The reference GPS position is derived from the GPS information that was
provided at first in your scan project. This can be the GPS information of a
point object or the GPS information of the first imported scan with a GPS
position that was recorded with the GPS sensor of the Focus3D X scanner.
69 | Chapter 6: Registering Scans

The GPS reference position can be seen in the workspace’s properties on tab
GPS Reference.
Figure 6-1: GPS reference
You may optimize the GPS reference position for all the available GPS
positions in the workspace using the Optimize button. In this case, the GPS
reference position will be set to an adequate mean position of all the available
GPS positions in the workspace.
To check which point object’s GPS information is too far away from the GPS
reference position and will be excluded from registration, go to Operations 
Registration  Check GPS Consistency in the context menu of the
workspace.
If external references are available, GPS information will not be

used for registration.
6.2.2. Compass
If the scans were recorded with a FARO Focus 3D Scanner equipped with a
built-in compass, orientation information is available for the single scans.
Enable this option to use this information as auxiliary information for the
correspondence search. If the correspondence search cannot find any
correspondences that are consistent with the compass data, this may be an
indicator that the compass was influenced by environmental interference and
the compass data will be ignored. If you disable this option, no compass data
will be used for correspondence search at all. To use the compass data for
certain scans only, you may enable or disable the use of the compass data for
the single scans in their properties on tab Sensors (see chapter 18.5.23 for
more information).
6.2.3. Altimeter
If the scans were recorded with a FARO Focus 3D Scanner equipped with a
built-in altimeter, height information from this sensor is available for the
single scans. Enable this option to use this information as auxiliary
information for the correspondence search. If the correspondence search
cannot find any correspondences that are consistent with the information from
the altimeter, its data will be ignored. If you disable this option, no altimeter

data will be used for the correspondence search at all. You may enable or
disable the use of the altimeter data for single scans in their properties on tab
Sensors (see chapter 18.5.23 for more information).
6.2.4. Inclinometer
Normally inclinometer data is available, and this is used by default to level the
scans during registration.
Leveling ensures that the z-axis of the registered scan corresponds to the z-
axis defined by the inclinometer. By this technique one reference can be
replaced during registration.
When registering with inclinometer data, this will be used as fully trusted
information and all other registration objects will be used with lower priority.
You can change this behavior in Tools  Options  Matching  Place Scan
Settings. This setting will not apply on already existing registrations; in these
cases the properties of the scan fit objects determine the behavior.
You can enable or disable the use of the inclinometer data for single scans in
their properties on tab Sensors (see chapter 18.4.27 for more information).
To get best results with a FARO Laser Scanner Photon, the

inclinometer should be calibrated after every startup of the scanner
(see the FARO Photon or FARO LS manual for more information).
This is not required for a FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D.
6.3. Manual registration with the Correspondence View
The correspondence view is a tool that enables a rough registering of scans in

an easy way. This view is designed to allow manual placement of scans if
automatic registration fails. To open the view either right-click on a scan
folder and select View  Correspondence View or click the
Correspondence view button in the scan results tab of the Scan Manager
(see chapter 6.12.1).
It is recommended to use scan point clouds when working with the

Correspondence View as you can see all the data at once when
moving the scans around interactively. For more information on
scan point clouds, see chapter 3.6.

Figure 6-2: Correspondence View with labels and manipulator
Within the correspondence view, only direct children (scans and scan
folders) of this folder can be selected and manipulated. A direct manipulation
of grandchildren is not possible. However the elements of a subfolder can be
manipulated indirectly by moving the whole subfolder. To directly manipulate
these objects, you need to open a correspondence view on their direct parent.
This design keeps the internal placement of subfolders and avoids mixing up
properly registered sub clusters when placing the cluster to the parent
system.
In Correspondence View, scan points are displayed in unique colors to
distinguish between different scans. Scans in a common subfolder are
displayed in equal color, as they can only be manipulated in common.
Labels Labels allow easy identification of individual scans. Clicking the label will
select the related scan or cluster. When clicking the symbol on the right of the
label, the scan gets excluded (invisible) or included (visible) (see Exclude All,
Include All and Include Next).
When transformations are changed in the correspondence view these changes
apply to both, scans and scan point clouds.
A label shows a name with a maximum of 9 characters. If the name

has more characters, only the last 8 will be displayed and an
asterisk (*) will replace the missing characters. As soon as you click
on a label, the name is shown completely.
Manipulators Manipulators are the main tool of the Correspondence View. They allow
moving and rotating scans and scan folders in an easy way. To create a
manipulator for a scan or scan folder simply select it either in structure view
or in the correspondence view.
The manipulator consists of move- and rotate-handles.

Figure 6-3: A manipulator with rotate-handles (red, green, blue)

and move-handles (white)
 Click on a move-handle (white arrows) and drag it. The scan moves within
two dimensions. The two dimensions depend on which move-handle was
clicked.
 Click and drag a rotate-handle (red, green or blue circle lines) to rotate
the scan around the corresponding axis.
Don't forget to manipulate the elevation or height of the scan, too.

This is done best when looking on the scene from the side.
Inclinometer The number of available rotate-handles depends on whether inclinometer is

used? used or not. If the inclinometer is available and used, only one rotate-handle
is available, as there is only one rotational degree of freedom left. With
inclinometer disabled, three rotate-handles are visible to allow rotating
around all three axes.
There are two ways to disable inclinometer usage for manipulators:
 Disable for a single scan by deselecting the inclinometer checkbox in the
properties dialog of the scan’s scan fit.
 Disable for all scans by turning off inclinometer usage in Tools  Options
 Matching  Place Scans.
Manipulators of scan folders will have three rotate-handles if neither

the scan nor a subscan uses inclinometer.
For a more comfortable scan placement, there are three buttons that allow
correction of wrong manipulations.
 The Restore previous transformation button can be used to move

the scan back to the previous location. The Re-apply transformation
change button is used to reapply a transformation, which was
reverted.
 The Restore initial transformation button finally restores the initial

transformation the scan had when the manipulator was created.
The three buttons are available in the correspondence view toolbar and also in
a flying toolbar that appears after every manipulation.

 Deselecting a scan will cause the manipulator to disappear and

clear all previous transformations.
 Manipulators can be resized via the “+” and “-“ keys on your
keyboard or the Increase Manipulator Size button and
Decrease Manipulator Size button buttons of the
correspondence view toolbar.
 It is easier to use the manipulators while looking at the scene
from the top, right or back, using the buttons in the toolbar.
 Don’t forget to manipulate the level of the scan, too. This is done
best when looking on the scene from the side.
Correspon- In correspondence view all corresponding objects are visualized by colored

dence Lines lines. Ordinary correspondences and forced correspondences are visualized by
green lines, while anti-correspondences are visualized by purple lines. To
visualize these correspondences you can drag a scan away from the others
using the manipulator. If the scan has correspondences to other scans,
several lines will be shown, marking the corresponding objects. To move the
scan back in place, simply use the Restore previous transformation button
.
Update After moving scans manually using the manipulator, the user can confirm the
placement. This is done with the Update button . Confirming the
placement will start a special correspondence search between near
references. All of the scan’s old correspondences will be removed in this step.
The newly detected correspondences will get forced afterwards.
Update only confirms the correspondences to near references, not

the scan placement itself. Therefore the registration may mix up the
scan placement again if not enough correspondences are found.
As the update reevaluates the correspondences, it can also be used to break

up correspondences. To do so, simply move a scan away from the others and
click the update button again. As no other references will be near, all
correspondences will be removed and no new ones will be added.
Update will search correspondences for all selected scans. Using update with
no scan selected will use all included (visible) scans for correspondence
search. Excluded (invisible) scans are always ignored in this type of
correspondence search.
When using Update to evaluate correspondences, control the

results afterwards by checking the correspondence lines. The
number of found correspondences is also displayed in the status bar
after each click of the update button.
If no or not enough correspondences are found, check these common errors:

 Scans aren’t placed properly by level. This can be checked by using a
viewpoint from the side.
 Scan placement wasn’t precise enough. Try placing the scans more
precisely.

 Scans don’t have enough references in the overlapping area. Open a

planar or a quick view and identify additional references.
 Scans don’t have an overlapping area. Use additional scans to fill the
missing gaps between the scans.
If update still doesn’t work, you can fix the scan placement (see chapter 6.3).
Please keep in mind that the scan won’t be used for registration then.
Exclude All, When all scans are visualized at the same time, it is hard to get an overview
Include All
and Include of which scans are properly placed. By using the Exclude all button all
Next currently selected scans are hidden except a reference scan or cluster and an
addtional scan or cluster.
This allows to temporarily clean up the workspace from wrong placed scans.
The button has a small triangle that opens a popup menu where a second
mode is available: Include all. Using Include all will make all hidden scans
and folders visible again.
Using the Include next button will select any of the hidden scans and set
it to visible. Sequently clicking this button will hide the previous scan again
and set the next one visible. This enables fast circulating through all hidden
scans until the desired scan is found. To keep the currently selected scan
visible, simply deselect it before proceeding with circulating.
To directly include or exclude a scan or cluster, use the icon in the label of the
regarded scan (see Figure 6-2: Correspondence View with labels and
manipulator).
All invisible scans are marked by grey names in the structure view and by
grey and transparent labels. This helps to get an overview of which scans are
visible and which are not. The position of scans is always visualized by the
scanner symbol, no matter if the scan is invisible or not.
Start the work in correspondence view by excluding all scans.

Successively use Include next and place the scans, until all scans
are placed properly.
Create After performing registration it may happen that a bunch of scans is placed
Cluster and correctly, while other scans still are misplaced. To keep the good registration
Disband results of the scans you can select all properly registered scans and use the
Cluster
Create Cluster button . All selected scans then will be moved into a
newly created folder. All scans inside this folder will have forced
correspondences and fixed placement to each other. The scans itself won’t be
manipulable individually anymore, but the whole folder will be manipulable
instead.
Using the Disband Cluster button disbands this fixation again. It will
take the whole content of the selected folder and move it to its parent folder.
The selected folder will be deleted afterwards. After using ungroup, the scans
will be individually manipulable again.
Finalize with After manipulating the scans the registration will make the fine placement. To
Place Scans start the registration,
1. use the Place scans button or Operations  Registration  Place

Scan(s) in the context menu of the scan folder.
After registration finished, the Scan Settings Manager dialog will open.
2. Select a registration method.

In this case, Target based registration and Cloud to Cloud registration are
recommended.
It is strongly recommended to use the Update button before

starting registration to confirm and force correspondences with the
current scan placement. Without using update, the registration will
completely ignore the current positions of the scans and may mix up
the manually placed scans.
When closing correspondence view after at least one registration was

performed, a message box may appear and ask whether to force all
correspondences. Answer with Yes if the result of the registration was
satisfying to fix the correspondences inside this cluster.

6.4. Place Scans: General
All Place Scan settings can be defined either for one scan or for the
whole scan project.
If you want to define the default settings for the whole project,
select Tools  Options  Matching  Place Scans. You may
change those settings for individual registrations, but this will not
change the default settings.
The General tab contains all settings being valid for the registration of the
scans in a scan project or in a cluster.
Figure 6-4: General Registration Settings
Use Sensors:
Select which sensor information (where available) shall be used for the
registration of the scans.
Auto Clustering:
SCENE may not be able to find a spatial releationship between all scans in
your scan project and only groups of scans can be registered to each other.
The registration internally recognizes which scans can be registered correctly
and which can not. All groups of correctly registered scans are automatically
arranged in appropriate subclusters (named Cluster1, Cluster2 etc.).
Separation distance:
Sets the spatial distance between of the automatically created clusters found
by Auto Clustering.

6.5. Place Scans: Target based Registration
This chapter introduces you to the types, functions, and scanning

requirements of targets.
As target objects you may use natural objects like corner points, planes, lines
or pipes or artificial targets like spheres, checkerboard or circular flat paper
targets.
Scan target objects can be extracted from the scan data
 automatically by SCENE using the automatic object detection.
 manually with the object marker tool.
 by selecting the relevant scan points and performing an object fit.
Familiarity with some basic principles regarding the use of artificial and
natural targets is required. Adherence to the guidelines explained here may
improve your scanning project, and SCENE processing.
Figure 6-5: Artifical and natural references found in two corresponding scans
6.5.1. General Target and Reference Rules
These basic principles apply to both, targets and references:

 Mathematically you need three corresponding references in the 2 scans
which you like to register to each other. The inclination data captured by
the inclinometer of the scanner may serve well as one reference, such that
theoretically only 2 other references are required.
 A greater number of references per scan is recommended and may
improve the registration results and make registration easier and less
prone to error. Before scanning, you should make sure that there will be
enough reference objects in the scans so that there will be no problems
during registration.
 Make sure you see the targets in more than one scan (if you do not have
surveyed coordinates for each reference). A target which is only visible in
one scan is useless for registration.
 Although registration can be done purely on the basis of natural target, we
recommend enhancing the scanned environment with additional artificial
targets. Their use facilitates the automated scan registration and usually

you will achieve more precise registration results when you have manually
placed such targets.
 When capturing a chain of scans resulting in a tubular point cloud which is
typical for e.g. tunnel surveying, it is recommended to make use of the
inclinometer and external references with surveyed coordinates (see
chapter 6.5.4). Such external references should be used at the beginning,
in between and at the end of the chain. The scanner has a certain
measuring uncertainty and if you do not use such external references
when capturing and registering a chain of scans, this measuring
uncertainty may propagate from scan to scan and the overall uncertainty
might then be much larger than that of the individual scan fits.
6.5.2. Artificial Targets
As artificial targets you may use sphere, checkerboard or circular flat targets.
We recommend the use of sphere and checkerboard targets as they may also
be fitted automatically using the automatic object detection, whereas circular
flat targets can only be fitted manually with the object marker or from a
selection of scan points.
General rules  As artificial targets you should use checkerboard or sphere targets.
 Use artificial targets with a non-reflecting surface.
 Print paper targets with laser printers only.
 The artificial targets should be easily and clearly visible in the scans.
 Artificial targets should not be positioned symmetrically. They should form
a polygon around the scanner and have different distances to the scanner.
Distribute the references in the scanning area at different elevations. Avoid
a linear reference alignment.
 Scan parameters (resolution and quality) are set to ensure the object(s) of
interest are captured in accordance with the desired results. Keep in mind
the scan parameters required for proper target acquisition may exceed the
needs of the parameters required to capture the object of interest in some
cases, so it is critical that targets are placed at the appropriate distances
relative to your environment (sunlit, overcast, indoors, etc.) and to the
resolution specified.
 If the artificial targets cannot be placed in an adequate distance to the
scanner, increase the scanning resolution or the size of the artificial
targets.
 The distance between artificial targets should not be smaller than 1m.
Checkerboard  The angle of incidence between the laser beam and the checkerboard
Targets target should not be less than 45°.
 Depending on the selected scanning resolution, the automatic detection of
checkerboard targets may get unreliable beyond a certain distance to the
scanner. E.g. when using A4 checkerboard targets and scanning with a
resolution of 1/4, the distance to the scanner should not be greater than
15m. Larger distances can easily be achieved by enlarging the size of the
target or scanning with a higher resolution.
 Have sufficient scan points on the checkerboard targets. They need four or
more scan points per quadrant.
 Checkerboard targets should not be attached to a curved surface.
Sphere  Sphere targets should be fully visible in the scan. Make sure that they are
Targets not partly covered by other objects.

 The radius of fit operations in the Match Sphere Settings (Tools 

Options  Matching  Match Sphere Settings, see chapter 18.2.4)
should be set according to the radius of the spheres used in the scan.
 Depending on the selected scanning resolution, the automatic detection of
sphere targets may get unreliable beyond a certain distance to the
scanner. E.g. when scanning with a resolution of ¼ and using spheres with
a diameter of 145mm, the distance to the scanner should not be greater
than 18m. Larger distances can easily be achieved by using greater
spheres or scanning with higher resolutions. If you are using larger sphere
targets, e.g. with a diameter of 200mm, the distance to the scanner can
be extended up to 45m.
 Sphere targets should have at least 60 scan points on their surface. The
number of scan points of a sphere target can be seen in the sphere fit.
6.5.3. Natural Targets
It may not be possible, however, to manually place an adequate number of

artificial targets within the scanner's field-of-view due to inaccessibility or
potential risks. In these situations, specific features or natural targets (i.e.,
planes, slabs, pipes, corner points, or rectangles) may be visible from multiple
scanner locations and can be used in place of artificial targets to register
scans.
Natural reference objects can be extracted from the scan points manually or
automatically.
After their automatic detection, planes, rectangles, and corner points will be
evaluated according to the quality of their fit and classified as category 1 or
category 2 objects. Category 1 objects are the objects with the best fit; they
will be used for registration, category 2 objects will be ignored. See chapter
7.4.1 for more information.
The method of using natural targets to register scans can be

significantly more time-consuming and challenging than using a
target-based method. Also, for registration accuracy, manually
placed targets are preferred over natural targets.
6.5.4. External Reference Objects
Usually external reference objects are measured with survey equipment like
total stations. For spheres, the survey point lies in the center point of the
sphere. For circular flat papers, the survey point lies in the middle of the
light circle, which stands out clearly from the surrounding darker border.
Finally, for checkerboards, the survey point lies in the center point of the
four quadrants.
Survey data can be imported in .csv file format into SCENE with File 
Import. You can import the survey data to workspace level or into a specific
folder or cluster.
In the selected location, you’ll get a folder called References, which contains
a separate object for each survey point with the name and coordinates from
the survey file.
The file format is described in more detail in chapter 9.3; it is easy to create
with the customary surveying applications.
Under rare circumstances you might want to derive an external reference
from an existing scan reference. This can be done by a command in the

context menu of the object. Again it is possible to derive a reference for the
References folder of the encompassing scans folder, or the References
folder of the workspace.
External references are mainly used for pairwise registration.
 When importing survey data, SCENE uses a right handed

coordinate system.
 External references are only used with the target based
registration.
Figure 6-6: Clusters: Scans, Indoor, Kitchen, LivingRoom and Outdoor
When registering scans within a cluster, external references are not

mandatory. Nevertheless, existent external references will be used and will
have a higher weighting in the registration algorithm than scan references.
If external references are available, the Reference folder of the cluster is used
first. If not, the Reference folder of the next available higher levelled cluster is
used.
In some applications, scans shall be registered without referring to

higher-levelled references. In this case, create an empty Reference
folder on the same level as the cluster with that scans in, or create
it somewhere between the cluster and the Reference folder which
would be used.
For example, if you want to apply the Place Scans command to cluster
“Kitchen” in the example above, the external references in the References
folder of the kitchen folder will be used.
6.5.5. Overall Alignment
When you don’t have any externally surveyed reference objects for
registration, the orientation of the overall coordinate system is directly
derived from your reference scan in the reference cluster. With the use of the
inclinometer it will at least be leveled, but if you did not pay special attention

to the orientation of your reference scan, your workspace will have an

arbitrary orientation.
Figure 6-7: Registered, but not aligned
The alignment feature is available from the context menu of plane and slab
objects and is called Alignment. It can be used to modify the overall
orientation of the entire workspace according to the desired alignment of a
plane or slab to a cardinal direction (north, south, east, and west). Using this
feature, you can define which cardinal direction lies behind a plane or slab
when viewed from the scanner perspective.
When using this feature; it makes a difference, whether the scan

was performed inside or outside of a building: when scanned from
the inside, the northern wall of a building is north of the scanner.
When scanned from the outside, it is in the south!
The cardinal directions are defined by the principal axes of the global
coordinate system: the positive Y axis is north, the positive X axis is east.
Figure 6-8: Registered and aligned
If the inclinometer failed, you can also use the alignment feature to correct
the tilt of a workspace by defining a plane to be the ground or the ceiling.
Furthermore, you can gain more control by defining a custom alignment of a
plane or slab.
Figure 6-9: Custom alignment

A dialog will open in which you can select a principal alignment and define two
subsequent rotations, first around the Z axis and then around the rotated X'
axis. A negative Z axis angle rotates to the east, a negative X' axis angle tilts
downwards. For example, you can realize a north-east alignment by selecting
a principal north alignment and by additionally defining a Z axis rotation of -
45°.
Instead of aligning the plane or slab to a cardinal direction, you may also set
it as a plane or slab being a ceiling or ground of your scanned object. This
may be useful if you had scanned without using the inclinometer or with the
scanner being upside down.
6.5.6. Rules to get Best Results from Automatic Correspondence Search
In order to get best possible results from the correspondence search you
should take care of the following:
 Use clusters to group scans. Build clusters of clusters. The correspondence
search algorithm tries to find unambiguous constellations in the scans.
Using smaller clusters and many references enhances the finding of these
constellations.
 Try to avoid large cluster sizes. The more scans are members of a cluster,
the higher the probability of false positive matches of the correspondence
search / automatic renaming. If you keep clusters to a decent size,
mismatches between scans are easier to detect.
 You should have at least four or five corresponding references in a scan.
But a higher number of object matches per scan may improve the results
of the correspondence search and will make registration easier and less
error prone.
 Targets, for which you have validated the correspondence, should be
excluded from further correspondence search. From each group of
corresponding targets, set one member to "Use for place scans and
correspondence search". Set the remaining members to "Use for place
scan".
 Spheres or checkerboard targets provide more registration information
than planes or pipes. Avoid automatic correspondence search for planes or
pipes.
 Once you have good results for at least a part of the scans of your scan
project, you should group these scans into one or more clusters before you
add new scans and reference objects to the workspace. Group the new
scans with the new references into cluster too before you apply the
 In general, the identification of correspondence relationships between
point references is more reliable than between planes, slabs or pipes.
 To identify problematic correspondences you can also have a look at the
Scan Manager or Correspondence View (see chapters 6.12.1 or 6.3).
If the automatic correspondence search erroneously thinks that two objects
correspond to each other, which they in reality don’t, you may correct this by
two means:
 You may exclude these objects from correspondence search, but this has
the disadvantage that they will also not be used other valid
correspondences.
 The better way is to use the Scan Manager and to explicitly mark this
correspondence to be wrong. Such a marked correspondence is called an
anti-correspondence. For more information, please see chapter 6.12.1.

6.5.7. Automatic Creation of Correspondences
The automatic correspondence search looks for similar geometric

constellations in the scans and identifies corresponding scan targets and
external reference objects. SCENE treats two target objects as corresponding
to each other, if this assumption will lead to a good registration result. The
names of the objects do not matter! If two objects have the same name, this
doesn’t necessarily imply that the registration process tries to match them to
each other.
If the objects allow automatic naming (can be specified in the properties of
an object, see also below), SCENE gives all corresponding objects the same
name. If an object doesn’t allow automatic naming, renaming might fail, so
one or several objects might keep their old name. But still they are treated as
corresponding!
There are two types of the automatic correspondence search:
Online The automatic search for and naming of corresponding reference objects will
correspon- be done during the creation of reference objects or after the automatic
dence search naming option of an individual object has been switched on. Once a new
reference has been created (manually or with the automatic sphere and
checkerboard detection) or the automatic naming option of an existing
reference has been switched on, the algorithm will search for corresponding
scan and external references and will give these references the name of its
corresponding scan or external reference objects. Each time the online
correspondence search has been processed, a fast (and raw) scan registration
will be executed, but no Scan Manager or Scan Fit will be created. This
registration is useful for quickly checking the result of the online
correspondence search. For this, you can open the 3D View of the workspace
and have a look at the placement of the scans.
During online correspondence search only a raw fit is done,

therefore these intermediate positions might look not as good as
they could be. Always perform a full registration at the end.
Correspon- The search for and the automatic naming of corresponding objects will be
dence search done during the registration process. Here, in comparison to the online
during correspondence search, the search for correspondences will be more intense
registration
and more precise but as a consequence more time consuming.
Select Place Scan Settings under Tools  Options  Matching  Place
Scan Settings.
The menues and settings are identical to those of the Place Scan settings, so
check chapter 6.4 for detailed information.
Exclude If you want to make use of the automatic correspondence search, but an
Objects from individual reference object should be excluded from it or not named
Automatic automatically, you can switch off this feature for this single object in its
Correspon-
properties on tab General. Here, you also have the possibility to exclude
dence Search
individual objects from the registration.

Figure 6-10: Registration settings for individual references
Use for Place Scans, Correspondence Search and Automatic Name –

The object will be used for the registration, correspondence relationships to
this object are enabled and its name will automatically be changed if
corresponding objects have been found or the name of a corresponding object
has been changed.
Objects will have this option activated by default if their name has not been
manually changed by the user.
Use for Place Scans and Correspondence Search – The object will be
used for registering scans, correspondence relationships to this object are
enabled but its name will not be changed automatically. This means that the
name of this object is fixed and corresponding target objects in other scans
will be renamed accordingly.
External reference objects and scan targets which have been (re-)named
manually will have this option activated by default.
Use for Place Scans – The target object will only be used for registering
scans but excluded from any correspondence search. Its name will not be
changed automatically.
Ignore for Place Scans – The target object will not be used for registering
scans and is excluded from any correspondence search. Its name will not be
changed automatically. Target objects with this option enabled will have a
special icon in the structure view. They will have a crossed R in their icon, e.g.
If you change the name of an object manually and if the automatic naming
option is switched on, then all the other corresponding target objects will
automatically be renamed accordingly. If you change the name of an object
manually and at least one of its corresponding objects has the automatic
naming switched off, renaming will fail but the objects are nevertheless
treated as being corresponding to each other.
If the automatic correspondence search erroneously thinks that two objects
correspond to each other, which they in reality don’t, you may correct this by
two means:
 You may exclude these objects from correspondence search, but this has
the disadvantage that they will also not be used other valid
correspondences.
 The better way is to use the Scan Manager and to explicitly mark this
correspondence to be wrong. Such a marked correspondence is called an
anti-correspondence. For more information, please see chapter 6.12.1.

6.5.8. Automatic Creation of Correspondences: Find ...
SCENE offers the possibility to find objects in a scan. Some types may as well
be useful as targets. This function is not really an automatic creation of
correspondences because SCENE detects objects automatically, but you have
to tell SCENE which objects you want to be detected.
1. Open the 3D view of a scan.
2. Select Operations  Find objects in the context menu of the scan folder.
3. Select the type of object to be detected automatically. Useful for
registration are
o Checkerboards
o Spheres
o Corner points
SCENE will detect the objects and mark them in the view of the scan.
6.5.9. Manual Creation of Correspondences: Force by Manual Target Names
1. Name the scan targets according to their counterparts.

2. Then use the registration command Operations  Correspondences 
Force by Manual Target Names in the context menu of the scan folder
or cluster folder, which forces correspondences by name.
6.5.10. Manual Creation of Correspondences with the Correspondence Split view
1. Click the Correspondence Split View button. The screen splits up in

two windows.
2. Drag and drop the scan to be displayed into the left window.
3. Drag and drop the scan to be displayed into the right window (or steps 2
and 3 vice versa, that does not matter).
Both scans have to have target references. If not, use Find .... or
pick targets manually.
4. Rotate, move, zoom the two scans until you have them in a useful
position, i.e. they show the same part of the scenery.
5. Click the Find Correspondences button .

SCENE automatically starts to search for corresponding objects and will
mark them with a label.
A label shows a name with a maximum of 9 characters. If the

name has more characters, only the last 8 will be displayed and
an asterisk (*) will replace the missing characters. As soon as
you click on a label, the name is shown completely.

Figure 6-11: Correspondence Split View with automatically detected targets
The label then has a small green field with a “C” which indicates that those
correspondences were found automatically.
The frame around the label symbolizes the quality of the correspondence:
o Green: good quality
o Yellow: compromised quality
o Red: seriously compromised quality
A field on the lower right side of the split view informs about the number
of found correspondences and the quality of the result, shown by a traffic
light.
6. Check if there are corner points or planes which could be useful and which
are not marked yet.
7. Select to mark a point,

to mark a plane,
to mark a circular flat target,
to mark a checkerboard target,
to mark a sphere,
to mark a slab.
8. Mark the objects by hopping and clicking between the windows.
If SCENE detects that the newly marked objects are correspondences, or one
of the newly marked objects corresponds to an earlier marked object, it will
mark them with a label as well.
Force 1. Check if there are more objects which could be useful and which are not
correspon- marked yet.
dences
2. Click the Force Correspondences button .
3. Select the first object in the left view.
4. Select the corresponding object in the right view.
5. Select the second object in the left view.
6. Select the corresponding object in the right view, and so on.

If SCENE detects that the newly marked objects are correspondences, it

will mark them with a label.
7. Click the Force Current Correspondences between shown scans
button .
Figure 6-12: Correspondence Split View with corresponding and forced

targets
SCENE will now force the corresponding objects. Their label do now show a
small blue field with a “C” in it which indicates that those correspondences are
forced.
6.5.11. Deleting Correspondences
Delete all 1. Click the Clear Correspondences button .

current
correspon- All correspondences will be deleted. The target objects remain.
dences
Delete In order to delete the current correspondences of a single object, of all

specific objects in a scan or scan folder, select the command Operations 
corresponden Correspondences  Delete Correspondences in the context menu of the
ces
object, scan or scan folder. You will be prompted to specify the types of
correspondences to be deleted.
Figure 6-13: Delete correspondences
6.5.12. Target based registration
Target based registration works best if you have

 well measured targets like spheres or checkerboards.

 external references, e.g. from an imported CAD or a CAD layout plan. See
Figure 6-14: Target based Registration
Enable correspondence search:

Enable, if you want SCENE to search for correspondences.
Find correspondences for scan positions:
Enable – If the position of a scan is known, e.g. by a surveyed reference
point or reference sphere representing the position of the scanner in other
scans.
Force correspondences by manual target names:
Forces correspondences by manually created target names (see chapter 6.5.9
for more information).
Use principal direction of scans:
Use planes in scans to determine a principal direction for each scan. These
principal directions are used to avoid wrong registration results. This setting is
e.g. useful for scanned buildings with mainly perpendicular walls. The setting
is ignored for scans without planes and should be turned off in scan projects
with mainly non-perpendicular planes.
Use points for validation:
Enable an enhanced validation of registered scans by comparing the scan
points of the scans. This additional check may help avoiding wrong
registrations.
Use this setting with care, as registration might take many times
longer.

Target Distribution Threshold slider:

This slider sets the limit for registration. If targets are too near to each other,
registration will be refused. In this case, lowering the limits gives you a result.
Use Checkerboard Normals:
Use normals of checkerboards for correspondence search. Disable this, if the
direction of checkerboards has changed from one scan to another, e.g. if you
use checkerboard targets that can be tilted and turned for a precise
orientation to the scanner.
It might be a bad result if your area interest isn't covered by the

targets at all.
With three references placed nearly in a line registration is possible, but the
result may not be stable as these points are not well distributed in the scene.
With this slider you may allow registration to use such badly distributed
references or to use only well distributed references with a very stable
placement.
Calculate scan point based statistics:
Calculates scan point based statistics in addition to target based statistics.

6.6. Place Scans: Top View based Registration
Use the top view based registration for indoor registration, or for a first rough
outdoor placement.
Every scan has to include inclinometer data. If a scan does not have
inclinometer data, its current global position is used to determine the z-axis.
Figure 6-15: Top view based Registration
Subsampling:
Average point distance used for subsampling the point clouds to have
homogeneous point density. For point clouds with large dimensions (e.g.
outdoor scans) a higher value is recommended.
Reliability:
Reliability is used to accept placement of pairs as successful.
Set the slider to the right to get only results with a high probability of being
correct. Setting the slider to the left will allow use of pairs that might be
wrong.

6.7. Place Scans: Cloud to Cloud Registration
Precondition to use the Cloud to Cloud registration is a rough placement of

the scans, e.g. with Correspondence View or after a registration based on
sensor data.
Cloud to Cloud registration can also be tried as fine registration after
performing other registration methods.
Figure 6-16: Registered scans before and after cloud to cloud registration
As Cloud to Cloud registration analyzes the scan points to improve

the positions of reference objects, it must load the scans. Cloud to
Cloud registration might thus be very time consuming.
You may apply Cloud to Cloud registration manually to already registered

scans:

Figure 6-17: Cloud to Cloud Registration
Subsampling quality slider:

Subsamples the point cloud to have a homogeneous point density.
Cloud to cloud registration might take some time to calculate the improved
transformation.
Low may lead to more accurate fine registration results but increases
calculation time.
High reduces the time but may lead to slightly less accurate results.
Maximum number of iterations:
Maximal number of iteration allowed for the algorithm to find the best
solution. The more, the precise the results will be.
Maximum search distance:
Maximum search distance for nearby points.
6.8. Preprocessing Scan Data - Batch Registration
With the Preprocess option you may apply several processing steps to one
scan or a group of scans automatically in a batch processing mode. For
example, this eliminates the need to apply filters, detect and identify objects
or apply pictures individually.

To initiate preprocessing, right-click on the scan or scan folder and select

Operations  Preprocessing  Preprocess Scan(s). This brings up the
Preprocess Scan menu to select the processing steps that should be applied.
Figure 6-18: Preprocess Scan menu
Import Compensation – Import and apply a compensation file. For more

information, see chapter 7.7.
First Load Processing – Applies the processing steps which are normally
done when loading a scan into SCENE for the first time. This function will
apply the default filter (if selected). For more information, see chapter 7.3.1.
Filter Dark Scan Points – Applies the filter based on the scan point’s
reflection value. For more information, see chapter 7.3.4.
Filter Stray Scan Points – Apply filter for stray points. For more
Update Object Fits – Updates object fits in all scans by determining the best
fitting object parameters possible from the scan points. For more information,
see chapter 7.4.1.
Apply Pictures - applies pictures in all scans. For more information, see
chapter 7.5.
Export Image – Creates an overview image for every scan. The images are
saved to the folder of the scan.
Detect Artificial References – Searches for sphere or checkerboard
references as well as for planes, corner points and rectangles in the scans and
fits the detected objects. For more information, see chapter 7.4.2.

Place Scans – Executes the registration of the scans in their cluster. The
Configure button brings up the Registration selection menues as described in
chapter 6.4.
Create Scan Point Cloud(s) – Creates a scan point cloud of every scan.
 Start the preprocessing with Apply or OK.
 The scans will be loaded and saved with the number of scan
points specified under Tools  Options  Scan Data (see also
chapter 18.2.4). If you do not want the scans to be saved with
reduced size you should set this option to unlimited.
 During the batch run, a log-file is created in the LogFiles folder
of your scan project storage location. This log-file contains
information about the progress of the batch process.
After the successful batch processing of a whole project, which can take place
over night, the result of the registration can be analyzed in the scan manager
(for more information, see chapter 6.12.)
When detecting spheres or checker board targets in the preprocess scans
operation, if correspondence search is enabled, SCENE starts to find
correspondences between the newly found targets. This might take a while,
depending on the number of scans. If you want to preprocess a large number
of scans, you should consider switching correspondence search off before
running the process. You may do so either by switching it off under Tools 
Options  Matching  Place Scans or by collecting the scans in an ordinary
scans folder, instead of a cluster.
6.9. Free Registration with bundle adjustment
 With free registration, both the orientation and position of the scan are
initially unknown. A location and a position are now determined with which
the scan target objects are made to match corresponding targets in other
scans or the external reference objects as closely as possible. The
standard deviation of the distances between the scan target objects and
their corresponding reference objects is considered a measure for the
quality.
 Once you have created target objects, you can execute the registration. To
do this, select the command Operations  Registration  Place Scans
in the context menu of the scan or the scan folder. After a short
computation, the registration dialog ScanFit opens, which displays the
results and quality criteria of the registration.
 You can also execute the registration with the Preprocess Scans
command from the context menu of a scan or a scan folder.
 Registration requires at least three corresponding reference or target
objects. One reference object can be represented by the inclinometer data
of the scanner. In general it is better to use more than this minimum
number of reference or target objects. You will then get better results
because then single imprecise measurements will have less effect on the
overall registration quality.
6.10. Registration with Known Position

Unlike free registration, when registering with a known position, the position
of a scan is known, therefore, you only have to calculate its orientation.

In order to execute registration with a known position of a scan, a scan has to

have a target point or sphere that represents the position of the scanner
(center of the scanner mirror) in another scan. This target must then have the
same name as the scan with the known position. The correspondence search
will try to identify this scan automatically and name the target accordingly.
You can then execute the registration using Place Scan as usual.
6.11. Cluster Registration
6.11.1. Registering Scans within a Cluster
A cluster usually consists of scans that somehow belong together, e.g. scans
which were recorded on the same floor of a building or scans which were
taken in the same room.
Clusters are marked with the icon in the structure view.
Figure 6-19: Clusters: Scans, Indoor, Kitchen, LivingRoom and Outdoor
To place the scans within a cluster, use the Place Scans command in the
context menu of the scan.
The Place Scans command will only affect the scans within the cluster, it
does not register the cluster as a whole to its environment. To register a
cluster to its environment, use the Place Scans command in the context
menu of the superordinate cluster.
When registering without or with an insufficient number of external
references, a reference scan has to be determined. This reference scan will
then define the coordinate system. You can mark a scan as a reference scan
by enabling the “Reference Scan” attribute in its context menu under
Operations  Registration or in its properties dialog on tab Scan. If you do
not set a reference scan manually, SCENE automatically determines one of
the scans as a reference scan.

Figure 6-20: Scan properties
Reference scans are marked with a special icon in the structure view.
If you have sufficient corresponding external references, setting a reference
scan is not required. The coordinate system will then be defined by the
external references.
The following figures illustrate possible resulting cases:

Reference Scan
Scan 1
Register Scans
Scan 2
Scan 3
Scan Reference
Non-registered Scans Registered Scans
Figure 6-21: Registration of scans without external references
Scan 1 B
B
Register Scans
Scan 2
A
External Reference
Scan 3 Scan Reference
Non-registered Scans Registered Scans
Figure 6-22: Registration of scans with scan references and external

references
6.11.2. Registering Multiple Clusters to One Another
Working with several clusters may be useful when

 you have several subsets of scans,
 the registration of the scans within these subsets has to have a high
accuracy

 an accurate registration of the subsets to one other is less important or

not possible.
A case in point could be a building with different floors; on each floor several
scans were recorded:
In this case you should create a cluster for each floor (e.g. “FirstFloor”,
“SecondFloor”, “ThirdFloor”). Each cluster should then obviously contain those
scans which were recorded on this particular floor. To register the scans of the
first floor to each other, use the command Place Scans in the context menu
of the cluster “FirstFloor”. Repeat this for the other floors. To register the
different clusters respectively floors to each other, these clusters have to have
corresponding references and have to be part of one super ordinate cluster
(e.g. “OfficeBuilding”). The Place Scans command in the context menu of
this super ordinate cluster will then register the different sub clusters
(“FirstFloor”, “SecondFloor” etc.) to each other. If there are no or insufficient
external references, you have to specify a reference cluster. You can do this
on tab Folder in the cluster’s properties or in its context menu under
Operations  Registration.
Reference clusters are marked with a special icon in the structure view.
The following figures illustrate possible resulting cases.
Cluster 1
Reference Cluster
Place Scans
Cluster 2
Scan Reference
Cluster 3
Non-registered Clusters Registered Clusters
Figure 6-23: Registration of clusters without external references

Cluster 1
Place Scans
Cluster 2
External Reference
Scan Reference
Cluster 3
Non-registered Clusters Registered Clusters
Figure 6-24: Registration of clusters with scan references and external

references
Create a project structure in the terms of clusters and sub clusters with
SCENE in advance, before carrying out a scan project with a FARO Laser
Scanner Focus3D. Then transfer this project structure with its entire cluster
and sub clusters to the Focus3D scanner. Assign the single scans to the
respective clusters or sub clusters during scanning, which spares the manual
assignment of the scans to clusters afterwards and facilitates the automatic
registration of the scans. Please read chapter 13 for more information about
the creation of such a project structure with SCENE and transferring it to your
FARO Focus3D.
6.11.3. Using Strict Pair-wise Registration
If you want to restrict registration so that each scan is only registered by

means of external references, and not to neighboring scans, you have to
switch off the cluster property of the scans folders. The scans within such
folders will then only be registered by means of the external references in
their References folder or, if there is none, in the next available higher level
References folder.

Figure 6-25: Scan folder properties
6.11.4. Auto Clustering
If SCENE is not able to find a spatial relationship between all scans in your
scan project and only groups of scans can be registered to each other, the
auto clustering function will apply (if enabled).
Auto clustering is a feature that helps to understand the situation when
registration of scans failed. The registration internally recognizes which scans
can be aligned correctly and which not. All groups of correctly registered
scans are automatically arranged in appropriate subclusters (named Cluster1,
Cluster2 etc.).
Figure 6-26: Structure view with automatically created sub clusters
These subclusters are spatially separated, so that it is clearly visible in the 3D

view or the correspondence view which scans are registered to each other and
which are not. By using the correspondence view and simply dragging the
scans or cluster to their correct position, the registration should easily be
solved. Please see chapter 6.3 for more information on working with the
correspondence view or correspondence split view.

Figure 6-27: Automatically created clusters in the correspondence view
The auto clustering feature can be disabled in the Place Scans Settings. In
this dialog it is also possible to determine how far the automatically created
groups of scans will be separated from each other.
Figure 6-28: Place Scans settings
As the auto clustering feature may lead to deeper project hierarchies by

creating additional clusters, there is a function to flatten this hierarchy. This

function can be found in the context menu of a cluster or scan folder by

choosing Operations  Registration  Disband All Clusters. This function
will recursively move the contents of all sub folders to the cluster the function
was called on and remove the (empty) sub clusters to flatten the hierarchy.
This function is useful to clean up the project after having finished the
registration.
6.11.5. Fix a scan or cluster
Correspondence between and within clusters can be fixed to exclude it from

registration process. Usually, this is done after registration.
The same goes for a scan: if you do not want a scan to be registered, you can
set it to fixed which excludes that scan from registration process.
For scans 1. Right click on the scan,
2. Select Operations  Registration  Fixed Scan.
The data of a fixed scan will of course not be updated when the
surrounding scans are registered. Thus, you may have inaccurate
results displayed in the Scan manager.
For clusters 1. Right click on the cluster or sub-cluster,

and sub-
clusters 2. Select Operations  Registration  Fixed Cluster.
- or -
1. Right click on the cluster or sub-cluster,
2. Select Properties, select the Folder tab, and
3. Select the Fixed Cluster box.
6.12. Checking Results

If there are a lot of scans in the workspace, it is sometimes difficult to
maintain an overview of which scans have already been registered and what
quality was achieved. The scan manager can help with this; it clearly displays
the current status of the registration and indicates the placement results.
6.12.1. Scan Manager
When placing scans within a scan folder or a cluster, a scan manager will
automatically be created. You can also create a scan manager manually with
the command New  Scan Manager in the context menu of each scan folder
or cluster.

Figure 6-29: Scan Manager dialog
Name – The name of the scan manager.

Managed by – Name of the super ordinate scan manager.
Sub Manager – List of the subordinate scan managers.
Used Settings button: Click the Used Settings button to check which type
of registration was performed to get this result.
Get – Click the Get button to return to your old values after you changed
something with the settings, or executed another registration while the scan
manager was still open.
Apply – Click the Apply button to apply changes made in the dialog.
The scan manager also informs whether external references were used for the
registration or not.
The traffic lights next to the scan managers indicate whether they contain
good or failed scan fits. If a traffic light next to a scan manager is red, this
means that this scan manager contains bad scan fits. Green means that all
the quality criteria are met. Amber shows that at least one quality criterion is
somewhat compromised. If there is a symbol next to a scan manger or a
scan fit, this means that registration could not be executed because of e.g.
missing references.
Please note that a scan fit displays the deviation of a scan’s objects against
the objects of the neighboring scans. The scan manager displays a summary
of individual scan fits. It doesn’t calculate how uncertainty propagates from
scan to scan. Especially when building a chain of scans, the overall
uncertainty might be much larger than that of the individual scan fits.
If you want to see the critical fits of a subordinate scan manager, double click
onto this scan manager (in this example the scan manager of cluster “floor1”)
to open it. Switch to the tab Scan Results.

6.12.2. Scan Results
Figure 6-30: Scan Results dialog
Scan Results gives you a list of all scan fits managed by the scan manager
and shows the overall quality of each registration (see also chapter 18.5.24).
This is symbolized by a traffic light too. Double-clicking on a fit object in the
list opens its properties dialog.
The average tension of each registration is calculated in the second column of
this table: the lower the value, the better the registration result. Here you can
easily see which registrations failed or which registration results are bad. To
identify the critical reference pairs which are responsible for the bad fit, you
can switch to tab Target Tensions.
If the results are not satisfying, you can select Correspondence View or
Correspondence Quick View to alter or add references.

