Has anyone had any issues with calculating Normals after the fact in Cyclone 7? I have a large project of C10 data that some was not imported with normals calculated at import (as is the default). On certain scans the Estimate Normals command just hangs and never finishes. I want to add Auto Cloud-Cloud constraints for the whole job, but with some scans without normals it runs forever and then it hits one and says "oh, sorry can't finish because X scan doesn't have normals". It also doesn't save any of the cloud-cloud's it did calculate. Very frustrating.
Jason Larson, PLS NAIK Consulting Group New York, NY
That sounds a bit painful and frustrating. So, are you saying that the normals would not calculate, you created a registration and tried to calculate normals after the registration?
I think that the software will not allow normals to be calculated after the registration because the scans are no longer single. This still does not explain why the normals would not work first time round though. It may be worth checking with leica that there was not an issue with the firmware used at the time of the scan, that may of caused this to happen.
In all science, error precedes the truth, and it is better it should go first than last. ~Hugh Walpole
This happens with these particular scans even when you try to estimate normals on the original, individual scans. I suspect that you're right that there is something corrupted in those scans, but I've optimized the database, and done everything I know to fix them, to no avail. I was hoping this has happened to someone else that's found a workaround.
Jason Larson, PLS NAIK Consulting Group New York, NY
Have you tried re-importing the specific scanworlds which are acting up back in from the original 'scanner projects' folder, and set cyclone to compute normals on import?
Edit - Preferences - Point Cloud Tab - @ bottom - Import: Compute Missing Normal Vectors
Might be worth a go if it is having problems calculating them after the data has been imported, as it is easier to do this on import than afterwards.
I had the same problem when we upgraded to 7. My scanner needed a update (HDS6000)...But to get around it for now, in the Navigator select the scans, right click, estimate normals, it will take a little bit, then you will be able to auto add cloud constraints.
This is a bug that we verified occurs in a few scans, although I'm not sure exactly why. Anyway, it has been fixed in our upcoming 7.1 release and appears to work in those rare cases where it has been reported.
I too have these normal issues. I scan with a Faro Photon 120 and do the registration with Faro Scene (4.6.62.2) then bring them into Cyclone(7.03). I use the PTX export command because this used to work well. Since I have been keeping my upgrades it seems harder and harder to use the PTX that Faro creates. I am not sure who is the culprit here. I know that HDS want us to use the expensive import tool but that just strips off any previous registration. I need the normals to fit a box to a cloud for creating columns and such. Without normals the process is tedious. I have older PTX files from Faro and they work fine it is the newer stuff that is causing issues. Is there anyone else with these issues with normals?
I have heard that there have been some changes to the PTX header, but nothing that might cause any issues, I'm not sure if is a Leica or Faro issue, May be Mark or Oliver could comment.
