A method of encoding a point cloud into a stream, the method comprising: - determining, for a point of view used as a projection center, a list of patch data items by: a. projecting points of the point cloud visible from said point of view on a projection map; b. clustering adjacent pixels in the projection map according to their depth value, a depth value being a distance between a point and the point of view stored in the pixels of the projection map, and, for every cluster of pixels, adding to the list of patch data items, a patch data item comprising: • an angular range corresponding to the part of the 3D space that the points projected on said cluster of pixels occupy from said point of view, • a depth information representative of the minimal and maximal depth values of said cluster of pixels; c. removing said part of the point cloud from the point cloud; d. iterating a, b and c until the point cloud is empty or the patch data item list is full; - generating a picture by, for every patch data item of the list of patch data items, arranging the cluster of pixels associated with said patch data item onto an area of said picture and adding an area information representative of said area to the patch data item; and - encoding, in said stream, the picture and the list of patch data items. - determining, for a point of view used as a projection center, a list of patch data items by: a. projecting points of the point cloud visible from said point of view on a projection map; b. clustering adjacent pixels in the projection map according to their depth value, a depth value being a distance between a point and the point of view stored in the pixels of the projection map, and, for every cluster of pixels, adding to the list of patch data items, a patch data item comprising: • an angular range corresponding to the part of the 3D space that the points projected on said cluster of pixels occupy from said point of view, • a depth information representative of the minimal and maximal depth values of said cluster of pixels; c. removing said part of the point cloud from the point cloud; d. iterating a, b and c until the point cloud is empty or the patch data item list is full; a. projecting points of the point cloud visible from said point of view on a projection map; b. clustering adjacent pixels in the projection map according to their depth value, a depth value being a distance between a point and the point of view stored in the pixels of the projection map, and, for every cluster of pixels, adding to the list of patch data items, a patch data item comprising: • an angular range corresponding to the part of the 3D space that the points projected on said cluster of pixels occupy from said point of view, • a depth information representative of the minimal and maximal depth values of said cluster of pixels; • an angular range corresponding to the part of the 3D space that the points projected on said cluster of pixels occupy from said point of view, • a depth information representative of the minimal and maximal depth values of said cluster of pixels; c. removing said part of the point cloud from the point cloud; d. iterating a, b and c until the point cloud is empty or the patch data item list is full; - generating a picture by, for every patch data item of the list of patch data items, arranging the cluster of pixels associated with said patch data item onto an area of said picture and adding an area information representative of said area to the patch data item; and - encoding, in said stream, the picture and the list of patch data items.