4. Creating a Point Cloud Layer

This section explains how to create a Point Cloud Layer in Ellipsis Drive and what to expect during processing. A short video walkthrough is available below.

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Processing time

Processing times may range from a few minutes to longer durations depending on dataset size and system load.

Ellipsis Drive processes tasks in a distributed queue. When demand increases, additional compute resources are allocated dynamically to maintain throughput.

Larger datasets are typically processed more efficiently per unit of data due to parallelised processing.

Background processing

File upload and processing run in the background.

You can continue working while your data is being processed.

Once upload and processing have started, you may close the tab safely. The process will continue on server side.

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About paths and layers

All items in Ellipsis Drive are referred to as paths.

A path can be:

• a folder

• a file

• a layer

Folders and files behave similarly to a standard file system.

Layers are structured containers for geospatial data and come in three types:

Type	Description
Vector Layer	Stores vector-based spatial data
Raster Layer	Stores raster datasets
Point cloud Layer	Stores point cloud data

Each layer is published as an interoperable web service and can be accessed by authorized users and systems.

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Working with Point Cloud Layers

Point Cloud Layers support multiple point cloud files within a single layer.

There is no practical size limit for a layer.

You can define one or more timestamps within a layer, which is useful for time-series datasets.

For best results, structure point cloud data into logical layers representing a single dataset or acquisition campaign.

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Supported formats

Point Cloud Layers support the following formats:

las, laz, xyz

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