6.12.3. Target tensions
Figure 6-31: Target Tensions dialog
Target Tensions shows all reference pairs used for the scan placement,
sorted by their tension. The value Tension describes the discrepancy in the
overall coordinate system between the position and the orientation of the two
corresponding reference objects in Scan 1 and Scan 2. With reference points
the distance between the positions of the two reference points serves as input
for the calculation of the tension. With planes, slabs or pipes the position and
the direction of the objects serve as input for the calculation of this value.
Values close to zero indicate a good registration result. Here you can easily
identify reference pairs which are causing problems in the registration.
Clicking on the scan name selects the corresponding reference in this scan,
double clicking opens the reference’s properties.
Weighted Tensions – External references and inclinometer data have higher
weightings in the registration algorithm. When you activate this option, these
different weightings will be considered in the calculation of the tensions.
Full Hierarchy – When activated, the reference pairs of all scan managers
will be displayed.
Weighted Statistics
Mean – Mean value over all tensions.
Deviation – Deviation over all tensions.
Min. – Minimum tension
Max. – Maximum tension

The use of Weighted Tensions also implies that the shown tension
cannot be interpreted as a distance in common units of length! As
external references are weighted differently from scan references,
their tensions are much higher.
Locate If you are not sure which correspondence stands for which object, you can
prompt the Scan manager to get the correspondence shown.
1. Right-click on the entry.
2. Select Locate in the context menu.
The view of the scan will change in a way that the correspondence is easy to
find.
Set Anti The Scan Manager can also be used to mark certain correspondences as
Correspon- invalid.
dence
1. Right-click on the offending entry.
2. Select Set Anti Correspondence in the context menu.
These two objects are now no longer considered as being corresponding to
each other, and the next registration will achieve a different result.
You can re-execute the registration of scans with the command Update
Scans in the context menu of the scan manager. This update will not refresh
the values in opened scan manager windows. To see the updated values you
have to open a new scan manager window.
6.12.4. Scan Point Tensions
Figure 6-32: Scan Point Tensions dialog
Tab Scan Point Tensions shows all reference cluster pairs used for the scan
placement.
Mean – this value describes the discrepancy between the two
corresponding scans.
<4 mm – Number of points with a failure <4mm, displayed in percent.

Overlap – Shows the amount of scan points which overlap in the two
scans in percent.
Used points - Shows the number of scan points that are used for
statistics calculation.
will be displayed.
Overall Statistics
<4 mm – Mean value of points <4mm in percentage.
You can re-execute the registration of scans with the command Update
Scans in the context menu of the scan manager. This update will not refresh
the values in opened scan manager windows. To see the updated values you
have to open a new scan manager window.
6.12.5. Lock and Unlock the Scan Manager
If you finished your work with all scans in a cluster, you can lock its scan
manager. The relative position of this scans to each other will not be changed
anymore. The cluster itself is still used for the registration with other clusters
or scans outsides the locked cluster.
You can lock and unlock a scan manager in
 its menu (see chapter 6.12.1).
 its context menu.
Here, you can lock or unlock the scan manager you currently selected.
If there are scan managers in a lower level to the selected scan manager, this
scan managers will be locked or unlocked too.

7. Working with Scan Data and Objects
This chapter describes how you can adapt scan data to your needs.
7.1. Selecting Scan Points
7.1.1. Selecting Scan Points in the Planar View or the Quick View
In the planar view and in the quick view, it is possible to select scan points
and then apply a variety of commands to this group of points. For example
you may
 apply an object fit on this group or search for objects in the selected points
and apply automatic object fits (see chapter 7.4),
 apply filters on the selected scan points (see chapter 7.3),
 colorize them using scanner based pictures (see chapter 7.5),
 delete them,
 export them into a CAD system (see chapter 9),
 or create a new scan from the selected scan points (see chapter 7.6).
Selected scan points are colored yellow. There can only be one selection
simultaneously in all views, in other words, if you make a selection in one
view, the selection disappears from the view worked on before.
First, choose an appropriate button from the toolbar to select scan points:
 Rectangular selection button – Select a rectangular area by first

defining a corner of the rectangle by clicking the left mouse button and
holding it down. Then drag the mouse to define the opposite corner of the
rectangle. You can then release the mouse button.
 Linear selection button – Select an arbitrarily shaped line of scan

points by first defining the starting point of the line with the left mouse
button. If you now release the mouse button, you can move the mouse to
the next point of the line and click to fix the point. A straight connection is
drawn automatically between these two points. You can also hold the
mouse button down - then all the scan points that you move over with the
mouse are selected. Lock the selection by double-clicking with the left
mouse button. The linear selection has a thickness of one point.
 Polygonal selection button – Select an arbitrarily shaped area of

scan points using the same technique as for linear selection. However,
when completing the selection, the line will be closed; in other words, the
last fixed point is connected to the starting point. The selection comprises
all the scan points that are enclosed within the outline.
 Circular selection button – Select a circular area of scan points. Start

the selection process by clicking with the left mouse button; a circle with
the radius just set is displayed. You can change the radius by turning the
scroll wheel on the mouse. Click with the left mouse button again to place
the selection in the chosen location and to end the selection process.
 Polygonal edge selection button – Select an arbitrarily shaped area

of scan points, with the polygon following the visible edge in the scan
points. The selection behaves like the polygonal selection. If you reach an
109 | Chapter 7: Working with Scan Data and Objects

edge, i.e. an area in which there is a noticeable difference in the reflection

value, the selection will automatically follow this edge. If there is no such
edge, a straight connection is drawn. If you are not confident with the
polygon, you can undo the last part of the polygon by backtracking it in
the opposite direction. You can always backtrack to the last fixed point.
With a click on the right mouse button, you switch edge detection on or
off, and you can cancel the selection.
 Elliptical selection button - Select an elliptical area of scan points.

Start the selection process by clicking with the left mouse button on the
starting point of the desired elliptical selection. An ellipse with the starting
point of the major axis just set is displayed. You can change the length of
the minor axis (i.e. the “width”) by turning the scroll wheel on the mouse.
Click with the left mouse button again to select the end point of the major
axis (i.e. the “length”) and to end the selection process.
If you wish to select an area that you cannot see with the set line of sight,
you can also switch into navigation mode during the selection process. Simply
press the control key.
There are different types of selection combinations, which determine what
effect the next selection to be executed has on the selection that already
exists. Select the required combination type from the toolbar:
 New selection button – The next selection replaces the existing

selection.
 Add selection button – Combination mode whereby the next selection

is added to the existing selection.
 Subtract selection button – Combination mode, whereby the next

selection is removed from the existing selection.
 Intersect selection button – Combination mode whereby the

difference of the two selections is retained.
You can also store selections temporarily in region objects and reactivate
them when required. You can then use a saved selection, such as a selection
just made with the mouse; in other words, you can add to the existing
selection, remove it or cut it. To create a region, simply select Create
Objects  Region from the context menu of the selection.
7.1.2. Selecting Scan Points in 3D View
Compared to the quick view and the planar view, operations applicable to
point selections in the 3D view are limited; you may
 delete the selected scan points,
 export them into a CAD system (only available for 3D selections made on
the basis of points from scan point clouds and the project point cloud; not
available for points of scans; see chapter 9),
 or create an object fit (only available for planes and mean points on 3D
selections made on the basis of points from scan point clouds and the
project point cloud; not available for points of scans). For more
information on creating objects from point selections, see chapter 7.4.
The available selection tools are:
 The polygon selection known from the planar view or the quick view
is also available in the 3D view. The polygon selection only applies to scan
points organized in a row-column order. If the points of scans and scan
Chapter 7: Working with Scan Data and Objects| 110

point clouds or the project point clouds are visualized in the same 3D view
(combined viewing of the point cloud and scan points of scans), it only
applies on the scan points of the loaded scans.
 The 3D polygon selection is similar to the polygon selection tool

above, but only selects points that are organized in a spatial data structure
(points from scan point clouds and the project point cloud).
 The 3D brush selection can be used similar to brush tools known

from 2D image processing programs and works with scan- or project point
clouds only. Traditional row-column based scan points cannot be selected
with the 3D brush selector. The brush works in three dimensional spaces,
meaning that you can use the mouse to literally paint points which are
going to be selected. Drag the mouse while holding down the left mouse
button in order to paint the points. The 3D brush has the shape of a
sphere. A transparent red circle will highlight the area where the selection
sphere is currently located. Moving the cursor around while having the
brush selector tool activated will highlight the scan points that are
currently within the selection sphere. Use the mouse wheel to modify the
radius of the sphere. Hold the shift key to modify the sphere radius more
quickly. Points that are currently within the selection sphere are
highlighted. The color of point highlighting depends on the current
selection mode:
o New Selection : Yellow
o Add to selection : Green
o Subtract from selection : Red
o Intersect with selection : Blue

The selection modes add, subtract, and intersect can be used to create
complex selections. Brush selections can be combined with polygon selections
this way, too.
You may also select scan points in the 3D view with the clipping box. For
more information, see chapter 7.2.
7.2. Tailor a Point Cloud View with the Clipping Box
Clipping boxes provide an easy access to areas of interest of a 3D point cloud.

They allow slicing the point cloud and clipping away specific areas which
enables you to display or hide certain points of the 3D point cloud.
There are two types of clipping boxes:
 Clipping boxes with the points outside of the box hidden. Only the points
inside the box are displayed.
 Clipping boxes with the points outside the box displayed, points inside the
box are hidden.
Clipping boxes may also be used to select scan points in the 3D view in order
to perform certain operations on these points.
Clipping boxes can be applied to the points of scan point clouds and
the project point cloud, not to the points of scans.

Figure 7-1: 3D view without (left) and with clipping box (right)
7.2.1. Creating a Clipping Box
Open a 3D view and navigate to the area of interest.

There are various ways to create a clipping box:
 Automatically (default) – Click the Create a new clipping box button
in the 3D view toolbar. A clipping box will be created close to the
center of the current 3D view. The created clipping box will be scaled so
that it covers roughly two thirds of the screen.
 Attached to a selected surface - Select this option from the drop down
menu of the Create a new clipping box button in the 3D view
toolbar, and then select three points in the view in order to determine a
surface. A clipping box will then be created with one of its faces being
coplanar to the surface defined by the three picked points. The clipping
box will be scaled in such a way as it exactly encloses the picked points.
 Aligned to a limited or unlimited plane object – Select New 
Aligned Clipping Box in the context menu of a plane object to align a
clipping box to the object:
o Unlimited plane: The new clipping box will be created as a unit cube
centered on the reference point of the plane. Its faces will be parallel to
the selected plane.

o Limited plane: The new clipping box will tightly enclose the boundary
polygon of the limited plane.
The created clipping boxes are saved to the workspace for later use and will
be added to the folder ClippingBoxes in the structure view.
Once created, you can reposition and resize the clipping box. See chapter
 Once created, the rotation point of the view will be set to the
center of the clipping box.
 Creating clipping boxes does not delete any points from the point
cloud. The points outside or within the clipping box are simply
hidden and may be displayed again at any time.
7.2.2. Manipulating a Clipping Box
You may change the transformation of a clipping box by rotating, moving or

changing its size. For this, select the clipping box in the 3D view or in the
structure view. A floating tool bar will appear providing the manipulation
functionality.
Figure 7-2: Clipping box toolbar
Select the Scale button from the toolbar to resize the clipping box.
Handles will appear on the clipping box allowing you to resize it.
Figure 7-3: Resizing a clipping box
Dragging one of the red, blue or green handlers allows resizing the clipping
box by moving the corresponding face of the box. Dragging the grey cubes at
the corners allows proportional resizing of the clipping box.
When dragging one of the handlers, the length of the movement will be
indicated in the view as shown in the picture below.

Figure 7-4: Length of movement
Select the Rotate button from the toolbar to rotate the clipping box.
Handles will appear on the clipping box allowing you to rotate it around
different axes.
Figure 7-5: Rotating a clipping box
Dragging one of the red, blue or green handlers allows rotating the clipping
box along the corresponding axis.
Select the Move button from the toolbar to move the clipping box.
Handles will appear on the clipping box allowing you to change the position of
the box.

Figure 7-6: Moving a clipping box
Dragging one of the handlers (white arrows) allows moving the clipping box
within two dimensions. The dimensions depend on the used handler. You may
also use the keys 2, 4, 6 or 8 on the number pad instead.
 Change the size of the handlers with “+” key (increase size) and
“-” key (decrease size).
 You may undo (and reapply) your transformation changes with
the following buttons of the clipping box toolbar:
o Undo the last transformation change with
o Redo the last transformation change with
o Restore the initial transformation of the clipping box with
7.2.3. Hiding and Displaying Points by Means of Clipping Boxes
You may select which points are displayed or not with the Hide exterior
button of the clipping box toolbar. You may select between hiding the
points outside the selected clipping box (hide exterior, this is the default
setting) or inside the selected clipping box (hide interior). This does not
have an effect on the visible objects in the 3D view.

Figure 7-7: Exterior hidden (left) and interior hidden (right)
Depending on this setting the boundaries of the clipping box as well as the
icon in the structure view will be displayed in different colors:
 transparent blue when the exterior is hidden.
 transparent orange when the interior is hidden,
This setting will be saved in the clipping box properties for later use and may
also be changed in the properties dialog.
7.2.4. Enabling / Disabling Clipping
You may enable or disable clipping of the selected clipping box with the
Enable/Disable clipping button of the clipping box toolbar. When
disabled, the points hidden by this box will be displayed again; the color of
the clipping box boundaries and its icon in the structure view change to grey.

Figure 7-8: Disabled clipping box
This setting will be saved in the clipping box properties for later use and may
also be changed in the properties dialog.
You may also enable or disable clipping of all available clipping boxes globally
with the Toggle application of clipping boxes button of the 3D view
toolbar. This setting will not be saved in the properties of the individual
clipping boxes.
7.2.5. Working with Multiple Clipping Boxes
You can combine the point visibility settings of several clipping boxes. For
this, the following rules apply:
 Adding a clipping box with hide exterior enabled to already available and
active clipping boxes:
o The points inside this box will always be added to the currently visible
points, even if this box intersects with boxes that have their interior
hidden.
o The points outside this box will not be hidden. In that case the clipping
settings of the already available clipping boxes have the precedence.
 Adding a clipping box with hide interior enabled to already available
clipping boxes:
o This will cut out the points that are inside of this box from the points
that are visible at that time, even if this box intersects with boxes that
have their exterior hidden (and their interior displayed).
o The points outside this box will not be displayed. In that case the
clipping settings of the already available clipping boxes have the
precedence.
The order of creation of the clipping boxes thus matters and has an effect on
which points are displayed or not.
Example: Assume you have a large point cloud of a building and its
surrounding area, similar to this:

Figure 7-9: Example: Complete point cloud
Now you add the first clipping box around the main building that has its
exterior hidden (clipping box 1).
Figure 7-10: Example: First clipping box with hide exterior added
All the points outside the clipping box are now hidden, only its interior is
displayed. But now you would like to display the points of the smaller
buildings in front of the main building. So you add a new clipping box with
hide exterior enabled (clipping box 2).

Figure 7-11: Example: Second clipping box with hide exterior added
The points within clipping box 2 are now added to the scene and displayed,
too. But now you would like to hide the points of the trees and roads in front
of the buildings that are now also visible. So you add three new clipping boxes
but this time with hide interior enabled (clipping boxes 3 to 5).
Figure 7-12: Example: Clipping boxes 3 to 5 with hide interior added
The points in the overlapping areas between clipping boxes 3 to 5 and clipping
box 2 are now removed from the scene.
But now you realize that one of these new clipping boxes also removed a
small building that you would like to have displayed in the view. So you add a
new clipping box with hide exterior enabled (clipping box 6).

Figure 7-13: Example: Sixth clipping box with hide exterior added
The points inside this box will now be added to the scene no matter whether
they overlap with the clipping boxes that have their interior hidden (clipping
boxes 3 to5). If you would have added this clipping box before adding clipping
boxes 3 to 5, the overlapping points between them and clipping box 6 would
be hidden; the order of the creation of the clipping boxes would matter in this
case.
If you would like to have one or more of the available clipping boxes not being
regarded in the current scene, you may disable them (see chapter 7.2.4) or
delete them from the workspace.
7.2.6. Toggling Visibility of Clipping Boxes
Toggle the visibility of a clipping box
 With the Clipping box visibility button in the clipping box toolbar,
 in its context menu,
 or in its properties dialog
Disabling the visibility of a clipping box will only hide its boundaries; the
clipping box is still active (if clipping is enabled) and it still has effect on the
visibility of the points in the 3D view.
7.2.7. Creating Multiple Clipping Boxes Along an Axis of an Existing Clipping Box
You can create multiple clipping boxes along one of the three axes of an
already available clipping box which also serves as a template for the new
clipping boxes. This allows slicing the point cloud into specific areas of interest
and can be a useful feature, e.g. to divide a building into its several floors.
Do the following to create multiple clipping boxes along an axis of an already
available clipping box:
1. Open the 3D view.
2. Navigate to the clipping box which should serve as the template. This
clipping box must have the clipping mode Hide Exterior.

3. Select Create Clipping Boxes Along an Axis in context menu of this

clipping box.
4. Make your settings in the appearing dialog:
Figure 7-14: Clipping boxes along an axis - settings dialog
Axis – Select the axis of the existing clipping box along which the new
clipping boxes will be generated. A preview of the new clipping boxes will
be available in the current 3D view.
Disable Clipping - Disable clipping in the preview.
Sign of Axis – Select the direction of the axis in which the clipping boxes will
be created.
Settings - Define the number of clipping boxes to be created and the
distance between the clipping boxes. There are two ways to define the
distance, either between the origins of the clipping boxes or between the
adjacent faces of the boxes.
Folder name – The clipping boxes will be added to a new folder (clipping
box container) under the main clipping box folder in the structure view.
Specify the name of this folder or clipping box container. It is a special
folder and is also visualized in the 3D View. For more inforation, see
chapter 7.2.8.

Figure 7-15: Clipping boxes along an axis - preview
5. Click OK to create the clipping boxes with the selected settings. The initial
clipping box will be moved to the new clipping box folder / container and
will be renamed according to the folder’s name. The other clipping boxes
will get the name of the folder and an enumeration.
7.2.8. Working with Clipping Box Containers
A clipping box container contains all the clipping boxes which were created
along an axis of an existing clipping box (see chapter 7.2.7). It has a
transformation which consists of scale, rotation and translation.
You change change the transformation of a clipping box container by rotating,
moving or changing its size, similar to manipulating the transformation of
single clipping boxes. For more information, see chapter 7.2.2.
Figure 7-16: Clipping box container with resize handlers

The transformation changes will be proportionally applied to the clipping

boxes within the container.
 All clipping boxes within a clipping box container have

constrained functionality. The single clipping boxes cannot be
rotated individually, their clipping mode cannot be changed.
Scaling and translation of each clipping box is also restricted.
The clipping boxes cannot leave the volume of the clipping box
container.
 Change the visibility of the clipping box container and the
clipping boxes in the container with the Clipping box visibility
button in the clipping box toolbar or in its context menu. The
visibility state of the clipping box container is a global state and
not view specific. This state will be saved with the workspace.
7.2.9. Selecting Scan Points by Means of Clipping Boxes
You may select scan points in the 3D view using the active clipping boxes. For
this, select the command 3D Selection using active Clipping Boxes in the
context menu of a clipping box. This will take all available and active clipping
boxes into account and create a 3D point selection from all the visible points
in the view. Creating the point selection might take some time depending on
the amount of points. If you have several clipping boxes in your workspace
but would like to limit the selection to only one of these clipping boxes, you
have to deactivate (disable clipping) the other clipping boxes.

Figure 7-17: Point selection made using a clipping box
Please note that only the points of scan point clouds or the project
point clouds will be selected.
7.2.10. Exporting Scan Points by Means of Clipping Boxes
You may also export 3D points into different file formats using the active
clipping boxes.
For this, use the command Import / Export  Export 3D selection using
active Clipping Boxes in the context menu of the 3D view or a clipping box.
SCENE will then create a 3D selection as described in chapter 7.2.9 and
export the selected points afterwards.
Additionally, you may export the points in a local coordinate system defined
by one of the available clipping boxes. For this, select Use Local
Coordinates in the export dialog and select the clipping box from the
available list. For more information on exporting scan points, see chapter 9.

 Only the points of scan point clouds or the project point cloud
will be exported.
 The Export menu shows the Color/grey option as well as the
Full scan option greyed out, because they don't make sense for
a point cloud.
7.3. Filtering Scan Points
Scans are the result of millions of measurements that have been taken and,
just like any other measurement; various grades of precision are achieved. No
physical measurement can really be taken exactly; it is therefore important to
know with what accuracy a measurement was taken and how you can then
achieve the required accuracy.
Depending on the scanner's measurement method, there are various causes
that influence the measurement:
 Analog values can never be determined accurately on any number of
points; from a certain number of points on, the measurement result will
always deviate from the true value. This deviation is normally noise.
 The laser spot of the scanner is not infinitely thin but has a certain
diameter. The laser spot can therefore land partly on a support and partly
on the wall situated behind it. The scanner then also receives the reflected
laser light from two different points that are wide apart.
 With some scanners the measurement results can only be within the
ambiguity interval. However, if the true distance of an object is greater
than this ambiguity interval, a too small value is displayed as the
measurement result.
Depending on the cause, you can sometimes achieve more precise
measurement results by applying suitable corrective measures but
unfortunately, there are times when you cannot correct the affected scan
point and you should remove it from the scan.
With a filter, selected scan points are corrected or removed from the scans.
This is determined by the selection criteria. The filters differ according to
which method they identify an inaccurate scan point and which counter
measure is then taken. A filter examines each scan point and establishes a
quality value in accordance with its particular method. If this quality value is
outside the threshold you have set, the scan point is either corrected or
removed.
Available filters are:
 Stray – to remove scan points resulting from hitting two objects with the
laser spot or by hitting no object at all, for example the sky (see chapter
7.3.2)
 Distance Based – to remove scan points in a certain distance range from
the scanner (see chapter 7.3.3)
 Dark Scan Points – to remove scan points with too much noise (see
chapter 7.3.4)
 Smooth – to minimize noise on surfaces (see chapter 7.3.5).
Filters can be applied either to the entire scan or to a selected section. To
apply the filter to the entire scan, open the context menu of the scan (in
either the structure view, the planar or the quick view). Then under
Operations  Filter, select the filter you require. Use the same procedure to

apply the filter to a selection: open the context menu of the selection by
clicking in the selected area with the right mouse button.
Once the filter has run, the number of scan points that were corrected or
removed is shown in the status bar. The scan must then be saved in order to
retain the filter settings.
If you want to apply a series of filters to an entire scan or a large number of
scans at once, you do not necessarily have to apply the filters separately. For
this, you may use the Preprocess Scans option to achieve this in a batch
mode. For more information, please see chapter 6.8.
In order to identify an inaccurate scan point, the filters running compare the
scan point with the scan points in the surrounding area. The surrounding area
is oriented towards the scanner's recording technique, in other words, it is
oriented towards the rows and columns, as they can be seen in the planar
view.
Evaluated Grid size

pixel (5x5 pixel)
Figure 7-18: The area surrounding a scan point
In Figure 7-18 this surrounding area oriented towards the recording technique
is shown. The single scan point marked has the scan points within the
surrounding square in its near vicinity. Using filters, you can set what should
be regarded as the surrounding area. In this example, the value 5 was set,
which means the edge length of the surrounding square is 5.
7.3.1. Default Filter
When a scan is loaded for the very first time, a predefined set of
recommended filters (dark scan point filter and stray point filter) will be
applied to it. You can switch default filtering off and change default filter
settings under Tools  Options  Default Filter (for more information see
chapter 18.2.4). However, if default filtering is switched off, you will always
be informed, when loading a scan, that using raw scan data is not
recommended.
7.3.2. Stray

Figure 7-19: Filter for stray
The Grid Size is the size of the surrounding area used for comparison. For
each scan point of the scan or selection, the filter takes the valid scan points
of this surrounding area and counts how many of them are at a distance to
the scanner which is approximately the same as the distance of the scan point
currently being viewed. A scan point is counted if the difference in distance is
smaller than the Distance Threshold. If at least the percentage of scan
points indicated by the Allocation Threshold in the surrounding area is also
within this distance threshold, the scan point remains in the scan. Otherwise it
is removed.
Figure 7-20: Filter stray
 The stray filter will be applied in several steps. The first steps are
not adjustable and the entered parameters only have an effect
on the last step. This means that scan points will be filtered even
for the lowest allocation threshold values.
 The stray filter is very well suited to correcting incorrect
measurements. It also works well when applied near edges, if
you leave the required percentage below 50%. However, the
filter should not be applied on surfaces which were strongly
inclined versus the scanner’s laser.
7.3.3. Distance Based
Figure 7-21: Filter distance based
The distance based filter simply removes all scan points which are outside of a
certain distance range.

7.3.4. Dark Scan Points
Figure 7-22: Filter for dark points
The filter for dark scan points has a very simple criterion: the selection
process is based on the reflective value of the dark points. The Reflectance
Threshold value indicates the minimum reflection value a scan point must
have.
This criterion is useful because with a dark scan point only a very small
amount of light entered the scanner and therefore the measurement will have
an increase in noise.
This filter is not applicable on colorized scan points.
7.3.5. Smooth
Figure 7-23: Smoothing filter
The smoothing filter replaces the measured value of the scan point with the
mean value from its surrounding area. Grid Size indicates the size of the
surrounding area in which the mean value is calculated. Dist. Threshold is
the threshold for calculating the mean value. If the distance between the
center scan point and a scan point of the surrounding area is beyond the
threshold, this scan point will not be used when calculating the mean value.
The smoothing filter never removes scan points but rather alters their
respective position.
Figure 7-24: Smoothing of the floor

The smoothing filter is ideally suited for reducing the noise in the
scans. However, you should not apply the filter to edges or highly
detailed objects as the filtering will have a smoothing effect, causing
some features to be blended into the surrounding points.
7.4. Working with Objects
Within SCENE, a variety of objects are available that help analyzing the scans,
that may be used to enrich the scan data with additional information or that
may be used as reference objects for scan registration. These are:
 Documentation objects, which provide information about user defined
points of interests in the scan.
 Simple geometric objects identified in a scan, like spheres, planes, slabs,
lines, points, pipes or rectangles.
 CAD models for comparing scanned reality with the existing plans.
 Pictures taken with a digital camera.
7.4.1. Creating Geometric Objects
SCENE supports the creation and fitting of a variety of simple geometric

objects, like points, planes, spheres, pipes or lines.
The creation of geometric objects is also important for scan registration as
they may be used as reference objects to register the scans. So, in most
cases, the creation of such reference objects is an essential work step in
processing your scan project.
You may create geometric objects from scratch or from the scan points.
Create 1. Select the object type under New in the context menu of a scan or folder.
Geometric
Objects from 2. In the dialog that appears, enter the geometric parameters of the object,
Scratch such as the object’s position, location in the room or its size.
The creation of objects from scratch is seldom used. Normally you get
their parameters from the scan points.
Creating Geometric objects exist in the scans, too; therefore it is far more interesting
Geometric to get their parameters from the scan points. There are several possibilities to
Objects from fit objects from the scan points.
Scan Points
1. Select an area of scan points in the quick view or in the planar view of a
scan.
2. Selecting the appropriate command in the context menu of the selection
under Create Objects. SCENE will fit the geometric object.
Figure 7-25: Context menu: Scan point selection

The manual creation of planes and mean points is also available

from a 3D selection in the 3D view. Note that this selection must be
made on the basis of the points of a scan point cloud or the project
point cloud. In the 3D view, objects cannot be created on the basis
of the row-column organized points of a scan.
Objects created in the 3D view will be added to the workspace into
folder MatchedObjects; they will not be used for registration.
With the With the object marker tools you may quickly create certain geometric objects
Object from scan points. Follow these steps to create objects with the object marker:
Marker Tools
1. Choose the object type that you want to create from the object marker
tool bar.
Figure 7-26: Object marker tool bar
o Spheres
o Contrast Mean Points (Circular Flat Target)
o Plane
o Checkerboard Points
o Slab
o Scan Point
2. Mark the corresponding scan point in the planar or the quick view of the
scan. A selection is then automatically created that starts from the marked
scan point and extends into the surrounding scan points. The selected
geometric object will then be created.
Figure 7-27: Mark the object (here sphere) in the scan points

Figure 7-28: Sphere object fitted with the object marker
You may also let SCENE automatically search for certain objects in a scan
Automati-
cally with the point selection or in a complete scan.
Automatic  Select the appropriate object type in the context menu of a scan under
Object
Operations  Find Objects or in the context menu of a scan selection
Detection
under Find Objects.
Figure 7-29: Context menu: Scan  Operations
The automatic detection is available for

o checkerboard points
o spheres
o planes
o corner points
o lines
o rectangles
This feature saves the time and effort for the manual search for and creation
of these reference types and may considerably accelerate the complete
registration process.
The automatic detection of checkerboard points, corner points, lines

and rectangles brings best results if the scans are loaded with their
original grey values. If the scan is loaded in color, it is best to
unload the scan first and reload it with its grey values. Change the
loading options under Tools  Options  Scan Data to Use grey
first. For more information, please see chapter 18.2.4.

Objects found and fitted by the automatic search are saved to the
AutoFea-
tures folder AutoFeatures folder which appears in the structure view as a child of the
scan. Each object type has its own sub folder within the AutoFeatures folder.
After their automatic detection, planes, rectangles, and corner points will be
evaluated according to the quality of their fit and classified as category 1 or
category 2 objects. Category 1 objects are the objects with the best fit; they
will be used for registration, the remaining objects will be ignored.
If you have a large number of scans you may use the Preprocess Scans
option to automatically find and detect objects in a batch mode. Please see
When fitting a geometric object, not only the geometric object but also a
Object Fit
related fit object is created. This fit object describes the origin of the object
more closely and contains some quality criteria which allow conclusions about
the accuracy of the object fit.
Figure 7-30: Fit objects in the structure view
If you change the parameters of the geometric object after the fit, the fit
object is no longer active. You can reactivate an object fit by selecting the
command Active in its context menu. The changed parameters will then be
replaced by the parameters of the object fit.
If a geometric object has an active object fit, the overall quality of the fit with
the object is symbolized by a traffic light:
 Green: all the individual quality criteria of the fit are met.
 Amber: at least one quality criterion is somewhat compromised
 Red: at least one individual criterion of the fit is seriously compromised.
Objects are displayed in the views in the appropriate color. Objects without an
active object fit are shown in blue. You can find more information on the
individual quality criteria of the different object fits in the chapters 18.5.3 to
18.5.18.
You can delete the fit object if you do not require it.
7.4.2. Geometric Object Types
Point Objects Point

The point is the simplest geometric object. It is identified by its name and its
position in the room. Points can be fitted in the quick view and the planar
view using the Object Marker.
Figure 7-31: Point object
Mean Point
You can determine the mean point of the selected scan points using Create
Objects  Mean Point. The mean point is very useful for determining a point
on a level surface. Creating a mean point guarantees that the point is situated
in the center of mass of the selection.
In the 3D view, mean points can only be created from a point

selection that was made on the points of a scan point cloud or the
project point cloud. Mean points created in the 3D view will not be
used for registration.
The circular flat target is one type of paper targets which may be used for
Contrast
Mean Point scan registration. The circular flat target usually consists of a white circle on a
dark background. The mean point of the circle is used for the scan
registration.
Figure 7-32: Circular flat target
In order to determine this mean point, select the target in the scan and use
the object marker tool or the command Create Objects  Contrast Mean
Point in the context menu of the selection. The selection should contain the
complete circle and the selection should be made on the dark background.
The shape of the selection is not important; only that it contains the complete
circle.

In general, it is recommended to use checkerboard targets instead

of circular flat targets. The recognition of checkerboard targets is
usually more precise and SCENE is able to automatically identify
those targets in the scans. This makes reference creation and
registration less time consuming.
Checker- A further, often used type of paper targets is the checkerboard target. A
board Points checkerboard target fit determines the center point of the target’s four
quadrants. This point is used for scan registration.
Figure 7-33: Checkerboard target and fitted checkerboard point
To create such checkerboard points, use the Object Marker tool or the Find
Objects command in the context menu of a scan point selection or a
complete scan.
The automatic detection of checkerboard points brings best results if

the scans are loaded with their original grey values. If the scan is
loaded in color, it is best to unload the scan first and reload it with
its grey values. Change the loading options under Tools  Options
 Scan Data to Use grey first. For more information, please see
chapter 18.2.4.
Corner Point Corner points are formed by two intersecting perpendicular lines. Additionally
to the position of the corner point it also contains a planarity that describes
the evenness of the point’s environment.
Corner points can be detected automatically on a selection, a whole scan or a
line container in the structure view using the appropriate command under
Find Objects in the context menu. If the automatic search finds more than
one corner point within a radius of 5 cm, the corner point with the best fitting
parameters will be used for the registration; the other corner points will be
treated as its children and will be ignored for registration.
The detected corner points will be evaluated according to their fit quality. The
best corner points are saved to the sub folder Category1 in the structure
view. The remaining corner points are saved to the sub folder Category2.
The number of category 1 corner points is limited to 70 per detection; the
number of category 2 points is limited to 230. Corner points that belong to
category 1 will be used for registration; category 2 points will be ignored. You
may also manually move corner points from the Category1 folder to the
Category2 folder or vice versa.

Figure 7-34: Hierarchical structure of corner points in the structure view
The automatic detection of corner points brings best results if the

scans are loaded with their original grey values. If the scan is loaded
in color, it is best to unload the scan first and reload it with its grey
values. Change the loading options under Tools  Options  Scan
Data to Use grey first. For more information, please see chapter
18.2.4.
Sphere When registering scans, another geometric object is of particular importance:

the sphere. A sphere is determined by its position and its radius and its
central point is used for the registration. Hence, you can add global position
information to spheres as well (see chapter 7.4.2 for more information).
There are two types of fit:
 Fit with a free radius
Apart from the position, the radius of the sphere is also calculated from
the scan points. Use the command Create Objects  Sphere.
 Fit with preset radius
This type is particularly well suited to fitting survey spheres because their
radius is known in advance. Use one of the following to create spheres
with a preset radius:
o the command Create Objects  Sphere Radius,
o the appropriate object marker,
o the automatic recognition of objects: use the appropriate command
under Find Objects in the context menu of a scan or a points
selection.
You can predefine one or more sphere radiuses under Tools  Options 
Matching  Match Sphere Settings (see chapter 18.2.4).

Figure 7-35: Fitted survey sphere
Adding GPS
Information
to Point
Objects
Figure 7-36: Point properties
Once created, you may add GPS information to any point object. This
information will be used for the correspondence search and for registering the
scans.
1. Open the properties dialog of the point object or its fit object.
2. On tab Point Properties, use the Add GPS Position button.
The properties dialog will be extended by an additional tab GPS Reference to
enter the required information.

Figure 7-37: GPS reference, format GPS
Figure 7-38: GPS reference, format UTM
Format – Use the drop down menu to choose whether to specify the GPS
information in the form of GPS or UTM coordinates.
Position - For the GPS coordinates latitude and longitude, please use the
decimal degree notation; separate both by space.
Altitude – Enter the altitude above sea level.
Accuracy – Specify the accuracy for the given GPS position. Correspondence
search will only accept such potential corresponding objects that do not
conflict with this given accuracy.
Once GPS information is available for the point object, the Add GPS Position
button on tab Point Properties will be replaced by a button to remove the
coordinates.
Planes There are two types of plane in SCENE:
 Infinite planes as idealized planes; they are infinitely large and have no
border.
 Limited planes as planes with a defined border.

Figure 7-39: Properties of a plane
In both cases the position and orientation are described by the position of a
point of the plane and a so-called normal. A plane is identified by the fact that
it is level, i.e. there is precisely one direction that the plane stands
perpendicular to (actually, there are two such directions; however, they are
exactly opposite one another). This direction is called the normal of the
plane.
Planes can be used for registering scans by using walls, floors or ceilings as a
reference. With plane objects two scans facing to the same side of a wall can
be aligned to each other. If you want to align two scans from opposite sides of
a wall you have to use the slab object instead of the plane object (see Slab).
Infinite Plane Infinite planes can be created from a point selection in the planar view, the
quick view or the 3D view. To create an infinite plane mark the scan points in
the view and select Create Objects  Plane in the context menu of the
selection.
In the 3D view, planes can only be created from a point selection

that was made on the points of a scan point cloud or the project
point cloud. Planes created in the 3D view will not be used for
registration.
Limited Plane There are several ways to create limited planes:

– Expand
Plane  Manually with Create Objects  Expand Plane in the context menu of a
points selection in the planar view or the quick view.
 Automatically with Find Objects  Planes in the context menu of a scan
or a points selection in the planar view or the quick view.
 With the Object Marker tool.
 From an infinite plane with New  Plane with Border from the context
menu of the infinite plane
A limited plane is created in combination with an automatic plane expansion.
With automatic plane expansion, a plane is created that continues to enlarge
until the adjacent scan points fail to meet the expand plane parameters. You
can set these parameters in the Expand Plane Settings which can be found
under Tools  Options  Matching (see below). In so doing, not only the
scan point itself is examined, but also its direct surrounding area. For
example, if the scan point is situated in a surrounding area which is clearly
not flush with the expanding plane, this point would not be added to the

plane. In addition, the border line for the plane is also calculated. When
recording, since the scan points were not explicitly oriented to the border of
the plane, it is also not practical conversely, for the border line to follow each
scan point of the border area. You would then get a very jagged border line.
Therefore, the calculated border line does not compulsively follow every single
scan point but is smoothed out. You can set the smoothing parameters in the
Expand Plane Settings.
Automatically detected planes will be evaluated according to the quality of
their fit. The best planes are saved to the sub folder Category1 in the
structure view. All remaining planes are saved to the sub folder Category2.
The number of category 1 planes is limited to 15 per detection. Planes that
belong to category 1 will be used for registration; category 2 planes will be
ignored. You may also manually move planes from the Category1 folder to the
Furthermore, the automatically created planes are categorized according to
their surface area:
 Small: < 1m2
 Medium ≥ 1m2 ≤ 10m2
 Large: > 10m2
Figure 7-40: Detected planes in the structure view
You can adjust the resulting quality of the limited planes created by the
automatic detection in the Expand Plane Settings.

Figure 7-41: Expand plane settings
Automatic Detection - This setting only has an effect on the quality of

automatically detected limited planes, particularly on the quality of their
border line. Setting the slider to Speed (default) will speed up the automatic
plane detection but may result in jagged border lines. Setting the slider to
Quality will improve the border lines but plane detection may take some time
depending on the size of the point selection. If you want to use the
automatically detected planes only for registration you should set the slider to
Speed. If you want to continue processing the detected planes (e.g. exporting
into CAD) you should set the slider to Quality.
The following settings have an effect on the automatic detection as well as on
the manual creation of limited planes.
Max. Distance – The maximum distance of a scan point from the plane.
Max. Normal Diff. – The maximum deviation of the normal in the area
surrounding a scan point from the normal of the plane to be expanded.
Max. Local Normal Diff. – The maximum standard deviation of the normal
in the surrounding area of a scan point.
Planar Test Size – The size of the analyzed surrounding area.
Min. Border Split [m] – Smoothing parameter for the border line in the 3-
dimensional space.
Min Border Split [px] – Smoothing parameter for the border line in the
planar view.
You can set the defaults using the Defaults button.
Plane Fit with When fitting a plane to a selection of scan points, the position and direction of
Constraints the plane is optimized in regard to the best possible representation of the
selected scan points. The optimization is only performed on the selected scan
points and additional knowledge about the relationship to other planes (e.g.
that they should be parallel) is not employed. However, this is made possible
by the command Tools  Constrained Plane Fit. A special object will be
created in the folder Constraints for performing such optimizations between
planes.

Figure 7-42: Constrained plane fit
First you have to add the planes which you want to improve or which you
need to define the constraints. This is performed by choosing Add and
selecting planes in the structure view. They will be added to the Planes list of
the dialog. In this list you can mark which planes shall be improved, and
which planes were just added for defining constraints. Such planes will not be
altered. Select single planes by a simple mouse click or several planes by
clicking while Shift or Control is pressed. The selected planes can be fixed or
unfixed using Fix/Unfix. Fixed planes are excluded from the improvement.
Constraints have to be defined always between two planes. This can be done
by using Constraint after marking two planes in the list. Possible constraints
are Identical, Parallel, or a given Angle.
Figure 7-43: Possible constraints for planes
With Search, SCENE will try to automatically determine probable constraints

between the planes.

Once the constraints are defined, the improvement can be started with
Apply. This process will result in new constrained plane fits for all the planes
that were not fixed. If possible, these new fits meet the chosen constraints.
Figure 7-44: New fit objects after performing the improvement
The intersection point is formed by the intersection of a plane with the virtual
Intersection
Point laser beam of the scanner. To create an intersection point, you first of all
need a plane. In the context menu of the plane, select the command New 
Intersection Point. Now go with the mouse pointer to the place in the scan
where you want the intersection point to be, and click with the left mouse
button. You therefore select the direction in which the intersection point lies
from the scanner. The distance to the scanner does not, however, come from
the scan point now under the mouse pointer, but from the intersection of this
direction with the plane selected beforehand.

Figure 7-45: Fit object of the intersection point
The fit object of the intersection point shows with which plane the intersection
took place. If the parameters of the plane were changed, perhaps by a new fit
of the plane, the intersection point is automatically recalculated!
Slab A slab is similar to a plane and may also be used as a reference for the scan
registration. Like planes, slabs can be created from floors, walls or ceilings;
but in contrast to a plane, the slab object will be used to align two scans
recorded from the opposite sides of the slab. For this purpose you need to
specify the slab’s thickness and the side of view in its properties dialog.
There are various ways for fitting a slab. You can create slabs
 with the object marker tool (for more information see chapter 7.4.),
 from a selection of scan points (with the command Create Objects  Slab
in the context menu of the selection) or
 from a plane object (New  Slab by Plane in the context menu of the
plane object).

Figure 7-46: Slab properties
To define the slab you have to specify its name, its visible face (Face A or
Face B) and its thickness either in its properties dialog or in the slab fit dialog.
When registering scans, which were recorded from the opposite sides of the
same wall, you may use this wall as a reference by defining it as a slab
object. In both scans, the corresponding slab objects must then have the
same Thickness but a different value for the Face.
Pipe The pipe represents a cylindrical object. It is specified by its outside diameter
and length.
To create a pipe, go to Tools  Pipe Fit.
First, you have to draw a line along the pipe’s axis, and then draw a line to
indicate the pipe’s circumference. SCENE will then automatically match a pipe
object into your scan.
Figure 7-47: Pipe creation

Figure 7-48: Pipe in 3D view
Another way to create a pipe is from a selection of scan points. To create a

pipe object from a selection of scan points use the command Create Objects
 Pipe in the context menu of the selection.
If necessary you can adjust the pipe’s diameter and length in its properties
dialog (see also chapter 18.5.8 and 18.5.9).
Pipes can be used as references for registering scans.
Line detection is based on a combination of reflectance contrast and distance
Lines
discontinuity. Lines are in particular a useful visualization for main structures
of the scan and can help to orient oneself in the 3D view when not all scans
are displayed. Lines may also be used as natural references for the
registration of scans.
The automatic detection of lines brings best results if the scans are
loaded with their original grey values. If the scan is loaded in color,
it is best to unload the scan first and reload it with its grey values.
Change the loading options under Tools  Options  Scan Data to
Use grey first. For more information, please see chapter 18.2.4.
Figure 7-49: Lines in the scan

Rectangle detection is based on line detection and searches for rectangular

Rectangles structures in the line detection’s result. A rectangle consists of its midpoint
(position), the normal and a major- and minor axis that define the extent of
the rectangle.
Rectangles can be detected automatically on a point selection, a whole scan
or on a line container in the structure view.
The automatic detection of rectangles brings best results if the

scans are loaded with their original grey values. If the scan is loaded
in color, it is best to unload the scan first and reload it with its grey
values. Change the loading options under Tools  Options  Scan
Data to Use grey first. For more information, please see chapter
18.2.4.
The detected rectangles will be evaluated according to the quality of their fit.
The rectangles with the best fit are saved to the sub folder Category1 in the
structure view. All other rectangles are saved to the sub folder Category2.
The number of category 1 rectangles per detection is limited to 30; the
number of category 2 rectangles is limited to 70. Rectangles that belong to
category 1 will be used for registration; category 2 rectangles will be ignored.
You may also manually move rectangles from the Category1 folder to the
Mesh When an object is scanned, the scan points represent individual spots on the
surface of the object. If you want to reconstruct the surface itself, you can
create a mesh which takes the scan points as a basis and approximates the
surfaces within certain limits. This approximation is done with a set of
triangles.
Depending on the curvature of the real surface and the required
approximation quality, the number of triangles can vary between a few and a
huge number.
The approximation quality can be controlled by a set of parameters, which
you can enter when you create a mesh:
Figure 7-50: Mesh generation parameters
2nd level simplification – Activate 2nd level simplification based on the

distance between scan point and nearest triangle.

Distance threshold – A triangle approximates all scan points within this

distance threshold. The smaller the value, the more triangles you’ll get.
Activate triangle removal – If an object is in front of a different object,
neighboring scan points shouldn’t be connected by triangles. Here you can
activate the removal of triangles which match both following requirements.
Angle below – The angle between the triangle and the scanner. The
larger the value, the more triangles will be removed.
Edge length above – The edge length of the triangle. The smaller the
value, the more triangles will be removed.
Although the resulting mesh may be a relatively small collection of triangles,
its appearance can show more details. This is done by a texture, which is
similar to a photo glued onto the triangles. By default the display is with
textures.
Figure 7-51: Mesh with and without texture
7.4.3. Documentation Object
You can create documentation objects for keeping records of points of interest
in a workspace or in a scan. A point of interest may be an existing object in
the workspace (e.g. a scan, a sphere or a model) or a single scan point in a
scan.
Documentation objects allow enriching scan data with additional information
like comments or links to external documents or web sites.
To add a documentation object to an object in the workspace select the
command New  Documentation in the context menu of this object. The
documentation object is then stored underneath the referenced object in the
workspace. Deleting the referenced object will also delete its documentation
objects. The origin of the documentation object corresponds to the center of
the referenced object.
Figure 7-52: Documentation object

To attach a documentation object to a certain scan point, select the

documentation tool from the 3D view tool bar, and then click on the point
of interest in the view.
Figure 7-53: Documentation object in 3D view
Detailed information can be entered in the documentation object’s properties

dialog:
Figure 7-54Documentation object properties
Position - determines the position of the documentation object in the

workspace.
Description – detailed information about the documentation object.
Hyperlinks – hyperlinks to files or web sites. Add a new hyperlink by
entering its address into the lower text field, then press Add. You can change
the order of the hyperlinks with Up / Down, delete them with Remove or
open them by double clicking on the list item or by selecting the Open
button.

