How to Share FARO and Leica Scan Data Online

To share FARO or Leica scan data with clients online, export your registered scans as an E57 with the scan pictures included, upload it to a browser-based platform like Swyvl (or convert it and host a Potree viewer yourself), and send a link. On Swyvl the 360° photos your scanner took at each setup open beside the point cloud, so the client can measure from them and reply on your notes. The core challenge is that terrestrial scan files are enormous (10-200 GB is common), clients do not have FARO SCENE or Leica Cyclone, and generic file-sharing tools like Dropbox give your client a file they cannot open.

Here is the complete pipeline from scan to client-viewable delivery.

The terrestrial scanning delivery problem

Terrestrial laser scanners from FARO and Leica produce the highest-density point cloud data in the industry. A single FARO Focus scan position captures 40-500 million points. A typical building survey might include 30-100 scan positions. After registration, you are looking at billions of points and files measured in tens or hundreds of gigabytes.

This data lives in proprietary project formats:

• FARO: .fls (raw scan), .fws (SCENE workspace), .lsproj (SCENE project)
• Leica: .ptx (raw scan), .imp (Cyclone import), .pts (ASCII point cloud)

Your client does not have SCENE or Cyclone. These are expensive, specialist applications:

Even if your client installs CloudCompare (the free option), loading a 50 GB point cloud on a standard office laptop is not a practical experience. The file takes minutes to load, navigation is sluggish, and the interface is not intuitive for someone who has never used a point cloud viewer.

The solution is a pipeline that converts your scan data into a format that streams progressively in a browser — so the client clicks a link and explores the data without downloading or installing anything.

Want to try it now? Check what is inside your E57 (scans, points and 360° photos), or open a LAS, LAZ or PLY scan in the browser. Free, no signup, and your file stays on your computer.

Step 1: Export from FARO SCENE or Leica Cyclone

The first step is exporting your registered, cleaned scan data to an exchange format. You have two main options: E57 and LAS/LAZ. The choice matters more than it used to. An E57 can carry the 360° photos your scanner took at every setup; LAS and LAZ carry points only. If the client is going to look at the scan rather than process it, deliver the E57 with its pictures.

Exporting from FARO SCENE

In SCENE’s E57 export settings, turn on Export Scan Pictures so each scan’s photos are written into the file (there is also an option for a full color resolution panorama). Keep the scans ordered (structured) rather than merged into one cloud: the scan positions are what let the photos line up with the points. Include color and intensity, and set the coordinate system if the project is georeferenced.

Export LAS or LAZ as well only if the client needs it for their own GIS or CAD software.

Recommended SCENE export settings for client delivery:

A note on decimation: If your registered scan has 2 billion points and the client needs a general visual overview (not sub-millimeter measurement), consider exporting at reduced density. A 10x decimation still gives you 200 million points — more than enough for visual exploration — and reduces file sizes dramatically.

Exporting from Leica Cyclone

In Cyclone REGISTER 360 PLUS, tripod setups export as a structured E57 with the scan grid and panoramas. Leica writes the panoramas as cube maps (six images per setup), and including images in a structured E57 needs a REGISTER 360 PLUS family license. Leica also has an “Improved Creation of E57 Files for ReCap” option; its own docs say it makes files significantly larger and is meant only for ReCap, so leave it off for browser delivery.

In Cyclone Core, set Edit, Preferences, Scan tab, export image to E57 as Cubemap Image before you export.

Swyvl stitches Leica’s six cube faces back into one 360° photo per setup on upload.

For LAS or LAZ, export LAS from Cyclone 3DR, or convert the E57 with PDAL or CloudCompare.

Export to PTX (then convert): Cyclone’s native PTX export is an ASCII format that preserves scan positions. It is large and slow to process but can be converted to LAS/LAZ via CloudCompare or PDAL.

Step 2: Convert to a browser-viewable format

Raw E57 and LAS/LAZ files cannot be loaded directly into a browser. They need to be converted to a streaming format that loads progressively — showing a low-resolution overview first, then loading detail as you zoom in.

