BenFromCanvas

Yes! Please email our onboarding team at hello@canvas.io and tell them you heard about us in the Chief Architect forums. They'll lead a 1:1 demo and provide a code for a free scan.

If you'd like to try our Scan To CAD service while you've still got the phone, please send me a DM or email me at ben@canvas.io and I can give you a code so you can try it for free!

Totally understand that! Unfortunately, there are very few Android devices which support LiDAR (the embedded sensor Canvas needs to deliver 99% accuracy), and it increasingly looks like Android manufacturers are moving away from it even as Apple adds it to more devices. We're continuing to monitor the market, but the lack of compatible Android devices means we've had to focus on supporting iOS for the time being. If you think that Canvas could save you significant time on your as-builts, I'd recommend borrowing an iPad Pro to see if it works for you. Depending on the volume of as-builts you create, a $799 investment in an iPad Pro could pay for itself within a few weeks.

Just sent you it via DM. For anyone else reading this thread, I did want to note that while we're still offering a promo code to try Canvas's Scan To CAD service, we've changed our pricing model since I made my initial post. Instead of charging on a "per scan" basis, we now charge by the square foot - $0.15/square foot (referring to the floor area, not the square footage of scanned walls, etc). If you're interested in trying Canvas's Scan To CAD service, I'm able to share a code for $30 off your first use, which will cover 200 square feet.

My apologies for not replying sooner, I'm just seeing this now. Canvas's Scan To CAD service only works on scans captured by the Canvas app itself. Our process relies on data captured with the app, so at this time, we're unable to process any point cloud or 3D mesh data captured with other devices/platforms.

Thanks for your questions. In terms of cost effectiveness, we charge $0.15/square foot for Chief Architect files. So, a 2,000 square foot home would cost $300. Accuracy is about 99% - you can read about that here. However, you do have the ability to supplement the scan with laser measure readings for critical measurements by emailing our support team after submitting your scan to Scan To CAD - you can read more about that process here. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Hi Mike, We are still working on it and don't have an updated ETA. It is important to note that currently there are only a few Android devices that have a depth sensor (known as a Time of Flight sensor in the Android world) - the Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra. Canvas's 98-99% accuracy depends on using a depth sensor, such as Apple's LiDAR sensors on the iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max. To properly set your expectations, unless you own an Android device with a ToF sensor, accuracy will be closer to 95%. If you are interested in using Canvas in your professional workflow, we strongly recommend investing in a LiDAR-equipped Apple device. Best, Ben

I wanted to share a case study we just completed with Thornton Weiler, an architect in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thornton uses Canvas's Scan To CAD service to create Chief Architect as-builts. He credits Canvas with driving a 25% increase in revenue, increasing his schematic design profit by $1,500 - $2,000 per project, and saving about 14 hours in labor per project. Please reach out to me at ben@canvas.io if you're interested in trying it out for yourself. I'm happy to share a code for up to $30 off your first Scan To CAD order, which will cover 200 square feet. Canvas - Thornton Weiler Case Study.pdf

Congrats on your first scan. And thanks for bringing up our revised pricing structure. Most of our customers are used to thinking in square feet, so if you know you're going to be scanning a 2,000 square feet house, it's easy to calculate the cost of your Scan To CAD order (2,000 x $0.15 = $300). Please share your experience with the community. And don't hesitate to reach out if I can be of help in any way!

I'm glad you're interested! Send me a PM on the board or send me an email at ben@canvas.io and I can share a code with you for a free scan. I do want to let you know that it'll likely take way less than 90 minutes, unless you're scanning an enormous home. While Canvas isn't designed to scan exteriors, we do have customers who do it. The caveat is that the range of the LiDAR sensor is about 15 feet, so you'll encounter challenges scanning anything above the first story of a building. Here's more information from our FAQ about using Canvas outdoors.

I'm sorry to hear you had issues with your Canvas scan! That certainly shouldn't happen -- it's possible we weren't able to recognize the door properly due to it not being captured fully in the scan, the door being opened in the middle of scanning it, or something else. Hard to say, but I'd absolutely be happy to look into it for you because I wouldn't want you to walk away with the feeling that that just happens Feel free to message me privately, email me at ben@canvas.io, or engage here if you'd like to discuss the errors in your Chief Architect file.

Thank you for the suggestion about incorporating critical measurements during the scanning process. We are already working on implementing an easier method to add manual measurements, but seeing your comment helps validate our decision to do so. At this point, we don't support devices other than iPads and iPhones, but are working on supporting Android devices.

We actually are already working on bringing our tech to Android! We don't have an exact ETA to share, but that's the next step for us in terms of platform. We also do have plans to incorporate laser distance meter measurements as a means of augmenting the flow I described above for adding critical dimensions: https://support.canvas.io/article/198-how-to-submit-manual-dimensions-to-canvas. We have many customers who are Windows users - they use Chief Architect (or one of our other output formats) on that platform, but have purchased the $799 iPad Pro for scanning, as they find that it's a relatively small upfront investment in terms of ROI for the amount of time they save measuring and building the as-built models.

Totally fair to call out that that kind of tolerance won't work for every project and use case. Like any other tool, 3D capture has uses where it's a game-changer on its own, uses where it needs a bit of help, and uses where it's not the right fit at all. For example, if you're ordering and installing custom cabinetry and have a super tight (1/16") tolerance, you're probably going to want to take those measurements manually. But that would be true of most 3D scanning solutions outside of the super-high-end tripod scanners, usually in the $5K or even $10K+ range, and usually, they take hours more to complete the scan. Hover is actually about a 5% tolerance, according to their FAQs: https://help.hover.to/en/articles/392328-how-accurate-are-the-measurements. This matches with what you'd generally expect from Canvas *without LiDAR* too (as the app does support non-LiDAR iPhones going back to the iPhone 7). We actually have a flow where you can submit any critical dimensions with your scan and we'll match it in your Scan To CAD result in Chief Architect: https://support.canvas.io/article/198-how-to-submit-manual-dimensions-to-canvas. In this way, you're always getting comparable accuracy to what you would've gotten the old-fashioned way for the measurements that really require it, and leveraging the time-saving benefits of 3D scanning for everything else. Another common workflow we see within design-build and remodeling firms is to use Canvas to scan the whole home (and convert to Chief or another output) on the initial visit, and then update the measurements in the CAD model over time as the project progresses. Doing a full site survey and 3D model (manually) that early in a project is often far too time-consuming to justify, especially when the project scope is not yet defined and you might not even know what you need to capture. But having that 3D model early on means you can engage the client about design choices and plans weeks earlier than you otherwise would (and 3D scanning means you capture everything, not just what you think you need). You might be interested in this case study from Lotus Construction Group about their workflow. All in all, we really try to focus on two things: being blazing-fast (scanning a room takes about a minute) and bridging to the tools and workflows people use to get their job done (like Chief Architect). Accuracy will only get better as it becomes cheaper and cheaper to integrate higher-quality sensors and the technology keeps improving. It wasn't that long ago that even 1% cost $50K and took a full day of scanning time and another few days of painstakingly tracing a point cloud. Now it fits in your pocket!

Thanks for the question! You can read more about accuracy here. But, here’s the short answer: If you are using Canvas with a LiDAR-enabled iPad or iPhone (includes most Pro models launched since 2020), most measurements should be within 1-2% of what's verified manually with a tape measure, laser distance meter, or existing blueprint.