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BLK360ReCap

BLK360 and MP Camera Hybrid10620

DougMagners private msg quote post Address this user
I have a client who wants a point cloud and the virtual tour as a reference.

In the past I would have used my normal laser scanner for an accurate point cloud (I just have a hard time trusting the MP pro2 point clouds) and used the MP Pro2 for the tour but I'm thinking of renting the BLK360 to use its more powerful laser and integrating with the Matterport to check 2 boxes with 1 stone.

My two concerns/questions are:

1. Im concerned that the BLK360 is too slow - I've seen videos where one scan takes over 4 minutes which is crazy. Is that normal? Has anybody seen that same performance speed with the BLK360?

2. Because I am concerned about the 4 minute scan time, I'm considering using the BLK360 and the MP pro2 together: BLK for better depth data and accurate point cloud, and the pro2 to speed up the process as infill shots between BLK scans.

My assumption is that Matterport's system will be able to generate a more accurate point cloud from the BLK scans but I won't have to take an excessive amount of 4-minute scans to be able to capture the space thoroughly - that's what the pro2 infill scans will do at 30-second scans.

Does anybody have experience and suggestions regarding this workflow or know if my assumptions are correct?

Thank you

Best,

Doug
Post 1 IP   flag post
sptr7160 private msg quote post Address this user
Hi Doug,

This process sounds good on paper, but is unlikely to give you the result your are looking for.
First, when you use the BLK in tandem with the MP camera using capture, the BLK accuracy is reduced down to the level of the MP camera. The resulting point cloud will have the same accuracy and "thickness" as if you captured the entire space with your MP unit.
However, the BLK is simulatneoulsy capturing data inside the unit. The current wireless workflow for transferring that data from the BLk to your machine is VERY slow and problematic if you are using Recap to process. You have to be mindful to use the BLK in enough locations that you have a robust point cloud with usable data--as you noted, this is time consuming, and you will wind up needing to marry two separate point clouds--Not a good workflow!
Leica has recently made it possible to use their Field 360 processing software along with the BLK unit--This software was previously only available for use with the RTC360($80K+ scanner)This is good news because it dramatically speeds up workflow--the downside is that you can't use MP capture and the Leica Field 360 at the same time--you have to choose one or the other.

At the end of the day, using Field 360 to process the BLK scans is a great step forward when using the BLK by itself. At this point, there is no increase in accuracy when using the BLK inside the MP ecosystem. You do have the benefits of exteriors and the ability to capture high volume spaces, but there is no increased accuracy or the ability to harness the power of Field 360.

You referred to using your normal laser scanner-- I assume you have a Trimble, Faro, Leica, or other terrestrial unit--if this is the case, you are used to very accurate point clouds and depending on what deliverable your client is looking for, the MP output may not be adequate. With a point cloud from Matterport, you only expect a resulting Revit model with an LOD of 100-200 max. If you have a higher end Faro, etc, you can routinely get LOD of 400 +/-.

The marriage of these two units is so close, and yet so far away at the same time.

I hope this helps in your research.

Steve Petrie
Northeast-3D
www.northeast-3d.com
Post 2 IP   flag post
DougMagners private msg quote post Address this user
Hi Steve,

Thank you so much for clarifying all my concerns and all the great in-depth insight. I really appreciate that. If I understood you correctly, processing the scan data in the Matterport ecosystem will not have the same level of accuracy we normally expect, but it sounds like one option is to use the BLK360 in Matterport capture in order to create the virtual tour, but then in a separate vein, I can download those original scans from the BLK360 device itself and use my ReCap Pro to generate my own, high-accuracy point cloud (as long as I have enough collection points and use the correct HDR setting which apparently has limitations with ReCap). I recognize this is not a perfect solution and will take time, but so will doing a separate scan series and then doing the Matterport tour. Am I correct?

I will keep this thread updated on how this project turns out!

Thanks again.

Best,
Doug
Post 3 IP   flag post
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