viewing 3D point cloud using APIs by Open source P

Question

I use a ToF (Time of Flight) camera to obtain depth data in XYZ format.

For visualization purpose as a 3D point cloud, I want to use the APIs provided by open source PCL mentioned at http://pointclouds.org/documentation/tutorials/pcl_visualizer.php

What is a good starter tutoarial example (.cpp) file to look at in order to construct a point cloud GUI running in a separate display thread ?

Answer 1

1. Looks like you're not linking the PCL visualization lib file and probably others. Do this in the project properties > Linker > Input > Additional Dependencies. The path to your PCL lib directory should be specified in Project properties > VC++ Directories > Library Directories. At the same time the path to your PCL include directory should be specified in Project properties > VC++ Directories > Include Directories.
2. PCL functions and types are templated on the point type. So you will use pcl::PointXYZ as the point type for all functions.
3. No. Yours will be more similar to the Simple Cloud Visualization example in the CloudViewer tutorial.
4. You don't copy the PCL .h and .cpp files into your solution. You #include the PCL headers that remain in their installed location, and you link in the PCL lib files, (see 1 above.)
5. None. If the PCL bin/ directory is not in your $PATH then place the PCL .dlls alongside your .exe.

Make sure you match release libraries with a release build and debug libraries with a debug build. Make sure you're building either for Win32 or x64 depending on which pre-installed binary you installed.