The Registration Report

The Short Version

After you register, click Report, then Save Report. It saves as a PDF.
Save it in the project folder: Documents, FARO, Projects, your project.
Read the mean point error. Indoors it must be under 0.25 inch. Outdoors under 1 inch.
Keep it with the scale bar report. Together they are your accuracy record.

What It Is

When SCENE registers your scans, it lines up every scan with its neighbors. The report shows how closely the points match where the scans overlap. You get it with target based, top view, cloud to cloud, or top view followed by cloud to cloud registration. SCENE names the file for you.

The mean point error also shows at the bottom of the screen when you open the project.

What the Numbers Mean

Value	What it means	What to look for
Mean point error	The average fit across every overlap in the whole project.	Indoors under 0.25 in. Outdoors under 1 in. Class results usually run about 0.03 to 0.17 in. Outdoors runs higher because cars, people and equipment move between scans.
Max point error	The worst single scan-to-scan fit.	Use it to find the problem pair. A high max error usually comes with low overlap.
Overlap	How much of two scans covers the same area.	Connections around 10 to 15 percent can go over threshold. High error with high overlap usually means something moved through the scene.
Green, yellow, red	Each connection is colored against two thresholds. Below the first is green, between them is yellow, above the second is red.	Colors flag a possible problem. They do not tell you the fix. Leave the thresholds at the FARO default in class.
Inclinometer mismatch	How much SCENE had to correct to level each scan.	The tattletale. It shows whether the scanner was set up level.

The 0.25 inch and 1 inch limits are this course's standard. FARO lets each agency set its own thresholds. No published standard sets a number.

Why It Matters

Quality control. It proves the scans fit before you measure, clean or export.
Your accuracy record. The scanner's published accuracy covers one scan. The registration report covers the fit between scans. The scale bar check proves the whole system measured a known length.
Court. If the defense argues about measurements, they start with your accuracy confirmation. This report is one of the first things they look at.
Discovery. It goes in the case file with the E57, Scene2Go and the SD card copy.

How to Use It on Every Case

Look first. Walls, curbs and vehicles should line up with no doubled edges.
Click Report. Read the mean point error against 0.25 in indoors or 1 in outdoors.
Open the detailed errors. Sort the columns. Find any pair with high max error, low overlap, or yellow or red.
Check the inclinometer mismatch.
Select Save Report and save the PDF in the project folder.

When the Numbers Are Bad

Disband the auto cluster and run cloud to cloud again with verify.
Get rid of sub-clusters.
Clean out anything that moved, such as a passing truck, and register again.
In the field, add a scan where overlap is thin.
See Manual Registration and Alternates and Fixes.

What Goes in the Case File

Registration report PDF
Scale bar accuracy report
Calibration certificate for the year
Scanner serial number and settings
Field sketch with scan positions
Untouched SD card copy
E57 or project point cloud, and Scene2Go

On the Stand

Keep it plain. Within one scan, the error is about a millimeter, the thickness of a credit card. Across scans, the report gives the average fit in every overlap, for example an eighth of an inch, well under the quarter inch limit. The scale bar shows the system measured a known length correctly. The raw data was preserved, so anyone can check the work.

Process and Register Cards Scale Bar Check Published Accuracy of Your Scanner

Sources: Bobby Jones class instruction, Sep-Oct 2026. FARO Knowledge Base: Registration Report App, Processing and Registration Settings, Example Predicate Questions. NIST/OSAC: OSAC 2025-N-0022 draft.