Concepts

Phytograph works with several kinds of data objects. Each lives in its own list on the right of the viewer and has its own set of operations. You can mix them freely — a typical session might involve a scan (the raw LiDAR data, optionally with scanner parameters attached), a mesh (a triangulated reconstruction), and a skeleton (the branch topology) all referring to the same physical plant.

• Scans — the central unit. May carry point data, scan parameters (origin, sweep, return mode), or both. See also Point clouds for the point-data side.

• Meshes — surfaces built from triangles. The product of triangulation, or imported from an .obj / .ply / .stl file.

• Skeletons — branching topologies extracted from scans or meshes. Nodes and edges with branch order and length.

• QSMs — quantitative structure models: dormant trees as connected cylinders with fitted radii, continuous shoots, and shoot rank. Carry woody volume and per-rank diameters.

• Plant models — procedural plants generated by the Helios engine. Parametric, age-controllable, morphable.

• Leaf area density — foliage density per voxel (m²/m³), inverted from how scan beams are intercepted.

• Crown metrics — fitted crown shape with height, width, volume, and related size measurements.