You can enter the name of the documentation object in tab General.
7.4.4. Regions
A region is used to mark a particular selection of scan points and to save

them in the workspace in order to examine it more closely later. To create a
region, select the scan points in the quick view or in the planar view and use
the appropriate command under Create Objects in the context menu of this
selection.
7.4.5. Exporting Objects in DXF, IGES and VRML data formats
In order to use points, planes, pipes and spheres in CAD systems, with SCENE
you can export these objects in different formats as a file and then import this
file into your CAD system.
1. Open the context menu of the scan, or
if you want to export the objects of all scans in a scan folder, open the
context menu of the scan folder.
2. Select the command Import/Export  Export Objects.
Figure 7-55: Exporting objects
Format – The following formats are available: DXF, IGES, and VRML.
Depending on the format selected, you can set further settings on a separate
tab.
DXF
SCENE uses DXF 12. Textures of meshes are not supported.
IGES
SCENE uses IGES version 5.3.
IGES doesn’t support the textures of meshes.
VRML
SCENE uses VRML 2. When exporting meshes, the textures are stored in
separate files.

For more information on these file formats, please see chapter 9.3.
7.4.6. Importing Objects in VRML data format
To compare the scanned reality with the models from the CAD system, you
can import the model into SCENE. For this, the model must be in the
multivendor-capable VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) data format. A
lot of CAD systems give you the option of exporting models in this format. For
this, please read the instructions for your CAD system. The way exporting in
the CAD system MicroStation works is described at the end of this chapter.
1. Import the model via the command File  Import....
2. In the dialog, select file type VRML, which has the file extension .wrl.
After entering the file name, the VRML Import dialog opens:
Figure 7-56: Settings for VRML import
Although the VRML standard recommends a specific coordinate system and a

specific unit of length, not all VRML files are modeled that way. The standard
defines the unit of measure of the world coordinate system to be meters, and
a coordinate system in which the y axis points upwards. Because many VRML
files are modeled differently, you can select different settings.
When importing a VRML model, you can ask SCENE to combine any meshes in
the model into a single one. This will increase the performance.
SCENE does not support all objects or object properties that are available in
VRML. The following parameters are not transferred:
 Light sources
 Textures with 8 or 16 bit per pixel (use 24 bit per pixel instead)
 The Inline node
In these cases, when importing the data, you will get a warning that the VRML
model was not transferred completely.
After importing, in the structure view under the Models folder, you will see a
new folder which contains your imported model. The model can only be
viewed in 3D view and quick view; planar view will not display CAD models.

1. Select the command File  Export  VRML World...

How to
export CAD 2. Click in the view you want to export.
models from
MicroStation 3. The Export VRML World file dialog appears.
in VRML
4. In the dialog, set the version number to 2 and select Export Linear
format
Geometry and Export Higher Order Surfaces.
5. Select Y Axis Up if you want to achieve a standard conformant file. Please
make sure that Drop Cells To Components and Drop Text To Components
are not selected; this would cause the data volume to increase
considerably.
Figure 7-57: VRML export in MicroStation
7.4.7. Pictures
You can add pictures to the workspace to get a comprehensive view of the
whole scanned environment. These pictures have their own type of planar
view.
You can either Import or drag&drop one or several pictures. In order to add
them as a picture to the workspace, deselect to import into a virtual scan. See
chapter 5.4 for detailed information.
In the structure view, you will find the 2D-pictures in the dedicated workspace
folder named Pictures.
As pictures don’t contain any 3D information, no measurements or similar
operations are possible in a picture's planar view.

Figure 7-58: Picture view
If you had chosen to import the picture into a virtual scan, the picture's pixels
would have been interpreted as a scan of a plane. This method will be
explained in chapter 5.4.1.
Pictures can also be used to add color information to the scans following the
procedure in chapter 7.5.
7.5. Colorizing Scan Points
Besides the distance information, the scan may also contain information about
the reflectance or even the color of the individual scan points.
By default, SCENE loads the color information whenever it is available. But
sometimes it is useful to load the scan with its original grey value. You can
achieve this when you change the corresponding setting under Tools 
Options  Scan Data (see chapter 18.2.4).
Color information can be added to a scan after the scan has been taken. If
you have a scan taken by a scanner with the color option, this scan will also
contain the digital pictures which the scanner took automatically during the
scanning. If you don’t have such a scan, you can still add color information if
you have taken digital pictures of the scanned environment.
In order to add the color information of digital pictures to the scan, some
prerequisites have to be matched:
 The digital picture has to be free of any distortions caused by the lens.
Especially wide-angle lenses tend to cause so called barrel or pin-cushion
distortions. In a picture with such distortions, a straight line doesn’t
appear straight but bend.

 Position, orientation, and zoom factor of the camera have to be known

(chapter 7.5.1) or have to be computable.
7.5.1. Colorizing Using Scanner Based Pictures
The scanner based pictures are stored within the scan and can be seen in the
structure view.
Figure 7-59: Scan with pictures
As these pictures were done with the well-known camera of the scanner, and
they were taken under control of the scanner, all above mentioned
prerequisites are met.
Select the command Operations  Color/Pictures  Apply Pictures in the
context menu of the scan. This will first load the scan and all its pictures.
Then it will remove any distortions from the pictures. Finally it will add the
color information to the scan points. Please don’t forget to check the setting
of Save modified scan points in the Options  Scan data dialog (see
chapter 18.2.4) and to save the scan afterwards, this is not done
automatically.
If you want to treat every scan in your scan folder that way, you can select
the command Operations  Color/Pictures  Apply Pictures in the context
menu of the scan folder. In this case, the scans are saved automatically
afterwards if you have the correct setting of Save modified scan points in
the Options  Scan data dialog (see chapter 18.2.4). You may also use the
Preprocess Scans option to achieve this in a batch mode. Please see chapter
6.8 for more information.
 If you get an out of memory error during applying the pictures,

you should check the colorize all scan points option under
Tools  Options  Scan Data (chapter 18.2.4). If it is switched
off, switch it on and try again.
 If you want to colorize raw scan data (raw scans that have not
yet been loaded in SCENE, manipulated and saved again), the
original grey values of these scans will be overwritten by the
color information. The grey values get lost. SCENE will inform
you before that happens. It is recommended to load the raw
scans at least once and save them afterwards. For example, this
will be done if you apply the recommended standard filters to
the scans while preprocessing the scan data with the preprocess
option. For more information, see chapter 6.8.
If you want to manipulate the taken pictures with a professional graphics

editing program before applying them to the scan, you can export them to
your hard drive. For this, select the command Operations  Color/Pictures

 Export all Pictures in the context menu of the scan. This will open a dialog
to select the storage location and to select the export format of the pictures.
Figure 7-60: Export all pictures
Original format will export the pictures without changing their format; JPG
will export them in JPEG-format, PNG in Portable Network Graphics format.
You can import the manipulated pictures again by selecting the command
Operations  Color/Pictures  Import all Pictures in the context menu of
the scan. This will open a dialog to select the storage location of the pictures
to be imported. They must have the same file name as the corresponding
pictures within the scan, which will then be replaced by the imported ones.
You can import pictures in JPEG-, PNG- or Bitmap-format.
To get usable results, the width and height of the manipulated

pictures should be equal to the original pictures.
Compensa- (Not relevant for Focus3D scanners)

ting
Horizontal With FARO Laser Scanner LS or Photon scanners, it sometimes happens that
Shift between taking the scan and taking the pictures, the scanner is accidentally
slightly turned around its horizontal axis. This can very easily occur if the
center column of the tripod allows a horizontal twist.
Figure 7-61: Tripod
In this case the horizontal angles associated with the pictures have to be
corrected to compensate the horizontal shift.
SCENE offers an automatic adjustment option which can compensate this
shift between pictures and the scan automatically. You can turn this feature
on or off under Tools  Options  Matching  Colorize Settings  Auto
adjust. When applying the pictures to the scan, SCENE tries to compensate
the shift automatically and adds the color information to the scan points
accordingly.
If the automatic adjustment does not lead to an acceptable result you can
also try to compensate the horizontal shift manually. This can be done with

the command Operations  Color/Pictures  Adjust Pictures Angles in

the context menu of a scan.
Figure 7-62: Adjust picture angles
You should choose a picture in which a prominent feature is visible which is

easily identifiable both in the picture and the scan. Then click on this feature
in the scan and the picture. If there is a horizontal shift between them, you
will see that the numbers in the dialog differ. When you press Apply, the
horizontal angles of all pictures of this scan are adjust accordingly (not only
the one you worked with).
Now you can select the command Apply Pictures as described above.
If you want to compensate the horizontal shift manually, the

automatic adjustment has to be turned off before applying the
pictures; else the manual adjustment will not be applied.
7.5.2. Colorizing Using Additional Pictures
As mentioned above, you can also use your own additional pictures, but then
you have to perform additional tasks to meet the prerequisites.
The most important requirement is that the picture is free of distortions. It is
not recommended to use pictures with visible distortions, as these will be
mapped onto the scan and will result in a confusing visual impression. You
can avoid these distortions if you use high quality lenses.
The position, orientation, and zoom factor of the camera can be calculated by
the software. All it needs are at least 6 pairs of matching points in the scan
and in the picture. You can select these pairs of matching points when you
start the command Operations  Color/Pictures  Colorize Scan on a scan
or a picture within a scan.

Figure 7-63: Colorize scan
When you start Colorize Scan on a scan, first you have to select the picture to
be used. Use the Browse button to look for the picture in the file system and
then press Add to add it to the scan.
When you start Colorize Scan on a picture within a scan, you don’t have to
browse for the picture and add it to the scan.
Open a planar view of the scan and then press View to open a view of the
picture. Then press Select to find the pairs of matching points.
Figure 7-64: Selecting pairs of matching points
You can select the points in any order you want. You can first select all points
in the planar view of the scan, then in the picture view, or vice versa. Or you
can select the points pair-by-pair, changing back-and-forth between planar
view and picture view.

If you want to modify the selection, you can change the sequence of the
points, re-assign it, or delete a pair. Simply right click on the point in the
corresponding table of the Colorize Scan dialog, and select the appropriate
command.
Figure 7-65: Context menu: Matching points
When selecting the pairs of matching points, make sure to cover all 3
dimensions! The points shouldn’t lay more or less on a plane, but should span
a box with reasonable length, width, and depth.
It’s always good to have some redundancy and to select more than 6 pairs.
When you’re done with selecting, press Apply or OK. Now the software will
calculate the position, orientation, and zoom factor and will then add the color
information to each scan point. The already open planar view of the scan will
not change. You have to open a new view to see the scan in color.
The Colorize Scan dialog will display information about the quality of the
projection by calculating the mean distance between the 2D projection of the
selected 3D points and the corresponding points that have been selected in
the picture. This distance is called Projective deviation (2D) and is measured
in pixels.
If you are not satisfied with the results, you can adjust some of the selected
points and try again. You can also export the list of selected points to a file
and continue the work the next day.
Please don’t forget to check the setting of Save modified scan points in the
Options  Scan data dialog (see chapter 18.2.4) and to save the scan.
7.5.3. Enhancing the Color Overlay
As soon as the scans have been colorized, you may want to enhance the color
overlay of the scans. You can do this automatically with the built-in color
contrast filter or manually by manipulating the color overlay with a
professional graphics editing program.
Color The color contrast filter automatically enhances the dynamic range of the
Contrast scan’s color overlay. To apply the color contrast filter to a single scan or to all
Filter the scans within a scan folder, execute the command Operations 
Color/Pictures  Color Contrast Filter in the appropriate context menu.
Figure 7-66: Colored scan points without color contrast filter

Figure 7-67: Colored scan points with color contrast filter
Manually edit To manually edit the color overlay of a scan, you may export its color overlay
the color as a picture to your local hard drive, manipulate this picture in any way with a
overlay professional graphics editing software and then replace the initial color
overlay of the scan with the manipulated picture.
Export color To export the color overlay of an already colorized scan as a picture,
overlay
1. Select Operations  Color/Pictures  Export color overlay in the
context menu of the scan.
2. Save the color overlay to your local hard drive.
3. Manipulate the exported color overlay.
4. Select Operations  Color/Pictures  Replace color overlay to replace
the initial color overlay of the scan with the manipulated picture.
The color overlay can be replaced with a picture in JPEG (.jpg), Bitmap (.bmp)
or Portable Network Graphics (.png) format; makes sure that the manipulated
picture has the same pixel resolution as the initial one.
7.6. Creating Scans from Selected Scan Points

If you would like to reduce scans to their important sections without losing the
original data, you may select the relevant scan points of these scans and
create new scans from the selections.
1. Open the planar or the quick view of the scan.
2. Select the scan points for which you would like to create a new scan.
3. In the context menu of the selected area, click on Scan Points  Create
Scan.
The following dialog opens:

Figure 7-68: New scan
4. Assign a name. Please make sure that there is no other scan in the
workspace that has the same name.
With a noise compression rate of 2:1 or 4:1, the number of rows and
columns will be reduced accordingly. So with a rate of 4:1, the resulting scan
will only have 1/16 as many scan points as the original selection.
It is recommended to use the integrated smoothing filter when reducing the
noise in a ratio of 2:1 or 4:1.
Dist. Threshold is the threshold for calculating the mean value. If the
distance between the center scan point and a scan point of the surrounding
area is beyond the threshold, this scan point will not be used when calculating
the mean value. The smoothing filter never removes scan points but rather
alters their respective position.
A new independent scan is created and you will be prompted to give the new
scan a name. The scan initially only exists in the workspace; no scan file
exists in the file system at this stage. When you save the workspace, the
corresponding scan file is also created.
7.7. Importing Compensation
This option is seldom used, but if you have taken scans with a scanner that
has traceable deviations, Import Compensation may help you salvage the
data. In some cases, you can send the damaged files to the scanner
manufacturer to measure the axis error and give you a compensation file that
you can use to correct the scan.
Such traceable deviations could be the result of the scanner's mechanical
structure - for example, if the axes are no longer oriented precisely on top of
one another after being damaged, but someone recorded scans with the
damaged equipment that are still important. The manufacturer can then
measure the axis error and give you a compensation file you can use to
correct the scan.
You can import the compensation file via Import/Export  Import
Compensation in the context menu of the scan. Importing a new
compensation generally makes it necessary to load the scan points, which
occurs automatically.
If you have a large number of scans to compensate you may use Preprocess
Scans to achieve this in a batch mode. Please see chapter 6.8 for more
information.

8. Analyzing Scan Points
You can use the scan for many different purposes.

For one, scans document the geometric reality completely in three
dimensions. In SCENE, there is an efficient technique for using this
documentation characteristic with the views.
For another, because they are three dimensional, scans also enable you to
copy the reality faithfully to the computer and to easily analyze them there.
At the same time, SCENE provides you with both visual and mathematical
based procedures.
8.1. Inspection
You can use the 3D view to compare scanned reality with existing CAD
models. When doing this, we recommend that you start from the CAD model
and open a 3D view from there. Then add the selected scan points from the
scan one by one and compare whether the CAD model matches the reality.
Figure 8-1: Discrepancy between

scanned reality and CAD model
In the example shown, you can see that the pipe from the CAD model does
not match the reality. When carrying out renovations which rely on the
correct position of the pipe, this could lead to unpleasant surprises.
With the 3D view, you can also compare new construction proposals to the
current project environment. This overlaying comparison gives you the ability
to identify problems such as collisions and poor optimization of space.
8.2. Measuring Distances
With renovations, you are often confronted with the question of whether there
is still enough space in the building for the intended machinery. Since you can
only rely on the CAD model of the building to a certain extent, you will
probably have to examine and take measurements of the critical places on
site. Using scanned reality, you can easily address queries at your computer,
such as: What is the clearance height of this gate? How great is the distance
between these supports?
This chapter describes the measurements that can be done in the planar,
quick and the 3D view. For measurements in the overview map, please see
chapters 4.7 or 12.4.5.
Chapter 8: Analyzing Scan Points| 160

There are two different approaches for measuring distances, either between
scan points or between objects such as spheres or planes.
8.2.1. Point-to-Point Measurements
To start a measurement between two or more scan points, click on the

Measure between scan points in the toolbar.
Point-to-point measurements are available in the planar view, the quick view
and the 3D view.
Figure 8-2: Point-to-point measurement
1. Select valid scan points in the respective view with the left mouse
Select
measure button.
points 2. Select the last measure point and finalize the measurement by a double-
click with the mouse.
3. To cancel the current measurement, click the right mouse button or
press the Esc key.
4. To leave the measurement process, click the right mouse button or
press the Esc key.
Several keyboard commands are available in the Quick View and the 3D View:
 Return key: Finalize the measurement without adding a last measure
point.
 Backspace key: Remove the last measure point.
 Home key: Add a last measure point at the start position and finalize the
measurement.
A new point-to-point measurement gets added as a child to the current scan
when measuring in the Planar View or Quick View and to the Measurements
folder of the workspace when measuring in the 3D View.
A point-to-point measurement made in the 3D View is only visible in the 3D
View. It is not linked to any individual scan. If the involved scans are later
altered or transformed, the measurement stays in the same place. In this
case you could delete the measurement and create a new one.
Point-to-point measurements may be susceptible to single noisy

scan points.
In the quick view and the 3D view, a yellow dashed line is drawn between the
measure points. Labels show the overall distance and the length of each
measure segment. In the planar view, only the overall distance is shown.
161 | Chapter 8: Analyzing Scan Points

Figure 8-3: Measurement with invalid measure points
Invalid measure points of point-to-point measurements are indicated by a red

outline as illustrated in Figure 8-3. While it is not possible to select invalid
scan points as measure points in SCENE, this may happen in SCENE
WebShare when the sky or an area with heavily filtered scan points is
selected. Therefore, invalid measure points may exist in workspaces
downloaded from SCENE WebShare. An invalid measure segment is indicated
by a red dashed line.
Two additional lines show the vertical and horizontal distance between the
first and last measure point.
8.2.2. Object Measurements
Probably you frequently have to measure distances to level surfaces, for

example to the wall, the floor or the ceiling. In this case you should fit a plane
through the wall and measure from the plane to the point you are interested
in. When using a plane, the measurement is automatically taken
perpendicular to this plane.
Object measurements are available in the planar view, the quick view, the 3D
view and the structure view.
Click on the Measure between objects button in the toolbar to start a

measurement between objects.
Figure 8-4: Object measurement
You can measure between objects of the following types:

 Sphere (type 1)
 Point Object, including Checkerboard, Corner Point (type 1)

 Scan (type 1)
 Plane, including Plane Extension, Rectangle, Slab (type 2)
 Pipe (type 2)
To select objects for your measurement, select them with the left mouse
button. You can measure the distance between more than two objects if you
hold down the Shift key when clicking on the next object. However, an object
measurement can only contain one object of type 2. You can also select
objects in the structure view this way.
Figure 8-5: Checkerboard point – plane measurement
A new object measurement gets added to the “Measurements” folder of the

workspace.
Object measurements are visible in the planar view and quick view if the view
shows a scan that contains an object that was involved in the measurement.
If the position or location of the objects used for the measurement change,
for example, by a new fit or by updating the registration, the measurement is
automatically updated.
8.2.3. Measure Objects
The representation of a measurement is called a measure object. To open the

properties dialog of a measure object, double-click on it in the structure
view, on a label or near a measure line. The property dialog provides distance
information and a list of the involved objects of an object measurement. It is
also possible to hide the lines for the vertical and horizontal distances and the
label for the overall distance by selecting the corresponding checkboxes. For

Figure 8-6: Properties of measurement object
8.3. Visualizing Scales and Distances
SCENE allows to visualize dimensions and distances in the 3D view by

displaying a customizable two dimensional grid. This grid is a set of visible
lines that serve as a visual distance reference and can be seen as a two
dimensional ruler. The grid can be positioned anywhere in the scene and gives
a good impression of distances and scales in the point cloud. This tool is only
available in the 3D view.
Figure 8-7: Regular grid in 3D view
Figure 8-8: Polar grid in 3D view
To toggle the visibility of the grid, use the icon in the 3D view toolbar.
By default, the grid is located in the coordinate origin and lies in the XY plane.
The grid can be customized according. Use the drop down menu of the grid
icon in the 3D toolbar to make your adjustments.

Figure 8-9: Drop down menu of the grid
The grid can be displayed in two different styles:

 The regular grid divides the space in axially parallel and evenly spaced
rectangular areas. Both scales in x and y direction show the distance in
relation to the grid’s origin (see Figure 8-7).
 The polar grid consists of concentric rings and radial dividers. The
concentric rings show the distance to the grid’s origin. With the radial
dividers one can estimate the angles between two points of interest (see
Figure 8-8).
Increase Resolution - Increase the resolution of the grid by decreasing
the distance between the displayed lines by a factor of 2.
Decrease Resolution - Decrease the resolution of the grid by increasing
the distance of the displayed lines by a factor of 2.
Attach to Surface - Activates a tool to align the grid to a surface. This
surface can be defined by picking three points in the scene.
Attach to Point - Change the position of the grid’s origin. Pick a point in
the scene and the grid’s origin will be moved to that point.
Properties - Opens the properties dialog of the grid.

Figure 8-10: Grid properties
Style - choose between the regular and the polar grid.

Define the dimensions of the displayed grid in both directions by entering a
start and an end value. Define the resolution of the grid by changing the
distance between the displayed grid lines for both directions.
Colors - Change the color of the lines for the two directions.

Figure 8-11: Grid properties – Display Options
On tab Display Options you may toggle the visibility of certain visible grid
elements:
Direction X - x-axis (colored line)
Direction Y – y-axis (colored line)
Labels X – labeling of lines parallel to the x-axis
Labels Y – labeling of lines parallel to the y-axis
Primary Scale X – labeled lines of the grid in x direction
Primary Scale Y – labeled lines of the grid in y direction
Secondary Scale X - non-labeled lines visible at certain zoom levels in x
direction
Secondary Scale Y - non-labeled lines visible at certain zoom levels in y
direction
8.4. Surface Analysis
When fitting scan points to a plane, as a result, you also obtain the quality
criteria of the fit which tells you how well the scan points actually converge
through a plane. Using the quality criteria, you can see a color representation
of the evenness of a surface in relation to a proposed plane.
1. Identify which plane you want to use to compare the scan points.
2. Select an area of scan points.
3. Select View Point Distance in the context menu of this plane.
The selected scan points are then colored in.

Figure 8-12: Surface analysis
4. Using the settings in Tools  Options  View, you can set the upper and
lower threshold for the color range.
5. Under the column Plane Distance Visualization, enter the range that
should be colored in.
The colors are displayed corresponding to your entries:
 A scan point that lies below the plane by this distance is colored in blue.
 A scan point that lies above the plane by this distance is colored in red.
 Scan points that lie in between assume a color between blue and red
accordingly, while the scan points that lie very close to the plane are
colored green.
 Scan points lying outside this range are not colored in.
8.5. Coloring the Range
The scan points in the planar and quick view are normally displayed so that
the reflection value of a scan point determines the brightness of the pixel. You
can also display the scan points so that the pixel assumes a different color
depending on the distance of the scan point from the scanner. You can also
then choose to either have all scan points in a range assume the same color
or have the color reflect the actual distance.
This type of visualization is appropriate, for example, when analyzing a scan,
if it must not fall below a certain level of precision. Generally, the quality of a
scanner's distance measurement is not constant across the entire range but
decreases as the distance increases. You can then highlight in color the range
in which the distance measurement is no longer satisfactory.
You can find the necessary settings for coloring under Tools  Options 
View, as described in chapter 18.2.4. You can switch the highlighting on or
off using the Mark Range on/off button in the toolbar.
The colors are displayed corresponding to your entries:
 Scan points that lie close to the lower limit is colored in red.
 Scan points that lie in between are colored yellow to green.
 Scan points that lie close to the upper limit is colored in blue.
 Scan points lying outside this range are not colored in.

Figure 8-13: Scan points colored depending on distance
You can also do it the other way around, i.e. color the usable scan points.
Ambiguity Another practical use of this function is with scanners that only have a very
interval small ambiguity interval. With some scanners, the distance measurement is
boundary limited to a certain range, depending on the specifications of the model. If an
object is measured and its true distance lies outside the range, the measured
value is depicted incorrectly, i.e. too close. In such a case, it is useful to color
the boundaries of the range so that the observer can identify them
immediately.
Figure 8-14: Ambiguity interval boundary

9. Exporting Scan Points
In order to use scan points from the scans in other applications such as CAD
systems, SCENE provides the possibility to export scan points in various data
formats and write them to a file. You can then import this file into the desired
application.
You may change certain settings prior to the export of the scan points. The
settings available in the export dialog will be described in the further
chapters.
You may export the scan points of an entire scan, a selection of scan points or
the scan points of several scans at once (e.g. the scans within a scan folder).
Export scan To export the scan points of an entire scan:
points
 Select the command Import / Export  Export Scan Points in the
context menu of the scan in the structure view.
Or:
 Open the scan in Planar View or the Quick View.
 Select the command Export  Direct Export or Export  Export Scan
Points in its context menu.
o Select Export Scan Points to open the settings dialog to make certain
settings prior to exporting the points. The available settings are
explained in the next sections.
o Select Direct Export to export the scan points without opening the
settings dialog. The prior settings will be used and the data will be
saved directly to a file.
You may export the scan points of a point selection in the planar view and
in the quick view as well as in the 3D view.
 To export the points of a point selection in the planar view or the quick
view, select the command Export  Direct Export or Export  Export
Scan Points in the context menu of the selection. See above for a
description of these two commands.
 To export the scan points of a selection in the 3D view (a selection made
on the points of scan point clouds or the project point cloud), select
Export  3D Selection in the context menu of the 3D view that contains
this selection.
 You may also export the scan points by means of clipping boxes. For more
The command Direct Export will use the storage location and
filename prior specified. In case a file with that name already exists
at that location, it will be overwritten.
Export one To export the points of a scan point cloud:

scan point
cloud  Open the scan point cloud in the Structure View.
 Select the command Import / Export  Export Scan Point Cloud in the
context menu of the scan. This command will be grayed if a scan point
cloud of the respective scan does not yet exist.
Chapter 9: Exporting Scan Points| 170

To export the points of several scan point clouds of a scan folder:

Export
several scan  Select the command Import / Export  Export Scan Point Cloud in the
point clouds context menu of a scan folder in the Structure View. This command will be
grayed if the respective scan folder does not contain any scan point
clouds.
Export To export the project point cloud of a scan project:
project point
cloud  Select the command File  Scan Project  Export Project Point Cloud.
 Due to the nature of the underlying data, the export of points

from 3D selections provides only a reduced set of export
settings. The mismatching settings will be grayed in the export
dialog when exporting points of a 3D Selection. Furthermore, not
all export formats are available when exporting points from a 3D
selection. The supported formats are E57, VRML, DXF, XYZ
Text, XYZ Binary, IGES and PTS.
 The export of scan point clouds and of the project point cloud will
consider activated clipping boxes in the same way as they are
applied in the 3D views (what you see is what you get). If
clipping boxes exist in the project, but should temporarily not be
considered during the export, please deactivate the clipping
boxes individually or via the global clipping box setting, see also
chapter 7.2.4.
 The export of multiple scan point clouds of a scan folder does not
support to export all points into a single file.
9.1. General Export Settings
Figure 9-1: Exporting scan points settings
Format – Select the file format required. The following formats are available:
E57, VRML, DXF, XYZ text, XYZ binary, IGES, PTS, PTX and POD (Pointools).
Some file formats support additional settings. These settings are available on
the third tab of the settings dialog. If the third tab is not available, the
171 | Chapter 9: Exporting Scan Points

selected file format does not support additional settings. The additional
settings are explained in chapter 9.3. For more information on the available
file formats, please see chapter 9.3.
File name – Name and location of the file to be created.
Full scan – Export the entire scan.
Selection – Export the selection.
Full Scan and Selection become available only when exporting from a
single scan within the tree or from a point selection.
Subsample - Since even small selections of a scan can contain a great
number of scan points it may be necessary to reduce or thin out the exported
scan points. Thinning out is achieved by only exporting every second, third ...
scan point of a row or column. Therefore, thinning out is done according to
the arrangement of the scan points in the planar or quick view.
Rows – Reduction by thinning out the rows
Columns – Reduction by thinning out the columns
With the value 1, every column/row is exported, with 2 every second, and
so on. For example, if you enter the value 10 in both fields, you will thin
out of a tenth of the columns and a tenth of the rows, therefore in total
you will have a reduction of one hundredth of the scan points.
For further reduction you can indicate the distance threshold a scan point may
be away from the scanner:
Min. Distance – The minimum distance the exported scan points can be
from the scanner. Scan points situated closer are not exported.
Max. Distance – The maximum distance at which the exported scan
points can be from the scanner. Further away scan points are not
exported.
Color and Grey – Export RGB and greyscale (intensity) values of each scan
point if available. This function is enabled for the formats E57, XYZ text, POD,
PTX and PTS. To export both values, the scan will be unloaded first and re-
loaded with both values. After the export, the scan will be unloaded again and
the initial scan status will be restored.
Use Local Coordinates - Enable to export the points in the local coordinate
system of an available clipping box. Select the box from the drop down list.
This option is only available if points of scan point clouds or the project point
cloud will be exported and if there is at least one clipping box in the
workspace. It is not available for exporting points of scans.
9.2. Exporting Slices
9.2.1. Single Slice
If, for example, you want to very quickly create the floor plan of a building
from the scan points, it is practical to use the slice export. When exporting
slices, only those scan points are exported, which are between the top and
the bottom limit you have specified. Therefore, if you select a slice where
there is hardly any furniture or machines blocking the view, you obtain the
floor plan of the building very easily.

Figure 9-2: Slice of scan points
You can of course also apply the threshold outlined above for reducing and
thinning out when exporting slices.
Figure 9-3: Options for export of slices

The orientation and position of the slice are defined by the reference plane.
The default setting of the reference plane is the ground floor, so top and
bottom limits refer to the z coordinate and are limits in height.
If you want to create vertical slices, for example, you can select the
corresponding predefined plane with the normal pointing along the x- or y-
axis.
The reference plane will be added to the workspace after the export. It will be
called ExportRefPlane and will be available in the folder References.
However, the export of slices is not limited to planes with normals pointing
along the axes. With the Custom button you can use arbitrary planes as
reference planes. Custom reference planes make it very easy to export scan
points of objects that are located above a flat surface (e.g. objects on the
floor, on a table, etc.) by fitting a plane to the surface and using this plane as
a reference.
The Tomograph can be used with any reference plane and will be explained in
chapter 9.2.3.
9.2.2. Several Slices
If you want to export several slices at the same time, you can define the
slices with a set of planes. In contrast to the export of a single slice, here
each plane directly defines the location of the slice. Instead of having a plane
and a top and a bottom distance, each plane defines the center of the slice.
All slices have the same thickness which you can input into the dialog.
Also in contrast to the export of a single plane, here only those points of a
slice are exported which are located within a given radius around the center
point of the slice.
The center point of each slice is defined by the position of the corresponding
plane (see chapter 18.5.10).
Figure 9-4: Options for export of several slices
You can create planes either by fitting (see chapter 7.4.1) or manually. Please
observe that all planes of the workspace will be used as reference planes -
even if they are defined in other scans or in completely different folders of the
workspace.

In the figure below you can see an example of an export with a set of
equidistant planes that had been defined manually. This figure shows the
exported scan points after they have been imported back into SCENE.
Figure 9-5: Slices defined by a set of equidistant planes
9.2.3. Tomograph
When exporting slices, of course scan points from horizontal surfaces in the
slice are also exported, which can make it difficult to define the floor plan. The
Tomograph resolves this: it brings out vertical surfaces and hides horizontal
surfaces, thereby allowing walls and supports to stand out.
Figure 9-6: Tomograph
The Tomograph works like an X-ray apparatus - the X-ray goes through the
slice (see chapter 9.2.1) from above and comes out on a photo plate below.
The photo plate is covered with a fine raster and a raster field now either
turns black or it remains white. If the X-ray hits sufficient scan points on its
way through the slice, the raster field turns black. This occurs predominantly
with vertical surfaces. If the X-ray hits only very few scan points, as is the
case with horizontal surfaces, the raster field remains white.
Important parameters are the raster size, of course, and the threshold value
from which the raster field should turn black. Set these parameters under
Tools  Options  Tomograph:

Figure 9-7: Settings for tomographs
Raster Size – The raster size determines the resolution your result will have.
Min. Hits – The minimum number of scan points for a raster field to turn
black.
Max. Hits – The maximum number of scan points for a raster field to turn
black. If the number is exceeded, the raster field becomes white again. The
specification of –1 means an infinite number.
Export Height – Without this setting, the raster lies at height 0. With this
setting, each raster field lies at the height which results from the mean of the
scan points within the field.
The overall size of the photo plate is critical for tomographs: the longer the
edge of the photo plate and the finer the raster, the more main memory is
required.
9.3. File Format Related Export Settings
9.3.1. DXF
DXF is a data format developed by Autodesk for the exchange of CAD

drawings. SCENE uses DXF version 12.
The scan points in DXF are always displayed as points. Since DXF has very
few grey scales at its disposal, the visual appearance is not as good as in
SCENE.

9.3.2. VRML
Figure 9-8: Settings for VRML export
Export points as is – Scan points are exported as points.

Note: A lot of VRML viewer programs do not support points!
Export points as sphere – Scan points are exported as small spheres.
Export points as boxes – Scan points are exported as small boxes.
VRML2 – Export in VRML2 format. Otherwise VRML1 is used.
Coordinate System – Choose the target coordinate system.
9.3.3. IGES

SCENE uses IGES version 5.3.
The scan points are exported as grey points or color points, if color
information is available. When you import the IGES file into your CAD system,
it decides how it will represent these points in its own grey or color space.

Figure 9-9: Settings for IGES export
Part – naming the parts is a required component of an IGES file.

Author – specifying the author is a required component of an IGES file.
Organization – specifying the organization is a required component of an
IGES file.
Represent Scan Points as:
Points – Scan points are displayed in the CAD system as points.
Spheres – Scan points are displayed in the CAD system as small
spheres.
Set Color to – Settings for the colors to be used
IGES default – The export file does not contain any color specifications
so the CAD system will use the default color.
Scan point color – Use the grey value or color value of the scan point.
Scan specific – If the export consists of several scans, the scan points
from the different scans will have different colors.
Set Level to – Settings for the level to be used
IGES default – The export file does not contain any level specifications
so the CAD system will use the default level.
Scan specific – If the export consists of several scans, the scan points
from the different scans will have different levels.
Objects
Unbounded Planes – The idealized planes without border are also
exported as idealized and without border. Otherwise a square is exported.
Export Object Names – Object names are exported.
Level – Level allocation for object names.

9.3.4. XYZ text
With XYZ text format, the export file contains one scan point per row. Each
scan point is identified by its 3 Cartesian coordinates X, Y and Z and the
reflection value. You can also specify the row and column number of the scan
point. Both these numbers will then be next to the current scan point in the
export file.
Figure 9-10: Settings for XYZ text
Include row/col – Export with row and column number.

Export raw reflections – Export with raw reflections, which can be between
0 and 2047 for the FARO Laser Scanner. Otherwise, the monitor brightness
will be exported (values between 0 and 255).
When used without row and column number, this format can also be imported
into MicroStation. However the reflection value will not be used by
MicroStation, the scan points are uniformly created in the currently active
color. To import into MicroStation, use the Import Coordinates button via
Tools  Annotation  XYZ Text.
9.3.5. POD (Pointools)
SCENE allows exporting of scan points for PointoolsTM. Pointools is a third-

party application that provides an environment for viewing, analyzing, editing
and producing visual content from a range of 3D data types.

Figure 9-11: Settings for Pointools export
Compression Accuracy: POD files compress cloud data for efficient storage
and faster retrieval from disk. You can set the level of accuracy you want to
maintain. It is important to consider the accuracy of the instrument used to
acquire the data and to not set the compression accuracy too high.
Normal Generation: Normals are required for point lighting. This data is
either imported from the source file or generated upon import.
Quality of Normals: Indicates the size of the sample used in normal
generation resulting in a quality ranging from Smooth to Sharp.
Sharp (Sharpest, Sharper, Sharp) - degree of faceting on object’s surface
Normal - no altering
Smooth (Smoothest, Smoother, Smooth) - degree of curvature on
object’s surface.
Spatial Filter Strategy: For advanced users. Default setting is usually
sufficient.
Spatial Filter Accuracy: Much like the compression accuracy, setting this
too high may result in errors.
For details about the export settings, please refer to the PointoolsTM manual.

10. Working with the Project Point Cloud
Like the scan point clouds, the project point cloud is optimized for fast
visualization of large amounts of scan points in the 3D view and is organized
in a spatial data structure that facilitates fast visualization of the scan points.
The project point cloud consists of the points of all the scans within you scan
project and can thus be seen as a comprehensive point cloud of the complete
scan project. For this reason, the amount of points in a project point cloud
can be enormous. Unlike scan files, such large amounts of points cannot be
loaded into physical memory at once. Therefore, the points of the project
point cloud are automatically loaded and visualized on demand based on the
camera position and point visibility. The automated point loading of the
project point cloud is able to visualize hundreds of scans at once. This
empowers you to actually see all scans of a scan project at once regardless of
whether they fit into your computer’s physical memory or not. Manual scan
file loading is not necessary.
The project point cloud is the best way to visualize and manipulate enormous
amounts of scan data interactively. It is accessible from all local workspaces
of a scan project. There can only be one project point cloud for each scan
project. For more information on scan projects and local workspaces please
refer to chapter 3.3.
If your project has a project point cloud
1. Open a 3D View with the Create 3D view button from the standard
tool bar or
use View  3D View from the context menu of the workspace.
2. Start exploring.
As the point cloud visualization technique is constantly loading scan points
from the hard disk drive based on point visibility, the overall performance
strongly depends on the speed of your hard disk drive. While project point
clouds outperform all other visualization methods (including scan point
clouds) on regular hard disk drives, we recommend using a solid state drive
for maximum performance. Using a solid state drive will also speed up the
process of creating the project point cloud.
The benefits of the project point cloud are:
 No manual loading of scans required
 Very fast visualization of large amounts of scans at once
 One optimized single spatial data structure for all scan points in a project
 Out-of-Core visualization
 Can be accessed from all local workspaces associated with the project
10.1. Creating the Project Point Cloud
The project point cloud is typically created from all the single scans in your
project after they have been preprocessed, colorized and registered. Please
note that the process of creating a project point cloud can be very time
consuming, depending on the size of your project, your selection of point
filtering operations and on the processing power of your computer.
The creation of the project point cloud is only available if you are directly
working on the scan project.
181 | Chapter 10: Working with the Project Point Cloud

If you are working on a local workspace,
1. Open the scan project with the Open project button in the Project
Toolbar. The Create Project Point Cloud button becomes available in
the project toolbar when write access to the scan project is granted.
or
2. Use File  Scan Project  Create Project Point Cloud.
Once the creation of the project point cloud is finished, you need to
save your project to make the project point cloud persistent.
10.1.1. Preparing your Scan Project
The resulting point cloud is about two to four times the size of your scan files.
SCENE will create large amounts of temporary data during point cloud
creation, which will be deleted once the point cloud was successfully built. The
amount of space needed for the temporary data during the point cloud
creation process can be up to seven times the size of the original scan data.
The actual amount of temporary data and the size of the project point cloud
strongly depend on the point data itself and cannot be safely predicted
beforehand. Please make sure to have enough free space on your target hard
disk drive (the location of your scan project) and in the location of the
temporary data folder when creating project point clouds. The temporary data
folder can be changed in the project point cloud settings. See chapter 10.1.2
for more information.
Project point cloud creation will only consider the global position of
the scan points at the time of the creation. All changes to scan-,
cluster-, folder- or workspace transformations that are performed
after the project point cloud has been created will not alter the
project point cloud. This will lead to an inconsistency between point
cloud and the traditional scan-based data of the scan project. For
this reason we recommend creating the project point cloud once you
consider your registration to be complete.
Certainly, you may change your registration at any time, even if a project
point cloud already exists but please be aware that the project point cloud will
not have these changes applied until it is updated or recreated. For more
information on updating the project point cloud, please refer to chapter 10.2.
10.1.2. Project Point Cloud Creation Settings
Once you have initiated the project point cloud creation, the point cloud
settings dialog shows up:
Chapter 10: Working with the Project Point Cloud| 182

Figure 10-1: Create project point cloud settings
Filter For the creation of the project point cloud two point filters are available. Each
Settings of these filters will reduce the overall point count by eliminating different
types of (unwanted) points.
Eliminate The filter removes duplicate points that always exist when points are recorded
Duplicate from several different scanner positions. Overlapping areas can be optimized
Points by removing some of the duplicate points. This filter can improve the visual
quality of your project point cloud significantly while reducing overall point
count and therefore improving interactivity and loading times of the point
cloud.
Points are considered duplicates of others when they were recorded from
different scanner positions and their 3D positions are similar. The actual
distance threshold for duplicate points depends on point to scanner distances.
The farther away a point is from the position of the scanner during recording,
the “larger” we consider this point to be because points in great distance are
spatially farther away from each other than points close to the scanner
position.
The filter is configured to always keep the highest quality point. Higher quality
means smaller distance to the scanner position. If two points are considered
duplicates of each other, the point with the greater distance – and therefore
lower quality – is dismissed. Only the higher quality point is added to the
project point cloud.
With the search radius slider you can adjust the distance threshold for point
elimination. The default setting should be sufficient for almost all scenarios.
Adjust the search radius slider to the right to enlarge the search radius and
increase the number of eliminated points. This may help to reduce point count
when your registration is not very accurate (for example when using natural
targets only).
Adjust the search radius slider to the left to reduce the number of eliminated
points. This can be useful if too many points have been deleted by this filter in
previous point cloud iterations.

Homogenize This filter balances the density of points within the point cloud by reducing the
Point Density number of points in areas where the average target density is exceeded. This
is especially the case close to scanner positions, where the point density is
particularly high or in areas where two or more scans overlap. By reducing
the total number of points in the point cloud, less hard disk space is required
and the performance of the point cloud visualization is increased, while
preserving the overall visualization quality.
The achievable rate of data reduction is highly dependent on the input data.
Outdoor projects with little overlap between scans will benefit less than
densely scanned indoor projects where a data reduction of 25% and more can
be achieved with hardly any perceivable loss of visualization quality.
Color A typical effect seen in real world laser scanning projects is that the overall
Balancing perception of color may not always be consistent across colored scans. This
effect can have two different root causes:
Firstly, the internal camera of the FOCUS 3D laser scanners performs white
balancing on a per-scan basis. As a result, the internal camera may choose to
apply a different white balancing at different scan position, given that the
lighting conditions vary (e.g. the scanner is set up in a room illuminated by
neon lights as opposed to natural light when scanning outdoors).
Secondly, while carrying out a scanning project, lighting conditions may vary
over time, e.g. when the project starts in the morning and is completed in the
evening (or even on another day).
This effect may especially become apparent when such differently colored
scans are combined into a project point cloud and visualized together as
shown in the following figure:
Figure 10-2: Inconsistent color of a floor due to scans taken under varying
lighting conditions.

Figure 10-3.
When
enabled, the
color
balancing
filter
minimizes
the color
contrast
between
scans in the
project point
cloud and
results in a
more
homogeneous
overall
perception of
color as
shown in CPU
Load
Figure 10-3: Significant reduction of color inconsistencies by applying color

balancing.
CPU Load The Number of CPU cores to use slider allows adjusting the number of
(logical) CPU cores to use for parallel computation throughout certain steps of
the point cloud creation process. The more cores are used, the faster the
creation may be completed.
Less performance is available for other programs running on the

machine when increasing the number of CPU cores.
A dialog will also be shown during the point cloud creation process that allows
you to adjust the number of cores on-the-fly in case you temporarily need
processing power for other applications.
Figure 10-4: CPU load
You may adjust the number of cores used at any time while this dialog is
shown.
Temporary During the project point cloud creation process all scans in the project will be
Data Folder loaded successively; their point data will be processed and transformed into a
temporary representation. This temporary data will be stored inside the
temporary data folder. Please do not delete, move or copy any of these files
during the point cloud creation process or the process might fail. The
temporary data will be deleted automatically once the process is complete.
Section Disk Space shows if there is enough free space on the hard disk used
for the temporary data and the (target) hard disk used for saving the final

point cloud data. The target hard disk is the disk on which the scan project
data is stored.
10.2. Updating the Project Point Cloud
The project point cloud can be updated. There are several reasons why such
an update might be necessary from time to time:
 New scans have been added to the scan project, after the project point
cloud was created. In this case these scans will not become part of the
project point cloud until it was updated or it has been deleted and
recreated.
 To persist changes like deleted points or scans. When points are deleted or
scans have been removed from the scan project, they are not deleted from
the point cloud but rather marked as removed. The point cloud will no
longer visualize these points; they are filtered out during the point loading
process. Unfortunately these filter operations will slow down the process of
point loading. This may not be noticeable for only a few delete operations
but as you work with your point cloud, deleting more and more points over
time, you might notice a decrease in performance. Once this happens, the
project point cloud should be updated.
 The placement of the scans has been changed or improved in the
meantime. Changes in the scan registration will not be applied to the
project point cloud until it has been updated or recreated.
There are two different ways of updating an existing project point cloud.
1. Performing an update when saving the project / sharing the changes. In
the share dialog, select the Update Project Point Cloud option.
Figure 10-5: Share changes
This way the project point cloud will be updated automatically after the
sharing/saving operation is complete. For more information on sharing
changes to the scan project, see chapter 3.3.
2. Update the project point cloud by clicking the Update Project Point
Cloud button in the project toolbar or
via File  Scan Project  Update Project Point Cloud.
After the update has been initiated, you are asked to specify the same
parameters as for the initial creation of the point cloud (see chapter 10.1.2).
If point filters where enabled during its creation, it is not necessary to apply
them during updating again since the resulting points will just be the same
(and the updating will also take longer without any visual benefit).

