---
title: "Pcd"
section: "Models & Point Clouds"
order: 703
description: "Pcd — Vuer documentation"
---

import { DocImage } from '@docs/components/Docs'

# Pcd

The `Pcd` component loads and displays PCD (Point Cloud Data) files. This is ideal for:

- Loading 3D scan data from sensors
- Displaying point clouds from ROS or PCL pipelines
- Visualizing LiDAR captures
- Loading assets from robotics applications

<DocImage src="/source/components/figures/pointcloud_pcd.png" alt="pointcloud" />

## Basic Usage

A minimal example that loads a PCD file from a URL:

```python
import os
from vuer import Vuer, VuerSession
from vuer.schemas import Pcd

f3rm_ycb_1 = "pointclouds/f3rm_ycb_1.pcd"
f3rm_ycb_2 = "pointclouds/f3rm_ycb_2.pcd"

app = Vuer(static_root=os.getcwd() + "/../../../assets")

@app.spawn(start=True)
async def main(sess: VuerSession):
    sess.upsert @ Pcd(
        src="http://localhost:8012/workspace/" + f3rm_ycb_1,
        size=0.001,
        position=[0, 0, 0.5],
    )
    sess.upsert @ Pcd(
        src="http://localhost:8012/workspace/" + f3rm_ycb_2,
        size=0.001,
        position=[0, 0, 0.5],
    )

    await sess.forever()
```

## Key Parameters

| Parameter  | Type               | Default   | Description                                                         |
| ---------- | ------------------ | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `src`      | str                | -         | URL or local file path to the PCD file                              |
| `text`     | str                | -         | Text content of the PCD file (load from string)                     |
| `buff`     | bytes              | -         | Binary content of the PCD file (most efficient)                     |
| `encoding` | str                | `'ascii'` | Encoding of the PCD file                                            |
| `size`     | float              | -         | Size of the points in the point cloud                               |
| `matrix`   | tuple\[float, ...] | -         | 4x4 transformation matrix (16 values) for positioning and orienting |
| `hide`     | bool               | `False`   | Flag to hide the point cloud                                        |

## Learn More

For detailed examples of using `Pcd`, see:

- [Showing Point Clouds](/examples/point_clouds/pointcloud) - Programmatic point cloud display