StereoCloud3D User Guide

StereoCloud3D is a Windows desktop application for stereoscopic restitution: it lets you view massive LiDAR / photogrammetric point clouds and digitize accurate 2D/3D CAD vector features directly on top of them, in true 3D stereo when you have the hardware for it.

Who this guide is for

This manual serves two audiences. Operators will find step-by-step workflows, keyboard shortcuts and reference tables. Decision makers / prospective customers can read the Overview and the feature chapters to understand what the product does and how it fits a survey, mapping or AEC pipeline.

2. Key concepts

3. System requirements

• Operating system: Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit).
• GPU: an OpenGL-capable graphics card. A discrete GPU is strongly recommended for large clouds and stereo.
• Memory: 16 GB minimum; 32 GB or more for very large datasets.
• Disk: fast SSD; the converted tile index is stored alongside your project.
• Stereo hardware (optional): a 3D-capable display or projector for side-by-side / top-bottom / quad-buffer, or simple red/cyan glasses for the anaglyph debug mode.
• Internet: required at activation and periodically for license validation.

4. Activation & licensing

On first launch StereoCloud3D shows the Activation window (StereoCloud3D — Activation). Enter the license key supplied with your subscription and click Activate. Once activated, the key is remembered and the app opens straight to the Welcome screen on subsequent launches.

• Activate — validate the key online and bind this computer to the license.
• Quit — close the application without activating.

While running, the app re-checks the license periodically. If the license expires or is revoked (beyond any grace period) the application will notify you and close. See Managing your license for the status dialog and how to move a license to another computer.

5. Welcome screen

When no project is open you see the Welcome screen. From here you can:

• New Project… — create a fresh project (see below).
• Open Project… — pick an existing project.
• Open Folder… — open a project by selecting its folder.
• Recent projects — a list with name, path and a short summary. Missing projects are shown in orange.

Each recent entry offers Open, Protect… / Password… (manage a project password) and Delete… / Remove from list. Password-protected projects carry a locked badge. Deleting offers the choice to permanently remove the project from disk or merely drop it from the recent list.

You can return to this screen at any time with File → Home / Welcome (you will be prompted to save unsaved changes first).

6. Projects

6.1 Creating a project

Choose File → New Project… (Ctrl+N). In the dialog:

• Enter a Project name.
• Pick a Destination folder (use Browse…). The target folder must be empty.
• Optionally tick Protect with password and provide an operator name, password and confirmation.

Click Create. The project starts with an empty CAD drawing; you add clouds and CAD data afterwards via import (see Importing data).

6.2 Password protection

A project password is a soft access gate: when enabled, opening the project requires the password and an operator name (recorded in the job report). You can set, change or remove a password from three places:

• New Project → the Protect with password option.
• File → Project Security… — Enable / Update / Remove (removing requires the current password).
• Welcome → Protect… on a recent project.

6.3 Saving

• Save (Ctrl+S) writes the project manifest and drawing.
• Save As… (Ctrl+Shift+S) writes a copy.
• The title bar shows the project name with a * when there are unsaved changes.

6.4 Autosave & crash recovery

Autosave is on by default at a 5-minute interval (configurable 1–240 minutes in the Inspector panel). Autosave writes to a sidecar file (*.autosave.vec) — it does not overwrite your master drawing until you explicitly save. If the app finds a newer sidecar when opening a project it offers to Recover or Discard the unsaved changes. When closing with unsaved edits you are asked to Save, Don't save or Cancel.

7. Importing data

7.1 Importing point clouds (LAS / LAZ)

Open the Project Manager (Ctrl+P) and choose Import cloud…. Select one or more .las / .laz files (multi-select is supported). Each file becomes its own cloud layer under cloud/<layer>/ inside the project.

StereoCloud3D converts every file into a streaming tile index with a background converter. While it runs, a progress dialog (Importing clouds) reports:

• Dataset — number of files and total size on disk (MB).
• Overall progress across all files (i / N files).
• Current file name, its point count (or “reading header…”), and the current phase.
• A per-file progress bar.