10.3. Optimizing the Project Point Cloud

After performing numerous updates to the project point cloud, you may
perceive certain degradation in performance when navigating through it. To
increase the performance, you may optimize the project point cloud.
The command File  Scan Project  Optimize Project Point Cloud
reconstructs the point cloud with all the updates and changes that were
made. Note that the optimization can be a very time consuming process which
may take longer than the initial creation of the project point cloud (the actual
optimization time depends on the project size and the number of points in the
point cloud). Thus it only makes sense to optimize if you have deleted many
points in the project point cloud in a series of consecutive updates. If only
scans have been removed from or added to the project point cloud in a series
of consecutive updates but you have never deleted scan points from it, it is
recommended to delete and recreate the project point cloud in order to save
time.
Optimizing the point cloud allows specifying the same parameters as for its
initial creation (see chapter 10.1.2).
If point filters where enabled during creation and updates of the

project point cloud, it does not make sense to apply them during
optimization since the resulting points will just be the same (and the
optimization will also take longer without any visual benefit).
Optimizing is only possible if the point cloud is in an updated state. This

means that:
 There are no scans in the scan project which have not yet been added to
 No scans that are not yet removed from the project point cloud have been
removed from the scan project.
 All modifications of the project point cloud must have been applied
The result of the successful optimization will automatically be shared as a new
revision.
10.4. Deleting the Project Point Cloud
A project point cloud can be deleted by
 clicking the Delete Project Point Cloud button in the project toolbar
or
 via File  Scan Project  Delete Project Point Cloud.
The project point cloud will be marked as deleted but will be removed from
your hard disk not before the project has been cleaned up (see chapter
3.4.4).

11. Creating and Uploading SCENE WebShare Cloud Data
With SCENE WebShare and SCENE WebShare Cloud panoramic scan

images can be put on the Internet, thus enabling anyone to share scan
information of scan projects with other parties, like far-off company sites,
customers, suppliers or partners without the need of additional software.
SCENE WebShare Cloud is a web service hosted by FARO Technologies Inc.
which enables you to share your scan projects without setting up a web
server on your own. The project data can be accessed with a standard web
browser, no additional software or plugins are needed. Connect to
https://faro.websharecloud.com/ to view the publicly available projects. You can
find a detailed description of this web service at
http://www.manuals.faro.com/documentation/.
11.1. Creating SCENE WebShare Cloud Data
Before publishing a scan project in the SCENE WebShare Cloud, special

WebShare Cloud data has to be created from the project. Follow the steps
below to create such data:
1. Open your scan project in SCENE and make sure that the scan project is
preprocessed and registered.
2. Select File  Scan Project  Create WebShare Cloud Data or click the
Create WebShare Cloud Data button from the project toolbar.
3. The WebShare Cloud export dialog will show up. This dialog has three
tabs:
o Export Settings: allows configuring the data export of the WebShare
Cloud overview map and the panorama views.
o Project Settings: allows providing the name of the project and its
URL identifier plus additional project information to be published in the
WebShare Cloud.
o Upload Settings: allows starting the project upload to the WebShare
Cloud immediately after the export.
4. Configure the data export on tab Export Settings of the WebShare Cloud
export dialog.
Chapter 11: Creating and Uploading SCENE WebShare Cloud Data| 188
Figure 11-1: WebShare Cloud export dialog – Export Settings
Use clear view / use normal view - Select to export the overview map
Overview
map settings in a clear view representation or in the standard view. It is recommended
to use the clear view so that structures like walls will be clearly
recognizable in the resulting overview map.
Background color - Select the background color of the overview map.
Selecting a color other than white might be useful when the scan project
contains crucial structures which are white themselves. You can test this
by selecting a white background in the 3D view and looking at the project
from above.
Export layout plans – If the project contains layout plans, select here if
you want them to be exported and if yes, if all layout plans shall be
exported or only some of them.
Apply clipping boxes – Since the overview map is a top view of your
entire scan project it might be useful to hide points (e.g. the roof of a
building) with the help of clipping boxes to improve readability of the map.
Select this option to create the overview map only from the visible scan
points defined by the available and active clipping boxes.
Panorama Settings for the panoramic scan images.
settings
Image resolution – Select whether to export the panorama images in
the standard resolutions only (width of the standard panorama images is
up to 4096 pixels) or to export the panorama images in the standard
resolutions and additionally in a higher resolution (HD resolution, width of
images is 8192 pixels). Such HD images can only be displayed on desktop
189 | Chapter 11: Creating and Uploading SCENE WebShare Cloud Data
PCs or Notebooks. On mobile devices like tablets the panorama images will
be displayed in the standard resolutions.
Scan data resolution - The scan data which is necessary for
measurements and annotations in the panorama images can be exported
in two sizes, in the standard size and, additionally, in the maximal size.
Exporting scan data in the maximal sizes needs additional storage space of
128 MB per scan on the server but facilitates the exact placement of
measurements and annotations in HD panorama images.
Color settings – Panorama images can be exported in color and/or as
gray scaled images. If there are scans in the scan project that are not
colorized, gray scaled images will be exported from these scans, even if
Export gray scale images is not selected. And vice versa, if there are
scans in the project that do not have their original reflection values
anymore, only colored images will be exported from these scans, even if
Export color images is not selected.
5. Set up project information on tab Project Settings:
Figure 11-2: WebShare Cloud export dialog – Project Settings
Name – Enter the name of the scan project.

URL identifier – Enter a unique identifier for the project in the WebShare
Cloud. Every project in the WebShare Cloud must have a unique URL
identifier. The following characters are allowed: “a-z”, “0-9”, and “-”.
Preview image - Select a preview image for the project. This image will
be displayed in the WebShare Cloud project selection. Supported picture
formats are BMP, JPEG, and PNG.
Access control
Make public – If you set this option, everybody will be able to see and
access the project in WebShare Cloud. If you do not set this option the
project will not be visible to the WebShare Cloud users. Once the proejct
has been uploaded, the appropriate project access rights must be defined
in the administration area of WebShare Cloud to make the project visible
to certain users or user groups. See the WebShare Cloud online help for
more information.
Feature project – If you set this option, the project will be part of the
Featured Box in WebShare Cloud. See the WebShare Cloud online help for
more information.
Description – Enter a description text for the project.
Keywords – Enter keywords associated with the project, separated by
commas.
Project coordinates – Enter the project’s world coordinates. The project
location will be displayed on a map in the WebShare Cloud. The lati tude
must be a decimal number between -90 and 90, the longitude between -
180 and 180.
6. Click Show the project location in Google Maps button to test the
entered coordinates in Google Maps.
Please refer to the SCENE WebShare manual for more information

on configuring a WebShare server and setting access rights to the
upload folders. The SCENE WebShare Server manual can be found
on the SCENE DVD.
7. If you want to upload the data to the WebShare Cloud immediately after it
has been created switch to tab Upload Settings.
Figure 11-3: WebShare Cloud export dialog – Upload Settings
Immediately start upload after export – Starts the upload of the

SCENE WebShare Cloud data immediately after it has been created. If you
do not want to upload the WebShare Cloud data immediately after it has
been created you can do this at any time later. For more information, see
chapter 11.2.
Upload Settings - enter your login credentials for the WebShare Cloud
web service.
Domain – Enter the subdomain of websharecloud.com associated with
your WebShare Cloud project manager account or select a subdomain
from the list of subdomains which have been used so far.
User name – Enter your user name or select a name from the list of
names which have been used so far.
Password – Enter your password.
You must have a WebShare Cloud account with Project Manager

rights to upload scan projects. Ask your WebShare Cloud
Administrator for more information.
8. Once finished, click Export to start the creation of the WebShare Cloud
data which will be saved to the project folder (and its upload to the
WebShare Cloud).
11.2. Uploading SCENE WebShare Cloud Data

If SCENE WebShare Cloud data ia already available for your scan project, you
can upload it to the WebShare Cloud at any time. Follow the steps below to do
this:
1. Open the WebShare Cloud dialog:
o Select File  Scan Project  Upload WebShare Cloud Data
o or select Upload WebShare Cloud Data from the drop down menu of
the Create WebShare Cloud Data button in the scan project
toolbar.
Figure 11-4: WebShare Cloud upload dialog – Upload Settings
2. Enter your upload credentials on tab Upload Settings as already

described in chapter 11.2
3. Specify project relevant information on tab Project Settings as described
in chapter 10.1.2.
4. Once finished, click Upload to start uploading of the WebShare Cloud data
to the WebShare Cloud.
 You must have a WebShare Cloud account with Project

Manager rights to be able to upload scan projects. Ask your
WebShare Cloud Administrator for more information.
 You can resume interrupted uploads: To resume an
interrupted upload, make sure to enter the same URL identifier
in the Project Settings as used in the previous upload
attempt.
12. Working with SCENE WebShare
SCENE WebShare enables anyone to setup their own WebShare server and to
host their scan projects on this server. Clients accessing and viewing the data
need a standard web browser with the Adobe Flash player plug-in installed.
Connect to http://www.farowebshare.com for an example. How to set up a
WebShare server is explained in the WebShare server manual.
The SCENE WebShare functionality is also natively built into SCENE and
requires no extra software to publish the scan data on the web. It allows for a
secure collaboration and easy sharing of scan data via the Internet. This will
help you to improve the efficiency of your projects without additional
investment.
This chapter describes how to view and work with SCENE WebShare data. It
does not describe viewing and working with SCENE WebShare Cloud data.
Information on this can be found under
http://www.manuals.faro.com/documentation/.
12.1. Creating SCENE WebShare Data
1. Select Create WebShare Data under File  Scan Project in the main
menu of SCENE or with the Create WebShare Data button in the
Scan Project toolbar.
This settings dialog will show up:
Figure 12-1: WebShare export settings
Panorama Settings - select what kind of panoramic images to export:

o Export colored images - colored panoramic images of the colored
scans will be exported. In case one or more of the scans are not
colorized, SCENE will create grey scaled panoramic images for those
scans.
o Export grey scale images - grey scale panoramic images of the
scans with their original reflection values. In case one or more of the
scans do not have their original reflection values anymore, SCENE will
create colored panoramic images for those scans.
o Export colored and grey scale images - export both types of
images, if available.
Chapter 12: Working with SCENE WebShare| 194

Overview Map Settings – When exporting your scan project to

WebShare, SCENE will also create an overview map which provides a top
view of your complete scan project. For more information on the overview
map, see chapter 12.4.3.
o Background Color of Overview Map – Select the background color
of the overview map.
Apply clipping boxes –Since the overview map is a top view of your
complete scan project it might be useful to hide points (e.g. the roof of a
building) with the help of clipping boxes in order to improve the readability
of the map. Select this to use only the visible scan points defined by the
available and active clipping boxes to create the overview map.
The WebShare export will be performed for the complete project workspace.
During the WebShare export, SCENE creates scan point clouds for those scans
in your scan project that do not have scan point clouds yet. Measurements
and documentation objects that belong to the exported scans will be exported
with the scan data and will be available in SCENE WebShare. All WebShare
related files are automatically exported to a sub-folder of the folder where
your scan project is located. Depending on the amount of scans and their size
the export may take some time. The project is ready for publishing as soon as
the export has been finished. Please see chapter 12 or the WebShare Server
manual for information on how to upload your WebShare project to a
WebShare server.
12.2. Uploading SCENE WebShare Data
Once SCENE WebShare data has been created from a scan project, you may
prepare it for publication and upload it to a SCENE WebShare server.
12.2.1. Preparing the Upload
First, make sure that the project is opened in SCENE, then select File  Scan
project  Upload WebShare Data or click on the Create Webshare data
button in the project toolbar. This dialog will show up:
Figure 12-2: Project preparation - Basic Information
Basic Information
Provide basic information about the project. If project information is already
available it will automatically be added to the dialog. You may change and
extend this information according to your needs. Changes made in this dialog
195 | Chapter 12: Working with SCENE WebShare

will not change the information of the scan project itself, they are only
relevant for the presentation of the project on the WebShare server.
Title – Name of the project displayed on the server.
Preview Image – Select a preview image for the project to be displayed
on the server’s project selection screen. Supported picture formats are:
BMP, JPEG, GIF, and PNG.
Description – Description of the project.
Keywords – Keywords associated with the project.
Project Coordinates - The project’s GPS coordinates. If provided, a
Google Earth link will be available in the project’s preview image on the
start screen of WebShare. This link will open a Google Earth view of the
location. Click the Show the project location in Google Maps button
to test this link.
Extended Options – specify the extent of data to be uploaded and the
upload method.
Figure 12-3: Project preparation – Extended Options
Data Settings – Select the data to be transferred to the server.

Full Project – Upload all project data including local workspaces, scans,
revisions and other data that is available in the project’s storage
directory.
WebShare data only – Only data required for displaying the project on
the WebShare server will be uploaded.
Support measurements – Data (e.g. scan point clouds) required for
measuring in the panoramic images and the overview map will be
included in the upload.
Support scan downloads – Data (e.g. scan files) required for
downloading the scans from the WebShare server will be included in the
upload.
Transfer Settings – Select how you would like to upload the data to the
WebShare server. There are two options:

Start uploading now – Upload the data directly from within SCENE.
Selecting this option and clicking Next will open SCENE’s integrated
upload functionality. For more information, see chapter 12.2.2.
Create data package for manual upload – Create a data package
according to your settings. This data may then be uploaded manually to
the WebShare server, e.g. using ftp. Selecting this option and clicking
Next will open a dialog to select the storage folder for the upload
package. For more information, see chapter 12.2.3.
 Uploading data to WebShare servers from within SCENE is only

supported for servers running WebShare server 5.1 or later.
 The Adobe Flash player needs to be installed in order to use
SCENE’s upload functionality. This software is being installed
with SCENE. In case it is not available on your system though,
please install the latest version with your Microsoft Internet
Explorer.
12.2.2. Uploading from Within SCENE
Once the upload from within SCENE has been selected, a series of dialogs will
appear, guiding you through the upload process:
Figure 12-4: Server selection
1. Specify the address of the WebShare server. Enter the complete URL and
the port on which the server is running (for example URL:
http://www.yourserver.com: 8400). Use the Go button to initialize the
connection.

Figure 12-5: Upload configuration
2. Once a connection has been established, please log in to the WebShare

server with a valid user account. The user account needs write access
rights to at least one of the server’s default project folders in order to
upload a project. These folders are the Protected\Projects and
Protected\PublicProjects inside the server’s base directory.
3. Once logged in, please select whether you wish to make the project
accessible to anyone (Public) or only to registered and authorized users
(Protected). The data will then be uploaded to one of the before
mentioned folders on the server.
 A user is only allowed to upload projects to those folders to

which he has write access.
 The user account must have a password. User accounts without
password cannot upload data to the server.
4. Start the upload by clicking the Start upload button.

While uploading, a progress dialog will inform about the current upload
status. Here, you may pause and resume or abort running uploads.

Figure 12-6: Upload dialog
SCENE will generate resume points frequently. They are used to resume
an upload in case it was interrupted either manually or by accident, e.g.
by a system or network failure.
In order to resume an interrupted upload just start a new upload with the
same configuration as the interrupted upload. SCENE will automatically
detect the previous upload if the configurations match and will offer to
resume the interrupted upload.
Please see the SCENE WebShare manual for more information

on configuring a WebShare server and setting access rights to
the upload folders. The SCENE WebShare Server manual may
be found on the SCENE DVD.
12.2.3. Uploading Manually
If you selected to upload the WebShare data manually, SCENE will create an
upload package according to the settings made in the dialog described in
chapter 12.2.1 and will save this package to a user specified folder on the
local hard disk. The package will be saved to an extra folder within the
specified folder. This folder is named as follows:
<Project Name>_WebShare_<YYMMDD_HHMMSS>
(e.g. “Castle Favorite_WebShare_120806_164219”).
You may then upload this package folder to one of the project directories on
the WebShare server (Protected/Projects or Protected/PublicProjects).

12.3. Opening SCENE WebShare Projects

Once you have exported SCENE WebShare data for your scan project you can
open and view it locally from within SCENE or upload it to a WebShare server
and view it from any place with an Internet browser.
12.3.1. Opening Local WebShare Data
Open and view locally stored WebShare Data with SCENE:

 Open the WebShare data of the currently opened workspace by selecting
View  WebShare View in the context menu of the workspace.
 Or open the WebShare Data of local scan projects with the Project
Selector: Click the preview image of a scan project in the Project Selector
and select Open Project in SCENE WebShare.
12.3.2. Opening WebShare Data on a SCENE WebShare server
Open and view WebShare Data hosted on a SCENE WebShare server with
SCENE or with any standard Internet browser:
 Open the Project Selector of SCENE, enter the address of the WebShare
server into the Server URL text field and connect to the server. For more
Figure 12-7: Server access with the project selector
 Or open your Internet browser and enter the address of the SCENE
WebShare server into its address bar.
Your Internet browser must support Adobe Flash to open WebShare

data. Please make sure that the latest version of the Adobe Flash
Plug-In is installed.
Once the connection has been successfully established, the start screen of the
SCENE WebShare server will be shown. This screen provides an overview of
all WebShare projects that are available on the server.

Figure 12-8: WebShare start screen with project selector
Control Panel
Login button
List of available remote projects

The list of projects consists of all publicly available projects on this server.
You can login with your user account by clicking the Login button on top of
this screen. Once you are logged in, this list will be extended with all the non-
public projects that are unlocked for your user account. Open a project by
double clicking on it or by selecting it from the drop down menu in the control
panel.
Figure 12-9: Project preview with Google Earth link and upload button
Use the Upload icon to temporarily upload local workspaces of the

respective project to the server.
Uploaded workspaces are not permanently saved on the server and

are only available within your WebShare session. This session ends

after 30 minutes of inactivity or when you leave the WebShare

page. For more information, see chapter 12.5.3.
If geo reference data is provided with a project, a Google Earth icon

becomes available in the bottom right corner of the project’s preview image.
It will open a new browser window or tab showing a Google Earth view of the
location when clicked.
Projects grouped in folders will be displayed with a special icon in the projects
list:
Figure 12-10: Grouped projects
Double click the icon to get access to the projects within this folder and open
them as described above.
Use the navigation bar above the list of projects to navigate through the
different levels of hierarchy.
Figure 12-11: Navigation bar
WebShare provides the possibility to generate links to share the

currently opened project and the current panoramic scan view with
others (see chapter 12.4.4). If you have received such a link and
open it, WebShare will be loaded and the appropriate project and
panoramic scan view will be opened directly, without the need to
first select the project in the project selector.

12.4. Examining a SCENE WebShare Project
Figure 12-12: Project view
Control panel
Project contents
Overview map
Panoramic scan view

A list of all the project’s scans is displayed in the contents area. The overview
map provides an overview of the complete project and facilitates navigation
by showing the complete scan project in top view as well as by displaying the
individual scan positions as circles on the map. In the main window you can
examine the scans in a panoramic view.

12.4.1. Control Panel
Figure 12-13: Control panel
Info Icon – Opens an information dialog that contains further

information about the WebShare server.
Home Icon – Opens the SCENE WebShare start screen.
Project Selector – Contains all available SCENE WebShare projects.

Select a project to open it.
Download Icon – Opens the download manager to download project

files of the currently viewed WebShare project from the server, such as
the workspace, the overview map or the scans. For more information,
see chapter 12.5.
Print Icon – Opens the print dialog to print the content of the currently
opened project.

Toggle Icon – Shows / hides the control panel
Details Area - Shows detailed information about a scan.
Share button – Share the currently loaded project on popular social

media sites or via E-Mail. This will create a hyperlink that can be shared
with others. Opening this link will open the viewed project as well as the
current view on the loaded scan directly. Make sure that the recipient
has sufficient access rights to open the project.
Select the preferred unit of length and unit or area.
12.4.2. Project Contents
Figure 12-14: Project contents
Select listing mode
Zoom slider
Maximize or minimize the area
Scan preview pictures

The project contents area contains the list of the project’s scans. The scans
can be displayed as text or as preview pictures in different sizes. Icon
displays the scans list in text format, icon displays the scans with small
and icon displays them with large thumbnails. You can also adjust the
displayed size of the thumbnails manually with the zoom bar.
Double-clicking a scan opens its panoramic image in the main window;
moving the mouse over an item shows its details in the control panel.

12.4.3. Overview Map
The overview map provides an overview of the complete scene and helps
orient you in it. You can navigate within this map by dragging it with the
mouse.
Figure 12-15: Overview map
Zoom bar to change the zoom level.
Measurement tools - The overview map supports point-to-point and area

measurements. Start Point-to-point measurements with the icon,
start area measurements with the icon. Hide and display the
measurements with the icon. For more information, see chapter
12.4.5.
Color indicator – Shows the relation between the color of the scan
positions and a certain property of the scan.
Scan position - The scan positions are visualized as colored circles where
the color of the circle indicates a certain scan property. The scan
property indicated by the circle color depends on the setting made in the
options of the overview map. Double clicking on a scan symbol opens
the panoramic view of the correlated scan.
Field of view and viewing direction of the currently opened panoramic

view.
Visible area of a scan - Moving the mouse over a scan position highlights
the scan points covered by this scan.
Scale of the current zoom factor.
Options to adjust the visual appearance of the overview map:

You may adjust the visual appearance and the information content of the
overview map by clicking on the options button.
Figure 12-16: Options
Grid - The overview map consists of multiple tiles. Select Grid to display the
boundaries of the tiles.
The drop down menu offers various coloration options:
Elevation of scans - The color of the scan positions indicates the difference
in height in relation to the reference scan in the project’s reference cluster.
See the indicator on the right for the relation between the displayed color and
the difference in height.
Age of scans - The color of the scan positions indicates the age of the scan.
The color scale depends on the settings made by the WebShare server
administrator.
Average age of tiles - The map tiles get colored based on the average age
of all scans that contributed a certain amount of scan points to the tile. The
color of a tile is recalculated on each zoom level.
Maximal age of tiles - The map tiles get colored based on the oldest scan.
Minimal age of tiles - The map tiles get colored based on the youngest
scan.
Figure 12-17: Tiles colored according to their average age
With the icon, you may request more information about a specific tile.
Click the button and then the tile you’re interested in. This opens a dialog that
shows a list of all scans that contributed scan points to the tile.

Figure 12-18: Tiles details
When you move the mouse pointer above a list entry, the associated scan
gets highlighted. When you double click on a list entry, the associated scan
gets opened. Below the scan list, some additional statistical values are
displayed.
You may also open this dialog by pressing the “T” key on your
keyboard while the mouse pointer is above the tile you’re interested
in.
This dialog is only available for projects exported with SCENE 5.0 or
later.
12.4.4. Panoramic Scan View
Figure 12-19: Panoramic view

Tool bar
Toggle full screen
Zoom bar
Neighboring scan position

The main window provides a 360° panoramic view of the scans.
 You can navigate with the mouse or by using the arrows of the navigation
tool on the upper left corner. Navigate with the mouse by holding down
the left mouse button and by moving the mouse in the view. The closer
the mouse pointer is to the edge of the window, the faster you move the
panorama in that direction; the nearer the pointer is to the center, the
slower the animation. Releasing the mouse button again stops the
animation. You can zoom in or out by scrolling the mouse wheel or by
using the zoom bar. You can also let the view turn automatically like a
slowly moving camera by pressing the button of the tool bar.
 Toggle between colored or grey scale panoramic image with the

button. This loads the grey-scale image of the scan containing the original
reflection values or the panoramic image of the colored scan, if both are
available. Measurements should be made on the basis of the grey-scale
images if objects have moved between the time of scanning and taking the
color pictures.
 Clicking the button loads the panoramic image in a higher resolution.

Nearby scans are visualized with the FARO Logo surrounded by a white circle;
the diameters indicate the distance to the currently examined scan: The
bigger the circle’s diameter the nearer is the position of the nearby scan. Like
in the overview map, moving the mouse over these circles displays a preview
image and additional scan information, double clicking will open the
panoramic view of the correlated scan.
 You can show / hide these symbols in the panoramic view by clicking the
button.
 The button downloads the .fls scan file from the remote server to your
local hard disk drive.
The panoramic scan view shows documentation objects and measurements
between objects and between scan points for single scans. Measurements
may have been created with SCENE or during a previous SCENE WebShare
session (see chapters 18.3.7 and 18.3.8 for details).
Measurement and documentation objects will only be shown if they

are linked to the individual scan. Measurement and documentation
objects related to the whole project workspace will not be shown in
the panoramic view.
The panoramic view also allows adding new point-to-point measurements and
documentation objects.

To create point-to-point measurements click the button in the toolbar of

the panoramic view. This feature is only available if the data required to
perform measurements are available on the WebShare Server.
Documentation objects (as known from SCENE) can be created by clicking the
The visibility of measurements and documentation objects can be toggled with
Clicking the button opens a dialog that contains a link and html code for
the current view.
Figure 12-20: Share current view
Send this link to anyone with whom you would like to share your current view
on the loaded scan. Opening the link will open the currently viewed project as
well as the current view on the loaded scan directly. The generated link can
be shared on social media websites or sent by E-mail. Make sure that the
recipient has sufficient access rights to open the project. With the generated
html code you can embed the current view in other websites.
12.4.5. Measurements
Point-to-point measurements are available in the overview map and in the

Point-to-
Point panoramic view. They compute and display distances between selected
Measure- points. As known from SCENE, point-to-point measurements can consist of
ments numerous points.
Click the button in the tool bar of the overview map or the panoramic
scan view or push “M” on your keyboard to start a measurement, and then
select the measurement points with the mouse in the respective view.
To select the last measure point and complete the measurement, double-click
with the mouse. Push the Return key on your keyboard to complete the
measurement without adding the last measure point. Push the “Home” key on
your keyboard to complete the measurement by adding a last measure point
at the same position as the first measure point.
Pushing the Esc key on your keyboard during the measurement discards the
complete measurement. Pushing the “Backspace” key on the keyboard
removes the last measurement point.

Figure 12-21: Point-to-point measurement in the overview map
Figure 12-22: Point-to-point measurements in the panoramic view
Double-clicking on a measurement brings up a dialog with detailed

information including its name, its total, horizontal and vertical distance, the
distances along the X and Y axes as well as the distances of its single
segments.

Figure 12-23: Point-to-point measurement properties
To delete existing point-to-point measurements you can either open the

properties dialog and press Delete or hover over it with the mouse cursor and
press the “Del” key.
Characteris- The overview map shows an orthographical view of the whole project with a
tics of Point- certain level of transparency. This orthographical projection reduces data to a
to-Point two-dimensional space. This implies that the actual three-dimensional position
Measure-
of a given two-dimensional coordinate in the overview map cannot be
ments in the
reconstructed. Therefore, overview map measurements must be understood
Overview
Map as two-dimensional measurements. All measurement points will have their
height (z-value) set to zero, the vertical distances are always zero.
This method is perfectly fine for floor-plan like distance and area
measurements. Keep in mind that the underlying data is only two-dimensional
when using the overview measurement tool and interpret the results based on
these assumptions.
While measuring in the overview map, measure lines will snap to 90° and
180° angles to facilitate quick and easy measurement of common structures.
Hold down the Shift Key at any time during your measurement to override
angle snapping temporarily. When the Shift Key is released, angle snapping
will automatically be reactivated.
Hold down the Ctrl Key while measuring to drag the map right, left, up or
down if areas of interest are not currently visible.
Overview map measurements cannot be directly linked to individual scans;
they are related to the whole workspace.
Measurements created in the overview map are saved to the

workspace as soon as you download it. They will be shown in SCENE
in the overview map of the related scan project. For more
information, see chapters 12.5 and 12.5.3.

A single mouse click on a line of a measurement in the panoramic view

Characteris-
tics of Point- displays the horizontal and vertical distances and the distances along the X-
to-Point and Y-axis.
Measure-
ments in the
Panoramic
Scan View
Figure 12-24: Point-to-point measurement in panoramic view with additional

information
Invalid point-to-point measurements are displayed as a red dashed line.

Invalid measurement points are indicated by a red outline as illustrated in Fig.
18-11. Invalid measurements may occur when you point the measurement
tool to areas without scan points, like the sky or areas with heavily filtered
scan points.
Figure 12-25: Invalid point-to-point measurement in panoramic view
Point-to-point measurements created in the panoramic view are linked to the

individual scan and will be saved to the workspace as soon as you download
it. They will be available in SCENE when opening the workspace. For more
information, see chapters 12.5 and 12.5.3.
If measuring between objects that have moved between the time of

scanning and taking the color pictures, you might get wrong
measurements in colored panoramic images. In this case, switch to
the grey-scale panoramic image, if available, and make your
measurement again.
Area Area measurements are only available in the overview map. The area
Measure- measurements tool is very similar to the point-to-point measurements tool.
ments
Click the button or push “A” on your keyboard to start an area
measurement.

Areas of non-intersecting polygons can be computed. If multiple area

measurements exist, the total area of all current area measurements is
computed and displayed at the bottom of the overview map window.
The total of all available area measurements simply adds up the

measured areas; it does not take overlapping areas into account.
Similar to point-to-point measurements, a properties dialog opens when

double-clicking onto the outline of an existing measurement. To delete
existing measurements either open the properties dialog and press the
“Delete” button or hover over the measurement with the mouse cursor and
press the Del key.
While measuring in the overview map, measure lines will snap to 90° and
180° angles to facilitate quick and easy measurement of common structures.
Hold down the Shift Key at any time during your measurement to override
angle snapping temporarily. When the Shift Key is released, angle snapping
will automatically be reactivated.
Hold down the Ctrl Key while measuring to drag the map right, left, up or
down if areas of interest are not currently visible.
Area measurements created in the overview map are saved to the

workspace as soon as you download it and will be shown in SCENE
in the overview map of the related scan project. For more
information, see chapters 12.5.
Figure 12-26: Overview map with area measurements

12.4.6. Documentation Objects
Documentation objects are only available in the panoramic view. As known

from SCENE, documentation objects can be attached to points of interest and
consist of a unique name, a description and a list of hyperlinks.
Click the icon or push “D” on your keyboard, and then click into the
panoramic view to create a documentation object; the documentation
properties dialog will be displayed.
Figure 12-27: Documentation properties
Fill in the information for the documentation object and finalize it by clicking
OK.
In the Links box you may add web sites, mail addresses or links to files
related to the documentation object.
To add a file to the documentation object, just enter its filename (including
the file extension) into the input field and add it to the list. This file can be
opened if it is stored in the folder “Documents” in the project’s directory on
the WebShare server. So all you have to do is to manually copy the linked file
to that folder on the WebShare server. You cannot upload files to the server
via the WebShare user interface.
If the documentation object was created in SCENE and has been exported
with the WebShare project, already present links to files will work if these files
are available in the above mentioned folder on the WebShare server. When
opening such a file, SCENE WebShare will ignore the given path and will
search for the file in the “Documents” folder of the project’s directory on the
WebShare server. The file will be opened by SCENE WebShare if it is available
in that folder.

Similar to SCENE, object names may only consist of letters, numbers

“_” and “-“. All other characters (including blanks) are not allowed.
Figure 12-28: Documentation objects in the panoramic view
Double-click on existing documentations to bring up the properties dialog. The

position of documentation name plates can be changed by dragging them
around with the left mouse button held down.
To delete existing documentation objects you can either open the properties
dialog and press Delete or hover over it with the mouse cursor and press the
“Del” key.
12.4.7. Visibility of Measurements and Documentation Objects
The visibility of measurements and documentation objects in the

current view may be switched on or off with this icon. The black icon
indicates that the objects are currently displayed; the white icon
indicates they are currently hidden.
12.5. Downloading / Uploading Data
12.5.1. Download Manager
To download project related files of the currently opened project click the
download button in the control panel to open the download manager.

Figure 12-29: Download manager
With the download manager, you may download the workspace file, the
overview map or the scans of the currently opened project to your local hard
drive if these files are available on the WebShare server. You may download
only one file at once.
Another option to download scans from the server is to save the workspace
file to your local hard disk, open it in SCENE, right-click on the scan or scan
folder in the structure view and use the Download option from the context
menu. The currently displayed scan can also be downloaded by using the
download button in the panoramic view of WebShare.
12.5.2. Downloading Workspaces from the Web Server
When downloading the workspace of the WebShare project all your current
measurements and documentations will be saved to the downloaded
workspace. After saving the workspace to your local hard disk drive you may
open it up in SCENE. Measurements and documentations from your SCENE
WebShare session are included in this workspace. The workspace is fully
compatible to SCENE.
 Downloaded workspaces are initially not associated with an existing scan
project on your local hard disk or network drive. To connect the workspace
with an existing scan project in SCENE, you may use the save as option
as described in chapter 3.4.5 or save the downloaded workspace to the
folder of the related scan project. When opening, the downloaded
workspace will then be treated as a local workspace of the scan project.
You may then share the changes made in SCENE WebShare to the scan
project so that they get available in the project workspace.
 Overview map measurements made in SCENE WebShare are displayed in
the project’s overview map in SCENE, if the overview map is available (see
chapter 4.7 for more information).
Measurements and documentations created within your WebShare

session will never be saved on the WebShare server. Permanent
changes to WebShare projects can only be made by changing the
original export data on the server. For example, replace the
originally exported workspace file with an updated version of the

workspace. The new workspace may be a workspace that was

previously downloaded after adding measurements and
documentations to it.
 As they are not saved on the WebShare server, measurements and

documentations created within your session are only visible to you. If you
want to share them with others you have to send them your downloaded
workspace or permanently change the original export data on the server
as described above.
 A WebShare session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity or when you leave
the WebShare page. All your current measurements and documentations
will then be lost if you haven’t downloaded the workspace before.
12.5.3. Uploading Local Workspaces to the Web Server
As mentioned in chapter 18.3.7, persistent changes to SCENE WebShare

projects on the server are not supported directly. Modified user data will not
be saved on the server persistently. However, by downloading workspaces
you can save changes to your local hard disk drive at any time. You may also
have modified the originally exported data since the time of the WebShare
export. This means that you own an updated version of a SCENE WebShare
project. Local workspaces in SCENE and SCENE WebShare workspaces are
compatible so that local workspaces can be loaded in SCENE WebShare. You
may use your updated local data for any of your remote SCENE WebShare
sessions. When connecting to the SCENE WebShare server you can decide
whether to use the original project data – as it is stored on the server - or to
temporarily use an updated version of that same project’s local workspace for
that session. Click the projects button in the SCENE WebShare start
screen (see Figure 12-8) to open an upload file dialog. Pick the updated local
workspace file to open your local workspace instead of the server’s copy for
this SCENE WebShare session. The server will now load and open the project
by using your local workspace file. If you are not working with local
workspaces in your scan project you may create a local workspace from the
project workspace first. All changes to the workspace since the time of the
original WebShare export are now being displayed in WebShare as well.
Obviously this is limited to workspace changes. If any of the scan data
changed, these changes will not be shown inside WebShare. For example if
you deleted one scan from the workspace, it will no longer be selectable
inside WebShare, it will not show up in the list of scans but it will still show up
in the overview map since altered map data is not part of the workspace
itself. If you have added or deleted measurements and documentations, these
changes will show up when using the workspace on a remote SCENE
WebShare server.
12.6. Printing Project Content
To print the content of the currently opened project click the Print button in
the control panel. The print dialog will show up:

Figure 12-30: Print dialog
The print dialog offers various options to print the content of the opened
project. You may print the current state of the panoramic view, the complete
panoramic image, the scan list view or the overview map.
Adjust the size of the printed content with respect to the page format with the
settings available in the drop down menus. A schematic preview of the chosen
format is displayed next to the drop down menu.
Furthermore, you can adjust the print of the overview map by including or
excluding the map legend, the icons that symbolize the scanner positions and
the field of view of the currently opened panoramic view (the light blue
triangle).

13. FARO Focus3D Scanner Administration
The built-in FARO Focus3D scanner administration functionality of SCENE

allows you to manage your Focus3D SD cards, scanner snapshots and your
scan projects.
You can open the scanner administration of SCENE under View 
Administration View or in the projects selector by clicking on the Scanner
Administration icon. For more information, see chapter 2.1.
Figure 13-1: Scanner administration
Structure view
Administration view
13.1. Items in the Structure View of the Scanner Administration
13.1.1. Scanner Snapshots
Each time you start a scan on your FARO Focus3D scanner, it automatically
saves its current settings to the currently inserted SD card. Thus, a Focus 3D
SD card not only contains the captured scans but also an automatic snapshot
of all system settings, scanning parameters, scan profiles, scanner operators
and scan projects that are currently available on your scanner. When you
insert a Focus3D SD card into your computer, it will automatically be
recognized by SCENE and you will be asked whether to start an automatic
data transfer or not. Clicking yes will import new scans from the SD card and
create a local copy of the automatic scanner snapshot. The local copy of this
automatic scanner snapshot can be found under the folder Scanners in the
Chapter 13: FARO Focus3D Scanner Administration| 220

structure view of the scanner administration and bears the name of your
scanner's serial number.
With the scanner administration in SCENE you can also set up new scanner
snapshots from scratch. These scanner snapshots can be configured according
to the needs of your scan projects, which means that you can create several
new snapshots with differing settings, profiles, operators and projects
according to the needs of different scan projects and transfer their
configurations to your FARO Focus 3D scanner(s) whenever needed. You can
find these new scanner snapshots in the structure view under the folder
Scanners.
The structure view shows the complete file structure of the snapshots. You
can perform delete commands on the folders and files via their context menu.
13.1.2. SD Cards
The folder SD-Cards contains the FARO Focus3D SD cards that are currently
inserted to your PC. Here, the complete content of the SD Card is shown. You
can perform delete commands on the folders and files via their context menu.
13.1.3. Projects
The folder Projects contains all scan projects that are already known to
SCENE. With the help of the scanner administration you can prepare or create
new projects and transfer them to your FARO Focus 3D (see chapter 13.4).
13.2. Administration View
With the administration view you can view and modify the scanner settings,
scan profiles, scanning parameters, projects and scanner operators of all
available scanner snapshots. If a SD card is inserted to your PC, the
administration view of the automatically created scanner snapshot is initially
shown. To open the administration view of another snapshot, double-click the
respective item under the Scanner or the SD-Cards folder in the structure
view or select the administrate command in its context menu.
Design and functionality of the administration view in SCENE is the same as of
the user interface that runs on the touch screen of the FARO Focus3D scanner.
Please refer to the FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D manual for details about how
to change the scanner settings, create and edit scan profiles, scanner
operators and projects.
13.3. Managing Snapshots
13.3.1. Editing the Automatic Scanner Snapshot on the SD Card
When you open the scanner administration in SCENE, the administration view
of the automatic scanner snapshot of the currently inserted SD card will
initially be shown. You can also open the administration view of this automatic
snapshot by selecting the Administrate command in the context menu of the
SD card.
Make your changes in the administration view. Please refer to the scanner
manual for details about how to change the scanner settings and how to
create new and edit existing scan profiles, scanner operators or projects.
When finished, remove the SD card from your PC and insert it into your
scanner. For more information, see chapter 13.3.5.
221 | Chapter 13: FARO Focus3D Scanner Administration

13.3.2. Creating a New Scanner Snapshot
To create a new scanner snapshot, right click the Scanners folder in the
structure view and select New  Scanner Snapshot in its context menu.
SCENE will create a new scanner snapshot and open its administration view.
Configure the scanner settings and create profiles, projects and scanner
operators according to your needs.
You can rename the snapshot by selecting the Rename command in its
context menu.
You can also create a new snapshot based on the content of an already
existing snapshot. To do this, create a new scanner snapshot, then select the
base snapshot and drag it onto your newly created snapshot. Now you have a
duplicate copy of your original snapshot that can be modified according to
your needs.
To transfer a newly created snapshot to your scanner, select it in the
structure view and drag it to the SD card item under the folder SD-Cards.
This will replace the data of your SD card snapshot with the data of
the new snapshot. The scans on the SD card remain unaffected by
this operation.
When finished, remove the SD card from your PC and insert it into your
scanner. For more information, see chapter 13.3.5.
13.3.3. Restoring and Editing Manually Created Scanner Backups
The FARO Focus3D scanner allows you to manually create backups of your
scanner data. You can modify these backups with SCENE and transfer the
modified configuration data back to your scanner.
If you have a scanner snapshot that contains manual backups, open the
administration view of this snapshot in SCENE and go to Manage  Service 
Restore. You will then get a list that contains all the manually created
backups that are available in the currently administrated snapshot as well as
its automatically created scanner snapshot
Figure 13-2: Restore manual backup

Click on the backup that you want to restore (_AUTO_BACKUP is the

automatically created scanner snapshot, _SCENE_BACKUP the snapshot that
has been modified or created with SCENE) and a new screen will appear.
Figure 13-3: Select restore data
Select the configuration data that you want to restore from the selected
backup and press the Restore button.
The restored configuration data will override the configuration data of

the administrated snapshot. E.g. if you want to restore or import
scan profiles, all the existing scan profiles of the administrated
scanner snapshot will be overridden by the profiles of the backup.
You can now modify the restored configuration data and transfer it back to
your scanner. For more information, see 13.3.5.
13.3.4. Restoring the Local Copy of the Automatic Scanner Snapshot
SCENE will create a local copy of the automatic scanner snapshot. This local
copy bears the serial number of the scanner and can be found in the structure
view under Scanners.
1. Select local copy of your automatic scanner snapshot in the structure view.
2. Drag it to the SD card item under the folder SD-Cards.
3. The configuration data on the SD card will be replaced by the configuration
data of the snapshot, the scans on the SD card remain unaffected by this
operation.
4. When finished, transfer it to your scanner.
For more information, see 13.3.5.
13.3.5. Transferring a New, Modified or Restored Snapshot to Your Scanner
1. Insert the SD card with a new, modified or restored snapshot into your
scanner.
You will be asked by the scanner‘s operating software whether to update
the scanner with this snapshot or to keep the current scanner settings.

2. Click yes to transfer the settings from your SD card to the scanner.
This will override all current scanner settings, scan profiles and
scanner operators with the configuration data of the new scanner
snapshot.
You can also transfer your new, modified or restored scanner snapshot later
using the restore functionality in the scanner's operating software.
1. Go to Manage  Service  Restore in the scanner's operating software.
2. Select the list item _SCENE_BACKUP.
3. Select the data that you want to restore and press the Restore button.
For more information, see the scanner manual.
If you own several scanners and if you want to make sure that they all have
the same configuration, you can transfer one snapshot to several scanners
which will then have duplicate configurations.
13.4. Managing Scan Projects
The scanner administration in SCENE provides a quick and convenient way to

prepare your scan projects in advance. Projects prepared with SCENE usually
represent the spatial distribution of your real scan projects and can be
transferred to your scanner via the SD card. In the scanner‘s operating
software, when carrying out the scan project, you can then assign scans to
the created scan project or one of its subprojects. This information is very
helpful for the later scans registration and will be used to automatically
combine the scans to scan clusters. For more information, see chapter 6.9).
Create a new 1. Right click the Projects folder in the structure view of the scanner
project administration.
2. Select New  Project.
You will be asked to give the project a name and to specify its storage
directory.
To open an existing project, double click the project in the structure view or
select Load in its context menu.
Add Add new scan folders or clusters to your main cluster
subprojects
1. Select New  Scan Folder in its context menu.
Figure 13-4: Workspace with project structure
2. When finished, save the scan project and return to the scanner
administration view.

3. Select your project in the structure view and drag it onto a snapshot or a
SD card.
This will add the new project with all of its subprojects to the respective
snapshot. Already existing projects will not be deleted. If the added
project already exists on the snapshot, it will be updated with the changes
you have made.
4. Transfer the snapshot with the added project to your scanner.
13.5. Transferring Firmware Updates to your FARO Focus3D Scanner
1. Drag and drop the firmware update file from the windows explorer to the
SD card item in the structure view of the scanner administration.
SCENE will then copy the file to your SD card into the folder Updates. If
this folder does not exist, it will automatically be created.
2. Remove the SD card from your PC and insert it into your scanner.
3. To install the firmware update on your scanner, go to Manage  Service 
Firmware in the operating software of the scanner.
4. Press the Update button.
For more information please refer to the scanner manual.
13.6. Scanner Service Request
In case of problems with your scanner, you can send a scanner snapshot with
the current settings of the scanner to the FARO Customer Service that can
then analyze the snapshot to find the cause of error.
1. Select Scanner Service Request in the context menu of the respective
scanner snapshot.
Your default email client should start automatically with an open email
window that has the snapshot attached.
2. Send this E-Mail with a detailed description of your scanner failure to the
FARO Customer Service.

