Scan/Measure App Recommendation

[LiannaTheTech]

Hi all,

In your experience, what is the best "measure/scan" app that can accurately upload into Chief? The three that I'm looking into are Matterport, RENDR, and Canvas. Would love some feedback.

[SHCanada2]

when you ask "accurately upload into Chief", are you referring to the companies which output a Chief .plan file, or software that just produces a floor plan that you can bring into Chief as a dxf or some other type? I tried out cubicasa a couple months ago. It worked pretty good. $10 per plan, and you can just trace over the walls. or $35 and they provide dxf. It uses photogrametery technology so any phone will work

 

 

 

One of the companies I work for use magicplan, but so far it has not provided sufficient detail to draw up a plan in CA without me having to ask some questions like "whats that". And "is that where the stairs start or the landing starts?".  Anything that is not a wall, these programs have a hard time with, so I also ensure a video is taken, and then I try and piece it together.

 

I tried to get polycam to work because it will spit out a floor plan immediately, but I could not get it to work on an android.

 

All other apps I researched required you to wait until the next day or x number of hours to get a floor plan. None of them are that accurate that I researched. Most claim this "1 or 2%"., which in my view is nonsense. Accuracy should be delineated in +- x number of inches.

 

So 1% of a 40 wide house is an error of 5". In my view, I'll pay $10 for inaccuracy, rather than $50 or $100 for some of the other apps for the same inaccuracy. Matterport might be an exception for accuracy, it has its own hardware.

 

For me my plan going forward is to use cubicasa for where I do not care about acccuracy (floors of a house which are not being modified), and then use my bosch laser 50C for where it is critical, and inches matter

 

 

 

 

[aurorainteriors]

Hi there!! I personally use canvas to scan clients houses and upload and convert to chief files. This has saved me so much time on modeling/as builts and I highly recommend as an interior designer. I have had great accuracy as long as I provide them with a thorough scan. The pricing is pretty reasonable in my opinion as well. 

[ChiefUserHaM]

On 1/22/2025 at 11:54 PM, aurorainteriors said:

Hi there!! I personally use canvas to scan clients houses and upload and convert to chief files. This has saved me so much time on modeling/as builts and I highly recommend as an interior designer. I have had great accuracy as long as I provide them with a thorough scan. The pricing is pretty reasonable in my opinion as well. 

Thanks for the recommendation. Are the site measurements accurate after Canvas converts it to chief?

[SHCanada2]

I did an interesting test yesterday.

 

I measured, I also received the realtor floor plan (which is iguide, which is a lidar scanner/photogrammetry setup in each room. I think realtors pay 3rd parties about $400 for a full house scan using this hardware and software), and cubicasa on my phone (which is a photogrammetry app and cost $10).

 

This is a basement which was interesting because although the exterior concrete wall is not jagged, the interior wood walls next to them differed from nothing by the stairs to 2x4 on flat on the south wall, to 2x4 everywhere else. Plus, there was a supporting 2x6 wall which runs down the middle. Neither of them caught the 2x6 wall down the middle as being 2x6. But the iguids caught the difference in wall width in the bottom, left, and by the stairs. cubicasa also has an incorrect width for the laundry room.

 

Both iguide and cubicasa mistook a light fixture above the toilet for a window. 

 

Neither of them tell you about the bulkheads (which I drew in the CA plan)

 

 

so, for $10 its good if you do not need the accuracy (the use case for me is, customers are doing a basement reno and the city also needs a main floor plan "for their records" and as such does not need to be perfect). For iguide at $400, its better, but because it does not have varying wall widths, it does not calculate the gross floor area correctly (which here is to outside walls). Ironically cubicasa has the more accurate GFA in this case.

 

I'm still on the lookout for an app in which you can actually get the 3d model, in order to double check dimensions, and see anomalies before they (the purveyors of these softwares) create a floor plan...assuming they give you the unadjusted model.