During A Shoot

When doing a shoot, make sure to pay attention. Sometimes with doing the same repetitive steps over and over when doing scans you forget about some common things to keep in mind. I have shot an entire school before and forgot that I was on the second floor. I forgot to add another floor so had to reshoot 2 additional hours of work.  Follow the below steps when doing a shoot and you’ll be on your way to a launched 3D tour in no time!

During A Shoot Set Up

Step 1 – Turn on the 3D camera
Step 2 – Login to the Capture App with the Pizzazz Group login information.
Step 3 – Install the 3D Conversion Engine, this is in the Capture app after you select Settings & Privacy. This only needs to be done once.
Step 3 – Sync the Capture App to the camera by going to Wi-Fi and selecting THETAYN14104833.OSC. The password is the serial number which is 14104833
Step 4 – Open Capture App and press “+” to create a new 3D scan. 
Step 5 – Select the property you just built and start scanning.
Step 6 – From the floor to the top of the screw in for the camera is 55 inches
Step 7 – Screw in the camera without touching the lens and start shooting.

During A Shoot Tips

Scan Frequency – Keep in mind that this is the path people will take on your 3D virtual tour.  Scan every 5 feet – 8 feet apart. The scan can reach up to 15 feet but in order for proper stitching of a scan, 5 feet-8 feet is recommended. Also, make sure the scan is within a line of sight to the previous scan. A scan connects with another scan and this is how the room is developed.
Hide From Scanning Matterpoints – Make sure you are out of the sight of the scan prior to selecting scan room and wait for the scan to be complete prior to placing you next scan point. If you get in the scan, you’ll just need to delete and re-scan.
Scan Check – Make sure after each scan that your scan is in the correct location and room. If it isn’t, delete the scan. We always recommend to shoot closer to a previously completed scan so the software knows where your at in the room.
MAKE SURE YOU CHECK SCANS BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT THE SCANS TO BUILD OFF EACH OTHER INCORRECTLY.
Determine The Path – Always check your path prior to starting your scans. Try to make the scans make sense. When planning our scan path, think about how someone would naturally walk through the facility.
GO FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER. DON’T GO BACK IN ROOMS AFTER YOU SHOOT THEM. ONCE THE ROOM IS DONE, MOVE ON! ONCE THE ROOM IS COMPLETE, YOU DON’T NEED TO RESHOOT WALKING OUT OF THE ROOM, BUT JUST GO TO THE HALLWAY AND SHOOT 5 TO 8 FEET FROM WHERE YOUR HALWAY SCAN IS LOCATED TO CONTINUE DOWN THE HALLWAY TO THE NEXT ROOM.
Extra “Waisted” Scan – An extra waisted scan is what we recommend to build out a room. You have no intention of using the scan but process the scan to fill the room. This is typically done behind desks, in corners where a door is open or to fulfill a room that isn’t fully scanned. When looking at a finished scanned room, you should clearly see the build/structure of the room. You may also use waisted scans in a hallway that goes to an emergency exit. You would want to fufill this part of the facility. In post production, you have the ability to delete any waisted scans.
Avoid Mirrors – You don’t want to see the camera in a mirror and the reflection can create issues with the software. Avoid mirrors whenever possible.
Follow A Line – Where you place the Matterport, will result in the placement of the scan when it’s published. No one wants go back in forth so follow a line when at all possible. When I shoot something with tiles, I will use tiles for both an undertanding of how far I am placing the camera along with making sure I’m centrally located down the hallway.
Scan Before & After Doors – When going into rooms, we recommend to keep your normal pathway placing a scan infront of the door and then 12 inches outside of the door and 12 inches inside the door.
Busy Spaces – It’s near impossible to shoot a space when people are walking in and out of the area. I recommend to tell the person to go in a room that we are not shooting and when they leave the room to “yell” so we know they are not going to get in a middle of a scan and that they need to ask if it’s “okay” for them to leave the room. If a person does go in the sight of view for the scan, you will need to delete the scan and re-scan. 
Floors – After you shoot the stairs, select floor 2. If their is a basement, label it as Floor 1. We recommend shooting every 3 stairs, once you start shooting more than 3 stairs at a time, the scan’s don’t fit together appropriately.
Long Hallways Or Large Spaces – When you are scanning, the software stitches and builds the area. It doesn’t know how far it’s going with long hallways so place a plant or something every 15 ft so it knows that it’s getting closer to it. Also, when going past, the plant make sure to keep the plant in that location so it knows that it’s getting further away.
Same Look…Lights & Doors  – When you are scanning, the software stitches and builds the area. If you move around a desk or close a door or turn on and off lights, it can impact the stitching. It also doesn’t look right when a desk is in one spot and then it changes in other scans. Don’t close doors when you’re done with rooms because when you are walking down the hallway after the shoot you can see these changes and the shoot doesn’t look as good when changes are visible. If something in a room is wrong, I recommend to reshoot the full room.
Inside or Outside – Inside scans go ahead and do the 3d tour, for outside scans you will do the 360 degree view. You are unable to do the 3d tour feature outside as the camera uses infrared light to capture 3D data. Even on a cloudy day, infrared light from the sun can lead to alignment issues and poor Dollhouse and Floorplan views. 

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