14. Apps
For developers, SCENE offers an application programming interface (API)

which gives the opportunity to integrate own functionality into SCENE. This
API allows anyone to create custom applications (Apps) which integrate
seamlessly into the SCENE user interface in order to extend the functionality
of SCENE. Developers are free to share their Apps with others (for free or for
sale), so that everybody can benefit from them.
Publicly available apps may be downloaded from the FARO 3D App Center:
http://3d-app-center.faro.com/
You may install and manage apps with the app manager of SCENE.
14.1. App Manager
The App Manager of SCENE is available under Tools  Apps. It provides the
following functionality:
 It allows installing new apps. For more information, see chapter 14.2.
 It gives an overview of the already installed apps with additional
information, like the version number.
 Already installed apps can be activated / deactivated or removed from the
system. For more information, see chapters 14.4 or 14.5.
 Developers can create an app package file (app installation file) from their
app files (with the Pack App… button that will be displayed when
Developer Options is enabled).
Figure 14-1: App manager
14.2. Installing Apps
To install a SCENE app do one of the following:
1. Click the button and select an app package file (with the
extension .fpp) from your hard disk. In the drop down menu of the button
you will find:
Chapter 14: Apps| 226

o the possibility to install an app that is not packed to an app package

but whose individual program files are available within a folder on the
hard disk.
o a link to the FARO 3D App Center to download new apps.
2. Drag & drop a downloaded app package file into SCENE
3. Double-click an app package file in Windows Explorer.
If the app is already installed you will get an error message and the
installation will be cancelled.
SCENE also checks whether the app is compatible to the current version of
SCENE. If the app and SCENE are not compatible, the installation will be
cancelled.
Once the installation is complete, the app will be activated by default.
14.3. Updating Apps
In case you would like to install a new version of an already installed app,
please remove the former version of the app from your system first (see 14.5
for more details), and then install the new version as described above.
14.4. Activating / Deactivating Apps
Use the Activate checkbox in the app manager to enable or disable certain
apps at runtime.
14.5. Uninstalling Apps
Use the button to uninstall an app from your system.
227 | Chapter 14: Apps

15. Advanced functions
15.1. Coordinates
The coordinates of a point describe its exact location in relation to an agreed

reference point. This reference point is referred to as the origin of the
coordinate system. With a scan, you receive points in the three dimensional
space, therefore, for a precise description of a measured point, you need the
definition of the origin and three other values which then indicate the relative
location to this origin.
Depending on the choice of origin, you can decide between local coordinates
or global coordinates. The three other values can be set to different degrees,
so that you obtain polar coordinates or Cartesian coordinates, for example.
15.2. Local Coordinates
When scanning, the position of the scanner emerges as the natural origin of
the coordinate system because when recording the scan, all position
specifications of the points are initially recorded in relation to the scanner.
This coordinate system is therefore described as the local coordinate system.
Polar Due to the rotation of the scanner, its natural coordinate system is the polar
coordinate coordinate system, with which two angles and a distance value are used to
system determine the position.
Figure 15-1: Polar coordinates
For the single scan points created by the scanner, you can find the polar
coordinates in the bottom status bar:
Figure 15-2: Display the polar coordinates of a scan point
In day to day use, you would generally use Cartesian coordinates, which have
Cartesian
Coordinates a direct reference to concepts such as length, width and height, rather than
polar coordinates.
Chapter 15: Advanced functions| 228

Figure 15-3: Cartesian coordinates
The conversion of polar coordinates into Cartesian coordinates occurs

automatically in SCENE. It is completely independent from the location of the
scanner or other influencing variables because it simply converts between two
types of representation at the same level. The converted coordinates are
displayed directly next to the polar coordinates in the bottom status bar:
Figure 15-4: Display of the Cartesian coordinates of a scan point
15.2.1. Global Coordinates
If a scan is viewed in its 3D position against another scan, local coordinates

are no longer practical. If, for example, two scans were recorded at different
positions, the points within each one can have the same local coordinates;
they match reality but not one another.
Therefore, you should relate the coordinates to one reference point which
remains the same for all scans. This reference point is normally selected so
that it is also possible to make a comparison using other systems, for
example a CAD system.
By doing so, you can view polar coordinates and Cartesian coordinates again.
However, since the polar coordinates do not produce a clearer representation
than the Cartesian coordinates, you will find no use for them in this
environment and they are therefore not explained in any more detail here.
Coordinate You can calculate the global coordinates using the local coordinates of a point
Transforma- if you know the relationship between the local and the global coordinate
tion system. To do this, you transfer the local coordinates into global coordinates
by tracing the movement which would make both coordinate systems match.
You can differentiate between two types of movement:
If the local origin does not match the global origin, all coordinate
specifications must be moved by the difference between the local and global
origin. This movement is also called Translation.
229 | Chapter 15: Advanced functions

Figure 15-5: Translation
If the orientation of the coordinate axes is different, you have to make them
match with a Rotation.
Figure 15-6: Rotation
The rotation is described by a rotation axis and the corresponding angle of

rotation. Generally, any rotation can be described with a single rotation axis;
this rotation axis, however, does not necessarily match one of the coordinate
axes! It is then sometimes difficult to make this rotation graphically clear.
However, you can also split the rotation up into three separate rotations
around the coordinate axes. In this type of representation you can imagine
the result of a rotation more easily. SCENE saves the rotation internally with a
single rotation axis and a single angle of rotation; the user interface,
however, displays the more comprehensible type of representation of the
three rotations around the coordinate axes.
When splitting the rotation into three separate rotations around the
coordinate axes, it is important to have a defined sequence of the
axes. If you first rotate around x, then around y, and finally around
z with some specific angles of rotation, you get different results than
you would get with the sequence x, z, y.
Figure 15-7: Rotation of 90° around y and then 90° around z

Figure 15-8: Rotation of 90° around z and then 90° around y
In the user interface, SCENE uses the sequence x-y-z.

If you want to fine-tune a rotation on a per-axis basis, this default sequence
may lead to some unexpected behavior. For example if you want to place an
object interactively and you are so far satisfied with the orientation around
the x axis and the z axis. Now you want to adjust the orientation around the y
axis – but when you change the corresponding rotation angle, the object
seems to move around a totally different axis! This is simply caused by the
fact that the rotation around the y axis is applied in the middle of the two
other rotations. A more intuitive behavior is achieved when the rotation is last
in the sequence. You can enforce this more appropriate sequence, when you
checkmark Axis snap in the dialog.
Local coordinates can always be transferred into global coordinates with a
simple combination of these two basic movements: translation and rotation.
This transfer is also called Transformation. The sequence in which the basic
movements are executed is important because it makes a big difference
whether you first move and then rotate or first rotate and then move. In
SCENE the rotation takes place first and then the translation.
Coordinate In order to know the coordinate transformation of a scan, you have to know
Transforma- its position and orientation. You can see these values if you click on the scan
tion of a Scan with the right mouse button in the structure view and select Properties in
the context menu.
On the Scan tab, the position and orientation are displayed in compact
notation with a single angle of rotation.

Figure 15-9: Orientation displayed compactly
On the Transformation tab, you will see the same information displayed in a
more intuitive way.

Figure 15-10: Orientation displayed more intuitively
Of course, coordinate transformations can not only be applied to local

coordinates but can also be used to convert from one global coordinate
system to another. For example, you could use a hall coordinate system as
the first coordinate system, which has the origin in the corner of a hall and
whose axes run along the walls of the hall. On a greater scale, you could
define a plant coordinate system whose origin lies in the south-west corner of
the plant premises and whose axes match the four points of a compass.
Figure 15-11: Hierarchical transformations
Then you only have to describe the transformation between the hall and the
plant premises to automatically obtain all the coordinate specifications within
the hall in plant coordinates. SCENE proceeds hierarchically from inside to
outside: first, the local coordinates within the scan are transformed into hall
coordinates and these are then converted into plant.
The position of the scan is not only stored in the Workspace and its
corresponding file .fws, but also in the scan file itself. When using hierarchical
transformations, you should note that the scan file only stores the local

transformation, not the global. In the example above, this means that the
scan file only contains the relative position to the hall, not to the plant.
Transforma- Registration of scans is always performed in the global coordinate system. If
tion and you have added transformations in the scan folders, these transformations
Registration will of course also be used during the registration. The result might not be the
one you expected: the scans will be positioned on the same global coordinates
as they would have without the additional transformations! Only their local
coordinates may differ.
If you want to add a transformation because you don’t want to use the
coordinate system of the surveyor, you should input it into the References
folder.
15.2.2. Quick Change of Global Origin
For some tasks it might be helpful to use a different coordinate system than it
is currently defined globally. But as not all tasks need this specific coordinate
system, it should be possible to switch between such coordinate systems
easily. For example imagine the examination of a robot cell in a plant. The
global coordinate system might be defined according to the plant, but now
you would like to export scan points in the local coordinate system of the
robot cell. In this case you would like to switch to the local coordinate system
of the robot cell temporarily, and later switch back again. For this you need
the position and orientation of the robot cell within the plant and you put this
transformation in a folder, and the mark this folder to be used as definition for
the global coordinate system.
When you want to work in the local coordinate system of a folder (or scans
folder or scan), you activate its transformation by Operations  Global
System  Set as Global Origin in its context menu. The folder is now
marked with a red G to indicate that it is currently defining the global
coordinate system.
If you want to switch back to the original global origin, you may select
Operations  Global System  Clear Global Origin in the context menu of
this folder. In addition, this function is also available in the context menu of
the Workspace.
15.3. Exemplary Driver Configuration for the Stereoscopic Mode

This chapter describes how to enable OpenGL Stereo for an exemplary
hardware and driver configuration. Enabling OpenGL Stereo on comparable
configurations should be similar. The stereoscopic mode will most likely run
with other driver versions, too. However, the menu structure may look
different than described here.
Exemplary hardware and driver configuration used for this description:
 Hardware
o NVIDIA Quadro Graphic Card
o NVIDIA 3D Vision (Shutter Glasses)
o 120 Hz Monitor
o Compatible cable (HDMI 1.4 or Dual Link DVI)
 Driver
o NVIDIA Quadro/NVIDIA Tesla Driver (Release 295.73)
Follow these steps to configure your system:

 Enable OpenGL quad buffering:

 Open the NVIDIA system control, e.g. via right clicking on the Desktop and
choosing NVIDIA system control in the context menu.
 In the NVIDIA system control tool select Manage 3D Settings in the
structure tree on the left. In the pane that is shown on the right set 3D
OpenGL Stereo as global preset under global settings.
Figure 15-12: Enabling OpenGL quad buffering
4. Set the 120 Hz Monitor as the primary output device (only when using
multiple displays):
o Select Set up multiple displays in the structure tree on the left. In
the pane that is shown on the right, right click on the 3D monitor and
select Make this the Windows main display.

Figure 15-13: Select primary display
5. Ensure that the monitor refresh rate is set to 120 Hz.

o Select Change resolution in the structure tree.
o Select the 3D monitor and then choose 120 Hz in the refresh rate drop
down box. The refresh rate of 120 Hz is not available for some
resolutions. If the refresh rate is not available for any resolution, the
display was not recognized as a 3D display. In this case refer to the
manual of the display.
Figure 15-14: Select primary display
6. Activate NVIDIA vision.

o Switch on the shutter glasses by pressing the button on its left temple.
Please see chapter 4.4.1 on how to enable the stereoscopic mode in SCENE
and view the point clouds in 3D.
15.4. 3DConnexion 3D Mouse Support
3DConnexion3 is a manufacturer of 3D mice for navigating and manipulating

3D content. The 3DConnexion 3D mice are supported by SCENE. Compared to
the use of traditional mice and keyboards, such a 3D mouse may make
navigation in your 3D data much more intuitive and controllable.
Gently push, pull, twist or tilt the Controller Cap of the 3D mouse to pan,
zoom and rotate in your 3D data. Increase pressure to go faster or decrease
pressure to make intricate adjustments.
When operating the Controller Cap, the 3D mouse acknowledges the selected
camera mode. In fly mode, for example, you can rotate the camera by
twisting the cap. In camera pan mode, twisting it has no effect since only left-
right and up-down movements of the cap are recognized. When a 3D view
tool such as the measurement tool is selected, the 3D mouse operates in the
3
www.3dconnexion.com

examine mode. You can also use the 3D mouse to rotate and zoom in the
quick view and to pan and zoom in the planar view.
When using a 3DConnexion Mouse, please make sure to always use

the latest drivers. They can be downloaded from
www.3dconnexion.com.
Please refer to the 3DConnexion documentation for more

information on installing and setting up the 3D mouse.
15.4.1. Predefined Commands
If the 3DConnexion Add-in for SCENE has been installed with the driver of the
3D mouse, the following assignment of keys will be available (the number of
available buttons varies with the available 3D mouse model):
 Fit: Move the camera to show the whole scene in the 3D View; return to
the initial zoom level in the quick view and planar view.
 Menu: Open the settings menu of the 3D mouse.
 T: Display the top view.
 B: Display the bottom view.
 L: Display the left view.
 R: Display the right view.
 F: Display the front view.
 Bk: Display the back view.
 Rot: Toggle rotation on/off.
 Pan Zoom: Toggle pan and zoom on/off.
Optionally, the following commands can be assigned to the function keys from
1 to 10 with the 3Dconnexion settings tool (this tool is accessible from the
Windows start menu or the task bar. Please see the manual of the
3DConnexion mouse for more information).
 Switch to fly mode.
 Switch to examine mode.
 Switch to walk mode.
 Switch to camera pan mode.
 Set the rotation point automatically during movement.
 Set the rotation point automatically after movement.
 Don’t set the rotation point automatically.
 Show the rotation point always.
 Show the rotation point during movement.
 Hide the rotation point.

15.4.2. Adjusting the 3D Mouse Behavior
To adjust the behavior of the 3D mouse and to access further functions, open
the settings menu with the Menu button on the 3D mouse.
Figure 15-15: 3DConnexion Mouse – Settings
Rotate – Switch the rotation capability on or off.

Pan and Zoom –Switch the pan and zoom capability on or off.
Disable Rolling – Switch the roll axis on or off.
Invert 3D Mouse in Examine Mode – Invert all axes in the examine mode.
Invert 3D Mouse in Quick View – Invert all axes in the Quick View.
Speed – Set the speed of movement.
Fly Mode – Switch to fly mode.
Examine Mode – Switch to the examine mode.
Walk Mode – Switch to walk mode.
Camera Pan Mode – Switch to camera pan mode.
Rotation Point – Adjust the behavior of the rotation point. For more

16. Network Licensing and License Manager
16.1. Network Licensing
This section describes how to set up a license server, activate network

licenses and detach network licenses from the network pool to bind them to a
client computer for a certain period of time.
16.1.1. Setting Up a License Server and Enabling Network Licensing
For licensing, SCENE uses a third party software called Sentinel HASP from
Installing the
Sentinel SafeNet. To setup a computer as a license server this software has to be
Licensing installed on that computer. There are two ways to install this software on the
Software on license server:
the License
 By installing SCENE on the license server. The licensing software will
Server
automatically be installed with SCENE.
 If you do not want to install SCENE on the license server, you must install
the licensing software manually. You can find the licensing software setup
file (haspdinst.exe) on the SCENE DVD (in folder Miscellaneous) or on a
computer that has SCENE installed (in the installation folder of SCENE).
To manually install the Sentinel licensing software do the following:
 Copy the haspdinst.exe to the server.
 Run the command shell on the license server as administrator: on
Windows 7 click Start, type cmd, right click the cmd.exe and select Run
as Administrator.
 In the command shell, navigate to the directory where haspdinst.exe
resides.
 Execute haspdinst.exe with parameter –install (enter haspdinst.exe –
install).
 The license server software will be installed.
Instead of using the command shell, you may also run the
installLicenseServer.bat file which can be found on the SCENE DVD
(this will execute "haspdinst.exe" with parameter -install).
Verify the proper installation of the licensing software:

1. Open an Internet browser on the server.
2. Enter the address http://localhost:1947/.
3. If the Sentinel Admin Control Center shows up, installation was successful.
239 | Chapter 16: Network Licensing and License Manager

Figure 16-1: Sentinel Admin Control Center
Before remote users can access the network licenses, remote access has to be
Enabling
Remote enabled on the licensing server:
Access on the 4. On the license server, open an Internet browser and enter
Server http://localhost:1947/ to access the Sentinel Admin Control Center.
5. In the Options pane, select Configuration to display the configuration

tab set.
6. Open tab Access from Remote Clients.
7. Select the Allow Access from Remote Clients check box.
8. Click Submit.
Figure 16-2: Access from Remote Clients
Before remote users can access the license server, access to remote licenses
Enabling
Access to the has to be enabled on the client computer (with a SCENE installation):
Remote 1. On the client computer, open an Internet browser and enter
Server on
http://localhost:1947/ to access the Sentinel Admin Control Center of the
Clients
client.
2. In the Options pane, select Configuration to display the configuration
tab set.
3. Open tab Access to Remote License Managers.
4. Select all check boxes.
5. Optional: if server and client are in different sub nets, enter the server’s IP
address into the text box Specify Search Parameter.
Chapter 16: Network Licensing and License Manager| 240

6. Click Submit.
Figure 16-3: Allowing Access to License Server
16.1.2. Activating Network Licenses on the License Server
Network licenses can either be locked to a USB dongle (hard lock licenses) or
to the server computer (soft lock licenses).
Network USB dongles with network licenses can be attached to any computer that has
Licenses the Sentinel Licensing Software installed. This computer will then act as a
Attached to a license server and share the dongle’s network licenses in the network.
USB Dongle
Activation of these licenses is not necessary. Make sure that remote access
(Hard Lock
from clients is enabled on that computer. For more information, see chapter
Licenses)
16.1.1.
To increase the number of network licenses on your USB dongle (the dongle
must support network licensing), purchase further ones from FARO. You will
get network licenses linked to a product key. You can transfer these licenses
to your dongle. Do this by attaching the dongle to a computer that has SCENE
installed, and following the steps described in chapter 1.3. When validating
the key and activating the licenses, you will be asked whether to lock the
licenses to the computer or to the USB dongle. Select to lock them to the
dongle. When finished, remove the dongle from the computer and attach it to
the license server.
Network To use network licenses locked to the server computer, purchase network
Licenses licenses linked to a product key from FARO.
Locked to the
License You have two options to activate such licenses on the license server:
Server (Soft
 With SCENE: SCENE has to be installed on the server. To validate the
Lock
Licenses) product key and to activate the licenses, start SCENE on the license server
and follow the steps described in chapter 1.3.
 With an extra tool: if you do not want to install SCENE on the license
server you can use the tool FaroRUS to activate the licenses on the
server. This tool can be found on the SCENE DVD (in folder Miscellaneous)
or on a computer that has SCENE installed (in the installation folder of
SCENE). To activate the licenses with FaroRUS do the following:
1. Make sure theat the Sentinel licensing server software is already installed
on the license server.
2. Insert the SCENE DVD into the license server or copy the FaroRUS.exe
from the computer that has SCENE installed to the server.
3. Start FaroRUS.exe on the license server.

4. Click the Collect Information button on tab Collect Key Status

Information.
Figure 16-4: FaroRUS –Collect Key Status Information
5. A .c2v file will be generated. Save this file to your local hard disk.
6. Send this file and your product key to FARO Customer Service.
7. After a short processing time you will receive an E-Mail with an activation
file (.v2c file). Save this file to your local hard disk.
8. Start the FaroRUS tool again and open tab Apply License Update
Figure 16-5: FaroRUS –Apply License Update
9. Select the .v2c file you have received from FARO Customer Service and
click Apply Update. The license will be activated and locked to the
computer.
10. Open http://localhost:1947 with an Internet browser on the server to verify
the proper activation of the SCENE license. In the Options pane, select
Products to display the available licenses. The activated SCENE licenses
should show up in the list.

16.1.3. Detaching Network Licenses
If your license server hosts network licenses that are soft locked to the
Enable computer (and not to a USB dongle), you can detach a network license and
detaching on temporarily bind it to a client computer. The license can then be used locally
the License
on that computer without being connected to the network. When the
Server and the
Client detached license expires, it is automatically disabled on the client computer
Computer and restored to the server.
The license server and the client computer must be configured to allow
detaching of network licenses. Follow the steps below to enable detaching on
the server:
1. Open http://localhost:1947 with an Internet browser on the server.
2. In the Options pane, select Configuration to display the configuration tab
set.
3. Open the Detachable Licenses tab.
4. Enable Detaching of Licenses.
5. You may also specify the number of reserved non-detachable licenses and
the maximum detach duration.
6. Click Submit.
Figure 16-6: Enable detaching
Follow the steps below to enable detaching on the client computer:

1. Open http://localhost:1947 with an Internet browser on the client
computer.
2. In the Options pane, select Configuration to display the configuration tab
set.
3. Open the Detachable Licenses tab.
4. Enable Detaching of Licenses.
5. Click Submit.
Detaching To detach a license and bind it to your client computer follow the steps below:
and Binding a
License to the
Client computer.
Computer 2. In the Options pane, select Products to open an overview of all available
local and network licenses. Detachable network licenses are marked with a
red arrow .

Figure 16-7: Products overview
3. Click the Detach/Extend button to bind the license to the client

computer.
4. The Detach License form opens. Select the expiration date (the day the
license will be restored to the pool) and click Detach & Attach.
Figure 16-8: Detach license
5. The license is now temporarily bound to your client computer. It will be

returned to the network license pool when it has expired.
Returning a To return a detached license before it expires, follow these steps:
Detached
License to the
Network Pool computer.
Before 2. In the Options pane, select Products to open an overview of all available
Expiration
local and network licenses. The detached license is marked with a green
arrow .

Figure 16-9: Products overview
3. Click the Cancel License button and confirm your selection on the
upcoming page.
4. The license is now returned to the network pool of licenses.
16.1.4. License Server Administration
The Sentinel Admin Control Center provides various functions to manage and
monitor the usage of network licenses and to diagnose problems.
Please refer to the Sentinel Admin Control Center help section

for more information on this. You can access the help section by
following the help link in the lower-right corner of the screen.

17. Hot Keys
Key(s) Function
Ctrl + O Open Workspace
Ctrl + Shift + N Create new scan project
Ctrl + F Find and locate objects in workspace
3D view (fly mode):
Arrow Keys Move camera forward, left, backwards,

right
W, A, S, D
8, 4, 2, 6 (on numeric key

pad)
Rotate camera upwards, left, downwards,
I, J, K, L
right
Toggle between Walk- and Fly mode
B
3D view (examine mode):
Arrow Keys Move camera backwards (object away),

W, A, S, D right (objects left), forward (objects
closer), left (objects right)
8, 4, 2, 6 (on numeric key
pad)
I, J, K, L Rotate camera downwards (move towards
top view of object), counter clockwise
(object clockwise), upwards (move
towards bottom view of object), clockwise
(object counter clockwise)
3D view (general):
R, F, Q, E Roll camera upwards, down, left, right
Page Up / Page Down Move up and down
9 / 2
+ / - Zoom in or out
Space Toggle between Fly mode and Examine

mode
Ctrl-Key (hold down) Temporarily use Examine mode when
another navigation mode is active
Middle mouse button (hold Temporarily use pan mode
Down)
Shift + middle mouse button Set the rotation point
(click):
P Toggle between perspective camera and
Chapter 17: Hot Keys| 246

orthogonal camera
V Remove camera rolling
C Toggle Clear View
T Align camera to surface normal
X Move Camera to 3D point
Alt + P Save screenshot of current 3D view
Backspace Go back to previous camera position
1, 2, 3 Point size 1, 2 3
Ctrl + A Select all points (only the points of scan

point clouds or the project point cloud)
Ctrl + D Dismiss the current scan point selection
(only for point selections of the scan point
cloud or the project point cloud)
Ctrl + F2 Create new viewpoint
F2 Go to next viewpoint
Shift + F2 Go to previous viewpoint
247 | Chapter 17: Hot Keys

18. Reference Handbook
18.1. Meaning of the symbols in the Structure View
Symbol Meaning
Workspace (chapter 3.3)
Folder (chapter 3.3.2)
Folder for meshes and imported objects
Cluster (chapter 6.9)
Scans Folder (chapter 3)
Scan (chapter 3.5)
Virtual scan (chapter 5.4.1)
Point (chapter 7.4.2)
Sphere (chapter 7.4.2)
Plane (chapter 7.4.2), Rectangle (chapter 7.4.2)

Slab (chapter 7.4.2)
Pipe (chapter 7.4.2)
Line (chapter7.4.2)
Mesh (chapter 7.4.2), Imported object (chapter
7.4.6)
Documentation (chapter 7.4.3)
Region (chapter 7.4.4)
Clipping box (chapter 7.2)
View point (chapter 4.3.4)
Picture (chapter 7.4.7)
Overview map (chapter 4.7)
Fit (chapter 6.11.1)
Scans, Cluster
Fully loaded (chapter 3.5.3)
Loaded in reduced size (chapter 3.5.3)
Scan with scan point cloud (chapter 3.6)
Modified scan (chapter 3.4.5)
Reference scan or cluster (chapter 6.11.1)
Fixed scan or cluster (chapter 18.4.27)
Global Origin (chapter 15.2.2)
Missing file
Chapter 18: Reference Handbook| 248

Fitting
Active fit (chapter 7.4.1)
Outdated active fit (chapter 7.4.1)
Good quality (chapter 7.4.1)
Compromised quality (chapter 7.4.1)
Seriously compromised quality (chapter 7.4.1)
Registration
Ignored for Place Scans (chapter 6.4)
Object with automatically found correspondence

(chapter 6.5.7)
Object with user forced correspondences (chapter
6.5.10)
Global Origin (15.2.2)
18.2. Menu Bar
Figure 18-1: Menu bar
18.2.1. File
Figure 18-2: File Menu
New - Create a new local workspace or a new scan project. If you open a new
project you are asked to provide its storage location and its name. The new
local workspace or the new scan project and its project workspace are initially
empty and you have to fill them. For more information, see chapters 3.3.2
and 3.4.2 .
Open - Opens an existing project, workspace or scan.
Close - Closes the loaded workspace. If the workspace has been changed,
you will be asked to save the changes.
After closing, a new empty workspace is automatically created.
249 | Chapter 18: Reference Handbook

Save - Saves the workspace. If the workspace has not been saved yet, you
will be asked to specify a location to save it to.
When saving, the scan data is saved separate from the other workspace data.
The scan data is saved in files with the extension .fls in a folder called Scans.
The remaining data of the workspace is saved in a file with the extension .fws.
Saving can fail if the files are write-protected by Windows. Also, changed scan
data is not saved if Save modified scan points is not enabled under Tools 
Options  Scan Data (see chapter 18.2.4).
Save As - Saves the opened local workspace under a different name and
possibly in a different location.
If the workspace does not belong to a scan project yet, you may add it to an
existing project or to a new project. In this case, the following Save As dialog
appears:
Figure 18-3: Save As
Project
Location – Path to the project.
Name – Name of the existing or new project.
Use Existing – Click to select an existing project and add the workspace
as a local workspace to this project.
Create New – Click to create a new project and add the workspace as a
local workspace to this project.
Workspace
Path and Filename – Select the path and filename for the local
workspace.
If the workspace is already a part of an existing project, the workspace
will be saved as a local workspace under a different name and possibly in
a different location but stays part of this project. You cannot add the
workspace to another project.
Import
Adding additional data, and expanding the current workspace.

The following data can be imported:

o Scans – Scans can be imported in FARO Laser Scan format, SCENE can
import scans in Leica’s PTZ, as well as in other formats: .e57, .ptx,
.xyz. For more information on the supported file formats, please see
chapter 5.3.
o Image files – Image files like e.g. CAD layout plans or pictures can be
imported in .bmp, .jpeg,.png and .tif format.
o Survey data – The coordinates of the scan points that are extracted
for registering the scan (file format see chapter 5.2). If a scan point
with the same name already exists in the workspace, its values are
overwritten.
o CAD Models – Can be imported in the multivendor-capable format
VRML. For this, see chapter 7.4.6.
o Workspaces – Expands the current workspace by all the elements
from the imported workspace. If the imported workspace and the
current workspace have an object with the same name, it is replaced
by the object from the imported workspace.
Scan Project
Figure 18-4: File  Scan Project menu
Optimize Project Point Cloud - Reconstructs the point cloud with all the
updates and changes made to optimize the performance of loading and
navigating through the point cloud. For more information, see chapter 10.3.
Export Project Point Cloud – Exports the project point cloud of the scan
project.
The remaining functions in the scan project menu are described in chapter
18.3.8.
Print
SCENE can print the current Planar View, Quick View or 3D View.
For the Planar View, three print pages are created:
o A circumferential view in one piece.
o A circumferential view divided into two sections.

o The visible area in the planar view.

For the Quick or 3D View a single print page is created.
Print Preview - Opens the print preview.
Print Setup - Opens the dialog for the print setup.
Recently loaded workspaces and scan projects - A list of the local
workspaces and scan projects loaded recently, which can be loaded directly.
Exit - Exits SCENE.
18.2.2. Edit
Figure 18-5: Edit menu
Clear Selection – Clears a scan point selection.

Select All – Selects all scan points of the scan in the active planar or quick
view.
Delete Object – Deletes the selected object.
Delete Scan Points – Deletes the selected scan points of a scan.
Properties – Opens the properties dialog of the selected object.
18.2.3. View
Figure 18-6: View menu
Contrast – Choose between low, medium or high contrast adjustments for

the planar view.
Tabbed Documents – Multiple views are contained in a single window. Use
the tabs to navigate between them. If you uncheck this option every view will
be displayed in its own window.
Presentation Mode – Displays SCENE in full screen mode. SCENE is
minimizing all menus and toolbars to provide maximum space on the screen
for scan data.
Show Workspace – Hides or reveals the structure view of the workspace.
Show Statusbar – Status bar along the bottom edge of the screen which
displays scan point data, command details or responses of the command last
executed.

Toolbars – Hides or reveals the different toolbars.

View – Opens workspace in 3D. Opens the FARO Focus3D scanner
administration.
18.2.4. Tools
Figure 18-7: Tools menu
Select – Selects scan points. Choose between the various available selection
tools. For more information, see chapter 7.1.
Manipulator – Commands for the correspondence view.
Restore previous transformation - Restores the previous
transformation of the manipulator
Reapply transformation changes - Reapplies the transformation after
the transformation was reverted by using the restore previous
transformation button.
Restore initial transformation - Restores the initial transformation the
scan had when the manipulator was created.
Increase / Decrease Manipulator Size – Increase or decrease the size
of the displayed manipulator tool of the correspondence view
Point Settings – Change the scan point size in the 3D view, select between
three preset sizes and enable or disable gap filling. For more information, see
chapter 18.4.3.
Measure Scan Points – Take measurements between scan points. For more
Mark Objects – Use the currently selected object marker tool. For more
New Point – Creates a new point in the 3D view.
Pipe Fit – Offers an alternative algorithm to fit a pipe. For more information
see chapter 7.4.1.
Constrained Plane Fit – Improves plane fits by applying constraints. For
more information see chapter 7.4.1.
Find and Locate Object – Search for objects in the workspace. For more
information see chapter 3.3.3.
Apps – Opens the App manager to install new apps or to manage the
available apps. For more information see chapter 14.1.

Options 
General
Figure 18-8: Tools  Options - General
Use Project Selector – Use the Project Selector as the start screen of
SCENE. For more information see chapter 2.1.
Automatically save model – Enable or disable the auto save option and set
the auto save interval in minutes. For more information, see chapter 3.4.5.
Options  Settings for the export of scan points.

Export

Figure 18-9: Tools  Options  Export
Full Scan – Export the entire scan.

Selection – Export the selected area of a scan.
Min. Distance – The minimum distance the exported scan points can be from
the scanner. Scan points situated closer are not exported.
Max. Distance – The maximum distance the exported scan points can be
from the scanner. Scan points situated further away are not exported.
Subsample – To reduce the amount of exported data, you can impose a
restriction on the export so that only every second, third, ... scan point is
exported.
Rows – Reduction by thinning out the rows
Columns – Reduction by thinning out the columns
Color and Grey –Exports the scan points with grey and color information if
both are available and if this is supported by the selected export format. Grey
and color information can be exported to these formats: E57, XYZ-ASCII, PTS
and PTX.
Local Coordinates  Use Local Coordinates - Enable to export the points
in the local coordinate system of an available clipping box. Select the box
from the drop down list. This setting only applies to points of scan point
clouds or the project point cloud.
For more information on exporting scan points, see chapter 9.

Options 
Units
Figure 18-10: Tools  Options - Units
Display – Settings for the units in the display.

Length – Display unit for lengths.
Small Sizes – Display unit for small lengths, such as the quality criteria of
the fit objects.
Angle – Display unit for the angle.
Import – Settings for the units when importing.
Length – Import unit for lengths.
Export – Settings for the units when exporting.
Length – Export unit for lengths.
You can select between these units of length:
o Metric units of length: meter [m], centimeter [cm], millimeter [mm]
o International yard [yd], foot [ft], inch [in]
o U.S. Survey yard [yd US], foot [ft US], inch [in US]

Options 
Tomograph
Figure 18-11: Tools  Options - Tomograph
Raster Size – The length of the raster edge.

Min. Hits – The minimum number of scan points with which a raster field
turns black.
Max. Hits – The maximum number of scan points with which a raster field
still turns black. If the number is exceeded, the raster field is rated as blank.
The specification of –1 means an infinite number.
Export Height – Setting for whether the raster fields should lie at the height
of 0 or on the mean value of the scan points that are in them.

Options 
VRML
Figure 18-12: Tools  Options - VRML
Scan points as is – Points are exported as points. Note: a lot of VRML viewer
programs do not support points!
Scan points as sphere – Scan points are exported as small spheres.
Scan points as boxes – Points are exported as small boxes.
VRML2 – Export in VRML2 format. Otherwise VRML1 is used.

Options 
Import
Figure 18-13: Tools  Options - Import
Import Length Unit – Import unit for lengths.

XYZ-Import – Specifications for importing scans in XYZ text format.
Explicit limits – Explicit specifications of the scan size.
o Rows – Number of rows.
o Columns – Number of columns.
o Max. Reflection – Maximum reflection value.
Deduce limits from import file – SCENE calculates the number of rows
and columns from the apportionment of scan points in the import file.
o Increase size to compensate angular inhomogeneities – Large
variations in angle values are balanced out by doubling the row and
column number.

Options  Settings for loading and saving scans.

Scan Data
Figure 18-14: Tools  Options - Scan Data
Scan maximal size

Auto adjustment – A scan may only take up half of the main memory
and is loaded with reduced resolution if necessary.
Mio points – When loading, a scan is reduced to this maximum number
of scan points (specified in millions, so 2 correspond to 2,000,000 scan
points).
unlimited – The number of scan points is unlimited.
Scan color
Use grey – If grey values of the scan points exist, load them and ignore
any color values.
Use color – If color values of the scan points exist, load them and ignore
any grey values.
Save modified scan points – Modified scan points of a scan are also saved
again in its file. Scan points are changed by applying filters, for example.
Colorize all scan points – The parallax between camera and scanner may
lead to objects which are visible in the scan but not visible in the picture,
because an object in front of them hides it from the camera, but not from the
scanner. Normally these objects wouldn’t get colorized. When you set the
checkmark here, these objects will get the same color as the object in front of
them.

Options 
Folder
Figure 18-15: Tools  Options - Folder
SCENE WebShare Local Projects Folder – Path to a local folder that

contains WebShare projects. When started, WebShare will search in this
folder for projects. Existing projects will then be displayed in the projects list
of SCENE WebShare. Specify the folder manually or check Deduce from last
export to use the folder of the last WebShare export.
Project Locations – Specify the paths to the folders that contain your scan
projects. The projects in these folders will be listed in the project selector.
Separate multiple folders by semicolon.
Scanner Snapshots Locations – SCENE will transfer Focus3D scanner
snapshots from SD cards to this folder.

Options 
View
Figure 18-16: Tools  Options - View
Mark Distance Range – Certain ranges of a scan can be emphasized in color

in the planar view.
Activate at Startup Time – The emphasis is always automatically used
when starting a planar view of a scan.
Invalid Points – If checked, invalid points are also displayed.
Color Coded Distances – The emphasis should not be one color but
should assume various colors depending on the distance. Close scan
points are colored red and far away scan points are colored blue.
Min. Distance – The minimum distance at which the emphasis should
start.
Max. Distance – The maximum distance at which the emphasis should
end.
Plane Distance Visualization
Max. Dist. – Sets the boundaries within which you can color in the scan
points around a plane. For this, see chapter 8.4.
Advanced Textures / Offscreen Rendering - With some older graphic
cards, the 3D view might not be displayed correctly. Switching off the
advanced textures and/or offscreen rendering might solve this. When
switching off offfscreen rendering, the stereoscopic view, the clear view, gap
filling and supersampling will not be available anymore.

Options 
Matching
Figure 18-17: Tools  Options – Matching

Place Scan
Settings 
General
Figure 18-18: Tools  Options – Matching  Place Scan Settings
Placement Mode – Select between Target based, Top View or Cloud to Cloud
registration.
Use Sensors – By default, all types of sensors are activated. Deactivate a
checkbox if you do not want this sensor data to be used for registration.
Inclinometer – A scan fit will take the values of the inclinometer into
account.
GPS – Use the available GPS information of point or sphere references for
the scan registration.
Compass – Uses the available compass information as auxiliary
information for the correspondence search.
Altimeter – Uses the available altimeter information as auxiliary
information for the correspondence search.
Auto Clustering – Enable or disable Auto Clustering.
Separation distance – Set the spatial distance between of the automatically
created clusters found by Auto Clustering.
For more information on Auto Clustering, see chapter 6.11.4.
For more information on these settings, see chapter 6.

Expand Plane Settings for the creation of limited planes.

Settings
Figure 18-19: Tools  Options – Matching  Expand Plane Settings
Automatic Detection - This setting only has an effect on the quality of

automatically detected limited planes, particularly on the quality of their
border line.
Setting the slider to Speed (default) will speed up the automatic plane
detection but may result in jagged border lines.
Setting the slider to Quality will improve the border lines but plane detection
may take some time depending on the size of the point selection. If you want
to use the automatically detected planes only for registration you should set
the slider to Speed. If you want to continue processing the detected planes
(e.g. exporting into CAD) you should set the slider to Quality.
The following settings have an effect on the automatic detection as well as on
the manual creation of limited planes.
Max. Distance – The maximum distance of a scan point from the plane.
Max. Normal Diff. – The maximum deviation of the normal in the area
surrounding a scan point from the normal of the plane to be expanded.
Max. Local Normal Diff. – The maximum standard deviation of the normal
in the surrounding area of a scan point.
Planar Test Size – The size of the analyzed surrounding area.
Min. Border Split [m] – Smoothing parameter for the border line in the 3-
dimensional space.
Min Border Split [px] – Smoothing parameter for the border line in the
planar view.
Match Sphere
Settings

Figure 18-20: Tools  Options – Matching  Match Sphere Settings
In Match Sphere Settings, you can define the preferred radii of the used
sphere reference object. You can preset more than one preferred sphere
radius by entering the radii among one another into the text field.
Scan Registration – Select this to see and edit the sphere radii used for the
scan registration.
Forensic Analysis – If you have the Forensic Analysis plugin installed, select
this to see and edit the sphere radii used for the forensic analysis.

Colorize
Settings
Figure 18-21: Tools  Options – Matching  Colorize Settings
Auto Adjust –Applies the automatic adjustment of pictures which corrects

the shift between pictures and scans when applying pictures to a scan. For
more details please see chapter 7.5.
Scans Color Adjustment– In rare circumstances, it may happen that the
edges of the taken pictures are clearly visible in some of the colorized scans
that were recorded with a FARO Focus3D scanner. If you experience such color
distortions, you may enable this option which tries to reduce this effect. After
having enabled the option, you need to re-apply the pictures to the scans.
You should initially start with the slider in the mid-position. If that does not
bring the expected results, try to weaken or intensify the color adjustment by
moving the slider to the left or to the right and apply the pictures again. If the
scans with the color distortions have been recorded under similar illumination
conditions, the same setting may apply for all. If the scans were recorded
under different illumination conditions (e.g. indoor and outdoor), you may
have to find individual settings for the scans. Please note that colorizing the
scans will need more time to complete if this function is enabled. . Therefore,
it should be disabled if not needed.
Defaults – Set the colorize settings to their defaults.

Options 
Language
Figure 18-22: Tools  Options - Language
Automatic language selection – SCENE determines the language according

to the regional settings of Windows.
Manual language selection – Select one of the available languages. Please
note that you may have to install additional fonts.

Options 
Default Filter
Figure 18-23: Tools  Options - Default Filter
When loading a scan for the first time a set of default filters will be applied if
Apply default filter on first load is enabled. It is recommended to leave
this option enabled.
The default filters that will be applied to the scans are the stray point filter
and the dark scan point filter. For more information on these filters, the
settings you can make here and filtering scan points in general, see chapter
7.3.
Options 
Navigation

Figure 18-24: Tools  Options - Navigation
Adjust the speed of movement, the variability of rotation, the behavior of the
mouse wheel and the setting of the rotation point. See chapter 4.3 for a
description of these settings.
18.2.5. Window
Figure 18-25: Window Menu
New Window – Open another view.

Cascade – Arrange windows so they overlap.
Tile Horizontally / Vertically – Arrange windows horizontally or vertically
so that they do not overlap.
Arrange Icons – The minimized views are lined up in the bottom edge of the
view area.
List of views – A list of all the existing views, including the visible and
minimized views.
18.2.6. Help
Contents - Opens the table of contents of the online documentation.

About SCENE - Gives details of the version number and copyright.
Licensing – Opens the License Manager. For more information, see chapter
1.3 and 16.
Online Tutorial – Opens FARO’s YouTube channel where you can find various
SCENE training videos.
Online Support – Opens the FARO online support sites.
18.3. Toolbars
18.3.1. Standard Toolbar
Figure 18-26: Standard toolbar
New – Creates new project or workspace (see chapter 18.2.1)
Open – Opens existing workspace (see chapter 18.2.1)
Save – Saves workspace (see chapter 18.2.1)
Print – Opens the dialog box to select printing options (see chapter
18.2.1)

Help – Opens the table of contents of the online documentation.
Visibility Settings – Used to display the visibility settings of the currently

active view (see chapter 4.4).
3D View – Opens a 3D view of the entire workspace, i.e. all models and
loaded scans, or the project point cloud if available (see chapter 4.3).
Create Correspondence Split View - Opens the correspondence split

view (see chapter 6.5.10).
Project Selector - Opens the project selector (see chapter 2.1).
Overview Map - Opens the overview map (see chapter 4.7).
18.3.2. Planar View Toolbar
Figure 18-27: Planar View toolbar
Mark Range on/off – Emphasize certain ranges of a scan in color. The

settings applied for this are described in chapter 8.5.
Navigation mode – Set navigation mode.
Set scale 100% – Set the scale to 100%.
Select scale – Select the scale from a list of available scales or

by directly entering any scale.
Zoom out – Reduce the scale to see a larger area.
Zoom in – Increase the scale to see more details.
Add documentation object - Select to add a documentation object to

the scan (see chapter 7.4.3).
18.3.3. Point Selection Toolbar
Figure 18-28: Point Selection toolbar
Rectangular selection – Select a rectangular area of scan points.
Linear selection – Select an arbitrarily shaped line of scan points. The

selection has a thickness of one point.
Polygonal selection – Select an arbitrarily shaped area of scan points.

The selection consists of the area that is enclosed by the border line.
Circular selection – Select a circular area of scan points.
Polygonal edge selection – Select an arbitrarily shaped area of scan

points, with the polygon following the visible edge in the scan points.
Elliptical selection - Select an elliptical area of scan points.

New selection – The next selection replaces the existing selection.
Add selection – The next selection is added to the existing selection.
Subtract selection – The next selection is removed from the existing

selection.
Intersect selection – The new selection results from the intersection of

the existing selection and the next selection.
See chapter 7.1 for more information on point selection.
18.3.4. Measurement Toolbar
Figure 18-29: Measurement toolbar
Measurement between objects – Take measurements between objects.
Measurement between scan points – Take measurements between

scan points.
See chapter 8.2 for more information on measurements.
18.3.5. Identify Objects Toolbar
Figure 18-30: Identify Objects toolbar
Circular Flat Target - Create a circular flat target.
Checkerboard Target - Create a checkerboard target.
Sphere - Create a sphere.
Plane - Create a plane.
Slab - Create a slab.
Scan Point - Create a point.

See chapter 7.1 for more information on creating objects with the object
marker tools.
18.3.6. 3D View and Quick View Toolbar
Figure 18-31: 3D View and Quick View toolbar
Observer-based navigation (Fly mode) – When navigating, it seems

as though you are moving. For example, turning to the right has the effect
that you seem to turn to the right and objects from the right margin move
into the center of the image.
Observer-based navigation (Walk mode) - Similar to the fly mode but

the z-value cannot be changed when walking forward.