The Potree pipeline

Potree is the standard technology for browser-based point cloud viewing. It uses an octree data structure that divides the point cloud into hierarchical tiles, loading only what is visible at the current zoom level.

The conversion pipeline:

1. Input: LAZ file (exported from SCENE/Cyclone)
2. Tool: PotreeConverter (open source, command line)
3. Output: A folder of octree tiles + a metadata file
4. Hosting: Serve the folder from a web server with HTTPS

PotreeConverter input.laz -o output_potree/

This works but requires you to maintain server infrastructure, configure HTTPS, handle access control, and manage storage.

COPC: Cloud-Optimized Point Clouds

COPC (Cloud-Optimized Point Cloud) is a newer format that reorganizes LAZ data for efficient HTTP range-request streaming. Instead of converting to a separate octree format, COPC rearranges the points within a single LAZ-compatible file so that a viewer can request just the points it needs for the current view.

Advantages of COPC:

• Single file (no folder of tiles)
• LAZ-compatible (can still be opened in CloudCompare, QGIS)
• Progressive loading via HTTP range requests
• Simpler hosting (just serve a single file)

Converting to COPC:

# Using PDAL
pdal translate input.laz output.copc.laz --writers.copc.forward=all

# Using untwine
untwine --single_file -i input.laz -o output.copc.laz

COPC is gaining adoption as a simpler alternative to the Potree octree conversion, though Potree’s octree format still offers better streaming performance for very large point clouds (1 billion+ points).

Using a platform

The simplest option is to upload the export to a platform like Swyvl that handles the conversion automatically. Upload the E57 as it is: Swyvl converts the points to COPC with PDAL, pulls out the 360° photos and places each one at its scan position, hosts the result and gives you a share link. No PotreeConverter, no server, and the photos are not lost to a LAZ conversion.

Step 3: Deliver to the client

Once your scan data is in a browser-viewable format, you need to share it with your client in a way that is professional and organized.

What the client should see

A good terrestrial scan delivery includes:

• The point cloud viewer: Interactive, browser-based, with rotation/zoom/pan controls
• The 360° photos: The scanner’s photo at each setup, opening beside the cloud. They are the easiest thing for a client to read, and on Swyvl they can measure from them too
• Notes on the spot: Your comments pinned to the exact place, in the cloud or in a photo, with a sketch drawn over the view where it helps. On Swyvl, clients you invite by email reply on them, free, with no account
• Color modes: RGB (photo-realistic), intensity (material contrast), elevation (height gradient)
• Download option: The client should be able to download the raw LAZ if they need it for their own tools
• Context: Which building/site/area this scan covers, the date of capture, and any notes
• Your branding: Your company name and logo, not the name of whatever file-sharing platform you used

What to avoid

• Sending a raw E57 file via Dropbox or WeTransfer. The client receives a 50 GB file they cannot open. For why this does not work, see our comparison of Dropbox, WeTransfer, and purpose-built platforms.
• Sending screenshots or video renders only. These are supplementary, not a substitute for interactive access. A screenshot of a scan is a picture of data, not data.
• Asking the client to install CloudCompare. Some will. Most will not. And those who do will struggle with the interface.

Practical file size expectations

Understanding file sizes helps you plan your delivery pipeline and set client expectations:

These sizes assume full-density exports. Decimation reduces sizes proportionally.

Key insight: E57 files are typically 3-5x larger than LAZ for the same data, and panoramas add more. If the client needs a file for their own GIS or CAD software, LAZ is the better hand-over. If they are going to look at the scan in a browser, upload the E57: size matters less when it streams, and the E57 is the only one of the two that carries the 360° photos and scan positions.

For a deeper dive into E57 specifically, see our E57 format explainer.

The E57 to LAZ conversion pipeline

If the client needs LAZ (or your own pipeline does), here is how to convert. Converting keeps the points, color and intensity, but drops the 360° photos and the scan positions. For the full set of options, see Convert E57 to LAS, LAZ or COPC with PDAL.

