convert - Converting .las to .pcd file using PDAL?

Is it possible to translate .las files to .pcd with PDAL? If so, using which tool? I need an example about how to set the command-line with such tool.

If it is not possible (or alternatively), is there other open source software that can translate .las to .pcd?

Answer

The PDAL PCD Writer can write .pcd files. For it to work, you must have linked the PCL libraries at compile time. The PDAL OSGeo4W build does not have PCL support. If you are unable to build PDAL with PCL support yourself, one possibility is to use PDAL's Docker containers to achieve your task -- those have PCL linked.

Then, simply run pdal translate:

Using your own PDAL build with PCL linked:

pdal translate input.las output.pcd

With Docker:

docker run -v /c/Users/hobu/:/data pdal/pdal:1.5 ^
       pdal translate /data/input.las /data/output.pcd