Object-based navigation (Examine) – When navigating, it seems as

though the objects move while you stand still. For example, turning to the
right has the effect that your entire surroundings seem to turn right and
objects from the center of the image move to the right margin.
Pan – There is no turning available in this navigation mode. Mouse

movements are interpreted as observer movements (Not available in the
quick view).
Standard viewing directions – Sets the viewing direction along

one of the coordinate axes. When using the shift-key, the opposite direction is
set.
Standard viewpoints – Changes the position and viewing

direction to view the complete scene from top, right, back or in an isometric
view. When using the shift-key, a bottom, left, or front view is achieved (Not
available in the quick view).
View all – Changes the position of the observer in such a way, that a
view on all the objects is achieved (Not available in the quick view).
Set rotation point – Select a scan point or object in the 3D view to set
the center of rotation to this point or object. (Not available in the quick view).
Align camera to surface Normal - Pick three points in the view to align
the camera position to an estimated surface defined by the picked points. The
center of rotation will be set to the barycenter of the triangle defined by the
points.
Move camera to 3D point – Pick one point in the view to move the
camera position to that point. The center of rotation will be set to this point.
Go back to last camera position – Move camera to the previous camera

position.
Save 3D view screenshot - Save an image of the current 3D view

content.
Manage viewpoints – Save the current camera position and line of

sight as a viewpoint, so that you can return to it later. In the drop down menu
you can activate the previous or next viewpoint. For more information see
chapter 4.3.4.
Grid - Display or hide a grid to visualize distances and scales. In the

drop down menu further functions are available. Here, you may change the
properties of the grid. See chapter 8.3 for more information.
Documentation Object - Create a documentation object (see chapter

7.4.3).
Polygonal selection – Select an arbitrarily shaped area of scan points.

The selection consists of the area that is enclosed by the border line. The
polygon selection only applies to scan points organized in a row-column order.
If the points of scans and scan point clouds or the project point clouds are
visualized in the same 3D view (combined viewing of the point cloud and scan
points of scans), it only applies on the scan points of the loaded scans. For
3D polygonal selection - The 3D polygon selection tool is similar to the

polygon selection tool above, but only selects points that are organized in a

spatial data structure (points from scan point clouds or the project point
cloud) . For more information, see chapter 7.1.2.
3D brush selector - The 3D brush selection tool can be used similar to

brush tools known from 2D image processing programs and works with scan-
or project point clouds only. Traditional row-column based scan points cannot
be selected with the 3D brush selector. The brush works in three dimensional
spaces, meaning that you can use the mouse to literally paint points which
are going to be selected. Drag the mouse while holding down the left mouse
button in order to paint the points. The 3D brush has the shape of a sphere. A
transparent red circle will highlight the area where the selection sphere is
currently located. Moving the cursor around while having the brush selector
tool activated will highlight the scan points that are currently within the
selection sphere. Use the mouse wheel to modify the radius of the sphere.
Hold the shift key to modify the sphere radius more quickly. For more
Change point size - Change the size of the points in the 3D view.
Select between three preset sizes. A custom point size may be set in the
visibility settings of the 3D view (see chapter 18.3.6).
Toggle gap filler - Enable or disable the gap filler (see chapter 18.3.6).
Toggle supersampling – Enable or disable supersampling (see chapter

18.3.6).
Toggle clear view - Enable or disable the clear view (see chapter
18.3.6).
Create new clipping box - Create a new clipping box in the 3D view
(see chapter 7.2.1).
Toggle application of clipping boxes - Enable or disable clipping of all

available clipping boxes globally. When disabled, the points hidden by the
clipping boxes will be displayed again (see chapter 7.2.4).
18.3.7. Clipping Box Toolbar
Figure 18-32: Clipping box toolbar
Scale manipulators - Select to resize the clipping box. Handles will

appear on the clipping box allowing you to resize it.
Rotation manipulators - Select to rotate the clipping box. Handles will

appear on the clipping box allowing you to rotate it around different axes.
Translation manipulators - Select to move the clipping box. Handles

will appear on the clipping box allowing you to change the position of the box.
Restore previous transformation - Undo the last transformation

change.
Re-apply transformation change - Reapply a transformation change.
Restore initial transformation - Restore the initial transformation of the

clipping box.

Clipping box visibility - Toggle the visibility of the clipping box.
Hide exterior / Hide interior - Select between hiding the points

outside the selected clipping box (hide exterior, this is the default setting) or
inside the selected clipping box (hide interior).
Enable / disable clipping - Enable or disable clipping of the selected

clipping box. When disabled, the points hidden by this box will be displayed
again.
18.3.8. Project Toolbar
Figure 18-33: Project toolbar
Open project – Available if you are working on a local workspace. Opens

the associated scan project.
Share changes – Available if you are working on a local workspace.

Shares your changes made in the local workspace to the scan project.
Create Local Workspace - Available if you are working on the scan

project. Creates a local workspace from the project workspace.
Project history – Shows the version history of the scan project and
provides the possibility to revert to previous versions.
Export project - Available if you are working on the scan project. Export
the scan project as a new scan project to a different location. The exported
project will be cleaned up.
Clean up and compact project - Clean up and compact the scan project
into one single revision in order to save disk space. Note that the scan project
history is deleted when performing a clean-up. All information about the
history of a project will be lost. You will no longer be able to revert the project
to a previous revision after a clean-up was performed.
For more information, see chapters 0.
Create project point cloud - Available if you are working on the scan
project. Creates a comprehensive project point cloud.
Update Project Point Cloud - Available if you are working on the scan
project and if a project point cloud is already available. Updates the project
point cloud according to changes that have been made in the scan project.
Delete project point cloud – Available if you are working on the scan
project and if a project point cloud is already available. Deletes the project
point cloud.
For more information, see chapters 10.
Create and
Upload
SCENE
WebShare
Data

Create WebShare data - Available if you are working on the project.

Creates a SCENE WebShare project from the scan project. For more
Upload WebShare Data - Available if WebShare data exists for the
project. This will start the SCENE WebShare upload which is described in
chapter 12.2.
Create and
Upload
SCENE
WebShare
Cloud Data
Create WebShare Cloud data - Available if you are working on the
project. Creates a SCENE WebShare Cloud project from the scan project.
Upload WebShare Cloud Data - Available if WebShare Cloud data
exists for the project. This will start the upload of the WebShare Cloud
data to the WebShare Cloud. For more information, see chapter 11.2.
18.3.9. Correspondence View Toolbar
Figure 18-34: Correspondence view toolbar
Update correspondences - Clears and reevaluates the correspondence

of selected scans by near references. Found correspondences are getting
forced. Excluded (invisible) scans are ignored in this correspondence search
mode.
Exclude all - Hides all scans.
Include next - Unhides one of the hidden scans. Sequently use will hide
the last unhidden scan again. This allows to circulate through the hidden
scans.
Create Cluster - Groups selected scans or folders by moving them

under a newly created folder.
Disband – Disbands objects under selected folder by moving the objects

to the folder’s parent and deleting the folder itself.
Place Scans – Places all visible scans and opens a ScanManager.
Restore previous transformation - Restores the previous

transformation of the manipulator
Re-apply transformation changes - Reapplies the transformation after

the transformation was reverted by using the restore previous transformation
button.
Restore initial transformation - Restores the initial transformation the

scan had when the manipulator was created.
Increase Manipulator Size - Increases the displayed size of the

manipulator tool of the correspondence view. This function is also available by
pressing the + key on the keyboard’s number pad.

Decrease Manipulator Size - Decreases the displayed size of the

manipulator tool of the correspondence view. This function is also available by
pressing the - key on the keyboard’s number pad.
See chapter 6.3 for more information on the correspondence view.
18.3.10. Correspondence Split View
Figure 18-35: Correspondence split view toolbar
Mark circular flat target - Mark corresponding circular flat targets. The
circular flat target consists of a white circle on a dark background. The mean
point of the circle is used for scan registration.
Mark checkerboard target - Mark corresponding checkerboard targets.

A checkerboard target fit determines the center point of the target’s four
quadrants. This point is used for scan registration.
Mark sphere - Mark corresponding spheres. Spheres should be fully

visible in the scan. Make sure that they are not partly covered by other
objects.
Mark plane - Mark corresponding planes.
Mark slab – Mark corresponding slabs.
Mark scan point – Mark corresponding scan points. Since it is difficult to

pick exactly the corresponding scan points, it is sufficient to pick them as
precise as possible.
Find correspondences between shown scans - SCENE starts to find

correspondences between the found targets.
Force current correspondences between shown scans - SCENE starts

to force the correspondencing targets of the scans being displayed.
Clear correspondences between shown scans - Deletes the

correspondences and the correspondences folder. The targets are not deleted.
Force Correspondence - Mark target objects. SCENE detects that the

newly marked objects are correspondences, and forces them.
Open correspondence view – Opens the Correspondence View for a

rough placement of the scans. See chapter 6.3.
See chapter 6.5.10 for more information on the Correspondence Split View.
18.4. Context Menus
18.4.1. Frequently Used Commands for Objects
Visible – Make the selected object visible or invisible.

Center – Display the selected object in the center and enlarged in the active
view and use it as the center of rotation.
Locate – Display the selected object in the center and enlarged in the active
view.

Set Rotation Point – In the 3D view, the selected object is used as the
center of rotation.
New  Reference on Folder Level – Place a copy of the selected object in
the reference objects folder of the current scan. The copy does not have any
link to a fit object that may exist.
New  Reference on Workspace Level - Place a copy of the selected object
in the reference objects folder of the workspace. The copy does not have any
link to a fit object that may exist.
New  Documentation – Attach a documentation object to the selected
object.
View  3D View – View the selected object in 3D view.
Operations  Correspondences  Delete Correspondences – Deletes the
correspondences of the selected object. You can select to delete user forced,
system found or anti-correspondences. See chapter 6.5.11 for more
information.
Operations  Global System  Set as Global Origin – Sets the local
coordinates of this object as global coordinates, e.g. to export scan points in
different coordinate systems. The object is now marked with a red G to
indicate that it is currently defining the global coordinate system. Reset to
original state by Operations  Global System  Clear Global Origin. For
Export… - Exports the selected object.
Delete – Deletes the selected object.
Rename – Renames the selected object.
Properties – Opens the properties dialog.
Material – Opens the dialog for the material setting.
Figure 18-36: Material settings
Create local material – If enabled, the object has its own material definition
and changes made to it apply to this object only.

Auto apply – The effects of the new settings are applied and displayed
immediately. Otherwise you have to use the button Apply so that your
changes become visible.
Base Color – The base color of objects.
Emissive Color – The color that the object radiates independently. This is
only practical for objects that can radiate their own light.
Specular Color – The color for the reflected highlights of the object.
Shininess – A measure for the shininess of an object. The higher the value,
the clearer and more differentiated the reflected highlights appear.
Transparency – The transparency of an object. The higher the value, the
better you can see through the object.
Ambient Intensity – A measurement for how strongly the undirected
ambient light is reflected.
Using the Initial button you can go back to the initial values if you had
changed the settings using Apply or Auto Apply.
18.4.2. Commands for Fit Objects
Select – The selection that was used to create the fit object is reactivated.
The selection combination mode determines how the new selection results
from the existing selection and the reactivated selection.
Active – A black check mark indicates whether this fit object is the active fit
object of the corresponding object, i.e. whether it is the one that determined
the properties of the corresponding object. An object can have several fit
objects, of which one at the most can be active.
Update – Recalculates the object parameters. The basis for this is again the
selection that was also used to create the fit object.
Delete – Deletes the fit object.
Rename – Renames the fit object.
Properties – Opens the properties dialog.
18.4.3. 3D View
Figure 18-37: Context menu: 3D view
Current Selection – Delete the scan points of the current selection or clear
the selection (only applicable for selected scan points of the scan point clouds
or the project point cloud. For more information, see chapter 7.1.2).
Add Scan Points – Add the scan points of the current selection.

Export
Scan points – Export the visible scan points that are organized in a row-
column order (the scan points of the loaded scans).
3D Selection – Export the selected scan points of scan point clouds or
For more information on exporting scan points, see chapter 9.
Objects – Export objects within the selection. For more information, see
chapter 7.4.5.
Show All Objects – All objects, which have been set to invisible, are reset to
visible.
View All – Changes the observer position and viewing direction in a way that
the view displays all objects and scan points.
Camera
Figure 18-38: Context menu: 3D view  Camera
Normally, the 3D view displays the scan points and objects with the
correct field of view, in other words, objects of the same size appear
smaller with increasing distance (Perspective View). You can also
change the view to orthographic representation. Then, objects of the
same size always appear the same size, regardless of how far away they
are. This type of representation is common in a lot of CAD systems.
Properties…
Figure 18-39: Camera properties
For more information, please see chapter 18.5.2.

Clear View Mode – Turns clear view mode on or off (see chapter 4.3.3).
Scan Point Size Adjustment – The scan points are normally displayed so
that you don’t see the background between two neighboring scan points. Here
you can change this behavior.
Rotation Point (examine navigation mode)
Figure 18-40: Context menu: 3D view  Rotation point
Automatic – During Movement – Automatically sets the rotation point

to the point or object that is currently nearest to the center of the current
field of view. This will be done dynamically while navigating in the view.
Automatic – After Movement – Automatically sets the rotation point to
the point or object that is nearest to the center of the current field of
view. This will be done after movement has stopped.
Manual – The rotation point will not be set automatically. You may set it
manually with the button from the 3D view toolbar.
Use Selected Object – Uses the center of the currently selected object as
the rotation point.
In case the automatic setting of the rotation point and Use

Selected Object are both enabled, Use Selected Object has the
precedence.
Show - Always– Always show the rotation point (the rotation point is
visualized as a red dot in the view).
Show – During Movement – Show the rotation point only when the
point cloud is being moved.
Hide – Never show the rotation point.
Visibility Settings – Open and edit the visibility settings of this view. See
18.4.4. 3D View – Point Selection
This context menu is available for point selections that were made on the
points of scans, not scan point clouds or the project point cloud.
Figure 18-41: Context menu: Selected area
Delete Inside Selection – Delete all scan points inside the selected area.

Delete Outside Selection – Delete all scan points outside the selected area.
Remove Selection – Remove the selection.
18.4.5. Clipping Box
Figure 18-42: Context menu: Clipping box
Set Rotation Point – Sets the rotation point to the center of the clipping
box.
Enabled – Enable or disable clipping of the clipping box.
Hide Exterior – Hide the points that are outside of the clipping box.
Hide Interior – Hide the points that are inside of the clipping box.
3D Selection using active Clipping Boxes –This will select all visible points
in the view by taking the available and active clipping boxes into account.
Create Clipping Boxes along an axis - Creates multiple clipping boxes
along one of the three axes of the selected clipping box.
Visible – Turn visibility of the boundaries of the clipping box on or off.
Import / Export
Figure 18-43: Context menu: Clipping box  Import / Export
Export 3D Selection using active Clipping Boxes – Creates a

selection of scan points on the basis of the active clipping boxes and
exports those points.
18.4.6. Planar View and Quick View

Figure 18-44: Context menu: Planar / Quick view
View – Open the scan in a new view; either as 3D view, quick view (available
in planar view) or in planar view (available in quick view).
Scan Points – Apply filters to the scan or create a new scan from the scan.
Find Objects – automatically detect certain types of objects in the scan.
Export –
Direct Export – Exports the scan point with the settings of the last
export.
Scan points – Export the scan points of the scan.
Scan Properties – Opens the properties dialog of the scan.
Visibility Settings – Open and edit the visibility settings of this view. See
18.4.7. Planar View or Quick View – Point Selection
Figure 18-45: Context menu: Point selection
View – Opens a 3D view of the selected scan points.

Scan Points
Figure 18-46: Context menu: Point selection  Scan Points
Filter – apply filters to the selected scan points.

Delete– Delete all scan points of the current selection.
Push – Move the selected scan points 76.8 meters forward.
Pull – Move the selected scan points 76.8 meters backwards.
Create Scan – Create a new scan from the selected scan points.
Apply Pictures – Apply pictures to the selection of scan points only.
Find Objects – Automatically detect checkerboards, spheres, planes, corner
points, rectangles or lines in the selected scan points

Figure 18-47: Context menu: Point selection  Find Objects
Create Objects – Manually fit object from the selected scan points
Figure 18-48: Context menu: Point selection  Create Objects
Sphere – Perform a sphere fit on the selected scan points.

Sphere Radius – Perform a sphere fit with known radius on the selected
scan points
Plane – Perform a plane fit on the selected scan points.
Slab – Perform a slab fit on the selected scan points
Expand Plane – Starting with the selected scan points, perform an
automatic plane expansion.
Mean Point – Determine the mean point of the selected scan points.
Contrast Mean Point – Create a contrast mean point of the selected
scan points. Usually used for circular flat targets.
Line - Create Lines.
Pipe – Create a pipe.
Mesh – Create a mesh
Region – Create a region.
For more information on the creation of objects, please see chapter 7.4.
Delete Objects – Delete all objects within the selection.
Export – Export the scan points of the selection. For more information on
exporting scan points, see chapter 9.

18.4.8. Picture
Figure 18-49: Context menu: Picture
Loaded – Here a check mark shows whether the data of the picture is loaded.
View – Open a new planar view of the picture.
Operations – Global System - Select to work in the local coordinate system
of the picture. The picture is now marked with a red G to indicate that it is
currently defining the global coordinate system. For more information, see
chapter 15.2.2.
Import/Export
Figure 18-50: Context menu: Picture  Import / Export
Export Objects – Exports all objects under the picture.

Export Picture – Export the picture in its original format or in JPEG
format.
Exchange Picture – Replaces the picture with an imported one.
Apply – Apply the color information of the picture onto the scan. Position,
orientation, and zoom factor of the camera are already known. This command
is only available if the pictures reside inside a scan.
Colorize Scan – Use the color information of the picture onto the scan.
Position, orientation, and zoom factor of the camera are not yet known and
have to be calculated with pairs of matching points. This command is only
available if the pictures reside inside a scan.
Undistort – Remove any so-called barrel or pin-cushion distortions from the
picture. The distortion parameters have to reside inside the picture.

18.4.9. Plane
Figure 18-51: Context menu: Plane

New
Figure 18-52: Context menu: Plane  New
Intersection Point – Creates an intersection point on the plane at the

spot determined by the mouse pointer.
Plane with Border - Creates a new limited plane with border lines from
the point selection that was used to create the selected plane.
Slab By Plane – Create a slab from the plane (see chapter 7.4).
Aligned Clipping Box – Creates a new clipping box aligned to the
selected plane (see chapter 7.2.1).
View Scan Point Dist. – Deviations from a level surface in relation to a
plane are highlighted in color. See chapter 8.4.
Alignment - modifies the overall orientation of the entire workspace
according to the desired alignment of the plane to a cardinal direction (north,
south, east, west, ceiling, ground or custom). See chapter 6.5.5 for more
details.
The remaining commands are described in chapter 18.4.1.
18.4.10. Limited Plane
Figure 18-53: Context menu: Limited plane
Set Border from Selection – The border line of the plane is replaced by the
border line of the selection.
View Scan Point Distance – Analyze the evenness of the surface.
Deviations of the scan points from the plane will be highlighted in different
colors. For more information, see chapter 8.4.
The remaining commands are described in chapter 18.4.9 or 18.4.1.

18.4.11. Plane Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.12. Constraints Object
See chapter 18.4.1.
18.4.13. Constrained Plane Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.14. Slab
All commands of the context menu of a slab can be found in chapters 18.4.1
or 18.4.9.
18.4.15. Slab Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.16. Sphere
Figure 18-54: Context menu: Sphere
New
Figure 18-55: Context menu: Sphere  New
Fit – Only available if a selection of scan points exists. Creates a new fit
from the selected scan points. Both the sphere position and the sphere
radius are ascertained from the scan points.
Fit (fixed radius) – Only available if a selection of scan points exists.
Creates a new fit from the selected scan points with a fixed preset sphere
radius. The sphere position is ascertained from the scan points.
Update Fit – Recalculates the fit of the sphere.
Al further commands are described in chapters 18.4.1 or 18.4.9.

18.4.17. Sphere Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.18. Region
Figure 18-56: Context menu: Region
Select – The selection that was used to create the region is reactivated. The
selection combination mode determines how the new selection results from
the existing selection and the reactivated selection.
Import/Export – Export the region as object.
Delete – Delete the region object. The scan points are not deleted.
All further commands of the context menu of a point can be found in chapters
18.4.1 or 18.4.9.
18.4.19. Point
All commands of the context menu of a point can be found in chapters 18.4.1
or 18.4.9.
18.4.20. Point Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.21. Pipe
All commands of the context menu of a pipe can be found in chapters 18.4.1
or 18.4.9.
18.4.22. Pipe Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.23. Line
All commands of the context menu of a line can be found in chapters 18.4.1
or 18.4.9.
18.4.24. Line Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.

18.4.25. Rectangle
All commands of the context menu of a rectangle can be found in chapters

18.4.1 or 18.4.9.
18.4.26. Rectangle Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.27. Scan
Figure 18-57: Context menu: Scan
Locate – Resumes the initial perspective of the view. In 3D view the rotation
point will be set to the position of the scanner.
Download – Only available with workspaces that were downloaded from a
SCENE WebShare server. This command downloads the scan from the
WebShare server to the project folder on your local hard disk.
New – Create a specific object, folder or duplicate the scan (without objects).
View – Open a new view of the scan.
Loaded – Loads the scan points of the scan. Here a check mark shows
whether the scan points of a scan are loaded.
Operations – Apply several commands to the scan
Figure 18-58: Context menu: Scan  Operations
Registration

Figure 18-59: Context menu: Scan  Operations  Registration
Place Scan – Execute scan alignment for registration.

Fixed Scan – Mark the scan alignment as fixed and exclude it from
further automatic registration attempts
Reference Scan – Set the scan as reference scan.
Find Objects – Detect Checker boards, spheres, planes, corner points,
rectangles or lines in the scan
Filter – Apply filters to the scan (see chapter 7.2)
Preprocessing  Preprocess Scan – Opens the preprocess menu dialog.
With the preprocess option you may apply a series of processing steps such
as filters, automatic object detection or scan placement to the scan. The scan
is automatically loaded, processed, saved and unloaded again. For more
information, please see chapter 6.8.
Correspondences  Delete Correspondences – Deletes the
correspondences of the scan and of its objects. You can select to delete user
forced, system found or anti-correspondences (for more details, please refer
to the registration chapter 6).
Delete Inactive Fits – Deletes all inactive fit objects.
Color/Pictures
Figure 18-60: Context menu: Scan  Operations  Color / Pictures
Apply Pictures – Apply the color information of the picture onto the
scan. Position, orientation, and zoom factor of the camera are already
known. This command is only available if the pictures reside inside a
scan.
Adjust Picture Angles – Adjust the picture angles.
Colorize Scan – Use the color information of the picture onto the scan.
Position, orientation, and zoom factor of the camera are not yet known
and have to be calculated with pairs of matching points. This command is
only available if the pictures reside inside a scan.
Export All Pictures – Exports all pictures of the scan (if the scan has
been recorded in color). Opens a dialog to select the storage location and
the export format of the pictures. You can select between “Original
format” and “jpg”. “Original Format” will export the pictures without

changing their format; “jpg” will convert the pictures and save them as
JPG.
Import All Pictures – Opens a dialog to select the storage location of
the pictures you want to import. This option is only available for scans
which already contain pictures.
Color Contrast Filter – Enhances the dynamic range of the color
pictures.
Restore Grey Image - Remove the color information and restore the
original reflectance values.
Replace Color Overlay – Import a manually edited picture in order to
replace the scan’s initial color overlay with this picture. See chapter 7.5
for more information.
Export Color Overlay – Export the scan’s color overlay as a picture to
your local hard drive.
Point Cloud Tools – Create a scan point cloud from the scan or delete
an existing scan point cloud.
Global System  Set as Global Origin – Select to work in the local
coordinate system of the scan. The scan will be marked with a red G
to indicate that it is currently defining the global coordinate system. For
Import / Export
Figure 18-61: Context menu: Scan  Import / Export
Export
Objects – Export the objects of this scan.
Image – Obtains an overview image from the scan points and saves it in
the file system in the same folder as the scans.
Compensation – Write compensation data in a file.
Scan Parameters – Export the parameters of the scan.
Scan Points – Export the scan points of the selected scan. This applies to
the points of the scan only and does not export the scan points of any
possible scan point cloud.
Scan Point Cloud – Exports the scan point cloud of the selected scan.
Import Compensation – Import compensation file and use immediately. You
may not be able to import a compensation if the scan points were changed by
a filter beforehand and have not been saved again.
Save Objects in Scan – Save the objects of the scan in the scan file.
Save Copy of Scan – Copy the scan to a target directory which is chosen by
the user. For more information, see chapter 3.4.5.

Delete – Deletes the scan from the workspace. The associated file is not
deleted.
18.4.28. Scan Fit
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.29. Scan Folder / Cluster
Figure 18-62: Context menu: Scan folder

SCENE WebShare server. This command downloads the scans within the scan
folder from the WebShare server to your local hard disk.
New – Create a new Documentation Object, Scan Manager, Scan Folder or a
standard folder within the scan folder.
View – Open the scans and objects of the scan folder in the Correspondence
View, in the 3D view or in the structure view.
Load All Scans – Loads all scans, or more precisely, the scan points of the
scans.
Unload All Scans and Pictures – Unloads all scans and pictures. Scan
points and pictures are removed from the memory. The scans are not deleted.
Operations
Figure 18-63: Context menu: Scan folder  Operations

Registration
Figure 18-64: Context menu: Scan folder  Operations  Registration
Cluster – Set scan folder as cluster

Reference Cluster – Set scan folder as reference cluster
Fixed Cluster – Mark the cluster alignment as fixed and exclude it from
further automatic registration attempts.
Place Scans Auto – Places the scans within this cluster (and its sub
clusters). This does not register the cluster itself. For the registration, the
names of the references will be ignored; Correspondences will not be
identified by means of the reference names.
Place Scans (Force By Manual Target Names) - Places scans within
this cluster (and its sub clusters). This does not register the cluster itself.
This command uses the manually created names of reference objects to
identify correspondences.
Correspondence View – Opens the correspondence view.
Create References From Workspace References – Copies all
references of the workspace to this cluster.
Move Clusters to Center of Scans – Moves the center of the cluster
and its sub clusters to the center of their scans. This does not change the
global position of the scans. This function is especially useful when
working with large coordinates.
Check GPS Consistency - Check which GPS positions will not be used
for the registration as they are too far away from the GPS reference
position. See chapter 6.2.1 for more information.
Disband All Clusters - This function will recursively move the contents
of all sub folders to the cluster it was applied on and will remove the
(empty) sub clusters to flatten the hierarchy. This function is useful to
clean up the project after having finished the registration, especially if
auto clustering lead to deep project hierarchies. For more information,
see chapter 6.11.4.
Correspondences
Figure 18-65: Context menu: Scan folder  Operations  Correspondences
Clear Correspondences - Clears correspondences of the scan folder, its

scans and of all objects that belong to its scans. You can select to delete

user forced, system forced, system found or anti-correspondences (for

more details, please refer to the registration chapter 6).
Force Current – Force all already existing correspondences of the scan
folder.
Force by Manual Target Names - Forces correspondences by manually
created reference name.
Preprocessing  Preprocess Scans – Opens the preprocess menu
dialog. With the preprocess option you may apply a series of processing
steps such as filters, automatic object detection or scan placement to the
scans of the scan folder. The scans are automatically loaded one after the
other, processed, saved and unloaded again. For more information,
please see chapter 6.8.
Color/Pictures - Apply the pictures to all the scans within the folder or apply
the color contrast filter.
Delete Inactive Fits – Deletes all the inactive scan fits.
Point Cloud Tools – Create a scan point cloud from the scans within the
scan folder or delete the existing scan point clouds.
Global System  Set as Global Origin – Select to work in the local
coordinate system of the scan folder. The scan folder is now marked with
a red G to indicate that it is currently defining the global coordinate
system. For more information, see chapter 15.2.2.
Import/Export
Figure 18-66: Context menu: Scan folder  Import / Export
Export Scan Points – Export the scan points of the scans in the scan
folder or cluster. This applies to the points of the scans only and does not
export the scan points of any possible scan point cloud. The scans will be
loaded consecutively and unloaded again when the point export is
complete.
Export Scan Point Cloud – Export the scan point cloud of the scans in
the scan folder oder cluster.
Export Objects – Export objects. Note, scans need not to be loaded and
are therefore not loaded automatically.
Export Images – Obtains overview images from the scan points of each
scan and saves these images in the file system in the same folder as the
scans.
Save Objects in Scans – Save the objects of the scans in the corresponding
scan files.
Save Copy of Scans – Copy all scans of the scan folder to another directory.
For more information, see chapter 27.
Delete – Deletes the scan folder and all the scans in it from the workspace.
The files belonging to the scans are not deleted.
Create New Project from Cluster – Creates a new scan project from the
scan folder or cluster.

Figure 18-67: Context menu: Scan manager
Update Scans – Updates the placement of the scans managed by this scan
manager. To see the results of the update you have to open a new scan
manager window.
Lock / Lock All – If you finished your work with all scans in a cluster, you
can lock its scan manager. The relative position of this scans to each other
will not be changed anymore. The cluster itself is still used for the registration
with other clusters or scans outsides the locked cluster
Delete – Deletes the Scan Manager.
Delete Managed Fits – Deletes all objects maintained by this scan manager,
such as registration objects and scan managers from sub folders.
Rename – Renames the scan manager.
Properties – Opens the scan manager.
For more information on registering scans and the scan manager, see chapter
6.
18.4.31. Virtual Scan (3D Picture)
The virtual scan is treated as a normal laser scan. Please see chapter 18.4.27
for all the commands that can be applied to the virtual scan.
Figure 18-68: Context menu: Virtual Scan
Operations  Registration

Figure 18-69: Context menu: Virtual Scan  Registration
Place on Surface – Scales and places the virtual scan in the 3D world using
a plane and corresponding points in the virtual scan and a scan in the 3D
world.
Place in 3D – Upright placement of the virtual scan in the 3D world.
18.4.32. 3D Picture Fit (Fit of a Virtual Scan)
See chapter 18.4.2.
18.4.33. Workspace
Figure 18-70: Context menu: Workspace

SCENE WebShare server. This command downloads the complete content of
the workspace from the WebShare server to your local hard disk.
New – Create a new Point, Sphere, Checkerboard, Circular Flat Target,
Corner Point, Plane, Slab, Documentation Object, Folder or Scan Folder in the
Workspace.
View – Open a 3D view, SCENE WebShare View or Structure View of the
workspace.
3D View – Opens a 3D view with all the loaded scans and CAD models.
Unloaded Scans are not loaded automatically.
WebShare view – Opens WebShare. The workspace will only be
displayed in WebShare if it already has been exported as a WebShare
project.
Structure View – opens a structure view of the workspace.
Operations – See chapter 18.4.29 for more information on the commands
that can be applied to the workspace.
Import/Export

Figure 18-71: Context menu: Workspace  Import / Export
Export Objects – Export objects. Note, scans need not to be loaded and
are therefore not loaded automatically.
Export Images – Obtains the overview images from all the scans in the
workspace. The scans are loaded one after the other, the overview image
is created and saved and then unloaded again.
Export Positions – Saves the position specifications of all scans and
reference objects.
Visibility
Figure 18-72: Context menu: Workspace  Visibility
3D Visibility Settings – Opens the dialog with the default visibility

settings for quick views and 3D views.
Planar View Visibility Settings – Opens the dialog with the default
visibility settings for the planar view.
Layer Manager – Opens the dialog box of the layer manager. See chapter
Create New Project – Creates a new scan project from the workspace.
18.4.34. Snapshot (Focus3D Scanner Administration)
Figure 18-73: Context menu: Snapshot
Administrate – Open the administration view of the snapshot.

Scanner Service Request – Send the snapshot via email to the FARO
Customer Service.
Rename – Rename the snapshot
Erase – Erase the content of the snapshot. All data of the snapshot will be
deleted but the snapshot itself will be kept.
Delete – Delete the complete snapshot.

18.4.35. Viewpoint
Figure 18-74: Context menu: Viewpoint
Activate – Go to the selected viewpoint in the current 3D view.

For more information see chapter 4.4.1.
18.5. Properties
18.5.1. Checkmarks
Some of the properties dialogs employ checkmarks to control the application

of changed settings and of the display of coordinates.
Figure 18-75: Checkmarks
Auto Apply – If selected, new settings are applied and visible

immediately; you do not need to click on the Apply button after changing
the settings.
Global Coordinates – If selected, coordinates are displayed in the global
coordinate system; else they are displayed in the coordinate system of the
scanner (see chapter 15.1).
18.5.2. Frequently Used Properties
General
Figure 18-76: Properties - General
Name – The name of the object. The green traffic light right to the object
name indicates that corresponding objects have been found in other scans. If

corresponding references have not been found no traffic light will be

displayed.
Use for Place Scans, Correspondence Search and Automatic Name –
The object will be used for the registration, correspondence relationships to
this object are enabled and its name will automatically be changed if
corresponding objects have been found or the name of a corresponding object
has been changed.
Local reference objects will have this option activated by default if their name
has not been changed by the user manually.
Use for Place Scans and Correspondence Search – The object will be
used for registering scans, correspondence relationships to this object are
enabled but its name will not be changed automatically. This means that the
name of this object is fixed and corresponding reference objects in other
scans will be named accordingly.
Global reference objects and local references which have been (re-)named
manually will have this option activated by default.
Use for Place Scans – The object will only be used for registering scans but
excluded from any correspondence search. Its name will not be changed
automatically.
Ignore for Place Scans – The object will not be used for registering scans
and is excluded from any correspondence search. Its name will not be
changed automatically.
These options are relevant for the automatic correspondence search and for
the registration of scans.

Layer – The representation layer on which the object is situated.

Select active layer – Enters the currently active representation layer.
Transforma-
tion
Figure 18-77: Properties – Transformation
Position – The translation portion of the transformation

X – To key in a transformation in the x direction.
Y – To key in a transformation in the y direction.
Z – To key in a transformation in the z direction.
Scroll bar – Set the transformation using the mouse. The direction of the
transformation will be the x, y or z coordinate that is highlighted in yellow.
Each tick increments by – Set the increment for the scroll bar.
Rotation Angle – The angle of rotation if the rotation axis is split along the
coordinate axes.
X – The angle of rotation around the x axis.
Y – The angle of rotation around the y axis.
Z – The angle of rotation around the z axis.
Scroll bar – Set a new angle of rotation.
To change a value, you can either enter the required value directly into the
appropriate field, or you first select the field and then use the
corresponding slider to change the value step by step. You can set the
increment using the drop-down box. If you hit the edge with the slider,
simply reselect the field and the slider will return to the center without you
losing your previous changes.
Axis snap – If checked, you can change the rotation for the current axis
independently from the others. This is achieved by changing the order in
which the rotations are applied (see chapter 15.1).

18.5.3. 3D Picture Fit
Figure 18-78: 3D Picture fit properties
Plane – Plane in a scan that is used as a reference to place the virtual scan
and should be created from the surface where the picture has been taken.
Properties – Opens the properties dialog of the plane
Scan – Scan that is used to select the matching points
Properties – Opens the properties dialog of the scan
Matching Points – Shows the matching points in the virtual scan (left
matrix) and the corresponding scan (right matrix).
View – Opens planar views of the scan and the virtual scan and arranges the
windows if no planar view has been open before. Scans that have not been
loaded will be loaded automatically.
Associate Points – Starts the tool to mark pairs of matching points in the
planar view of the virtual scan and in the planar view of the scan
Done – Ends the selection process of matching points.
2D projective deviation - The mean distance between the computed 2D
projection of the marked 3D points and the corresponding points marked in
the picture. The traffic light indicates the quality of this individual criterion. It
is green at values <7.5px, red at values >15px and orange between them.
3D projective deviation – The mean distance between the computed 3D
projection of the marked 2D points and the corresponding 3D points marked
in the scan. The traffic light indicates the quality of this individual criterion. It
is green at values <3mm, red at values >15mm and orange between them.

18.5.4. Constraints Object
Figure 18-79: Constraints object properties
Name – The name of the constraints object.

Scanpoint Distance – A quality parameter of a plane.
Max – The scan point distance of the plane with the highest distance. The
traffic light indicates the quality of this individual criterion. It is green at
values <4mm, red at values >20mm and orange between them.
Mean – The mean value of all managed planes. The traffic light indicates
the quality of this individual criterion. It is green at values <4mm, red at
values >20mm and orange between them.
Constraint Error – Constraints are implemented by functions that are zero if
the .constraint is met. Deviations from zero are called Constraint Error.
Max – Highest value of all constraint functions. The traffic light indicates
the quality of this individual criterion. It is green at values <2.2e-013, red
at values >1e-005 and orange between them.
Mean – Mean value of all constraint functions. The traffic light indicates
the quality of this individual criterion. It is green at values <2.2e-013, red
at values >1e-005 and orange between them.
Planes – Planes used to define constraints.
Plane – Name and path of the plane.
Fixed – Fixed planes are only used to define the constraint but will not be
changed.
Constraints – List of pairs of planes and the constraint chosen for this pair.

Plane 1 – First plane.

Plane 2 – Second plane.
Description – The constraint chosen.
18.5.5. Constrained Plane Fit
Figure 18-80: Constrained plane fit properties
Plane Name – Name of the corresponding plane

Name – Name of the fit (by default named according to the constraints object
that manages this fit)
Normal – The orientation determined by the fit. The orientation is given by
the direction which stands perpendicular to the plane.
Position – The position determined by the fit.
Number of scan points – The number of scan points in the selection used
for the fit. The traffic light indicates the quality of this individual criterion. It is
green at values >80, red at values <20 and orange between them.
Scan point distance – The standard deviation of the distance of the scan
points from the calculated plane. The traffic light indicates the quality of this
individual criterion. It is green at values <4mm, red at values >20mm and
orange between them.
Scan point drift – The average distance of the scan points from the
calculated plane. With this, the scan points above the plane can be averaged
out with the scan points below the plane. The traffic light indicates the quality
of this individual criterion. It is green at values <1mm, red at values >5mm
and orange between them.
Last Constraint – The name and path of the last constraints object that has
been used to manage this fit.

18.5.6. Measurement
Figure 18-81: Measurement properties
Overall Distance – Measured distance. When measuring between two points,

the result will be the point-to-point distance. When using a plane or rectangle,
the measurement is automatically taken perpendicular to this plane or
rectangle. Note that negative distances will occur if the normal of the plane or
rectangle points in opposite direction.
Vertical Distance – Vertical part of the point-to-point distance.
Horizontal Distance – Horizontal part of the point-to-point distance.
Along X – The distance along the x axis of the point-to-point distance.
Along Y – The distance along the y axis of the point-to-point distance.
Show Distance – Select which values shall be shown in the views.
Measure Objects –List of objects that were used for the measurement. List
is empty for point-to-point measurements.

18.5.7. Picture
Figure 18-82: Picture properties
Spherical – A checkmark to indicate spherical pictures.
18.5.8. Pipe
Figure 18-83: Pipe properties
Pipe Name – The name of the pipe.

Axis – The axis of the pipe.
Position – The position of the pipe.
Diameter – The diameter of the pipe.
Length – The length of the pipe.

18.5.9. Pipe Fit
Figure 18-84: Pipe fit properties
Pipe Name – The name of the corresponding pipe.

Name – The name of the fit object.
Axis – The axis determined by the fit.
Diameter – The diameter determined by the fit.
Length – The length determined by the fit.
for the fit.
The traffic light indicates the quality of this individual criterion:
green: >80 points
orange: ≥ 20 and ≤ 80 points
red: <20 points
points from the calculated pipe.
green: < 4mm
orange: ≥ 4mm and ≤ 20mm
red: >20 mm
calculated pipe. With this, the scan points inside the pipe can be averaged out
with the scan points outside the pipe.
green: < 1mm
red: >5 mm

18.5.10. Plane
Figure 18-85: Plane properties
Normal – The orientation of the plane, given by the direction that stands
perpendicular to the plane.
Position – A point of the plane.
18.5.11. Plane Fit
Figure 18-86: Plane fit properties
Plane Name – The name of the corresponding plane. You can enter a name
manually or choose one from the drop down menu. This menu contains the
names of the last 10 fitted planes in other scans and helps choosing the right
name for the registration and accelerates the manual naming process
for the fit.

green: >80 points

red: <20 points
Transversal normal deviation – The standard deviation of the normal,
which is determined using the interim results of the fit. A high standard
deviation indicates that the selected area is not as flat as it should be. There
could be a ripple or there might be other objects in the plane. The standard
deviation is broken down in a transversal and longitudinal deviation.
green: < 1°
orange: ≥ 1° and ≤ 2.29°
red: >2.29°
Longitudinal normal deviation – The standard deviation of the normal in
longitudinal direction.
green: < 1.15°
orange: ≥ 1.15° and ≤ 2.29°
red: >2.29°
points from the plane that has been determined. This is a good measurement
for noise.
green: < 4mm
red: >20 mm
18.5.12. Limited Plane Fit
Figure 18-87: PlaneEx fit properties

Border Points – A list of all the corner points of the plane.

The remaining properties are consistent with the properties of the plane fit.
For more information, please see chapter 18.5.11.
18.5.13. Slab
Figure 18-88: Slab properties
Face – The visible face of the slab object.

Thickness – The thickness of the slab object.
Normal – The orientation of the slab, given by the direction that stands
perpendicular to the slab.
Position – A point of the slab.
18.5.14. Slab Fit
Figure 18-89: Slab fit properties
Slab Name – The name of the corresponding slab. You can enter a name
manually or choose one from the drop down menu. This menu contains the
names of the last 10 fitted slabs in other scans and helps choosing the right
name for the registration and accelerates the manual naming process.

Face – The visible face of the slab object.

Thickness – The thickness of the slab object.
for the fit.
green: >80 points
red: <20 points
Transversal Normal deviation – The standard deviation of the Normal,
which is determined using the interim results of the fit. A high standard
deviation indicates that the selected area is not as flat as it should be. There
could be a ripple or there might be other objects in the plane. The standard
deviation is broken down in a transversal and longitudinal deviation.
green: < 1°
orange: ≥ 1° and ≤ 2.29°
red: >2.29°
Longitudinal Normal deviation – The standard deviation of the Normal in
longitudinal direction.
green: < 1.15°
orange: ≥ 1.15° and ≤ 2.29°
red: >2.29°
points from the plane that has been determined. This is a good measurement
for noise.
green: < 4mm
red: >20 mm

18.5.15. Point
Figure 18-90: Point properties
Position – The position of the point.

Add GPS Position – Add GPS information to the point. See chapter 6.2.1 for
more information.
18.5.16. Point Fit
Figure 18-91: Point fit properties
Point Name – The name of the corresponding point.


for the fit.
For (contrast) mean points:
green: >80 points
red: <20 points
For checkerboard points:
green: >400 points
red: <100 points
GPS Position – Enable to add a GPS position to the object.
Format – Select to enter the GPS position either as coordinates in decimal
degree notation or in UTM format.
Position – the GPS position in decimal degree notation or in UTM format.
Altitude – The altitude above sea level of the position.
Accuracy – The accuracy of the position.
Only bright points – Is set for the contrast mean point of a selection.
Dependencies – When creating an intersection point (see chapter 7.4), the
fit is depending on the properties of the corresponding plane. This
dependency is listed here.
18.5.17. Sphere
Figure 18-92: Sphere properties
Radius – The radius of the sphere.

Position – The position of the sphere mean point.

18.5.18. Sphere Fit
Figure 18-93: Sphere fit properties
Sphere Name – The name of the corresponding sphere.

Radius – The sphere radius determined by the fit.
Position – The position of the sphere mean point determined by the fit.
for the fit.
green: >80 points
red: <20 points
Radius deviation – The standard deviation of the radius, which is
determined using the interim results of the fit.
green: < 1mm
red: > 4mm
Position deviation – The standard deviation of the position of the sphere
mean point, which is determined using the interim results of the fit.
green: < 15mm


red: > 80mm
points from the calculated sphere surface.
green: < 4mm
red: > 20mm
calculated sphere surface. Scan points outside the sphere can be averaged
out with scan point within the sphere.
green: < 1mm
red: > 5mm
GPS Position – see fit of point object in chapter 18.5.16.
18.5.19. Clipping Box
Figure 18-94: Clipping box properties
Clipping – Select between hiding the points outside the clipping box (hide
exterior) or inside the clipping box (hide interior).

Clipping Box enabled – Enable or disable clipping of the clipping box. When
disabled, the points hidden by this box will be displayed again; the color of
the clipping box boundaries and its icon in the structure view change to grey.
Clipping Box visible – toggle visibility of the clipping box. Disabling the
visibility of a clipping box will only hide its boundaries; the clipping box is still
active (if clipping is enabled) and it still has effect on the visibility of the
points in the 3D view.
18.5.20. Documentation Object
Figure 18-95: Documentation object properties
Position - determines the position of the documentation object in the

workspace.
Description – detailed information about the documentation object.
Hyperlinks – hyperlinks to files or web sites. Add a new hyperlink by
entering its address into the lower text field, then press Add. You can change
the order of the hyperlinks with Up / Down, delete them with Remove or
open them by double clicking on the list item or by selecting the Open
button.

