Processing Your Data

One click. All your deliverables. Lidarvisor's AI classifies every point in your cloud and generates the terrain models, vectors, and reports you need — typically in minutes, not the hours required by desktop tools.

First time? You do not need to understand every option below. For your first processing run, just pick the preset that matches your job at the top of the panel (or keep the default) and click Process Data — the AI classification runs automatically. You can always re-process later with different options. The credit cost is the same regardless of how many options you enable.

Before You Start

Before processing, verify:

• Your project has finished uploading and tiling (the status should show the project is ready)
• Metadata extraction is complete (Lidarvisor automatically reads your file's properties after upload)
• Your point cloud looks correct in the 3D viewer — check that it appears in the right geographic location and the points look reasonable
• You have enough credits for the area of your dataset (1 credit = 1 hectare, roughly the size of a soccer field)

How to Start Processing

1. Load your project in the 3D viewer by clicking View in the project list.
2. Look at the left panel — below the project tree, you will see the Processing Options section: a preset picker at the top, followed by collapsible option categories.
3. Pick a preset that matches what you are surveying (see Processing Presets below).
4. Fine-tune your options if needed (see below for details on each one).
5. Click the "Process Data" button at the bottom of the left panel.
6. A confirmation dialog will appear showing how many credits will be consumed. Confirm to start processing.

Processing Presets

At the top of the Processing Options panel, Lidarvisor asks "What are you surveying?" and offers five presets. A preset simply ticks the right options for a common type of job — it is a starting point, not a lock. Every option stays visible and editable below, so you can always see exactly what a preset selected and change any part of it.

Preset	What it sets up
Classification only	Classify the point cloud and stop there — no derived layers. Good for a first look at a new dataset.
Topographic survey (default)	The full plan: contours, breaklines, grid, buildings, roads, water, utilities, vegetation, and parcels.
Forestry & vegetation	Canopy height, tree crowns and tops, and a forest inventory.
Power line inspection	Conductors, towers, clearance, and encroachment along the corridor.
Site & infrastructure	Buildings, roads, rails, bridges, overhead utilities, and parcel boundaries.

How the picker behaves:

• Selecting a preset ticks the matching options. Each category header shows a count of enabled options (for example, "2/5"), so you can see what changed without expanding anything.
• Nothing is locked. Change any option and the preset label becomes "Custom, based on ..." — the run uses exactly what is ticked, not the preset name.
• Re-selecting a preset resets to it, discarding your manual edits.
• Save your own presets. Click "Save current settings as a preset" to store the current configuration under a name of your choice. Your saved presets appear below the built-in ones and can be deleted at any time.
• Presets never change the credit cost. Pricing is based on area only, no matter which preset or options you choose.

Processing Options Explained

The options are organized into collapsible categories: Point Cloud, Imagery, Terrain, five vector categories (Topography, Infrastructure, Hydrography, Vegetation, and Power Line), and Reports. You can enable or disable each option independently.

AI classification is always included — it runs automatically every time you process. You do not need to enable it separately. This alone is a major time-saver: traditional desktop tools require you to configure classification parameters manually, which can take hours to get right.

Flat pricing: Enable as many outputs as you want — DTM, DSM, contours, buildings, trees, reports — the credit cost is based only on the area of your dataset, not the number of outputs. There is no reason to hold back.

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Point Cloud Options

These options modify your point cloud during processing.

Photogrammetric Point Cloud

If your point cloud comes from photogrammetry — drone photos processed into a point cloud in a tool like Metashape, Pix4D, or RealityCapture — turn on the Photogrammetric Point Cloud toggle under the classification checkbox. Lidarvisor also tries to detect this automatically from your file's properties when you upload it.

Why it matters: a photogrammetric cloud only captures surfaces the camera can see. It does not see the ground under dense vegetation, and it does not reconstruct thin wires. Lidarvisor adapts the available options accordingly:

• The power line options and the vegetation encroachment report are disabled — photogrammetry cannot reconstruct power line conductors, so these results would come back empty.
• Photogrammetric clouds always carry colors, so colorization is unnecessary (the option is hidden) and the orthophoto can be generated directly from your points (see Imagery Options below).

Everything else — classification, terrain models, contours, buildings, trees, and reports — works the same way as for a LiDAR point cloud.

Colorize Point Cloud

Adds natural RGB colors to your point cloud using satellite imagery. This is useful if your LiDAR sensor did not include a camera, so your points have no original color. After colorization, your points will look similar to a satellite photo when viewed in RGB mode.

This option only appears when your point cloud has no colors — if your points already carry RGB values, there is nothing to add and the option is hidden.

