M3dregMerge

This function merges all the specified point clouds into a single point cloud. Prior to merging the point clouds, it transforms them such that their working coordinate system is aligned with the global coordinate system; it does so using the results that were stored in the 3D registration result buffer after a successful call to M3dregCalculate(). These transformations ensure that the points are all expressed relative to the same coordinate system.

Each point cloud in the array of containers is associated with the registration result element with the same index (for example, the third container in the array is associated with the third registration result element). For the point cloud to be transformed to the appropriate location in the global coordinate system, its index in the array must match the index of the registration result element containing the point cloud's transformation.

Optionally, you can specify a subsampling context to subsample the point clouds after the merge has completed. Whether the merged point cloud is organized or unorganized depends on the subsampling mode of the subsampling context (specified using M3dimControl() with M_SUBSAMPLE_MODE). Note that this subsampling is unrelated to the subsampling done before calling M3dregCalculate() (specified using M3dregControl() with M_SUBSAMPLE). The latter defines which points are used in calculations for the registration operation, and does not specify which points are retained after calling this function.

Note that for applications that are, for example, merging point clouds from multiple fixed 3D sensors into a single point cloud, you can save (M3dregSave()) and restore (M3dregRestore()) a 3D registration result buffer, and reuse it with M3dregMerge().