18.5.21. Scan Folder
Figure 18-96: Scan folder properties –General
Name – The name of the scan folder.

Layer – The representation layer in which the scan folder is located.
Assign layer to all contained objects – All the scans of the scan folder
take on the representation layer of the scan folder.
Figure 18-97: Scan folder properties –Folder
Cluster – Determine the scan folder as a cluster.

Reference Cluster – Determine the cluster as the reference cluster
Fixed Cluster – Mark the cluster alignment as fixed and exclude it from
further automatic registration attempts.

Figure 18-98: Scan Manager
Name – The name of the scan manager.

Managed by – Name of the super ordinate scan manager.
Locked – as soon you finished your work with this cluster, you can lock its
scan manager.
Sub Manager – List of the subordinate scan managers.
The scan manager also informs whether external references were used for the
registration or not.
The traffic lights next to the scan managers indicate whether they contain
good or failed scan fits. If a traffic light next to a scan manager is red, this
means that this scan manager contains bad scan fits. Green means that all
the quality criteria are met. Amber shows that at least one quality criterion is
somewhat compromised. If there is a symbol next to a scan manger or a
scan fit, this means that registration could not be executed because of e.g.
missing references.
If you want to see the critical fits of a subordinate scan manager, double click
onto this scan manager (in this example the scan manager of cluster “floor1”)
to open it. Switch to the tab Scan Results.

Figure 18-99: Scan manager –Scan Results
The tab Scan Results gives you a list of all scan fits managed by the scan
manager and shows the overall quality of each registration. This is symbolized
by a traffic light too. Double-clicking on a fit object in the list opens its
properties dialog.
The average tension of each registration is calculated in the Mean Target
Tension column of this table: the lower the value, the better the registration
result. Here you can easily see which registrations failed or which registration
results are bad (in this example the first two scan fits have an amber traffic
light, so they seem not to be optimal). To identify the critical reference pairs
which are responsible for the bad fit, you can switch to tab Ref. Tensions.
Correspondence View – opens the correspondence view with all the scans
that are managed by the scan manager.
Correspondence Split View – opens the correspondence split view.

Figure 18-100: Scan manager - Target Tensions
Tab Target Tensions shows all reference pairs used for the scan placement,
sorted by their tension. The value Tension describes the discrepancy in the
global coordinate system between the position and the orientation of the two
corresponding reference objects in Scan 1 and Scan 2. With reference points
the distance between the positions of the two reference points serves as input
for the calculation of the tension. With planes, slabs or pipes the position and
the direction of the objects serve as input for the calculation of this value.
Values close to zero indicate a good registration result. Here, you can easily
identify reference pairs which are causing problems in the registration (in this
example the reference “Pipe1” in the scans FARO_LS096_016 and
FARO_LS096_017 seems to cause the problem). Clicking on the scan name
selects the corresponding reference in this scan, double clicking opens the
reference’s properties.
Weighted Tensions – Global references and inclinometer data have higher
weightings in the registration algorithm. When you activate this option, these
different weightings will be considered in the calculation of the tensions.
will be displayed.
Weighted Statistics
Deviation – Deviation over all tensions.
Min. – Minimum tension
Max. – Maximum tension
Figure 18-101: Scan manager – Scan point Tensions
Tab Scan Point Tensions shows all reference cluster pairs used for the scan
placement.

The value Mean describes the discrepancy between the two corresponding
referenced clusters.
will be displayed.
Overall Statistics
<4 mm – Deviation smaller than 4 mm, displayed in percent. This value
gives a quick overview on the overall quality of the registration.
18.5.23. Scan
Depending on the used scanner type, the scan properties dialog might have
different tabs. On the following pages the scan properties dialog will be
described for scans recorded with the FARO Laser Scanner.
Scan
Figure 18-102: Scan properties
Size – The number of columns and rows. If a scan is loaded in reduced

resolution, the reduced number of columns and rows is displayed and, in light
grey underneath, the complete number of columns and rows.
Data loaded – Indicates whether the scan is loaded.
Reference Scan – Indicates whether the scan is used as a reference scan for
registration.

Scan Fixed – Mark the scan alignment as fixed and exclude it from further
automatic registration attempts.
Scanner Dist. Range – range of the scanner.
Scanner Position – The position of the scanner with the mirror being the
point of origin.
Orientation Axis – Rotation axis of the scan.
Orientation Angle – The scan’s angle of rotation.
Recording Date – The time the scan was recorded.
Scan Origin Info – Additional information on the origin of the scan, for
example, where it was recorded and information about issues (scanner
warnings or errors) that occurred during recording of the scan.
Info – Further details that were provided when recording.
General
Figure 18-103: Scan properties – General
Name – Name of the scan. Scans cannot be renamed.

Layer – The representation layer in which the scan is located.
Assign layer to all contained objects – All the objects of the scan take on
the representation layer of the scan.
Transformation
See chapter 15.2.1.

Scan area
Figure 18-104: Scan properties – Scan Area
Selected Profile – The scan profile that was selected for the recording of the
scan (only available for FARO Focus3D scanners).
Angular Area – The recorded angular area.
Vertical – The vertical angular area.
Horizontal – The horizontal angular area.
Resolution – The resolution of the scan, measured in fractions of the
maximum resolution.
Quality – The quality setting that was selected for the recording of the scan.
This setting has influence on the quality respectively on the noise of the scan
data. The corresponding measurement rate is displayed too (in 1000 points
per second).

Filters
Clear Sky – Checked if the Clear Sky Filter was applied during the recording
of the scan.
Clear Contour – Checked if Clear Contour Filter was applied during the
recording of the scan
Scan Size – Number of rows and columns.
Resolution – The resolution of the scan. You can select between:
File Size – File size of the scan.

Distance Range – is not available for scans taken with the FARO Focus3D X
V6 scanner.
Changing the Distance Range settings may help to reduce saturation.
Distange Range slider set to low: Recommended for scanning high reflective
objects up to 10 meters.
Distange Range slider set to default: Recommended for most scanning
situations.
Distange Range slider set to high: Recommended for scanning objects up to
330 meters yet the accuracy of the data of nearby objects (up to 10 meters)
may be affected.

Operation This tab is only available for scans taken with the FARO Laser Scanner LS, the
FARO Laser Scanner Photon or the FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D.
Figure 18-105: Scan properties - Operation
Name – The name of the project or the order.

Company – The client’s company name.
Division – The client’s or order’s division.
Subdivision – The client’s or order’s sub-division.
Area – The scanned area.
Info – Additional information.
Min. Reflection – The reflection value limit set when recording.

Project This tab is only available for scans taken with the FARO Laser Scanner Focus 3D
X.
Figure 18-106: Scan properties - Project
This tab shows information about the scan project. This information was given
before the scan was recorded.
Project Name – The name of the project / or sub-project that was assigned
to the scan.
Customer – Information about the potential project customer.
Additional Information – Additional information provided for the project.

Operator
Figure 18-107: Scan properties - Operator
The FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D allows to create operator profiles with
names, contact details and further information. While scanning, it also allows
to specify the operator who is currently working with the scanner. This
information will then be saved in the meta data of the recorded scans and is
shown on this tab. It might be useful for the person who is post processing
the scans; especially when there are several scanner operators working on
the same scan project.
You can still add or change this information when processing the scans in
SCENE.

Scanner Info
Figure 18-108: Scan properties – Scanner Info
Scanner – The name of the scanner.

Revision – The revision number which is allocated during servicing.
Scanner Type – The type of scanner.
Serial Number – The serial number of the scanner.
Range – The range of the scanner.
Compensation – The name of the compensation file.

Scanner
Settings
Figure 18-109: Scan properties – Scanner Settings
This tab contains some compensation data of the scanner.

Sensors
Figure 18-110: Scan properties - Sensors
Inclinometer
Use – Enable or disable the use of the inclinometer data for registration.
Inclinometer Axis – Shows the up direction of the inclinometer in the
scan system.
Inclinometer Angle – Shows the angle between the z-axis and the
inclinometer axis in the scan system.
Ignore Measurement – Overwrites the inclinometer axis and the angle
with values that level the scan.
Transformation mismatch – Shows the difference between the z-axis
defined by the inclinometer and the z-axis defined by the scan’s
transformation.
Compass
Use – Enable or disable the use of the compass data for the
Compass Axis – Shows the orientation of the scan in the scan system.
Compass mismatch – Shows the difference between the orientation
defined by the compass and the orientation defined by the scan’s
transformation.

Altimeter
Use – Enable or disable the use of the altimeter data for correspondence
search.
Measured Height – The height measured by the altimeter of the scanner
based on a given reference height.
Global Positioning System (GPS) – the values measured by the scanner’s
GPS sensor.
Position (lat./long.) –GPS position in longitude and latitude.
Position (UTM) – GPS position in UTM coordinates.
Measured Height – Height above sea level.
Transformation mismatch - Shows the difference between the position
defined by the GPS data and the position defined by the scan’s
transformation.
Advanced – Shows the raw data from the GPS sensor.
Place using Sensors – Restores the initial placement of the scan according
to the measurements of the various sensors.
Camera This tab is only available for scans taken with the FARO Laser Scanner LS or
the FARO Laser Scanner Photon.
Figure 18-111: Scan properties - Camera
Camera Mount – Type of the camera bracket that has been used for taking a
colored scan.

Non-winding is the old, fixed type for scans taken with FARO Photon and
LS scanners and the type for all scans taken with FARO Focus3D scanners.
No parallax is the new mount with the sliding mechanism.
No parallax, with pins is the camera mount with the sliding mechanism
and pins that fit into the bushes on the side of newer FARO Laser
Scanners. Please that older models of the FARO Laser Scanner are not
equipped with these bushes.
Camera Orientation - Camera orientation
Top – The camera was fixed in the top position of the mount bracket:
Therefore the camera was pointing slightly upwards when taking pictures.
Horizontal – The camera was fixed in the lower position of the mount
bracket and therefore oriented horizontally.
Exposure
Manual - Exposure time, exposure index, and f-number is set directly at
the camera.
By Scanner - The scanner determined a balanced exposure setting.
Correction - Correction factor for the exposure settings that have been
determined by the scanner.
Color This tab is only available for scans taken with the FARO Laser Scanner
Focus3D.
Figure 18-112: Scan properties – Color

Scan with Color – Checked if the scan was recorded in color.

Exposure Metering Mode – The exposure metering mode used to take the
color pictures when colored scan recording was switched on:
Even Weighted Metering - The light information coming from the entire
scene without giving special weighting to a particular area was used to
determine the exposure settings of the camera.
Horizon Weighted Metering - The light information coming from the
horizon was used to determine the exposure setting of the camera.
Zenith Weighted Metering - The light information coming from above
the scanner was used to determine the exposure setting of the camera.
18.5.24. Scan Fit
Figure 18-113: Scan fit properties
Scan Name – Name of the scan. Scans cannot be renamed.

Transformation
Position – The calculated position of the scan.
Orientation Axis – The calculated rotation axis of the scan.
Angle – The calculated angle of rotation of the scan.
Klick the Used Settings button to check which registration method was
performed.
Global Coordinates – see chapter 18.5.1.

Figure 18-114: Target Tensions properties
Normalized Tension - In most cases, this value is identical to the Point

Distance (see below). It is only different if you have reference coordinates
based on GPS measurements. For example if you use a GPS device to
measure the position of a reference spheres, the position of the spheres is not
very accurate. In consequence, the scan fit cannot be as good as it normally
is, and would show very large deviations.
In such cases the indicator of the scan fit quality should not base on this,
therefore the Normalized Tension puts a lower weight on the GPS reference
positions, leading to smaller numbers for the tension.
Point distance – The standard deviation of the distance between the local
reference points and their corresponding references.
green: < 10mm
red: > 20mm
Point drift – The mean value of the deviations between the local reference
points and their corresponding references. In contrast to viewing purely the
distance, the direction of the deviation is also taken into account here.
Deviations can therefore cancel each other out.
green: < 1mm
red: > 5mm
Long. mismatch – The standard deviation of the longitudinal distance
between the local reference points and their corresponding references. The
longitudinal distance is the difference between the distance values to the
scanner.
green: < 10mm


red: > 20mm
Angular mismatch – The standard deviation of the angular distance between
the local reference points and the corresponding references. The angles are
measured in the local coordinate system of the scanner.
green: < 0.08°
orange: ≥ 0.08° and ≤ 0.17°
red: > 0.17°
Orthogonal mismatch – The standard deviation of the orthogonal distance
between the local reference points and the corresponding references. This is a
way to express the angular mismatch as distance mismatch.
Inclinometer mismatch – Angular difference between the calculated
orientation axis and the axis defined by the inclinometer.
green: < 1°
orange: ≥ 1° and ≤ 5°
red: > 1°
List of targets used
Object – The name of the reference object. If reference object is a specific
real reference, the full path of the corresponding object will be displayed;
if referenced object is a virtual mean reference (mean reference from
several scans) only its name will be displayed.
Distance – The distance between the local reference point and the
corresponding global reference.
Long. – The longitudinal distance between local reference point and the
Angular – The angular distance between the local reference point and the
Orth. – The orthogonal distance between the local reference point and the
The traffic light here is green if a minimum of three references (including
the inclinometer) are available; it’s red if there are less than three
references.
When you press the View button, a 3D view will open which gives you an
overview of the placement of the scanner and the local and global references.

Figure 18-115: Overview of references
18.5.25. Virtual Scan (3D Picture)
Figure 18-116: Virtual scan properties

19. Error Messages
The application must be started once by someone with sufficient privilege to

register controls. Otherwise several modules won't work as expected. You
should at least have "Power User" rights. – SCENE must be started at least
once by a power user or administrator to ensure all functions can be executed
smoothly.
Version of model is not supported – The workspace was saved with a later
version of SCENE and cannot be read by your version. Use a later version of
SCENE.
Version of scan is not supported – The scan was saved with a later version
of SCENE and cannot be read by your version. Use a later version of SCENE.
Failed to rename 'Scan’. Renaming scan files is not permitted! – You
cannot rename scans.
One or several objects failed to read in successfully. Please check
properties of marked objects. – The workspace contains scans that do not
exist as a file.
Not all contents of 'Object' were copied successfully. One or several
children are bound to their original location. – When copying objects that
were created by a fit, it is not possible to also copy the fit object to the new
location.
The move request was rejected, because either ‘Object’ or one of its
children is bound to its current location. – Some objects cannot be
moved or copied to different locations, for example fit objects, or unloaded
pictures.
337 | Chapter 19: Error Messages

20. Frequently Asked Questions
Why can I not rename scans?

Scans in the workspace must have the same name as the corresponding scan
file on your data medium. You cannot rename the scan file at the same time
as the scan in the workspace because scans can be used in several
workspaces simultaneously.
Why do I always get the message "Load data reduced size" when
loading scans?
Please check the settings under Tools  Options  Scan Data. The maximum
scan size permitted is set there. You can lift the size restriction by setting the
setting to unlimited.
Why is the scan loaded even when starting a quick view?
The quick view is normally saved in the scan. If this is not the case for a scan,
SCENE has to first load the scan before it can display the quick view. If the
security settings permit it, SCENE then writes the quick view in the scan, so
that next time you open the quick view, it is no longer necessary to load.
When I call the context menu, why do I sometimes get the dialog to
select the object?
If several objects are lying next to one another or objects are lying within the
selection, SCENE has to ask which object you mean.
Why can I no longer load some scans?
Some virus scanners have problems with the extensive scan files. Disable the
virus scanner when working with SCENE.
Why do I get a black window when opening the 3D view?
SCENE requires a graphics card that supports OpenGL 2.0 or higher. If your
graphics card supports older versions only, the 3D view might not work on it.
Switching off the advanced textures and/or offscreen rendering under Tools 
Options  View might solve this. When switching off advanced textures, the
stereoscopic view is not available anymore. When switching off offfscreen
rendering, the stereoscopic view, the clear view and gap filling are not
available anymore.
Why is the rendering performance in the 3D view slow or intermitted?
On systems equipped with NVIDIA Quadro graphics processors, rendering
performance in 3D view might be slow or intermitted. In order to improve
rendering performance, start the NVIDIA Control Panel application
(available in the Windows Control Panel) and select the global preset 3D
App – Game Development from the Global Settings tab.
Why don’t I get the most current position and orientation when I
open an fls scan file in a 3rd party application?
Point data and transformation information for scans may be stored in separate
revisions. If you want to make sure that an fls scan file contains the most
current transformation, you need to use the command Save Copy of
Scans(s) in the context menu of the scans or scan folders.
Please also visit the FARO Customer Service area on the Web at www.faro.com
to search our technical support database.
Chapter 20: Frequently Asked Questions| 338

Technical Support
If you have any problem using one of our products, please follow these steps
before contacting our Technical Support Team:
 Be sure to read the relevant sections of the documentation to find the help
you need.
 Visit the FARO Customer Care area on the Web at www.faro.com to search
our technical support database. This is available 24 hours a day 7 days a
week.
 Document the problem you are experiencing. Be as specific as you can.
The more information you have, the easier the problem will be to solve.
 If you still cannot resolve your problem, have your device’s Serial Number
available before calling.
 You can also e-mail or fax any problems or questions 24 hours a day.
E-Mails or Faxes sent outside regular working hours usually are answered
before 12:00 p.m. the next working day. Should our staff be on other
calls, please leave a voice mail message; calls are always returned within
24 hours. Please remember to leave a detailed description of your question
and your device’s Serial Number. Do not forget to include your name, fax
number, telephone number and extension so we can reach you promptly.
North Support Hours (Monday through Friday)

America
8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
e-Mail: support@faro.com
Phone: +1 800 736 2771, +1 407 333 3182 (Worldwide)
Mexico: 866-874-1154
Fax: +1 407-562-5294
Europe Support Hours (Monday through Friday)
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central European Standard Time
(CET)
e-Mail: support@faroeurope.com
Phone: +800 3276 7378, +49 7150 9797-400 (Worldwide)
Fax: +800 3276 1737, +49 7150 9797-9400 (Worldwide)
Asia Support Hours (Monday through Friday)
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Singapore Standard Time (SST)
e-Mail: supportap@faro.com
Phone: +1 800 511 1360, +65 6511 1350 (Worldwide)
Fax: +65 6543 0111
Japan Support Hours (Monday through Friday)
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Japan Standard Time (JST)
e-Mail: supportjapan@faro.com
Phone: +81 561 63 1411 (Worldwide)
Fax: +81 561 63 1412
i
China Support Hours (Monday through Friday)

8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. China Standard Time (CST)
e-Mail: supportchina@faro.com
Phone: +400.677.6826
Fax: +86 21 6494 8670
India Support Hours (Monday through Friday)
9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. India Standard Time (IST)
e-Mail: supportindia@faro.com
Phone: 1800.1028456
Fax: +91 11.4646.5660
ii
Appendix A: Software License Agreement
This Software License Agreement is part of the Operating Manual for the
product and software System which you have purchased from FARO
TECHNOLOGIES INC. (collectively, the “Licenser”). By your use of the
software you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this Software
License Agreement. Throughout this Software License Agreement, the term
“Licensee” means the owner of the System.
I. The Licensor hereby grants the Licensee the non exclusive right to use
the computer software described in this Operating Manual (the
“Software”). The Licensee shall have no right to sell, assign, sub-
license, rent or lease the Software to any third party without the
Licenser’s prior written consent.
II. The Licenser further grants the Licensee the right to make a backup
copy of the Software media. The Licensee agrees that it will not
decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, copy, transfer, or otherwise
use the Software except as permitted by this Agreement. The Licensee
further agrees not to copy any written materials accompanying the
Software.
III. The Licensee is licensed to use the Software only in the manner
described in the Operating Manual. Use of the Software in a manner
other than that described in the Operating Manual or use of the Software
in conjunction with any non-Licenser product which decompiles or
recompiles the Software or in any other way modifies the structure,
sequence or function of the Software code, is not an authorized use, and
further, such use voids the Licenser’s set forth below.
IV. The only warranty with respect to the Software and the accompanying
written materials is the warranty, if any, set forth in the
Quotation/Purchase Order and Warranty Appendix B pursuant to which
the Software was purchased from the Licenser.
V. THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR

IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
WITH RESPECT TO THE SOFTWARE AND WRITTEN MATERIALS. IN NO
EVENT WILL THE LICENSER BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY
LOST PROFITS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE,
NOTWITHSTANDING THAT THE LICENSER HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, THE LICENSER WILL NOT BE LIABLE
FOR ANY SUCH CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY.
VI. In the event of any breach by the Licensee of this Agreement, the
license granted hereby shall immediately terminate and the Licensee
shall return the Software media and all written materials, together with
any copy of such media or materials, and the Licensee shall keep no
copies of such items.
VII. The interpretation of this Agreement shall be governed by the following

provisions:
This Agreement shall be construed pursuant to and governed by the

substantive laws of the State of Florida (and any provision of Florida law
shall not apply if the law of a state or jurisdiction other than Florida would
otherwise apply).
iii
If any provision of this Agreement is determined by a court of competent

jurisdiction to be void and non-enforceable, such determination shall not
affect any other provision of this Agreement, and the remaining
provisions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. If any
provision or term of this Agreement is susceptible to two or more
constructions or interpretations, one or more of which would render the
provision or term void or non-enforceable, the parties agree that a
construction or interpretation which renders the term of provision valid
shall be favored.
This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement, and supersedes all
prior agreements and understandings, oral and written, among the
parties to this Agreement with respect to the subject matter hereof.
VIII. If a party engages the services of an attorney or any other third party or
in any way initiates legal action to enforce its rights under this
Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover all
reasonable costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees
before trial and in appellate proceedings).
iv
Appendix B: Purchase Conditions
All Purchase Orders (hereafter, the “Order”) for FARO-provided products and
services (hereafter, the “Product”) are subject to the following terms and
conditions, which are agreed to by the Purchaser. All capitalized terms are
defined in Section 8.00 Definitions hereafter.
1.00 Payment of Purchase Price

1.01 Purchaser hereby promises to pay to the order of FARO all deferred
portions of the Purchase Price, together with interest on late purchase price
payments payable at 1.5% per month (18% per annum).
1.02 The Purchaser grants to FARO a security interest in the products sold
pursuant to the Order, which may be perfected by UCC-1 Financing
Statements to be recorded in the applicable County of the Purchaser’s
business location and filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, which security
interest will remain in effect until payment in full of the purchase price
together with interest on late purchase price payments payable thereon had
been received by FARO.
1.03 If the Purchaser fails to make full payment of the purchase price within
the period set out in the Order, FARO shall at its option have the following
remedies, which shall be cumulative and not alternative:
a) the right to cancel the Order and enter the Purchaser’s premises to re-
take possession of the Product, in which event the Purchaser agrees that
any down-payment or deposit shall be forfeited to FARO, as liquidated
damages and not as a penalty, and all costs incurred by FARO in
connection with the removal and subsequent transportation of the Product
shall be payable by the Purchaser upon written demand;
b) the right to enter the Purchaser’s premises and remove any Software,
components of the Product or other items necessary in order to render
the Product inoperative;
c) the right to withhold all services which would otherwise be required to
be provided by FARO pursuant to the Warranties set out in Section 4.00
Warranties and Limitation of Liability hereof;
d) terminate any existing software license agreement and
e) pursue any other available remedy, including suing to collect any
remaining balance of the purchase price (i.e., accelerate the payment of
the purchase price causing the entire balance to immediately become due
and payable in full).
f) Customer will be charged a 20% restocking fee for refusal to accept
equipment as delivered. Equipment must be returned unopened within 10
business days of receipt at customer facility.
1.04 If Purchaser fails to make payment(s) in accordance with the terms of
this Order, the Purchaser’s Products may be rendered inoperable until such
payment terms are met.
No waiver by FARO of its rights under these conditions shall be deemed to
constitute a waiver of subsequent breaches or defaults by the Purchaser. In
the event more than one Product is being purchased pursuant to the Order,
unless otherwise set forth herein, each payment received by FARO from
Purchaser shall be applied pro rata against the cost of each product rather
than being applied to the purchase price of any product.
v
2.00 Delivery and Transportation

2.01 Delivery dates are estimates and not guarantees, and are based upon
conditions at the time such estimate is given.
2.02 FARO shall not be liable for any loss or damage, whether direct, indirect
or consequential, resulting from late delivery of the Product. The Purchaser’s
sole remedy, if the Product is not delivered within 90 days of the estimated
delivery date, shall be to cancel the Order and to recover from FARO without
interest or penalty, the amount of the downpayment or deposit and any other
part of the purchase price which has been paid by the Purchaser.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, such right of cancellation shall not extend to
situations where late delivery is occasioned by causes beyond FARO’s control,
including, without limitation, compliance with any rules, regulations, orders or
instructions of any federal, state, county, municipal or other government or
any department or agency thereof, force majuere, acts or omissions of the
Purchaser, acts of civil or military authorities, embargoes, war or insurrection,
labor interruption through strike or walkout, transportation delays and other
inability resulting from causes beyond FARO’s control to obtain necessary
labor, manufacturing facilities or materials from its usual sources. Any delays
resulting from such causes shall extend estimated delivery dates by the
length of such delay.
2.03 Responsibility for all costs and risks in any way connected with the
storage, transportation and installation of the Product shall be borne entirely
by the Purchaser. If any disagreement arises as to whether or not damage to
the Product was in fact caused in storage, transit or on installation, the
opinion of FARO’s technical advisors, acting reasonably, shall be conclusive.
3.00 Installation and Operator Training

3.01 The Purchaser shall be responsible for installation of the Product,
including, without limitation, the preparation of its premises, the uncrating of
the Product and setting up of the Product for operation. Purchaser may elect
to order contract services from FARO to perform this service should they elect
to do so.
4.00 Warranties and Limitation of Liability

4.01 FARO warrants that (subject to Section 4.06), the Product shall be free
from defects in workmanship or material affecting the fitness of the Product
for its usual purpose under normal conditions of use, service and
maintenance. A complete statement of FARO’s maintenance/ warranty service
is set forth in Appendix B: Purchase Conditions.
4.02 FARO warrants that the Software shall operate according to
specifications and the System shall operate and perform in the manner
contemplated in connection with the usual purpose for which it is designed.
4.03 The maintenance/warranty set out in paragraphs 4.01 shall expire at the
end of the twelve (12) month period commencing on the date of shipment
from the FARO factory (the “Maintenance/Warranty Period”).
4.04 Subject to the limitations contained in Section 4.06, the Warranties shall
apply to any defects found by the Purchaser in the operation of the Focus3D
and reported to FARO within the Maintenance/Warranty Period. If the Focus3D
or the Software is found by FARO, acting reasonably, to be defective, and if
the defect is acknowledged by FARO to be the result of FARO’s faulty material
or workmanship, the Focus3D will be repaired or adjusted to the extent found
by FARO to be necessary or at the option of FARO, replaced with a new
Focus3D or parts thereof at no cost to the Purchaser.
vi
4.05 Claims under the Warranties shall be made by delivering written notice
to FARO of the defect in the System, the Focus3D. Within a reasonable time of
receipt of such notice, FARO shall have the System and Focus 3D diagnosed by
its service personnel, and maintenance/ warranty service will be provided at
no cost to the Purchaser if the System and Focus3D is found by FARO to be
defective within the meaning of this Section. (If, in the reasonable opinion of
FARO after diagnosis of the system and the Focus3D are not defective, the
Purchaser shall pay the cost of service, which shall be the amount that FARO
would otherwise charge for an evaluation under a non-warranty service
evaluation.
4.06 The Warranties do not apply to:
a) Any defects in any component of a System where, if in the reasonable
opinion of FARO, the Focus3D, Software or System has been improperly
stored, installed, operated, or maintained, or if Purchaser has permitted
unauthorized modifications, additions, adjustments and/or repair to any
hard drive structure or content, or any other part of the System, or which
might affect the System, or defects caused or repairs required as a result
of causes external to FARO workmanship or the materials used by FARO.
As used herein, “unauthorized” means that which has not been approved
and permitted by FARO.
b) The Warranties shall not cover replacement of expendable items,
including, but not limited to, fuses, diskettes, printer paper, printer ink,
printing heads, disk cleaning materials, or similar items.
c) The Warranties shall not cover minor preventive and corrective
maintenance, including, but not limited to, replacement of fuses, disk
drive head cleaning, fan filter cleaning and system clock battery
replacement.
d) Any equipment or its components which was sold or transferred to any
party other than the original Purchaser without the expressed written
consent of FARO.
4.07 Factory Repairs
a) IF SYSTEM IS UNDER MAINTANENCE/WARRANTY: The Purchaser
agrees to ship the Product to FARO in the original packing containers.
FARO will return the repaired or replacement Product. FARO will incur the
expense of the needed part and all return shipping charges to the
Purchaser. FARO may authorize the manufacturer of a component of the
Product to perform the service.
b) IF SYSTEM IS UNDER PREMIUM SERVICE PLAN: When practical and
subject to availability, FARO will make available to the Purchaser
substitute component parts or Focus3D’s (“Temporary Replacements”)
while corresponding parts of the Purchaser’s system or Focus 3D are
undergoing repair at FARO’s factory. Shipping charges for these
“Temporary Replacement” parts or Focus3D’s will be the responsibility of
FARO.
c) IF SYSTEM IS NOT UNDER MAINTANENCE/WARRANTY:
The Purchaser is responsible for the cost of the replacement part or
software, and all shipping charges. All charges shall be estimated and
prepaid prior to commencement of repairs.
4.08 Nothing herein contained shall be construed as obligating FARO to make
service, parts, or repairs for any product available after the expiration of the
Maintenance/Warranty Period.
vii
4.09 Limitation of Liability

FARO shall not be responsible under any circumstances for special,
incidental or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, injury
to or death of any operator or other person, damage or loss resulting
from inability to use the System, increased operating costs, loss of
production, loss of anticipated profits, damage to property, or other
special, incidental or consequential damages of any nature arising from
any cause whatsoever whether based in contract, tort (including
negligence), or any other theory of law. FARO’s only liability hereunder,
arising from any cause whatsoever, whether based in contract, tort
(including negligence) or any other theory of law, consists of the
obligation to repair or replace defective components in the System or
Focus3D subject to the limitations set out above in this section.
This disclaimer of liability for consequential damage extends to any such
special, incidental or consequential damages which may be suffered by
third parties, either caused directly or indirectly resulting from test results
or data produced by the system or any component thereof and the
Purchaser agrees to indemnify and save FARO harmless from any such
claims made by third parties.
4.10 The foregoing shall be FARO’s sole and exclusive liability and the
Purchaser’s sole and exclusive remedy with respect to the system. THE SOLE
RESPONSIBILITY OF FARO UNDER THE WARRANTIES IS STATED HEREIN AND
FARO SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, WHETHER THE CLAIM IS FOR BREACH OF
WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHERWISE. OTHER THAN THE EXPRESS
WARRANTIES HEREIN STATED, FARO DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS.
4.11 FARO does not authorize any person (whether natural or corporate) to
assume for FARO any liability in connection with or with respect to the
Products. No agent or employee of FARO has any authority to make any
representation or promise on behalf of FARO, except as expressly set forth
herein, or to modify the terms or limitations of the Warranties. Verbal
statements are not binding upon FARO.
4.12 The Maintenance/Warranties extend only to the Purchaser and are
transferable, only under the following conditions:
The Focus3D is currently under maintenance/warranty.
New owner is, or becomes, a certified user.
A FARO maintenance/warranty transfer form is completed, and submitted to
Customer Service.
All claims under the Warranties must originate with the Purchaser, or any
subsequent owner, and the Purchaser will indemnify and save FARO harmless
from any claims for breach of warranty asserted against FARO by any third
party.
4.13 Oral representations of FARO or its sales representatives, officers,
employees or agents cannot be relied upon as correctly stating the
representations of FARO in connection with the system. Refer to this purchase
order, any exhibits hereto and any written materials supplied by FARO for
correct representations.
4.14 PURCHASER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT HAS PURCHASED THE SYSTEM
BASED UPON ITS OWN KNOWLEDGE OF THE USES TO WHICH THE SYSTEM
WILL BE PUT. FARO SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OR LIABILITY
RELATED TO THE FITNESS OF THE SYSTEM FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE
viii
OR ARISING FROM THE INABILITY OF THE PURCHASER TO USE THE SYSTEM

FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
5.00 Design Changes

5.01 The Focus3D, the Software and the System are subject to changes in
design, manufacture and programming between the date of order and the
actual delivery date. FARO reserves the right to implement such changes
without the Purchaser’s consent, however, nothing contained herein shall be
construed as obligating FARO to include such changes in the Focus 3D,
Software or System provided to the Purchaser.
6.00 Non-Disclosure
6.01 All Software including, without limitation, the Operating System Program
and any FARO special user programs, provided to the Purchaser as part of the
system, either at the time of or subsequent to the delivery of the Focus 3D, is
the intellectual property of FARO. The Purchaser shall not reproduce or
duplicate, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, sell, transfer or assign,
in any manner the Software or permit access to or use thereof by any third
party. The Purchaser shall forthwith execute any further assurances in the
form of non-disclosure or licensing agreements which may reasonably be
required by FARO in connection with the software.
7.00 Entire Agreement / Governing Law / Miscellaneous /Guarantee

7.01 These Purchase conditions constitute the entire agreement between
FARO and the Purchaser in respect to the Product. There are no
representations or warranties by FARO, express or implied, except for those
herein contained and these conditions supersede and replace any prior
agreements between FARO and the Purchaser.
7.02 No representative of FARO has any authority to modify, alter, delete or
add to any of the terms or conditions hereof. Any such modifications shall be
absolutely void unless made by instrument in writing properly executed by an
actual authorized employee or agent of FARO.
7.03 The terms and conditions hereof shall be binding upon FARO and the
Purchaser, and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of
Florida, United States of America.
7.04 FARO shall be entitled to recover all of its reasonable fees and costs
including, but not limited to, its reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by FARO
in connection with any dispute or litigation arising thereunder or in connection
herewith, including appeals and bankruptcy or creditor reorganization
proceeds.
7.05 These conditions shall not be construed more strictly against one party
than another as a result of one party having drafted said instrument.
8.00Definitions
8.01 “FARO” means FARO Technologies, Inc.
8.02 “Purchaser” means the party buying the Product and who is legally
obligated hereunder.
8.03 “Software” means all computer programs, disk drive directory
organization and content, including the computer media containing such
computer programs and disk drive directory organization and content, sold
pursuant to the Order.
ix
8.04 “Product” means the Focus3D, the Software, operating manuals and any
other product or merchandise sold pursuant to the Order. If the Purchaser is
buying only a Focus3D, or the Software, Product will mean the product being
purchased by the Purchaser pursuant to the Order.
8.05 “System” means a combination of the Focus 3D, the Software, the
Computer, and optional parts and accessories associated with the Focus 3D.
8.06 “Purchase Order” means the original document issued from the
Purchaser to FARO, listing all parts and/or services to be purchased and the
agreed purchase price.
x
Appendix C: Industrial Products Service Policy
A one-year maintenance/warranty comes with the purchase of new FARO

manufactured hardware products. Supplemental Service Plans are also
available at additional cost. See Appendix D: Industrial Service Policy for
further details.
FARO Hardware under Maintenance/ Warranty
The following is a summary of what services can be obtained under the

original warranty or Supplemental Service Plan.
1 Factory repairs on FARO-manufactured hardware products.
2 Factory repairs are targeted for completion within 7 (FaroArms) or 14 (Laser
Trackers and Laser Scanners) working days of FARO’s receipt of the defective
item. The customer is responsible for returning the hardware to FARO in the
original packing container or custom case.
3 FARO will return the hardware via 2-day air service to the Continental U.S.
Outside the Continental U.S., FARO will return the hardware to the customs
broker via 2-day air service. Expedited service can be arranged at the
customer’s expense.
4 Upon expiration of original warranty a Supplemental Service Plan may be
purchased and can be renewed annually on FARO-manufactured hardware
products.
5 All Supplemental Service Plans will be due for renewal at the end of the
month in which the Service Plan or warranty was purchased, plus 12 months.
6 The original warranty and Supplemental Service Plan are transferable to
subsequent owners under certain conditions:
o The Focus3D is currently under the original warranty and Supplemental
Service Plan.
o New owner is, or becomes, a certified user.
o A FARO Transfer of Original Warranty or Service Plan Agreement form
is completed and submitted to Customer Service.
FARO Hardware NOT under Maintenance/Warranty
Factory assessments and repairs on FARO-manufactured products will follow

the following procedure:
1 The customer obtains a service number from FARO’s Customer Service
Department.
2 The customer sends the part to FARO with the service number on the label
along with payment or a corporate purchase order for system testing and
evaluation, which includes calibration and recertification.
3 The payment will be applied toward the total service cost beyond the initial
payment. The estimated repair cost will be given to the customer prior to the
repair. The total cost must be paid prior to beginning the service.
4 System testing and evaluation can take up to 30 days. FARO manufactured
part repairs can take up to 60 days. However, the part will be scheduled for
service as soon as it arrives at FARO’s factory.
xi
5 The customer is responsible for all shipping charges to and from FARO,
including import and export fees for international customers.
FARO Software
All FARO Software users will receive maintenance releases until the end of life
for the version at no charge electronically or at a minimal fee for the
computer media package. All enhancement and functionality upgrades will be
available for purchase upon release.
Hardware & Software Training
FARO’s training program is designed to instruct trainees in the operation of

FARO’s hardware and software, which the customer has purchased. The
training classes are set up for each trainee to obtain valuable hands on
application exposure. This will help the trainees in their everyday use of the
hardware and software. FARO also feels that once the trainee completes the
training, finding solutions to problems or applying applications will be simpler.
Details are as follows:
1 The training class will prepare attendees to successfully attain an operators
certification (see Certification Requirements section for more details).
2 The fee schedules for advanced additional training courses can be obtained
from Customer Service, or the Sales department.
Certification Requirements
The Focus3D operator’s inherent ability to understand 3D concepts may be in

their background training. However, the precision with which the operator
performs 3D measurements with the Focus3D is critical in establishing the
accuracy and repeatability of the results of subsequent measurements.
In order to establish the proficiency of Focus3D operators, FARO has instituted
an Operator Certification program, where each operator’s knowledge and
understanding of the Focus3D is evaluated. The successful operator is awarded
a certificate which identifies him/her as an accredited Focus3D operator. The
requirements are as follows:
1 Attend a FARO-conducted basic training course, either at a FARO Facility or
on site at your facility.
2 Certification will be awarded once the class has been completed, and then
the certified user will be registered for hardware and software support.
To certify an operator, call FARO’s Training Department, 800.736.0234 (North
America), +1 407.333.9911 (Worldwide), for updated information.
Focus3D Repair Fee Schedule
(Out of Maintenance/ Warranty Owners Only!)
System Testing and Evaluation Fee - Contact your local FARO Service
Center for pricing.
A fee is charged for any system testing and evaluation. This includes system
diagnosis, calibration and/or recertification, and applies to all Focus3Ds.
However, this fee does not include disassembly/repair costs if required. An
estimated cost for disassembly/repair will be given to the customer prior to
the repair. The disassembly/repair charges must be paid in full prior to the
actual disassembly/repair. However, if no repairs are needed the fee will be
xii
applied to the cost of system testing and evaluation. All evaluations contain a
recertification. Re-certification will be performed on an “as needed” basis.
Contact your local FARO Service Center for the current system testing and
evaluation fee pricing.
Repair Times
Calibration and/or Recertification Only - Can take up to 14 days to complete.

Disassembly and Repair - Can take up to 60 days to complete. This time is
dependent on the supply of purchased components.
*Includes Calibration and Recertification
xiii
xiv
Appendix D: Industrial Service Policy
This Service Plan (hereafter, the “Plan”) is part of the Operating Manual for
the FARO manufactured product purchased from FARO TECHNOLOGIES INC.
(hereafter, “FARO”). The Plan and all of the optional additions, are subject to
the conditions in Appendices A, B, & C, and are subject to change. This
appendix refers to FARO’s service plans as written in the sales advertising
literature, and is meant to provide additional details that the literature does
not permit.
1.00 The purchase of the Plan shall occur with the purchase of the FARO
products.
1.01 The plan shall apply to systems exclusively created or authored by
FARO.
1.02 The plan shall include FARO product hardware only, and can not be
extended or transferred through the sale of any part of the system to a
third party unless the entire system has been sold or transferred.
1.03 The plan shall not cover Hardware or Software which has been
subjected to misuse or intentional damage. FARO reserves the right to
determine the condition of all returned Hardware and/or Software.
1.04 FARO shall determine the service method and contractor to service/
repair all hardware which is not directly manufactured by FARO. All outside
contractor terms and conditions are available from FARO and are
incorporated herein by reference.
1.05 FARO shall not be responsible for any non-FARO authored software
which inhibits the operation of the system. Furthermore the plan will not
cover the re-installation of any software.
1.06 The Hardware and Software are subject to changes in design,
manufacture, and programming. All updates are as follows:
a. Hardware - The Focus3D and all of the associated optional parts,
and the Computer are not subject to updates.
b. Software - All computer programs, authored by FARO, which are
used in conjunction with the FARO provided Hardware, will be
updated (maintenance upgrades) for the life of the Purchaser’s
current version. All enhancement and functionality upgrades must
be purchased.
c. 3rd Party Software - All computer programs not authored by FARO
will not be updated under the Plan. The purchaser is responsible for
the acquisition of all 3rd party software updates and warranty
service or claims.
1.07 In the event that FARO replaces any product or replacement product,
FARO retains all right, title, and interest in and to all products or portions
of products that were replaced by FARO.
2.00 Definitions
2.01 “FARO” means FARO Technologies, Inc.
2.02 “Purchaser” means the party buying the Product and who is legally
obligated hereunder.
2.03 “Software” means all computer programs, disk drive directory
organization and content, including the diskettes containing such computer
programs and disk drive directory organization and content, sold pursuant
to the Order.
xv
2.04 “Product” means the Focus3D, the Software, operating manuals and
any other product or merchandise sold pursuant to the Order. If the
Purchaser is buying only the Focus3D, or the Software, Product will mean
the product being purchased by the Purchaser pursuant to the Order.
2.05 “System” means a combination of the Focus3D, the Software, the
Computer, and optional parts associated with the Focus 3D.
2.06 “Hardware” means the Focus3D and all of the associated optional
parts, and the Computer if provided by FARO.
2.07 “Software” means all computer programs, authored by FARO, which
are used in conjunction with the FARO provided Hardware. The following is
a layman’s definition of the coverage.
Standard Service Plans
All shipping times below are to destinations within the Continental United
States. Outside the Continental U.S., FARO will ship equipment directly to the
customs broker.
 Standard Service Plans are contracted at time of purchase or at any time
while a unit is covered by a FARO hardware service plan (as described in
more detail later).
 The Standard Service Plan covers the Focus3D and controller box.
 Shipping costs, including insurance from the Purchaser to FARO are the
responsibility of the Purchaser. FARO will be responsible for all return
shipping costs including insurance.
 All reasonable efforts will be made to keep the service repair time within 7
(FaroArm) or 14 (Laser Tracker and Laser Scanner) working days. The
equipment will be returned via 2-Day air service, therefore, total service
repair time will vary due to return shipping location.
 Since the Focus3D is designed to be used with many other software
packages not authored by FARO, this service plan can be purchased in its
entirety to cover only FARO produced or authored products. For items not
produced or authored by FARO, the customer is responsible for securing
their own separate warranty or service plan coverage.
Hardware Coverage
Focus3D
Covered
 All parts and labor for Focus3Ds failing under normal use as described in
Appendix B.
 Annual calibration and re-certification of the Focus3D.
Not Covered
 Misuse
 Intentional damage
 Wear and tear of probes, ball bars, auxiliary hardware products such as
cables, wrenches, hex keys, screwdrivers, etc.
Computer
Covered
 FARO contracts with 3rd party service providers for this service for up to 3
years. The terms and conditions of FARO’s contract with the provider apply
herein and are incorporated herein by reference.
xvi
 Typically, these services include repair of the computer, memory cards,

and video monitors.
Not Covered
 All exclusions contained in the 3rd party service providers policy which is
incorporated herein by reference.
 Software operating system installation.
 User intentional or unintentional removal of key software property or files.
Software Coverage
Covered
Periodically, FARO Technologies may release maintenance updates of its
proprietary software. This will be supported through the life of the product
version. All enhancement and functionality upgrades will be available in the
next full version for a fee.
Not Covered
End users are responsible for the procurement and installation of 3rd party
authored or S/W updates as required to use with FARO authored software
products, unless FARO Technologies resold these packages to the end user as
an authorized reseller. Examples of 3rd party authored S/W are: DOS,
Windows, AutoCAD, AutoSurf, SurfCAM and others.
Premium Service Plans
The Premium Service Plans additionally provide loaner Focus3Ds and
Computers when service is required. All equipment shipping costs are paid for
by FARO (both ways). FARO will make its best effort to ship all loaner
Focus3Ds within 24 hours of the receipt of the purchasers request. Once the
need for a service has been verified by FARO, FARO will make its best effort to
ship all loaner computers within 72 hours of the receipt of the purchaser’s
request.
xvii
Implementation Notes
paintlib
SCENE contains paintlib code. paintlib is copyright (c) 1996-2000 Ulrich von
Zadow.
libtiff
Copyright (c) 1988-1997 Sam Leffler

Copyright (c) 1991-1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc.
JPEG
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
KissFFT
Copyright (c) 2003,4 Mark Borgerding
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or
other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the author nor the names of any contributors may be used to endorse
or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written
permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED
AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Open Source Computer Vision Library

Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, Intel Corporation, all rights reserved.
Third party copyrights are property of their respective owners.
xviii

Redistribution's of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistribution's in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or
other materials provided with the distribution.
The name of Intel Corporation may not be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors "as is" and
any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are
disclaimed. In no event shall the Intel Corporation or contributors be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages
(including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services;
loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on
any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including
negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software,
even if advised of the possibility of such damage.
GPL
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 3, 29 June 2007
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <http://fsf.org/>

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license
document, but changing it is not allowed.
Preamble
The GNU General Public License is a free, copyleft license for software and
other kinds of works.
The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take
away your freedom to share and change the works. By contrast, the GNU
General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and
change all versions of a program--to make sure it remains free software for
all its users. We, the Free Software Foundation, use the GNU General Public
License for most of our software; it applies also to any other work released
this way by its authors. You can apply it to your programs, too.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our
General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom
to distribute copies of free software (and charge for them if you wish), that
you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the
software or use pieces of it in new free programs, and that you know you can
do these things.
To protect your rights, we need to prevent others from denying you these
rights or asking you to surrender the rights. Therefore, you have certain
responsibilities if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it:
responsibilities to respect the freedom of others.
xix
For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for
a fee, you must pass on to the recipients the same freedoms that you
received. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source
code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
Developers that use the GNU GPL protect your rights with two steps:
(1) assert copyright on the software, and (2) offer you this License giving you
legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify it.
For the developers' and authors' protection, the GPL clearly explains that
there is no warranty for this free software. For both users' and authors' sake,
the GPL requires that modified versions be marked as changed, so that their
problems will not be attributed erroneously to authors of previous versions.
Some devices are designed to deny users access to install or run modified
versions of the software inside them, although the manufacturer can do so.
This is fundamentally incompatible with the aim of protecting users' freedom
to change the software. The systematic pattern of such abuse occurs in the
area of products for individuals to use, which is precisely where it is most
unacceptable. Therefore, we have designed this version of the GPL to prohibit
the practice for those products. If such problems arise substantially in other
domains, we stand ready to extend this provision to those domains in future
versions of the GPL, as needed to protect the freedom of users.
Finally, every program is threatened constantly by software patents. States
should not allow patents to restrict development and use of software on
general-purpose computers, but in those that do, we wish to avoid the special
danger that patents applied to a free program could make it effectively
proprietary. To prevent this, the GPL assures that patents cannot be used to
render the program non-free.
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification
follow.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
0. Definitions.
"This License" refers to version 3 of the GNU General Public License.
"Copyright" also means copyright-like laws that apply to other kinds of works,
such as semiconductor masks.
"The Program" refers to any copyrightable work licensed under this License.
Each licensee is addressed as "you". "Licensees" and "recipients" may be
individuals or organizations.
To "modify" a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the work in a
fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the making of an exact
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would make you directly or secondarily liable for infringement under
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activities as well.
xx
To "convey" a work means any kind of propagation that enables other parties
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An interactive user interface displays "Appropriate Legal Notices" to the extent
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1. Source Code.
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The Corresponding Source need not include anything that users can
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The Corresponding Source for a work in source code form is that same work.
2. Basic Permissions.
All rights granted under this License are granted for the term of copyright on
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You may make, run and propagate covered works that you do not convey,
without conditions so long as your license otherwise remains in force. You
xxi
may convey covered works to others for the sole purpose of having them
make modifications exclusively for you, or provide you with facilities for
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in conveying all material for which you do not control copyright. Those thus
making or running the covered works for you must do so exclusively on your
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Conveying under any other circumstances is permitted solely under the
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No covered work shall be deemed part of an effective technological measure
under any applicable law fulfilling obligations under article 11 of the WIPO
copyright treaty adopted on 20 December 1996, or similar laws prohibiting or
restricting circumvention of such measures.
When you convey a covered work, you waive any legal power to forbid
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4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.