Import report

When conversion succeeds an Import report summarizes the result:

• Layers imported, Total points, Total source size (MB).
• Extent (local) — width × depth and height of the combined bounds.
• Attributes present — XYZ always, plus RGB and/or Intensity when available.
• A per-layer table: layer name, type (LAS/LAZ), points and size.

If conversion fails, a Cloud import failed dialog shows the error message together with the tail of the converter's output to help diagnose the problem.

7.2 Adding an existing tile index

If you already have a converted tile_index.json, use Project → Add cloud tile index… to attach it without re-converting.

7.3 Importing CAD (DWG / DXF / VEC)

Use Project → Import CAD (DWG/DXF/VEC)… or CAD → Import DWG / DXF / VEC…. Imported geometry is converted into the project's native drawing. To send work back out, use CAD → Export drawing (DXF)….

8. The workspace

The main window is organised around a central 3D viewport with a menu bar on top, optional toolbars, and dockable panels.

8.1 Menus

8.2 Panels

• Browser — navigate project contents.
• Inspector — project & scene settings: visualization (color mode, point size, cache), navigation (wheel speed, cursor-Z steps), magnifier, 3D Inspector, autosave, save drawing.
• Command Line — type commands and read system feedback (see Command line).

8.3 Toolbars

Toggle the built-in toolbars from View: CAD Tools, Object Snap and Display. You can also build your own:

• Custom toolbar — a floating bar of your favourite actions.
• Customize toolbar… — an editor where you add buttons from a catalog of app actions, panels and all typed CAD commands. Each button has a label, a command string and an optional tooltip. Your custom toolbar is saved between sessions.

9. Navigating & snapping

9.1 View navigation

• Top (T) — orthographic top view.
• Fit Extents (F) — frame the whole scene.
• Mouse wheel — zoom toward the cursor. The wheel speed is adjustable in the Inspector (default 2.0).
• Show cloud (Ctrl+Shift+C) and Show CAD (Ctrl+Shift+D) toggle each layer on/off.

9.2 The 3D cursor & elevation (Z)

While digitizing, the cursor carries an elevation. You set it by snapping to the cloud or by adjusting it directly:

• Z — snap the cursor Z to the cloud under the pointer.
• Shift+wheel — nudge cursor Z by the fine step (default 0.01 units).
• Ctrl+wheel — nudge cursor Z by the rapid step (default 0.10 units).

The current cursor Z is shown in the Inspector, with a Reset Z control.

9.3 Object snaps

Open the Snap menu or the Object Snap toolbar to enable running snaps. A master Object Snap toggle turns them all on/off. Available modes:

EndpointMidpointCenter IntersectionNearestPoint PerpendicularTangentCloud Z

Cloud Z snaps a vertex's height to the point cloud — the key to fast, accurate restitution. Use Restore defaults to reset the running set. Your snap configuration is remembered between sessions.

10. Cloud visualization

Cloud appearance is set in the Inspector → Visualization section and saved with the project.

10.1 Color modes

Modes whose attribute is missing in the data are shown as unavailable.

10.2 Elevation range (automatic, spike-resistant)

Elevation coloring needs a min/max height. Real clouds often contain a few spikes (a stray point far above or below the surface) that would otherwise wash out the ramp. StereoCloud3D therefore computes a robust range from the 2nd–98th percentile of the height distribution, so the colors span the meaningful terrain rather than the outliers.

10.3 Point size & cache

• Point size — on-screen size of each point (1–64).
• Cache tiles — how many tiles stay resident in memory (default 32). Larger values reduce re-loading at the cost of memory.

11. Cloud Performance

For very large clouds you can trade visual crispness against navigation smoothness with a single setting: Cloud → Performance. The choice is global and remembered between sessions. While the camera is moving, the cloud is drawn at a coarser level of detail so panning and zooming stay fluid; a fraction of a second after you stop, one crisp full-resolution pass is rendered.