Thin Point Cloud

Reduces the number of points in your dataset by keeping only one point per grid cell. This is useful when your data is extremely dense and you want smaller file sizes or faster viewing.

• Grid size (5 to 100 cm): The smaller the grid, the more points are kept. A 10 cm grid keeps high detail; a 50 cm grid creates a significantly lighter dataset.

Smooth Point Cloud

Reduces noise in your point cloud by slightly adjusting point positions to create smoother surfaces. Useful for noisy LiDAR data where points "jitter" around the true surface.

• Soft — Gentle smoothing. Best for already clean data where you just want a small improvement.
• Medium — Moderate smoothing. Good for typical aerial LiDAR data.
• Aggressive — Strong smoothing. Use for very noisy data, but be aware that fine details may be softened.

Your acquisition timestamps are preserved. The classified point clouds you download keep the original GPS timestamps recorded by your sensor, in the original time format, along with the original file creation date. If your source file has no timestamps, none are invented.

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Imagery Options

This category appears only when you have not uploaded your own orthophoto (if you have, there is nothing to generate).

Generate Orthophoto

Creates an orthophoto — a top-down, georeferenced aerial image of your survey area — that you can view as an image layer and download with your results.

• If your point cloud has colors (RGB), the image is built by rasterizing your points.
• If your point cloud has no colors, open-source satellite imagery of the area is used instead.

This option turns on automatically when road extraction is enabled (roads need an orthophoto), but you can still toggle it yourself.

Common uses: Base maps for plans and reports, visual context for deliverables, sharing a recognizable image of the site.

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Terrain (Raster) Options

These options generate terrain model images (rasters) from your classified point cloud. Each one is a map-like image where every pixel represents a value (elevation, height, slope, etc.). All raster outputs are in GeoTIFF format.

For detailed explanations of each terrain model type (with visual descriptions and use cases), see Terrain Models. Below is a quick summary of each option.

Generate DTM (Digital Terrain Model)

Creates a map of the bare ground surface — as if all trees, buildings, and other objects were removed. The DTM shows what the natural terrain looks like underneath everything. It also generates a hillshade visualization, which adds simulated sunlight and shadows to make the terrain shape easier to see.

• Resolution (10 to 3000 cm): The size of each pixel. A 50 cm resolution means each pixel covers 50 cm on the ground. Lower values = more detail but larger files.

Common uses: Topographic mapping, flood modeling, construction planning, volume calculations.

Generate DSM (Digital Surface Model)

Creates a map of the top surface — including treetops, rooftops, and other elevated features. Unlike the DTM which shows bare ground, the DSM shows the highest point at each location.

• Resolution (10 to 500 cm): Same as DTM.

Common uses: Urban planning, line-of-sight analysis, building height estimation.

Generate CHM (Canopy Height Model)

Creates a map of vegetation height above the ground. It is calculated as the difference between the DSM (top surface) and the DTM (bare ground). Areas with no vegetation show zero height; tall trees show their actual height.

• Resolution (10 to 500 cm): Same as DTM.

Common uses: Forestry (tree height mapping, canopy analysis), vegetation management, habitat assessment.

Generate Slope Map

Creates a map showing how steep the terrain is at every point. The result is color-coded from flat (level terrain) to very steep. It uses an international classification system:

Category	Slope
Level	0 – 0.5%
Nearly Level	0.5 – 2%
Very Gently Sloping	2 – 5%
Gently Sloping	5 – 10%
Moderately Sloping	10 – 15%
Strongly Sloping	15 – 30%
Steeply Sloping	30 – 45%
Very Steeply Sloping	> 45%

• Resolution (10 to 500 cm): Same as DTM.

Common uses: Erosion risk assessment, construction suitability, accessibility planning, agriculture.

Generate TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network)

Creates a faceted 3D terrain mesh by connecting ground points into triangles. Unlike the smooth DTM, a TIN preserves the angular, faceted look of the triangulation. It is commonly used in CAD and civil engineering workflows.

• Resolution (10 to 500 cm): Controls the density of the triangulation.

Common uses: CAD integration, civil engineering design, cut-and-fill calculations.

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Vector Options

These options generate vector deliverables — points, lines, and polygons that represent specific features detected in your data. All vectors are available in three formats: GeoJSON, Shapefile, and DXF.

In the panel, the vector options are split across five categories: Topography Vectors (contours, grid, breaklines, cadastral parcels), Infrastructure Vectors (buildings, bridges, roads, rails), Hydrography Vectors (water body, shoreline), Vegetation Vectors (tree crowns, tree tops, vegetation areas), and Power Line Vectors (power lines, towers). The most common options are described below.

For detailed explanations of each vector type (with attribute descriptions and use cases), see Vectorization. Below is a quick summary of each option.

