A: NaviModel imports point clouds from LAS (uncompressed) and LAZ (compressed) files via an embedded copy of the open-source LasZip library. The supported combinations are:
| Format | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LAS 1.0 – 1.3 (any point format 0–5) | ✓ | Fully supported. |
| LAS 1.4 (point formats 6–10) | ✓ | Supported. LAS 1.4 header extensions are handled. |
| LAZ with point formats 0–5 (LAZ 1.0 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 payloads) | ✓ | Both v1 and v2 LasZip chunk formats accepted. |
| LAZ with point formats 6–10 (LAZ 1.4 / LAZ v3 and newer) | ✗ | Not currently supported. See workaround below. |
How can I tell which LAZ version I have? Modern lidar tools (Terrasolid, PDAL, recent LAStools) default to LAZ 1.4 when the source is LAS 1.4. If a file opens in QGIS or CloudCompare but is rejected by NaviModel with a "LAS version not supported" message, it is almost always a LAZ 1.4 file.