TL;DR

Open the Ouster PCAP Inspector with your recording and matching sensor JSON. Choose the current frame, a frame range, or all frames, select LAZ or PCD, and save the output. Multiple frames are packaged as a ZIP of separate point clouds.

The recording and generated files stay in your browser. No login, upload, or installation is required.

1. Load the PCAP and sensor metadata

Open Ouster converter

Select the Ouster PCAP and matching JSON together or in either order. A ZIP with exactly one PCAP and suitable sensor metadata can also be opened, subject to the 2 GB archived-PCAP entry limit. Use separate files for larger captures.

The JSON is required to interpret the sensor packets correctly. For supported profiles and an explanation of recording health, start with how to inspect an Ouster PCAP.

2. Inspect the frames you plan to export

Allow indexing to complete, then step or seek to the relevant part of the recording. Check packet diagnostics and the compact 3D preview before exporting. Missing columns and incomplete interior frames can affect the usefulness of a sample.

The preview is capped at 500,000 points. Export rereads the selected frame from its source packets at full source resolution; it is not a screenshot or a copy of only the displayed points.

3. Select one frame or a range

Choose Current frame for a small sample, a Frame range for a relevant interval, or All frames for the sequence. When using a range, review the start and end frame numbers before continuing.

Start with one frame and reopen the output. Once it looks correct, increase the selection. Multiple outputs remain separate frames in a ZIP; this operation does not register moving scans or build a motion-compensated map.

4. Choose PCD or LAZ

Use PCD for downstream PCL and robotics tools. Use LAZ when a compressed LAS point-cloud file fits the next stage of your LiDAR workflow.

One useful distinction is intensity: PCD can retain floating-point intensity, while the LAS/LAZ writer rounds it to an unsigned 16-bit value and clamps it to 0-65,535. Non-finite intensity becomes zero. Check that this representation is suitable for your analysis.

Rev8 RGB support is provisional; its generated display colours are not an archival copy of the original HDR colour values, and its XYZ currently uses the first return. Keep the original capture and JSON.

5. Save and verify the output

Start export and wait for preparation and packaging to finish. Download the single PCD/LAZ file or the multi-frame ZIP. Reopen a sample in the WolkeViz viewer and compare geometry, point counts, bounds, and available attributes.

Frames are processed serially, but a large ZIP still consumes browser memory. If a long export fails, try smaller ranges and check for browser download restrictions.

For ROS 2 recordings, use MCAP to LAZ or PCD. For already extracted static clouds, use batch conversion or LAZ to PCD. Find the complete series on the blog index.