Generate Contours

Creates elevation contour lines — lines that connect points of equal elevation, like the curves you see on a topographic map.

• Major interval (10+ cm): The spacing between main contour lines (e.g., every 5 meters). Major contours are typically drawn with thicker lines and labeled with elevations.
• Minor interval (10+ cm): The spacing between secondary contour lines (e.g., every 1 meter). Minor contours add detail between the major lines.

Common uses: Topographic maps, terrain visualization, engineering surveys.

Generate Grid

Creates a regular grid of elevation points sampled from the terrain model. Each point has X, Y, and Z coordinates.

• Resolution (50 to 10,000 cm): The spacing between grid points. For example, 500 cm means one point every 5 meters.

Common uses: CAD import, volume calculations, spot elevation maps.

Extract Buildings

Detects and outlines building footprints — the shapes of buildings as seen from above.

• Simplification mode:
  • Rural — Produces clean, simplified outlines. Best for isolated buildings in rural areas.
  • Urban — Produces more detailed outlines that follow complex building shapes. Best for dense urban areas.
  • Natural — Follows the detected shape closely with minimal simplification.

Common uses: Cadastral mapping, urban planning, 3D city modeling.

Extract Roads (Beta)

Detects road surfaces and extracts their outlines. This feature uses AI-powered image recognition to identify roads in the data.

• Mode:
  • Rural — Optimized for country roads, gravel paths, and unpaved roads.
  • Urban — Optimized for paved streets, intersections, and urban road networks.

Note: Road extraction is a beta feature. Results may vary depending on the complexity of the road network and the quality of the data.

Common uses: Infrastructure mapping, road inventory, transportation planning.

Extract Water Body

Detects enclosed water surfaces — lakes, ponds, reservoirs — and delivers them as filled polygons.

Note: Water extraction is a beta feature. Uploading a high-resolution orthophoto (5 cm to 20 cm) is strongly recommended for best results. If your project has no orthophoto, Lidarvisor downloads open-source satellite imagery of your project area to guide the detection — a notice in the panel tells you when this will happen.

Common uses: Hydrographic mapping, flood risk studies, water resource management.

Extract Shoreline

Detects the edge between land and water — river banks, canal edges, coastline — and delivers it as lines. The lines are left open where the water leaves the surveyed area, so a river crossing your site does not get a fake bank drawn across the survey boundary.

Note: Shoreline extraction is a beta feature. The same imagery guidance as the water body option applies.

Common uses: Riverbank surveys, coastline monitoring, hydraulic studies.

Water in the classified point cloud: when either water option is enabled, the points on the detected water surface are also relabeled as water in your classified point cloud. The point cloud you download therefore agrees with the water outlines in the same delivery — filtering the water class in your own tools gives you the water we drew, and stray "water" mislabels elsewhere in the scene are cleaned up.

Extract Tree Crowns

Detects individual tree canopies and creates a polygon for each tree crown — the boundary of the tree as seen from above.

Detection sensitivity is automatic: the algorithm adapts to the local canopy structure, so tall conifers, broad deciduous crowns, and low vegetation in the same survey each get appropriate treatment. There is no sensitivity setting to configure.

• Crown Geometry — how crowns are drawn in the viewer and in the exported files:

  • Circle (default) — each crown as a circle of equivalent area (same crown radius). Cleaner and lighter, ideal for CAD.
  • Polygon — the true canopy outline traced from the point cloud.

  The choice does not change any measured value (area, crown radius, carbon).

Common uses: Forest inventory, tree counting, canopy analysis, urban tree management.

Extract Tree Tops

Detects the location and height of individual trees — each tree is represented as a single point at its highest position.

Common uses: Forest inventory (tree count), tree height measurement, plantation management.

Minimum Tree Height

A single height threshold that applies to all tree detection: trees shorter than this value are not reported as individual trees. It always applies — there is no checkbox to enable.

• Range: 2 to 10 meters. The default is 4 meters (13 ft on projects measured in feet), which suits most forest and vegetation surveys.
• Lower it for young plantations, regeneration surveys, or orchards.
• Raise it to count only mature stems.

Note: Lowering the value increases the number of trees found, which makes processing and the reports take longer. Inventory totals are not comparable between two runs that used different values.

Extract Power Lines

Not working with power lines? Skip this section and the next one (Extract Towers). These options are designed for utility vegetation management and power line inspection professionals. If your survey area does not contain overhead power lines, these options will not produce useful results.

Not available for photogrammetric point clouds. Photogrammetry cannot reconstruct the thin conductor wires, so these options (and the vegetation encroachment report) are disabled when your point cloud is photogrammetric — the results would come back empty.

