Canvas Software


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I saw this on Facebook and it seems to be an amazing tool - of course if it works as the video indicates.  So was wondering if anyone has ever purchased the hardware / software ?  We do a lot of as-built drawings so this solution could be a time saver.  Love to get some feedback.  

 

Check it out>  https://canvas.io  

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27 minutes ago, dssharp said:

It would be interesting. I'm questioning if you can do a whole house or a commercial building with this . 

Reviews seem a bit sketchy.  Doesn't appear to do a whole house - just a single room at a time - but suppose you could stitch the rooms together. 

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I'm betting it will be difficult to get the cad file into Chief

 

If it is for one room at a time then it really only serves the purpose of doing room measurements

 

I wonder how accurate they would be ?

 

In 2004 I was checking out photogrammetery software thinking if I bought Chief

I could create a fully dimensioned DWG file to import into Chief and voila instant 3D model

 

it didn't work then - gotta wonder about now ?

 

Lew

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On 1/7/2017 at 1:17 PM, DRAWZILLA said:

Chief has room planner for as-builds. Chief has greatly improved it , with wall thickness and such. I think I'll give it another try.

Havery you tried using it for initial site measurements then importing back into chief?  If it will even do that 

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Great great toy for those fascinated with technology but like Chief's Room Planner no real world application that I can see for a busy, serious home designer. What use is a 3D scan?  And then $30 per scanned room to turn it into CAD? Seriously? Where's the market? Who needs this? What problem does it address? The 10 (5 for most) minutes it takes to measure a room?

 

Would any Chief user find this truly useful - in any way? Other than the cool which only costs money for the entertainment? Someday this stuff will be amazing and actually useful, today not so sure.

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Yes Room Planner imports wall and doors ,but not anything else, like cabinets. For as-builts  it's  pretty good. also automatically inputs measurements from laser measurement devices.  I do need to practice more with it though before I actually use it. I have practiced on my own house.

I can see myself using room planner, I do need to get one of those portable lightweight laptop tables , just can't hold everything at once.

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I could see this being VERY helpful IF you did a lot of old home remodels or commercial interior design.  Its easy to dimension a newer structure for as-built, but older homes with multiple remodels through the years can be unbelievably difficult.

 

...again, if it performs as advertised.

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2 hours ago, lbuttery said:

The 10 (5 for most) minutes it takes to measure a room?

 

Larry:

 

seriously? - not if you are trying to measure "everything"

 

maybe if you just want overall dims ?

 

Lew

Seriously. Again, a real world home designer doesn't have to measure 'everything'. That's my point. Real World as builts don't require everything be measured and in 10 minutes, in a single room, you can get WAY more data and measurements than you'd ever need for a real world remodel. Even 5 minutes would be an extremely long time, again real world useful information. Can't see any use for it.

 

It is still very, very, cool. but again who's it for? Home remodeling designers? Contractors? Tech geeks? How about you Lew? When you did real world as builts did you measure 'everything'? And if so, why in the world would you do so?

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Just now, johnny said:

I could see this being VERY helpful IF you did a lot of old home remodels or commercial interior design.  Its easy to dimension a newer structure for as-built, but older homes with multiple remodels through the years can be unbelievably difficult.

 

...again, if it performs as advertised.

OK, so let's say you have a 3D representation of a room with 'everything' in it. Then what? What do you with that room's information? What's the next step in the design process? I am all ears/eyes when that gets figured out but for now what could one possibly use the information for?

 

If I am remodeling an interior I need room dims, window locations, door locations, ceiling height - done. Add a few more details for the more anally challenged and you've 7 of your 10 minutes remaining.

 

Someone please prove me wrong and show me how it speeds up my work flow when it currently doesn't need fixing.

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A little more...I absolutely LOVE the idea and the execution seems flawless and the marketing, oh yes. even better. Check the below video at 1:35. If a user has had even the tiniest bit of 3D CAD experience they would know how deceptive this part of the video is. Structure sensor will play almost no part in creating a 3D presentation for your client, unless you pay $30 for each room to convert the data into something even close to usable, then stitch those rooms together? How? Could you use aa ACAD file in Chief from it? At $30 a room? And get the information within 48 hours? Maybe Sketch Up? Love love the tech but it's not a business - I'm out. (in my best Shark tank impression.)

 

 

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I think an architect or designer would have more input into actual use. 

 

Larry, i've been part of projects where every detail of an old home had to be captured - from details on a staircase to the mill work on a fireplace surround.  I'd paid upwards of 3k just for certain as-built measurements on projects that were very complex due to the age of the building and what the client wanted to capture for recreation in new materials.

 

I've been recently focusing more on new construction so I agree this for me now isn't a huge priority.  However, if I got a fairly complex project in the future needing an as-built the price for this isn't bad at all. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, johnny said:

I think an architect or designer would have more input into actual use. 

 

Larry, i've been part of projects where every detail of an old home had to be captured - from details on a staircase to the mill work on a fireplace surround.  I'd paid upwards of 3k just for certain as-built measurements on projects that were very complex due to the age of the building and what the client wanted to capture for recreation in new materials.

 

I've been recently focusing more on new construction so I agree this for me now isn't a huge priority.  However, if I got a fairly complex project in the future needing an as-built the price for this isn't bad at all. 

 

 

Did you see the real world results in a couple videos? We are obviously talking about 2 completely different businesses but for mine - not anywhere near a useful tool - today. Tomorrow? Who knows.

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I think this app could be useful for capturing the inside of a historical building such as a cathedral, for future consideration in case of destruction or fire etc...

This would be overkill and actually more work for what we do on this forum, as HumbleChief so ardently articulated. 

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How good will Canvas be for external scanning?

For quality, large projects as churches photogrammetry is currently used.

 

For a comparison of Canvas to current high-end scanners check out links below.

USA
https://matterport.com/

 

AUSTRALIA
https://www.scann3d.com.au/#step-inside

The cost to scan the interior of a large church is approx. $1500 AUD

 

Project home builder using VR to market project homes
Metricon (I believe they had Scann3d scan their project homes)
http://www.metricon.com.au/metricon-virtual-reality-experience#s3zokoyEre3wQpJ5.97

 

 

 
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On 1/7/2017 at 1:17 PM, DRAWZILLA said:

Chief has room planner for as-builds. Chief has greatly improved it , with wall thickness and such. I think I'll give it another try.

Perry,

 

I use Room Planner with a "Leica DISTO E7500i". Works fine but I would prefer to use my Laptop and Full Chief Program.

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