The Cloud menu also displays the active preset's live values (visible tiles per layer and motion level-of-detail bias) and current cache statistics (resident tiles, cache hits/misses).

12. Stereoscopic viewing

The Stereo menu controls depth presentation. Stereo settings are saved with the project.

12.1 Mode & output

• Mono — ordinary single-image view (default; works on any monitor).
• Stereo — render a left/right pair. Choose the Output format to match your hardware.

12.2 Adjustments

• Swap L/R (pseudoscopy) — exchange the eyes if depth looks inverted.
• Anaglyph red/cyan or red/blue — match your glasses (shown only for anaglyph output).
• Parallax (depth strength) — a slider (0–0.20) controlling how much depth separation is applied. Increase for stronger relief, decrease if the image is hard to fuse.

13. CAD digitizing

The Draw and Modify menus (and the CAD Tools toolbar) provide a familiar CAD command set. Combine them with object snaps and the cursor-Z controls to place geometry accurately on the cloud surface.

13.1 Drawing tools

13.2 Modifying entities

The Modify menu provides Move, Copy, Rotate, Scale, Mirror, Offset, Trim, Extend, Fillet, Stretch, Join (merge contiguous lines/arcs into one polyline), Explode and Erase, plus Undo (Ctrl+Z), Redo (Ctrl+Y) and Cancel current (Esc).

13.3 Entity properties

Open the Entity Properties panel from CAD → Entity Properties…, the Ctrl+1 shortcut, the PROPS command, or by right-clicking an entity. The panel follows your selection and lets you inspect and edit attributes such as layer and color.

13.4 Layers

• Layer Manager (CAD → Layer Manager…, command LA) — create layers, set color and visibility, and lock a layer to protect its entities from selection/editing.
• Layer Order (command LAO) — control the draw order of layers so important features render on top.

13.5 Entity groups

Group any set of entities — regardless of their layers — so you can hide or lock them together. Select entities, then Group selection (Ctrl+G). Manage groups in the Entity Groups panel (Ctrl+Shift+G), where each group has Hide and Lock toggles, a Select action, and a delete button. Use Ungroup selection to dissolve a group.

14. Feature macros (rapid coding)

Feature macros bind a single key to “select a construction layer and start drawing a chosen entity type” — the fastest way to digitize themed features. Manage them in CAD → Macro Commands…: add new macros, rebind keys (press Esc to cancel a rebind), and Restore defaults. Macros are saved between sessions.

The built-in starter macros:

15. Spot Height Plan (piano quotato)

This tool seeds a regular grid of points over an area and reads each point's elevation from the cloud, producing a finished spot-height plan. Open it from CAD → Spot Height Plan…, the toolbar Quote button, Ctrl+Shift+H, or the command SH.

15.1 Define the boundary

Click Draw boundary and pick vertices in the viewport; right-click to close the boundary (at least 3 vertices). Use Undo last or Clear as needed, then Done. You can Redraw at any time.

15.2 Grid & seed

• Link X/Y step — keep the X and Y spacing equal (default), or set Step X and Step Y independently.
• Seed — the grid starts from the boundary centroid by default; use Pick seed to set a custom origin point (and Reset seed to revert).

15.3 Elevation from the cloud

• Z method — Nearest point, Lowest (ground), or IDW average.
• Interpolate holes — where there is no cloud beneath a grid node, estimate its height from neighbours instead of leaving a gap.
• Remove spikes — replace anomalous heights (e.g. a power cable over a road) with an interpolated value; set the spike threshold in metres.

15.4 Symbol & layer

• Marker — Dot, Cross, Circle or Square.
• Auto size — when on, marker size and quote text height are set to 0.1 × step; otherwise set them explicitly.
• Decimals — precision of the elevation label (0–6).
• Use custom block — draw your own block at each point instead of the built-in marker.
• Layer and ACI color — the construction layer (default Spot Heights, color 7).