Detects power line cables and creates 3D line geometries that follow the shape of the wires, including the natural sag (droop) between poles.

When you enable this option, additional sub-options appear:

• Buffer Zone 1, 2, 3 (100 to 10,000 cm): Define up to three buffer zones around the power lines. A buffer zone is a band of a specific width centered on the wires. Vegetation within these zones is flagged. You can set different widths for different risk levels (e.g., Zone 1 = critical, Zone 2 = warning, Zone 3 = monitoring).

• Clearance Zone (100 to 10,000 cm): Defines the minimum safe distance between vegetation and power lines. Trees or vegetation closer than this distance are flagged as encroaching.

• Tree Fall Risk (10 to 1,000 cm): Identifies trees that are tall enough to hit a power line if they were to fall. The value is a buffer distance — trees within this distance whose height exceeds their distance to the nearest wire are flagged.

Common uses: Utility vegetation management, power line inspection, regulatory compliance.

Extract Towers

Detects transmission towers, pylons, and poles and creates geometries representing their location, shape, and orientation.

Common uses: Infrastructure inventory, power line inspection, telecom asset mapping.

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Report Options

These options generate professional documents and multi-layer exports.

Generate Topographic Map

Creates a layered DXF file (a CAD drawing format) that combines multiple elements into a professional topographic map:

• Contour lines (major and minor)
• Elevation grid points
• Building footprints
• Tree positions and crowns
• Power lines and towers
• Roads

The DXF file has separate layers for each element, making it easy to toggle them on and off in CAD software.

Common uses: Delivering survey results to clients, civil engineering planning, permit applications.

Generate Digital Forest Inventory

Creates a comprehensive tree-by-tree report with:

• A PDF document containing maps, charts, and statistics
• A CSV spreadsheet with per-tree measurements (height, crown area, position)

Additional sub-options:

• Carbon Estimation — if enabled, the report includes carbon stock calculations for each tree (above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, carbon, CO2 equivalent). This is based on peer-reviewed allometric equations.
• Allometric Region — select the region closest to your survey area for the most accurate biomass estimates:
  • Europe, Canada, USA, Tropical, Australia, Boreal/Russia, East Asia, African Dryland
• Dominant Tree Species — select the most common tree species in your area. The list changes based on the selected region and includes dozens of species (e.g., Scots Pine, Norway Spruce, Douglas Fir, European Beech, etc.).

Common uses: Forest management, timber inventory, carbon credit projects, environmental assessments.

Generate Vegetation Encroachment Report

Creates a report specifically for utility vegetation management — identifying trees and vegetation that pose a risk to power line infrastructure.

The report includes:

• Buffer zone analysis (vegetation within defined distances of power lines)
• Clearance violations (vegetation too close to wires)
• Fall-risk trees (trees tall enough to reach power lines if they fell)
• Maps and GPS coordinates for each risk area

This report requires the extracted power lines, so it is not available for photogrammetric point clouds.

Common uses: Utility vegetation management programs, NERC FAC-003 compliance, post-storm damage assessment.

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During Processing

After you click "Process Data" and confirm:

1. The status changes to PENDING while the job is queued.
2. It then moves to PROCESSING with a progress indicator showing the percentage and current step.
3. When complete, the status shows SUCCESS with the elapsed time.

You can close your browser during processing — the work continues on Lidarvisor's servers. When you come back and load the project, the results will be there. You will also receive an email notification when processing finishes.

If Processing Fails

If processing encounters an error, the status will show FAILURE. If this happens:

• Your credits are automatically refunded within seconds
• A failed run can be resumed from the step that failed rather than restarted from zero — when the support team retries your job, the steps that already completed (classification, terrain models, ...) are reused, so a job that failed near the end finishes in minutes instead of hours
• You are never charged twice for the same processing: between the automatic refund and the retry, you only ever pay once for a completed result
• Check that your input file is a valid LAS/LAZ file
• Try processing again with fewer options to isolate the issue
• Contact support at contact@lidarvisor.com if the problem persists

Processing Credits

Processing consumes credits based on the area of your dataset measured in hectares. 1 credit = 1 hectare. The number of credits is the same regardless of how many options you enable.

If your project has an area of interest boundary (see Creating a Project), credits are counted on the area inside your AOI, not on the whole file.

Before processing starts, a dialog shows you how many credits will be used and how many you have available.

See Account and Subscription for details on how credits work and how to get more.

Providing Feedback

After processing completes successfully, a small feedback prompt appears. Lidarvisor's team uses this feedback to improve the AI classification and processing quality. Your input is valuable — share what worked well and what could be better.

Next Step

Processing is complete and your results are in the project tree. Let's understand what each result is. Head to Understanding Your Results.