Using CloudCompare (free)

1. Open CloudCompare
2. File > Open > select the E57 file
3. If the E57 contains multiple scans, CloudCompare will ask how to import them — select “merge” for a single combined cloud
4. File > Save As > choose LAZ format
5. Save

For very large E57 files (50 GB+), CloudCompare may struggle with memory. In that case, use PDAL:

Using PDAL (command line, free)

pdal translate input.e57 output.laz \
  --writers.las.compression=true \
  --writers.las.scale_x=0.001 \
  --writers.las.scale_y=0.001 \
  --writers.las.scale_z=0.001

Use PDAL 2.10 or later: earlier versions fail with “E57 exception” on files from current exporters. The scale keeps millimeters; PDAL’s default rounds to centimeters.

Using LAStools

e572las -i input.e57 -o output.laz

LAStools’ e572las is free to use but not open source. It applies the scan poses and keeps each scan as a point source ID.

Tips for optimizing scan delivery

Decimate strategically

Not every delivery needs full scanner resolution. A FARO Focus at its highest setting captures points every 1.5mm at 10 meters. For a client who needs to see the general condition of a building, 10mm point spacing is more than sufficient — and the file is 50x smaller.

Export two versions if needed: a full-density LAZ for archival/technical use, and a decimated version for the browser viewer.

Clean before exporting

Remove noise, stray points, and scanner artifacts before export. A clean point cloud loads faster, renders better, and looks more professional in a viewer. SCENE and Cyclone both have filtering tools for this.

Use LAZ, not LAS

Always export compressed (LAZ) rather than uncompressed (LAS). The data is identical — LAZ is lossless compression — but the file is 5-10x smaller. This matters enormously for upload times, storage costs, and streaming performance.

Include RGB color

If your scanner captured color (most modern FARO and Leica scanners have integrated cameras), include it in the export. A colored point cloud is dramatically more readable to a non-technical client than a monochrome one. Clients understand a photo-realistic view of their building; they do not understand a gray intensity-shaded cloud without context.

Set coordinate reference system

If the scan is georeferenced (aligned to a real-world coordinate system rather than just a local project origin), ensure the CRS is set correctly in the export. This allows the point cloud to be positioned correctly on a map and enables meaningful coordinate readouts in the viewer.

What about TruView and WebShare?

Leica offers TruView (now part of Hexagon) and FARO offers WebShare as vendor-specific solutions for sharing scan data online. These tools create browser-viewable panoramic views of scan positions.

Pros: They are well-integrated with their respective scanner ecosystems. If you are a pure Leica or pure FARO shop, they work.

Cons: They are vendor-locked (FARO WebShare only works with FARO data), they center on the panoramic views rather than full 3D point cloud navigation, and they add another subscription on top of your scanner software. They also do not handle the other deliverables you might include alongside the scan: orthomosaics, 3D models, reports, DXF drawings.

The panoramas are the right idea: they are what clients understand. A platform-agnostic approach keeps them. Upload the E57 with its pictures to Swyvl and the client gets both views from any scanner: the 360° photo for detail and the point cloud for geometry, side by side and turning together, with notes and measurements showing in both. See why deliver an E57 with its 360° photos.

Summary

The path from terrestrial scanner to client browser:

1. Register and clean your scans in FARO SCENE or Leica Cyclone
2. Export a structured E57 with the scan pictures, including RGB and intensity, with the CRS set. Add a LAZ only if the client needs one
3. Upload to a platform that converts it for streaming and keeps the 360° photos, or convert to COPC and host Potree yourself
4. Pin notes where the client needs to look, with a sketch where a picture says it faster
5. Deliver via a branded, permanent link with browser-based viewing and optional download

The scanner hardware and registration software are the expensive, complex parts of the workflow. The delivery step should not be another complex problem. Export the E57, upload it, share the link. Your client clicks and sees the scan and its 360s in their browser, with no SCENE, no Cyclone and no CloudCompare. More detail in how to share an E57 file with a client.