How to Display Point Clouds Using Potree (Beginner-Friendly Guide)

/ Drone Mapping
Point Cloud Display - Manya Technologies

Introduction

Point clouds are becoming a core part of modern drone mapping workflows—especially when working with LiDAR data or photogrammetry outputs. But visualizing these massive 3D datasets on the web can be challenging. This is where Potree, an open-source point cloud renderer, becomes an incredibly powerful tool.

In this post, you’ll learn what point clouds are, why they matter in drone mapping, what Potree is, and how to display your point cloud data using Potree. If you need a customized, offline, or cloud-based drone mapping solution, Manya Technologies can help you build it end-to-end.

What Is a Point Cloud?

A point cloud is a collection of millions (sometimes billions) of 3D points, each containing X, Y, Z coordinates—and often additional attributes like RGB color, intensity, classification, return number, and more.

Point clouds are typically generated from:

  • LiDAR sensors mounted on drones
  • Photogrammetry software (e.g., ODM/OpenDroneMap, Metashape, Pix4D)
  • Laser scanners and mobile mapping systems

Point clouds give highly accurate 3D representations of terrain, buildings, vegetation, utility lines, and other structures.

Use Cases of Point Clouds in Drone Mapping

Point clouds are useful across many industries:

1. Land Surveying

Generate accurate 3D terrain models, contours, breaklines, DSM/DTM.

2. Construction & Mining

Track earthwork progress, calculate volumes, monitor stockpiles, and visualize site changes over time.

3. Forestry

Measure canopy height, biomass estimation, tree segmentation.

4. Urban Planning

Create realistic 3D models of cities, roads, and infrastructure.

5. Disaster Management

Assess landslides, floods, erosion, and post-disaster damage.

In all these workflows, being able to visually inspect the point cloud in 3D is crucial—and that’s where Potree comes in.

What Is Potree?

Potree is a free, open-source, WebGL-based point cloud viewer.
It allows you to display massive point clouds directly in a web browser—smoothly and efficiently.

Key Features of Potree

  • Supports LAS, LAZ, E57, PLY and more
  • Renders tens of millions of points in-browser
  • Measurements (distance, area, height)
  • Annotations and bookmarking
  • Clipping tools
  • Multiple point attributes (RGB, intensity, classification, elevation)
  • No expensive software or cloud subscription needed

Using Potree, organizations can deploy powerful 3D viewers locally, offline, or on the web.

How to Display a Point Cloud Using Potree

Step 1: Install Potree Converter

Potree requires converting your raw LAS/LAZ file into its optimized Octree-based format.

You can use:

potreeconverter --source yourfile.laz --outdir output_folder

The converter generates:

  • pointclouds/ folder
  • metadata.json
  • An HTML template for viewing

Step 2: Prepare the Viewer

Potree includes ready-to-use HTML examples.
You can start with:

/examples/viewer.html

Update the JS code to load your point cloud:

Potree.loadPointCloud("pointclouds/yourpc/cloud.js", "MyPointCloud", e => {
    let scene = viewer.scene;
    let pointcloud = e.pointcloud;
    scene.addPointCloud(pointcloud);
});

Step 3: Host the Viewer

Potree works on:

  • Any local server (XAMPP, Python HTTP server, Node.js)
  • Any cloud hosting (AWS, DigitalOcean, Firebase)
  • Offline desktop app with Electron (Manya Technologies can build this)

Once hosted, open your browser and the 3D point cloud viewer loads instantly.

Optional Enhancements

Manya Technologies can help you add:

  • Custom branding
  • Side-by-side DSM/orthomosaic + point cloud
  • GIS layers (GeoJSON, WMS, shapefiles)
  • 3D mesh + point cloud hybrid viewer
  • Terrain analysis tools
  • Offline desktop viewer for large datasets

Conclusion

Potree is one of the best open-source tools for visualizing drone-generated point clouds—fast, efficient, and completely free. With just a few steps, you can convert your LAS/LAZ file and host your own 3D viewer on the web or locally.

If you are looking for a customized drone mapping solution (web or offline desktop), Manya Technologies provides:

  • Custom drone mapping software
  • On-premise/Offline LiDAR & point cloud viewer
  • Fully branded cloud-based mapping portals
  • Cost-effective alternatives to expensive SaaS platforms
  • Integration with QGIS, Cesium, OpenLayers, and Potree

👉 Contact us today to build your own custom drone mapping platform at a fraction of cloud software cost.

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