Help & guide

Lidar Extractor turns your Raven (JMK7) scans into usable data on macOS: cloud extraction, 3D viewer, measurements, floor plans, and Gaussian Splatting export. Here is how to use it all.

1. Open a scan

• Raw ROS Bag (the device folder): the app rebuilds the cloud with LiDAR SLAM, no .amap needed. Default source.
• Filtered .amap: direct cloud decoding (click “Source” 10 times to reveal it).
• Cloud file (XYZ / PLY / E57): the “Open a cloud…” button to view it directly.
• Recents: a menu reopens your last 10 files/folders.

2. Export the clouds

Tick the formats you want — XYZ, PLY, E57 (optional camera color for raw scans) — then click Extract. Files are written next to the source.

3. The 3D viewer

Click View to open the cloud. Mouse controls:

• Left-drag: rotate (the spot you grab follows the cursor)
• Right-drag: pan
• Scroll / trackpad pinch: zoom
• Trackpad rotate: roll · double-click: recenter

Bottom: preset views (Iso, Top, Front…) and “Center”. Top-left: color (File, Height, Gray, Turbo) and the layers.

4. The 6 tools

• Slice: horizontal or vertical section of the cloud (adjustable height, thickness).
• Crop: click around the area to keep, validate → the outside is removed.
• Eraser: erase points with the mouse (adjustable brush size), then “Apply”.
• Measure: distances and areas (m / ft), automatic room detection (m²).
• Draw: place points (snapped to walls) to draw lines.
• Lock: lock the orientation (ideal in top view to trace).

5. Measuring (distance & area)

Measure tool → Distance mode (2 clicks) or Area mode (click the corners then “Finish”). The point always snaps to the nearest visible point. Pick units m · m² or ft · ft² for your region.

6. Layers & saving

Saved cuts appear as layers on the left; you switch between them without changing window. The disk button saves the displayed cloud: same name = replace the original, new name = new file. Your cuts are remembered per file and restored when you reopen it.

7. Gaussian Splatting (photorealistic)

Unlock it (10 clicks on “Gaussian Splat”), it is exclusive of the other formats and launched by the button:

• Photos for Polycam: extracts the photos to upload to Polycam (the cloud does the rest).
• Dataset for Brush: images + poses + init cloud, to open in Brush (local training on the Apple Silicon GPU).

8. Full guide: build a floor plan

Tip: for a clean plan, remember to clean the point cloud before tracing — the less noise and furniture, the better the walls stand out.

1. Crop — Crop tool: click around the area to keep (the building), then validate. Everything outside (vegetation, surrounding ground, stray points) is removed.
2. Clean with the Eraser — Eraser tool: brush over isolated stray points (noise, reflections), adjust the brush size, then “Apply” to remove them for good.
3. Slice — Slice tool: take a horizontal section at wall height (≈ 1.2 m) with a thin thickness (± 5 to 15 cm). You get a slice showing the walls from above.
4. Clean the interior — Use the Eraser again inside the slice to erase the furniture and interior objects (tables, chairs, shelves) that fell into the slice: only the walls should remain.
5. Trace the walls — Switch to Top view and enable Lock. Draw tool: click along the walls (points snap to them), close each room. You can also “Detect walls” automatically.
6. Export to DXF — Export menu → DXF (3D lines) for your drawing, or DXF (2D plan) of the slice. Open the file in your CAD software (AutoCAD, etc.).

Tip: once the walls are traced (or detected), the Measure tool’s room detection (m²) computes the areas automatically.

9. Automatic 2D floor plan (new in 0.6.0)

In the 3D viewer, the 2D plan button (left tool rail) automatically draws the property plan from the cloud: detected walls, doors, and rooms with their areas. Detection filters furniture by itself — for a specific storey, isolate it first with the Slice tool. Since 0.7.0, 45° corner cuts (Haussmann-style angles) and curved walls (rotundas, bow windows) are detected too — arcs are exported as true ARC entities in DXF.

• Full editor: draw walls (adjustable thickness, Ctrl = forced straight line, alignment guides, “continuous wall” mode), place doors and windows with dimensions (width × height, sill for windows) and swing direction (left/right, inward/outward), name rooms (multilingual predefined names, auto-numbering: Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2…), place dimension lines (set on the 3rd click), move or erase any element.
• Cloud underlay: the point cloud shows under the drawing, aligned (eye to hide it), to correct the plan against real data.
• Automatic saving: the plan keeps all your edits and reopens as-is; the “Reset” button re-runs detection.
• Professional exports (an export_plan folder next to the scan): PDF at standard scale (1:50, 1:100… or US scales) with a title block, A4/A3/Letter/Tabloid paper; SVG; multi-layer DXF (walls, doors, windows, names, rooms, cloud) for AutoCAD. Units in meters or feet/inches.

10. Georeferencing, LAS & map (new in 0.5.0)

For Raven Max / RTK scans, choose LAS (georeferenced) in Export. The app places the cloud in real-world coordinates and picks the right system automatically (UTM/EPSG by country).

• Centimeter (PPK): if the scan has no on-board base, the app automatically downloads the nearest EUREF reference station (anywhere in Europe) for centimeter post-processing. If no station is close enough, it stays at meter level and tells you.
• Map view: the 🗺 button shows the cloud over an OpenStreetMap or satellite background, zoomable.
• .las files: the 3D viewer opens .las clouds (yours or from other software) like any other.
• Livox scanners: scanners with a Livox LiDAR (e.g. Eagle) are now supported alongside Hesai (Raven) — the sensor is detected automatically.

11. Remote mode — control the Raven (new in 0.8.0)

Two icons at the top of the window give Wi-Fi access to the scanner, no SD card: ☁ Raven scans and the Raven icon (setup).

• Setup: installs the control agent on the scanner in one click. The install is additive and reversible (it only adds its own files, without touching the Raven's system); the « Uninstall » button restores the scanner to its original state. A compatibility check (Simple/Max model, architecture, OS) runs first.
• Raven scans: connects to the scanner, lists your scans and downloads them to the computer, showing the transfer time. « Open in Lidar Extractor » then moves on to extraction.
• Raven screen: shows the scanner's real screen and lets you control it with the mouse, remotely.
• Mobile app — Lidar Extractor Remote (iOS + Android, available): control the Raven from your phone (auto-detection, scanner status, start a scan, remote screen). Prerequisite: first install the control agent on the Raven via the desktop app (« Setup » above); without it the phone cannot connect. ⚠️ This app only works with a Raven scanner (not an Eagle or any other device). If you run into trouble, the app can send its diagnostic logs so our support can help.
• How to install:
  • iPhone / iPad (TestFlight beta): install the free TestFlight app from the App Store, open this link on the device — testflight.apple.com/join/f9cfQvHd — then tap Accept and Install.
  • Android: download the APK from the « 📱 Android » button on the home page, then open it to install (allow unknown sources if prompted).