15.5 Seed, verify in stereo, confirm

1. Seed points — a progress dialog samples the grid from the cloud and can be cancelled.
2. Preview — seeded points are shown temporarily, color-coded: cloud-derived, interpolated, spike-corrected. Click a point to delete or restore it. This is where stereo verification pays off — suspicious points are easy to spot in 3D.
3. Confirm & draw — the verified points are drawn as final geometry on the construction layer. Or Re-seed / Cancel.

All Spot Height settings persist between sessions.

16. 3D Inspector window

The 3D Inspector is a small free-camera window that shows the cloud and CAD around a point of interest — perfect for checking a feature from another angle without disturbing your main view. Toggle it from View → 3D Inspector or Ctrl+Shift+I.

• Recenter — the view is centered on the ground point under the cursor; it stays fixed until you press 3 over the main viewport to move it to the current cursor position.
• Edge sliders — selection radius (top), tilt −90°…90° (left), zoom (right) and compass pan / azimuth 0°…360° (bottom).
• Orientation triad at the center: X red (East), Y green (North), Z blue (Up).
• Live cursor marker — an orange crosshair with a vertical stem shows where the real cursor sits relative to the model; it is hidden when the cursor is below the cloud surface.

While the pointer is inside the Inspector it no longer drives the CAD cursor; a hint at the bottom of the window reminds you to press 3 to update the center. The Inspector's framing (azimuth, tilt, zoom, radius) is remembered between sessions.

17. UI magnifier (loupe)

Because some menu text is small, an optional loupe magnifies the area under the pointer while it hovers the user interface. Toggle it with View → UI magnifier or Ctrl+Shift+M, and tune it in the Inspector:

• Zoom factor — 1.5× to 6× (default 2×).
• Lens size — 80 to 600 px (default 220).

18. Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcuts are fully customizable in CAD → Keyboard Shortcuts…, where you can rebind any managed command, check for conflicts, and Reset all to defaults. The panel also lists the typed CAD commands for reference. Default bindings:

In addition, the single-letter feature macros (P, B, C, G, V, D, W, R, H, S, X, L, A, O, N) fire when no command is active.

19. Command line

The Command Line panel accepts typed commands and shows operation results. Type HELP (or ?) to list the available verbs. Useful application verbs include:

NEWOPENSAVE SAVEASIMPORTEXPORT FITTOPPM SH / QUOTEPROPSGROUP GROUPSLA (Layer)LAO (Layer Order) CLEAR / CLS

All standard CAD drawing and editing commands can also be typed (e.g. LINE, PLINE, CIRCLE, MOVE, JOIN, TRIM, REGEN). Type HELP for the complete list with aliases.

20. Job report

Open File → Job Report… for a per-project production summary. It records:

• Operator name, project name, created / modified dates.
• Worked time — accumulated while the window is focused (short gaps ignored).
• Points used — total across imported sources.
• Entities generated — current CAD entity count.
• Stereo mode (Mono, or Stereo with its output format).
• Cloud and vector dataset sizes.
• Whether the project is password-protected.

Use Export report… (text file) or Copy to clipboard to share it. You can also set or update the project password from here.

21. Settings & files

Global preferences are stored per user at:

%APPDATA%\StereoCloud3D\settings.json

This includes recent projects, window placement, keyboard bindings, wheel/cursor-Z steps, autosave options, magnifier and 3D Inspector settings, object-snap state, the Cloud Performance preset, Spot Height defaults, feature macros and the custom toolbar. The remembered license key lives next to it as license_key.txt.

Project-specific data (clouds, drawing, stereo, visualization, security and the job report) is stored inside the project folder's manifest, so projects are portable.

22. Managing your license

22.1 License status

Open Help → License Status… to see your status, license type, expiry and estimated remaining time, the enabled features, this device's fingerprint, the list of activated devices, and the server connection state.

22.2 Moving to another computer

A license is bound to a fixed number of devices. To free a seat — for example when you replace or reinstall a machine — use Deactivate this device… in the License Status dialog. After you confirm, this computer is removed from the license and the application closes; you can then activate the freed seat on the new machine.

23. Troubleshooting

24. Glossary