potree/docs/getting_started.md

WebGL point cloud viewer - WORK IN PROGRESS

# Getting Started

### Download PotreeConverter

* [PotreeConverter](https://github.com/potree/PotreeConverter)

### Setup a Web-Server

Due to strict security policies in browsers,
it is not possible to open potree html files directly on your pc because
potree needs permission to load files.
You have to put all necessary source files and the pointcloud on a webserver
to view the result. You can, however, install a local webserver on your pc.
I use XAMPP, which contains Apache Webserver as well as PHP and MySQL but Apache
alone should work fine:
* [Apache](http://httpd.apache.org/)
* [XAMPP](https://www.apachefriends.org/de/index.html)

After you've installed and started Apache/XAMPP, you can access files in your htdocs
directory through a localhost URL:

Assuming your htdocs directory is ```C:\xampp\htdocs```, you can access it in your
browser with ```http://localhost```


### Converting & Generating a Web Page

Try this for your first point cloud and then take a look at the [PotreeConverter page](https://github.com/potree/PotreeConverter) to learn more about the converter options:

```
./PotreeConverter.exe C:/pointcloud.las -o C:/xampp/htdocs/potree --generate-page pageName
```

You should now be able to open the generated potree page at this URL: ```http://localhost/potree/examples/pageName.html```

![](images/lion_demo_screenshot.jpg)