You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive
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that this License and any non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7
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give all recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you
may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.
5. Conveying Modified Source Versions.

You may convey a work based on the Program, or the modifications to
produce it from the Program, in the form of source code under the terms of
section 4, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
a) The work must carry prominent notices stating that you modified it, and
giving a relevant date.
b) The work must carry prominent notices stating that it is released under this
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c) You must license the entire work, as a whole, under this License to anyone
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with any applicable section 7 additional terms, to the whole of the work, and
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xxii
d) If the work has interactive user interfaces, each must display Appropriate
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A compilation of a covered work with other separate and independent works,
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its resulting copyright are not used to limit the access or legal rights of the
compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. Inclusion of a
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6. Conveying Non-Source Forms.

You may convey a covered work in object code form under the terms of
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Corresponding Source under the terms of this License, in one of these ways:
a) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a
physical distribution medium), accompanied by the Corresponding Source
fixed on a durable physical medium customarily used for software
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b) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a
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least three years and valid for as long as you offer spare parts or customer
support for that product model, to give anyone who possesses the object code
either (1) a copy of the Corresponding Source for all the software in the
product that is covered by this License, on a durable physical medium
customarily used for software interchange, for a price no more than your
reasonable cost of physically performing this conveying of source, or (2)
access to copy the Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge.
c) Convey individual copies of the object code with a copy of the written offer
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d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated place (gratis
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A "User Product" is either (1) a "consumer product", which means any
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xxiii
dwelling. In determining whether a product is a consumer product, doubtful

cases shall be resolved in favor of coverage. For a particular product received
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"Installation Information" for a User Product means any methods,
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If you convey an object code work under this section in, or with, or
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Corresponding Source conveyed under this section must be accompanied by
the Installation Information. But this requirement does not apply if neither
you nor any third party retains the ability to install modified object code on
the User Product (for example, the work has been installed in ROM).
The requirement to provide Installation Information does not include a
requirement to continue to provide support service, warranty, or updates for a
work that has been modified or installed by the recipient, or for the User
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be denied when the modification itself materially and adversely affects the
operation of the network or violates the rules and protocols for
communication across the network.
Corresponding Source conveyed, and Installation Information provided, in
accord with this section must be in a format that is publicly documented (and
with an implementation available to the public in source code form), and must
require no special password or key for unpacking, reading or copying.
7. Additional Terms.
"Additional permissions" are terms that supplement the terms of this License
by making exceptions from one or more of its conditions. Additional
permissions that are applicable to the entire Program shall be treated as
though they were included in this License, to the extent that they are valid
under applicable law. If additional permissions apply only to part of the
Program, that part may be used separately under those permissions, but the
entire Program remains governed by this License without regard to the
additional permissions.
When you convey a copy of a covered work, you may at your option remove
any additional permissions from that copy, or from any part of it. (Additional
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when you modify the work.) You may place additional permissions on
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Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, for material you add to a
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material) supplement the terms of this License with terms:
xxiv
a) Disclaiming warranty or limiting liability differently from the terms of

sections 15 and 16 of this License; or
b) Requiring preservation of specified reasonable legal notices or author
attributions in that material or in the Appropriate Legal Notices displayed by
works containing it; or
c) Prohibiting misrepresentation of the origin of that material, or requiring
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assumptions directly impose on those licensors and authors.
All other non-permissive additional terms are considered "further restrictions"
within the meaning of section 10. If the Program as you received it, or any
part of it, contains a notice stating that it is governed by this License along
with a term that is a further restriction, you may remove that term. If a
license document contains a further restriction but permits relicensing or
conveying under this License, you may add to a covered work material
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restriction does not survive such relicensing or conveying.
If you add terms to a covered work in accord with this section, you must
place, in the relevant source files, a statement of the additional terms that
apply to those files, or a notice indicating where to find the applicable terms.
Additional terms, permissive or non-permissive, may be stated in the form of
a separately written license, or stated as exceptions; the above requirements
apply either way.
8. Termination.
You may not propagate or modify a covered work except as expressly
provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to propagate or modify it
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(including any patent licenses granted under the third paragraph of section
11).
However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your license from a
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copyright holder explicitly and finally terminates your license, and (b)
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Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated
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reasonable means, this is the first time you have received notice of violation
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violation prior to 30 days after your receipt of the notice.
Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the licenses
of parties who have received copies or rights from you under this License. If
your rights have been terminated and not permanently reinstated, you do not
qualify to receive new licenses for the same material under section 10.
xxv
9. Acceptance Not Required for Having Copies.

You are not required to accept this License in order to receive or run a copy of
the Program. Ancillary propagation of a covered work occurring solely as a
consequence of using peer-to-peer transmission to receive a copy likewise
does not require acceptance. However, nothing other than this License grants
you permission to propagate or modify any covered work. These actions
infringe copyright if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying
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to do so.
10. Automatic Licensing of Downstream Recipients.

Each time you convey a covered work, the recipient automatically receives a
license from the original licensors, to run, modify and propagate that work,
subject to this License. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by
third parties with this License.
An "entity transaction" is a transaction transferring control of an organization,
or substantially all assets of one, or subdividing an organization, or merging
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You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the rights
granted or affirmed under this License. For example, you may not impose a
license fee, royalty, or other charge for exercise of rights granted under this
License, and you may not initiate litigation (including a cross-claim or
counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that any patent claim is infringed by
making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the Program or any
portion of it.
11. Patents.
A "contributor" is a copyright holder who authorizes use under this License of
the Program or a work on which the Program is based. The work thus
licensed is called the contributor's "contributor version".
A contributor's "essential patent claims" are all patent claims owned or
controlled by the contributor, whether already acquired or hereafter acquired,
that would be infringed by some manner, permitted by this License, of
making, using, or selling its contributor version, but do not include claims that
would be infringed only as a consequence of further modification of the
contributor version. For purposes of this definition, "control" includes the
right to grant patent sublicenses in a manner consistent with the
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Each contributor grants you a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free patent
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In the following three paragraphs, a "patent license" is any express
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(such as an express permission to practice a patent or covenant not to sue for
patent infringement). To "grant" such a patent license to a party means to
make such an agreement or commitment not to enforce a patent against the
party.
xxvi
If you convey a covered work, knowingly relying on a patent license, and the
Corresponding Source of the work is not available for anyone to copy, free of
charge and under the terms of this License, through a publicly available
network server or other readily accessible means, then you must either (1)
cause the Corresponding Source to be so available, or (2) arrange to deprive
yourself of the benefit of the patent license for this particular work, or (3)
arrange, in a manner consistent with the requirements of this License, to
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means you have actual knowledge that, but for the patent license, your
conveying the covered work in a country, or your recipient's use of the
covered work in a country, would infringe one or more identifiable patents in
that country that you have reason to believe are valid.
If, pursuant to or in connection with a single transaction or arrangement, you
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A patent license is "discriminatory" if it does not include within the scope of its
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may not convey a covered work if you are a party to an arrangement with a
third party that is in the business of distributing software, under which you
make payment to the third party based on the extent of your activity of
conveying the work, and under which the third party grants, to any of the
parties who would receive the covered work from you, a discriminatory patent
license (a) in connection with copies of the covered work conveyed by you (or
copies made from those copies), or (b) primarily for and in connection with
specific products or compilations that contain the covered work, unless you
entered into that arrangement, or that patent license was granted, prior to 28
March 2007.
Nothing in this License shall be construed as excluding or limiting any implied
license or other defenses to infringement that may otherwise be available to
you under applicable patent law.
12. No Surrender of Others' Freedom.

If conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse
you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot convey a covered work
so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any
other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not convey it at
all. For example, if you agree to terms that obligate you to collect a royalty
for further conveying from those to whom you convey the Program, the only
way you could satisfy both those terms and this License would be to refrain
entirely from conveying the Program.
13. Use with the GNU Affero General Public License.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this License, you have permission to
link or combine any covered work with a work licensed under version 3 of the
GNU Affero General Public License into a single combined work, and to convey
the resulting work. The terms of this License will continue to apply to the part
which is the covered work, but the special requirements of the GNU Affero
General Public License, section 13, concerning interaction through a network
will apply to the combination as such.
xxvii
14. Revised Versions of this License.

The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the
GNU General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will be
similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new
problems or concerns.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program
specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU General Public License
"or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms
and conditions either of that numbered version or of any later version
published by the Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a
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version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.
If the Program specifies that a proxy can decide which future versions of the
GNU General Public License can be used, that proxy's public statement of
acceptance of a version permanently authorizes you to choose that version for
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Later license versions may give you additional or different permissions.
However, no additional obligations are imposed on any author or copyright
holder as a result of your choosing to follow a later version.
15. Disclaimer of Warranty.

THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE
COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS
IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED,
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YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST
OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
16. Limitation of Liability.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO
MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR
INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS
OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED
BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE
WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
17. Interpretation of Sections 15 and 16.

If the disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability provided above cannot
be given local legal effect according to their terms, reviewing courts shall
apply local law that most closely approximates an absolute waiver of all civil
liability in connection with the
Program, unless a warranty or assumption of liability accompanies a copy of
the Program in return for a fee.
xxviii
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
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If you, the owner of the scanner, like to get a copy of the source code of GPL
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LGPL
SCENE includes the following applications and libraries, which are covered by
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• Linux API
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• Eigen
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 3, 29 June 2007
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <http://fsf.org/>

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license
document, but changing it is not allowed.
This version of the GNU Lesser General Public License incorporates the terms
and conditions of version 3 of the GNU General Public License, supplemented
by the additional permissions listed below.
0. Additional Definitions.
As used herein, "this License" refers to version 3 of the GNU Lesser General
Public License, and the "GNU GPL" refers to version 3 of the GNU General
Public License.
"The Library" refers to a covered work governed by this License, other than
an Application or a Combined Work as defined below.
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The "Minimal Corresponding Source" for a Combined Work means the
Corresponding Source for the Combined Work, excluding any source code for
portions of the Combined Work that, considered in isolation, are based on the
Application, and not on the Linked Version.
xxix
The "Corresponding Application Code" for a Combined Work means the object
code and/or source code for the Application, including any data and utility
pro-grams needed for reproducing the Combined Work from the Application,
but ex-cluding the System Libraries of the Combined Work.
1. Exception to Section 3 of the GNU GPL.

You may convey a covered work under sections 3 and 4 of this License
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2. Conveying Modified Versions.

If you modify a copy of the Library, and, in your modifications, a facility refers
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b) under the GNU GPL, with none of the additional permissions of this License
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3. Object Code Incorporating Material from Library Header Files.

The object code form of an Application may incorporate material from a
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limited to numerical parameters, data structure layouts and accessors, or
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you do both of the following:
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4. Combined Works.
You may convey a Combined Work under terms of your choice that, taken
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d) Do one of the following:
xxx
0) Convey the Minimal Corresponding Source under the terms of this License,
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for conveying Corresponding Source.)
5. Combined Libraries.
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a) Accompany the combined library with a copy of the same work based on
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b) Give prominent notice with the combined library that part of it is a work
based on the Library, and explaining where to find the accompanying
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6. Revised Versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License.

The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the
GNU Lesser General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will
be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address
new problems or concerns.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Library as you
received it specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU Lesser
General Public License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option
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License ever published by the Free Software Foundation.
If the Library as you received it specifies that a proxy can decide whether
future versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License shall apply, that
proxy's public statement of acceptance of any version is permanent
authorization for you to choose that version for the Library.
Written Offer
xxxi
If you, the owner of the scanner, like to get a copy of the source code of LGPL
covered parts of the scanner’s firmware, please contact our support team
sup-port@faroeurope.com. This offer is valid for three years and valid for as
long as FARO offers spare parts or customer support for this product model.
GEOTRANS
The product was developed using GEOTRANS, a product of the National

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and U.S. Army Engineering Research
and Development Center.
Chromium Embedded Framework
Copyright (c) 2008-2013 Marshall A. Greenblatt. Portions Copyright (c)

2006-2009 Google Inc. All rights reserved.

 Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the name Chromium Embedded
Framework nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or
promote products derived from this software without specific prior written
permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED
AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
xxxii
Trademarks
FARO and FARO Laser Scanner Focus3D are registered trademarks or

trademarks of FARO Technologies Inc. All other brand and product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 7 are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
States and/or other countries.
Autodesk and AutoCAD are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk,
Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other
countries.
Cyclone, High-Definition Surveying and HDS are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Leica Geosystems.
NVIDIA, NVIDIA Quadro, NVIDIA Tesla and 3D Vision are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other
countries.
Adobe, Shockwave and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
AMD, FirePro, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc.
Pointools is a trademark of Pointools Ltd.
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Glossary
Context menu – a menu with commands that can be applied to the object
selected. It appears if you click on an object with the right mouse button.
Fit object – an auxiliary object created by the object fit that stores the
selection used for the fit and the quality values of the fit.
Folder – an object type which stores any objects other than scans. It is
similar to the Windows file system folder. The complement to this is the Scan
Folder, in which scans are received.
Layer – is used to draw a grouping of objects in order to be able to control
the visibility of objects.
Measurements – in the structure view a visible object of the workspace.
It contains the measurement logs.
Menu bar – the top horizontal section in the SCENE screen. The menu bar
contains all the menus with commands for the general operation. Further
commands can be found in the toolbars and context menus.
Models – in the structure view a visible object of the workspace. It
contains the CAD objects.
Object – Objects are abstract shapes included in a scan, like e.g. spheres,
planes, ...
Object fit – ascertaining the best fitting object parameters possible from the
scan points.
Project Point Cloud - consists of the points of all the scans within a scan
project and can be seen as a comprehensive point cloud of the complete scan
project. It is typically created from all the single scans in the project after
they have been preprocessed, colorized and registered.
Registration – Registration means the process of determining the spatial
relationship between scans.
References – in the structure view a visible object of the workspace. It
contains the reference objects for positioning scans (for example, survey
coordinates) and should not be renamed.
Scan Folder – An object type that receives scans. It is similar to the
Windows file system folder. The complement to this is the folder, in which all
other objects are received.
Scan – A scan is the scan file as it is recorded by the scanner with its millions
of data records that include position, reflectance, and color for single scan
points. A scan consists of scan points that were recorded from a single
scanner location. Its points are organized in a row column order.
Scan Point Cloud – A scan point cloud is an alternative representation of a
scan. It has to be created from a single scan and is organized in a spatial data
structure that facilitates fast visualization of scan points and automated point
loading based on point visibility.
Scan Project – In SCENE a scan project can be seen as a central storage
which contains all the shared data of a project that all team members can
access. This includes the project workspace, scan project revisions, the
project point cloud, WebShare data and much more.
Scans – a visible object of the workspace in the structure view. It is a kind
of Scan Folder and contains Scans.
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Status bar – the bottom horizontal section on the SCENE screen. The status
bar displays command details or responses to the last command executed as
well as scan point data.
Structure view – shows the structure of the workspace, including
subfolders and objects.
Target – Target means scan points or objects in a scan which can be used
for registration.
Toolbar – a toolbar has buttons with which you can easily start commands.
SCENE has many toolbars, which you can hide or unhide where necessary.
Toolbars are mostly situated in the upper area of the screen, below the menu
bar.
Workspace – the combination of all data required to process and analyze
scans. This includes scans, CAD data, survey data, measurement results and
much more.
Project Workspace – is the workspace of the centrally provided scan
project. It contains the shared data of the scan project.
Local Workspace – contains private and non-shared data owned and is
maintained by the individual user. It is typically saved to the local hard
disk of the individual user and is linked to a centrally provided scan
project. Changes done on the basis of a local workspace will not change
the data of the scan project until it is explicitly shared with the scan
project. Sharing the local changes with the scan project will update the
project data and the project workspace accordingly.
xxxv
Table of Figures
Figure 1-1: License Manager ................................................................... 3

Figure 1-3: Activation dialog – Automatic Activation ................................... 5
Figure 1-5: Activation dialog – Manual Activation ....................................... 7
Figure 2-1: Project selector window ......................................................... 9
Figure 2-2: Change default project location ..............................................10
Figure 2-3: Open projects ......................................................................10
Figure 2-4: Project preview ....................................................................11
Figure 2-5: Project properties .................................................................12
Figure 2-6: Sorting and filtering projects .................................................13
Figure 2-7: Remote server access ...........................................................13
Figure 2-8: Scan project in a Windows file system ....................................14
Figure 3-1: Composition of the SCENE window .........................................16
Figure 3-2: Save as ..............................................................................18
Figure 3-3: Structure view .....................................................................19
Figure 3-4: Structure view: Drag & drop object with right mouse button......19
Figure 3-5: Create a new project ............................................................22
Figure 3-6: Shared and local data ...........................................................24
Figure 3-7: Add revision information .......................................................26
Figure 3-8: AutoSave detection dialog .....................................................28
Figure 3-9: Project history .....................................................................29
Figure 3-10: Export revision ...................................................................30
Figure 3-11: Revert to revision ...............................................................30
Figure 3-12: AutoSave detection dialog ...................................................31
Figure 3-13: Initial scan alignment of project after import .........................33
Figure 3-14: Structure view of a workspace .............................................34
Figure 3-15: Scan point data in the status bar ..........................................35
Figure 3-16: Point cloud settings ............................................................36
Figure 4-1: Quick view ..........................................................................39
Figure 4-2: Planar view .........................................................................40
Figure 4-3: 3D view of a single scan ........................................................42
Figure 4-4: 3D view of a complete scene .................................................42
Figure 4-5: Navigation options ...............................................................44
Figure 4-6: Rotation around the line of sight ............................................45
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Figure 4-7: CAD object in 3D view of a scan .............................................46

Figure 4-8: Clear view ...........................................................................47
Figure 4-9: Viewpoints in Structure View .................................................48
Figure 4-10: Viewpoints grouped into folders ...........................................48
Figure 4-11: Visibility settings -View .......................................................49
Figure 4-12: Visibility settings –Scan Points .............................................51
Figure 4-13: Gap filling turned off (left) and turned on (right) ....................52
Figure 4-14: Supersampling turned off (left) and turned on (right) .............52
Figure 4-15: Visibility settings -Layer ......................................................53
Figure 4-16: Visibility settings -Extra.......................................................53
Figure 4-17: Scanner position ................................................................54
Figure 4-18: Layer manager ...................................................................55
Figure 4-19: Layer assignment ...............................................................56
Figure 4-20: Layer assignment for a folder...............................................56
Figure 4-21: Overview map ....................................................................57
Figure 5-1: PTX import dialog .................................................................60
Figure 5-2: PTZ import dialog .................................................................61
Figure 5-3: E57 import dialog .................................................................62
Figure 5-4: Import picture dialog ............................................................62
Figure 5-5: Virtual Scan in the structure view ...........................................63
Figure 5-6: Virtual scan in 3D view .........................................................63
Figure 5-7: Place and scale dialog ...........................................................64
Figure 5-8: Associate points ...................................................................64
Figure 5-9: Placed and scaled virtual scan in 3D view ................................65
Figure 5-10: Import picture dialog ..........................................................65
Figure 5-11: Predefine alignment dialog ..................................................66
Figure 5-12: An imported layout plan with scale manipulators (left picture)
and rotation manipulators (right picture) .................................................66
Figure 5-13: Properties dialog with transformation settings ........................67
Figure 6-1: GPS reference ......................................................................70
Figure 6-2: Correspondence View with labels and manipulator ....................72
Figure 6-3: A manipulator with rotate-handles (red, green, blue) and move-
handles (white) ....................................................................................73
Figure 6-4: General Registration Settings ................................................77
Figure 6-5: Artifical and natural references found in two corresponding scans78
Figure 6-6: Clusters: Scans, Indoor, Kitchen, LivingRoom and Outdoor .......81
Figure 6-7: Registered, but not aligned ...................................................82
Figure 6-8: Registered and aligned .........................................................82
Figure 6-9: Custom alignment ................................................................82
Figure 6-10: Registration settings for individual references ........................85
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Figure 6-11: Correspondence Split View with automatically detected targets 87

Figure 6-12: Correspondence Split View with corresponding and forced targets88
Figure 6-13: Delete correspondences ......................................................88
Figure 6-14: Target based Registration ....................................................89
Figure 6-15: Top view based Registration ................................................91
Figure 6-16: Registered scans before and after cloud to cloud registration ...92
Figure 6-17: Cloud to Cloud Registration .................................................93
Figure 6-18: Preprocess Scan menu ........................................................94
Figure 6-19: Clusters: Scans, Indoor, Kitchen, LivingRoom and Outdoor ......96
Figure 6-20: Scan properties ..................................................................97
Figure 6-21: Registration of scans without external references ...................98
Figure 6-22: Registration of scans with scan references and external
references............................................................................................98
Figure 6-23: Registration of clusters without external references ................99
Figure 6-24: Registration of clusters with scan references and external
references.......................................................................................... 100
Figure 6-25: Scan folder properties ....................................................... 101
Figure 6-26: Structure view with automatically created sub clusters .......... 101
Figure 6-27: Automatically created clusters in the correspondence view .... 102
Figure 6-28: Place Scans settings ......................................................... 102
Figure 6-29: Scan Manager dialog ......................................................... 104
Figure 6-30: Scan Results dialog........................................................... 105
Figure 6-31: Target Tensions dialog ...................................................... 106
Figure 6-32: Scan Point Tensions dialog ................................................ 107
Figure 7-1: 3D view without (left) and with clipping box (right) ................ 112
Figure 7-2: Clipping box toolbar ........................................................... 113
Figure 7-3: Resizing a clipping box ........................................................ 113
Figure 7-4: Length of movement .......................................................... 114
Figure 7-5: Rotating a clipping box ....................................................... 114
Figure 7-6: Moving a clipping box ......................................................... 115
Figure 7-7: Exterior hidden (left) and interior hidden (right)..................... 116
Figure 7-8: Disabled clipping box .......................................................... 117
Figure 7-9: Example: Complete point cloud ............................................ 118
Figure 7-10: Example: First clipping box with hide exterior added ............. 118
Figure 7-11: Example: Second clipping box with hide exterior added ......... 119
Figure 7-12: Example: Clipping boxes 3 to 5 with hide interior added ........ 119
Figure 7-13: Example: Sixth clipping box with hide exterior added ............ 120
Figure 7-14: Clipping boxes along an axis - settings dialog ...................... 121
Figure 7-15: Clipping boxes along an axis - preview ................................ 122
Figure 7-16: Clipping box container with resize handlers.......................... 122
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Figure 7-17: Point selection made using a clipping box ............................ 124
Figure 7-18: The area surrounding a scan point ...................................... 126
Figure 7-19: Filter for stray .................................................................. 127
Figure 7-20: Filter stray ....................................................................... 127
Figure 7-21: Filter distance based ......................................................... 127
Figure 7-22: Filter for dark points ......................................................... 128
Figure 7-23: Smoothing filter ............................................................... 128
Figure 7-24: Smoothing of the floor ...................................................... 128
Figure 7-25: Context menu: Scan point selection .................................... 129
Figure 7-26: Object marker tool bar ...................................................... 130
Figure 7-27: Mark the object (here sphere) in the scan points .................. 130
Figure 7-28: Sphere object fitted with the object marker ......................... 131
Figure 7-29: Context menu: Scan  Operations ...................................... 131
Figure 7-30: Fit objects in the structure view ......................................... 132
Figure 7-31: Point object ..................................................................... 133
Figure 7-32: Circular flat target ............................................................ 133
Figure 7-33: Checkerboard target and fitted checkerboard point ............... 134
Figure 7-34: Hierarchical structure of corner points in the structure view ... 135
Figure 7-35: Fitted survey sphere ......................................................... 136
Figure 7-36: Point properties ................................................................ 136
Figure 7-37: GPS reference, format GPS ................................................ 137
Figure 7-38: GPS reference, format UTM ............................................... 137
Figure 7-39: Properties of a plane ......................................................... 138
Figure 7-40: Detected planes in the structure view ................................. 139
Figure 7-41: Expand plane settings ....................................................... 140
Figure 7-42: Constrained plane fit ......................................................... 141
Figure 7-43: Possible constraints for planes ........................................... 141
Figure 7-44: New fit objects after performing the improvement ................ 142
Figure 7-45: Fit object of the intersection point ...................................... 143
Figure 7-46: Slab properties................................................................. 144
Figure 7-47: Pipe creation .................................................................... 144
Figure 7-48: Pipe in 3D view ................................................................ 145
Figure 7-49: Lines in the scan .............................................................. 145
Figure 7-50: Mesh generation parameters .............................................. 146
Figure 7-51: Mesh with and without texture ........................................... 147
Figure 7-52: Documentation object ....................................................... 147
Figure 7-53: Documentation object in 3D view ....................................... 148
Figure 7-54Documentation object properties .......................................... 148
Figure 7-55: Exporting objects ............................................................. 149
Figure 7-56: Settings for VRML import ................................................... 150
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Figure 7-57: VRML export in MicroStation .............................................. 151

Figure 7-58: Picture view ..................................................................... 152
Figure 7-59: Scan with pictures ............................................................ 153
Figure 7-60: Export all pictures ............................................................ 154
Figure 7-61: Tripod ............................................................................. 154
Figure 7-62: Adjust picture angles ........................................................ 155
Figure 7-63: Colorize scan ................................................................... 156
Figure 7-64: Selecting pairs of matching points ...................................... 156
Figure 7-65: Context menu: Matching points .......................................... 157
Figure 7-66: Colored scan points without color contrast filter ................... 157
Figure 7-67: Colored scan points with color contrast filter ........................ 158
Figure 7-68: New scan ........................................................................ 159
Figure 8-1: Discrepancy between scanned reality and CAD model ............ 160
Figure 8-2: Point-to-point measurement ................................................ 161
Figure 8-3: Measurement with invalid measure points ............................. 162
Figure 8-4: Object measurement .......................................................... 162
Figure 8-5: Checkerboard point – plane measurement ............................. 163
Figure 8-6: Properties of measurement object ........................................ 164
Figure 8-7: Regular grid in 3D view ....................................................... 164
Figure 8-8: Polar grid in 3D view .......................................................... 164
Figure 8-9: Drop down menu of the grid ................................................ 165
Figure 8-10: Grid properties ................................................................. 166
Figure 8-11: Grid properties – Display Options ....................................... 167
Figure 8-12: Surface analysis ............................................................... 168
Figure 8-13: Scan points colored depending on distance .......................... 169
Figure 8-14: Ambiguity interval boundary .............................................. 169
Figure 9-1: Exporting scan points settings ............................................. 171
Figure 9-2: Slice of scan points............................................................. 173
Figure 9-3: Options for export of slices .................................................. 173
Figure 9-4: Options for export of several slices ....................................... 174
Figure 9-5: Slices defined by a set of equidistant planes .......................... 175
Figure 9-6: Tomograph ........................................................................ 175
Figure 9-7: Settings for tomographs...................................................... 176
Figure 9-8: Settings for VRML export..................................................... 177
Figure 9-9: Settings for IGES export ..................................................... 178
Figure 9-10: Settings for XYZ text ........................................................ 179
Figure 9-11: Settings for Pointools export .............................................. 180
Figure 10-1: Create project point cloud settings ..................................... 183
Figure 10-2: Inconsistent color of a floor due to scans taken under varying
lighting conditions. .............................................................................. 184
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Figure 10-3: Significant reduction of color inconsistencies by applying color

balancing. .......................................................................................... 185
Figure 10-4: CPU load ......................................................................... 185
Figure 10-5: Share changes ................................................................. 186
Figure 11-1: WebShare Cloud export dialog – Export Settings .................. 189
Figure 11-2: WebShare Cloud export dialog – Project Settings ................. 190
Figure 11-3: WebShare Cloud export dialog – Upload Settings ................. 191
Figure 11-4: WebShare Cloud upload dialog – Upload Settings ................. 193
Figure 12-1: WebShare export settings ................................................. 194
Figure 12-2: Project preparation - Basic Information ............................... 195
Figure 12-3: Project preparation – Extended Options............................... 196
Figure 12-4: Server selection ............................................................... 197
Figure 12-5: Upload configuration ......................................................... 198
Figure 12-6: Upload dialog ................................................................... 199
Figure 12-7: Server access with the project selector ............................... 200
Figure 12-8: WebShare start screen with project selector ........................ 201
Figure 12-9: Project preview with Google Earth link and upload button ...... 201
Figure 12-10: Grouped projects ............................................................ 202
Figure 12-11: Navigation bar ............................................................... 202
Figure 12-12: Project view ................................................................... 203
Figure 12-13: Control panel ................................................................. 204
Figure 12-14: Project contents ............................................................. 205
Figure 12-15: Overview map ................................................................ 206
Figure 12-16: Options ......................................................................... 207
Figure 12-17: Tiles colored according to their average age ....................... 207
Figure 12-18: Tiles details ................................................................... 208
Figure 12-19: Panoramic view .............................................................. 208
Figure 12-20: Share current view ......................................................... 210
Figure 12-21: Point-to-point measurement in the overview map ............... 211
Figure 12-22: Point-to-point measurements in the panoramic view ........... 211
Figure 12-23: Point-to-point measurement properties ............................. 212
Figure 12-24: Point-to-point measurement in panoramic view with additional
information ........................................................................................ 213
Figure 12-25: Invalid point-to-point measurement in panoramic view ....... 213
Figure 12-26: Overview map with area measurements ............................ 214
Figure 12-27: Documentation properties ................................................ 215
Figure 12-28: Documentation objects in the panoramic view .................... 216
Figure 12-29: Download manager ......................................................... 217
Figure 12-30: Print dialog .................................................................... 219
Figure 13-1: Scanner administration ..................................................... 220
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Figure 13-2: Restore manual backup ..................................................... 222

Figure 13-3: Select restore data ........................................................... 223
Figure 13-4: Workspace with project structure ....................................... 224
Figure 14-1: App manager ................................................................... 226
Figure 15-1: Polar coordinates .............................................................. 228
Figure 15-2: Display the polar coordinates of a scan point ....................... 228
Figure 15-3: Cartesian coordinates ....................................................... 229
Figure 15-4: Display of the Cartesian coordinates of a scan point .............. 229
Figure 15-5: Translation ...................................................................... 230
Figure 15-6: Rotation .......................................................................... 230
Figure 15-7: Rotation of 90° around y and then 90° around z .................. 230
Figure 15-8: Rotation of 90° around z and then 90° around y .................. 231
Figure 15-9: Orientation displayed compactly ......................................... 232
Figure 15-10: Orientation displayed more intuitively ............................... 233
Figure 15-11: Hierarchical transformations ............................................ 233
Figure 15-12: Enabling OpenGL quad buffering ....................................... 235
Figure 15-13: Select primary display ..................................................... 236
Figure 15-14: Select primary display ..................................................... 236
Figure 15-15: 3DConnexion Mouse – Settings ........................................ 238
Figure 16-1: Sentinel Admin Control Center ........................................... 240
Figure 16-2: Access from Remote Clients ............................................... 240
Figure 16-3: Allowing Access to License Server ....................................... 241
Figure 16-4: FaroRUS –Collect Key Status Information ............................ 242
Figure 16-5: FaroRUS –Apply License Update ......................................... 242
Figure 16-6: Enable detaching .............................................................. 243
Figure 16-7: Products overview ............................................................ 244
Figure 16-8: Detach license ................................................................. 244
Figure 16-9: Products overview ............................................................ 245
Figure 18-1: Menu bar ......................................................................... 249
Figure 18-2: File Menu ........................................................................ 249
Figure 18-3: Save As .......................................................................... 250
Figure 18-4: File  Scan Project menu ................................................... 251
Figure 18-5: Edit menu ....................................................................... 252
Figure 18-6: View menu ...................................................................... 252
Figure 18-7: Tools menu...................................................................... 253
Figure 18-8: Tools  Options - General .................................................. 254
Figure 18-9: Tools  Options  Export .................................................... 255
Figure 18-10: Tools  Options - Units .................................................... 256
Figure 18-11: Tools  Options - Tomograph ........................................... 257
Figure 18-12: Tools  Options - VRML .................................................... 258
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Figure 18-13: Tools  Options - Import .................................................. 259

Figure 18-14: Tools  Options - Scan Data ............................................. 260
Figure 18-15: Tools  Options - Folder ................................................... 261
Figure 18-16: Tools  Options - View ..................................................... 262
Figure 18-17: Tools  Options – Matching .............................................. 263
Figure 18-18: Tools  Options – Matching  Place Scan Settings ............... 264
Figure 18-19: Tools  Options – Matching  Expand Plane Settings ............ 265
Figure 18-20: Tools  Options – Matching  Match Sphere Settings ........... 266
Figure 18-21: Tools  Options – Matching  Colorize Settings ................... 267
Figure 18-22: Tools  Options - Language .............................................. 268
Figure 18-23: Tools  Options - Default Filter ......................................... 269
Figure 18-24: Tools  Options - Navigation ............................................ 270
Figure 18-25: Window Menu ................................................................ 270
Figure 18-26: Standard toolbar ............................................................ 270
Figure 18-27: Planar View toolbar ......................................................... 271
Figure 18-28: Point Selection toolbar .................................................... 271
Figure 18-29: Measurement toolbar ...................................................... 272
Figure 18-30: Identify Objects toolbar ................................................... 272
Figure 18-31: 3D View and Quick View toolbar ....................................... 272
Figure 18-32: Clipping box toolbar ........................................................ 274
Figure 18-33: Project toolbar ............................................................... 275
Figure 18-34: Correspondence view toolbar ........................................... 276
Figure 18-35: Correspondence split view toolbar..................................... 277
Figure 18-36: Material settings ............................................................. 278
Figure 18-37: Context menu: 3D view ................................................... 279
Figure 18-38: Context menu: 3D view  Camera..................................... 280
Figure 18-39: Camera properties .......................................................... 280
Figure 18-40: Context menu: 3D view  Rotation point ............................ 281
Figure 18-41: Context menu: Selected area ........................................... 281
Figure 18-42: Context menu: Clipping box ............................................. 282
Figure 18-43: Context menu: Clipping box  Import / Export ................... 282
Figure 18-44: Context menu: Planar / Quick view ................................... 283
Figure 18-45: Context menu: Point selection .......................................... 283
Figure 18-46: Context menu: Point selection  Scan Points ...................... 283
Figure 18-47: Context menu: Point selection  Find Objects ..................... 284
Figure 18-48: Context menu: Point selection  Create Objects .................. 284
Figure 18-49: Context menu: Picture .................................................... 285
Figure 18-50: Context menu: Picture  Import / Export ........................... 285
Figure 18-51: Context menu: Plane ...................................................... 286
Figure 18-52: Context menu: Plane  New ............................................. 287
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Figure 18-53: Context menu: Limited plane ........................................... 287

Figure 18-54: Context menu: Sphere .................................................... 288
Figure 18-55: Context menu: Sphere  New ........................................... 288
Figure 18-56: Context menu: Region .................................................... 289
Figure 18-57: Context menu: Scan ....................................................... 290
Figure 18-58: Context menu: Scan  Operations ..................................... 290
Figure 18-59: Context menu: Scan  Operations  Registration ................ 291
Figure 18-60: Context menu: Scan  Operations  Color / Pictures ............ 291
Figure 18-61: Context menu: Scan  Import / Export .............................. 292
Figure 18-62: Context menu: Scan folder .............................................. 293
Figure 18-63: Context menu: Scan folder  Operations ............................ 293
Figure 18-64: Context menu: Scan folder  Operations  Registration ....... 294
Figure 18-65: Context menu: Scan folder  Operations  Correspondences 294
Figure 18-66: Context menu: Scan folder  Import / Export ..................... 295
Figure 18-67: Context menu: Scan manager .......................................... 296
Figure 18-68: Context menu: Virtual Scan ............................................. 296
Figure 18-69: Context menu: Virtual Scan  Registration ......................... 297
Figure 18-70: Context menu: Workspace ............................................... 297
Figure 18-71: Context menu: Workspace  Import / Export ..................... 298
Figure 18-72: Context menu: Workspace  Visibility ................................ 298
Figure 18-73: Context menu: Snapshot ................................................. 298
Figure 18-74: Context menu: Viewpoint ................................................ 299
Figure 18-75: Checkmarks ................................................................... 299
Figure 18-76: Properties - General ........................................................ 299
Figure 18-77: Properties – Transformation ............................................. 301
Figure 18-78: 3D Picture fit properties ................................................... 302
Figure 18-79: Constraints object properties ........................................... 303
Figure 18-80: Constrained plane fit properties ........................................ 304
Figure 18-81: Measurement properties .................................................. 305
Figure 18-82: Picture properties ........................................................... 306
Figure 18-83: Pipe properties ............................................................... 306
Figure 18-84: Pipe fit properties ........................................................... 307
Figure 18-85: Plane properties ............................................................. 308
Figure 18-86: Plane fit properties ......................................................... 308
Figure 18-87: PlaneEx fit properties ...................................................... 309
Figure 18-88: Slab properties ............................................................... 310
Figure 18-89: Slab fit properties ........................................................... 310
Figure 18-90: Point properties .............................................................. 312
Figure 18-91: Point fit properties .......................................................... 312
Figure 18-92: Sphere properties ........................................................... 313
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Figure 18-93: Sphere fit properties ....................................................... 314

Figure 18-94: Clipping box properties .................................................... 315
Figure 18-95: Documentation object properties ...................................... 316
Figure 18-96: Scan folder properties –General ....................................... 317
Figure 18-97: Scan folder properties –Folder .......................................... 317
Figure 18-98: Scan Manager ................................................................ 318
Figure 18-99: Scan manager –Scan Results ........................................... 319
Figure 18-100: Scan manager - Target Tensions ..................................... 320
Figure 18-101: Scan manager – Scan point Tensions .............................. 320
Figure 18-102: Scan properties ............................................................ 321
Figure 18-103: Scan properties – General .............................................. 322
Figure 18-104: Scan properties – Scan Area .......................................... 323
Figure 18-105: Scan properties - Operation ........................................... 325
Figure 18-106: Scan properties - Project ............................................... 326
Figure 18-107: Scan properties - Operator ............................................. 327
Figure 18-108: Scan properties – Scanner Info ....................................... 328
Figure 18-109: Scan properties – Scanner Settings ................................. 329
Figure 18-110: Scan properties - Sensors .............................................. 330
Figure 18-111: Scan properties - Camera .............................................. 331
Figure 18-112: Scan properties – Color ................................................. 332
Figure 18-113: Scan fit properties ........................................................ 333
Figure 18-114: Target Tensions properties ............................................. 334
Figure 18-115: Overview of references .................................................. 336
Figure 18-116: Virtual scan properties ................................................... 336
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FARO Technologies, Inc.

250 Technology Park
Lake Mary, FL 32746
Tel. (800)-736-2771 U.S. / +1 407-333-3182 Worldwide
E-Mail: support@faro.com
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SINGAPORE 486548
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Aichi, 480-1144, Japan
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E-Mail: supportjapan@faro.com
FARO (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

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188 Pingfu Road, Xuhui District
Shanghai 200231, China
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E-12, B-1 Extension,
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New Delhi-110044
India
Tel.: 1800.1028456
Email: supportindia@faro.com
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E1199 SCENE 5.3 Manual EN PDF

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SCENE Version 5.

SCENE 5.3 - USER MANUAL

©FARO Technologies Inc., 2008-2014. All rights reserved.

FARO Technologies Inc. Internal Control File Location:

Table of contents .................................................................................... i

3.3.4. Merging Workspaces ...............................................................20

5.1.2. VRML ....................................................................................58

6.6. Place Scans: Top View based Registration .......................................91

7.4.1. Creating Geometric Objects ................................................... 129

10.4. Deleting the Project Point Cloud ................................................. 187

18.3.7. Clipping Box Toolbar............................................................ 274

18.5. Properties ............................................................................... 299

1. Introduction - Welcome to SCENE

SCENE is a comprehensive 3D point cloud processing and managing software

Visit the FARO Customer Service area on the Web at www.faro.com to

1 | Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE

1.1. System Requirements

Minimal Specifications Recommended

Processor 64-bit (x64) with at least Quad-core x64

Graphics Card OpenGL 2.0 or higher Dedicated graphics card

Main Memory At least 4 GB At least 8 GB

Hard Disk Standard Solid state for maximum

Operating System 64-bit Windows 7 64-bit Windows 7

Accessories Mouse with 2 buttons and a scroll wheel

1.2. Installing the Software

You must belong to the group of administrators to install the

1.3. Licensing the Software

Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE| 2

To activate a new single-user license follow the steps described in chapter

The SCENE license shipped with the laser scanner by default is a

1.3.1. License Manager

Figure 1-1: License Manager

- License is stored on your computer.

- License is stored on a computer in the network (on a floating license

- License is stored on the plugged in dongle.

3 | Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE

Trial – Limited trial license.

- Indicates that the displayed content it is a product key.

- Indicates that the displayed content is the host name of a license

1.3.2. Single-User Licenses

Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE| 4

Figure 1-2: License Manager

Figure 1-3: Activation dialog – Automatic Activation

3. Select the tab Automatic Activation to use an automatic activation

5 | Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE

Figure 1-4: License Manager

If your single user license

Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE| 6

Figure 1-5: Activation dialog – Manual Activation

1.3.3. Network Licenses (Floating Licenses)

7 | Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE

1.3.4. Updating Licenses to a New Version of SCENE

Customers with maintenance contracts can automatically update existing

Figure 1-6: License Manager

Figure 1-7: License Manager

Chapter 1: Introduction - Welcome to SCENE| 8

2. Starting the Software

2.1. Working with the Project Selector

Figure 2-1: Project selector window

9 | Chapter 2: Starting the Software

2.1.1. Default Project Location

The default project location may be changed in Tools  Options  Folder.

Figure 2-2: Change default project location