Entwine vs Quick Terrain Modeler

Entwine is a Linux data organization library for building indexes of massive point-cloud datasets, from desktop-scale collections to trillions of points. Its build command creates an Entwine Point Tile (EPT) dataset, a flexible octree-based format. The project describes builds as lossless, retaining points, metadata, and precision, including at terabyte scale. Entwine can index any point-cloud format readable by PDAL, with documented storage types including laszip, zstandard, and binary. Input and output can use local storage or remote sources supported through Arbiter, including S3, GCS, and Dropbox. Commands accept options on the command line or settings in JSON files. The info command gathers file metadata before a build; merge combines completed subset builds, not unrelated EPT datasets. Output is shown with Potree, Plasio, and Cesium, and EPT can be converted to 3D Tiles for Cesium. An option enables AWS server-side encryption for S3 writes. Entwine is open source under the LGPL License; Conda is recommended as the fastest installation route, with source releases also listed.

Quick Terrain Modeler is 64-bit Windows desktop software for exploiting 3D point clouds and terrain data from LiDAR and other sources. It displays point clouds and surface models in 3D scenes and can drape file-based or WMS imagery over them. Analysis tools cover 3D measurement, slope, flood, volumetric, communications, and helicopter landing zones. Classification and extraction can produce building footprints, roof vectors, centroids, DSMs, and DTMs. The software accepts LiDAR, radar, photogrammetry or imagery, and sonar, including multiple sensor types in one scene. Exports support GIS, imagery, CAD, PowerPoint, and Google Earth; WMS imagery and NGA GRID access are available for DoD users. It can operate without a network, although some integrations and data access need one. Node Lock, Portable, and Floating licenses serve different workstation and network arrangements. Pricing is on request, and a free trial requires an organizational email address.