scanning in a low light basement

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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by max72 »

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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by sim.herrod »

stutosney wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 11:20 pm Running the risk of stating the obvious here, but why don't you just purchase/hire some battery powered LED portable lights? I wouldn't recommend using a generator in the basement, for obvious reasons, but you could run an extension cable and have it set up outside if you need powered lights. Would be the most cost effective way rather than hiring a whole new scanner that you may be unfamiliar with etc. Would it not be best to use what you already have at your disposable and are experienced with.
We tried this method on a heritage job and it wasn't great. The lights cast shadows/ bright spots on the walls and they overpowered the HDR on a Faro S150. We decided a better solution would be to have the lighting in some way rotate with the scanner, meaning the light level is always the same in relation to the scanner.
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stutosney
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by stutosney »

sim.herrod wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 8:48 am
stutosney wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 11:20 pm Running the risk of stating the obvious here, but why don't you just purchase/hire some battery powered LED portable lights? I wouldn't recommend using a generator in the basement, for obvious reasons, but you could run an extension cable and have it set up outside if you need powered lights. Would be the most cost effective way rather than hiring a whole new scanner that you may be unfamiliar with etc. Would it not be best to use what you already have at your disposable and are experienced with.
We tried this method on a heritage job and it wasn't great. The lights cast shadows/ bright spots on the walls and they overpowered the HDR on a Faro S150. We decided a better solution would be to have the lighting in some way rotate with the scanner, meaning the light level is always the same in relation to the scanner.
Ah, that is interesting, I wonder if there are any specialist photography lights that you could hire that would negate these issues. I have used the Spheron products before (https://www.spheron.com/products/point- ... ation.html) in a similar situation and worked very well. I think they can be used alongside P series scanners as well, though it has been a while since I last had experience with them.
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by steves01x »

What sort of image quality are they expecting?

Getting good light for photography is a challenge and skill in itself - as i mentioned earlier Pocket Wizards and remote flashes would help but there would be a lot of trial n error per image with how the flashes can bounce etc. There is also Pro Photo, they do good lighting rigs and batteries. But all that kit is expensive.

I would try and hire the Spheron, i think it cost under £30k new so the hire should be reasonable given the amount of hassle it will save compared to off camera lighting etc.

Or you get some builders lights and do a bit of a cow boy job but make it clear to the client that that poor lighting and their budget doesn't allow for it to be done to a high standard. Just high quality intensity scans with terrible imagery.
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by JeffT »

We just bought some LED shop light things. Most of the project was lit, but there was a dark basement area. We bought 4 for like $50 and they last 4 hours or so. Use AA or the big 18650 lithium rechargeable batteries. Long enough for what we wanted to do.

You could buy 20 for a pittance of a scanning contract and light that whole thing up, hell build it into the contract since they want it. List it on the contract and let them see that they can save money by not having it.

In my experience, a client asking for color scans in a completely dark area has no idea what they are asking for, what they are getting, or what they will do with it. Almost universally a normal scan would do, modelers don't look at the color scans anyway. Generally the time differential and subsequent cost going up 4x will dissuade them. They need to be guided better by the sales department.
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by dhirota »

JeffT wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 3:00 am ...
In my experience, a client asking for color scans in a completely dark area has no idea what they are asking for, what they are getting, or what they will do with it. Almost universally a normal scan would do, modelers don't look at the color scans anyway. Generally the time differential and subsequent cost going up 4x will dissuade them. They need to be guided better by the sales department.
Jeff

Clients that ask for color scans in total darkness know exactly what they are looking for, especially if they are also looking for thermal IR scans that we can provide as well with our standard Z+F scanning sensors. Clients know our projects with many examples that are educating them. You and others are probably attempting to pursue commodity scanning which may result in lower fees since you are competing with everyone that does not have the correct equipment, and you would be surprised how many clients want to see their Revit models in HDR RGB color.
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by landmeterbeuckx »

The discussions about coloring are endless. I don't particularly like coloring and here you see a recent exemple of why intensity coloring adds more value.
This was scanned during daylight, pics only for this purpose of showing the results.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lsbbvba_ ... 08736-qDrs
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by LPaulCook »

I have velcrowed two light cubes on each side of my FARO X330 some time ago and got excellent rresults.Im sure my S350 w HRD would result in even better color images in a very dark room.

I made simple angled aluminum v brackets that went between the instrument and the light cube to aim the light best one up and the other downward.

The light cubes have 10 adjustable light intensity settings via cellphone app and run pretty long on one charge.

Since they are attached to the side of the scanner head the reflection light to the scanner is constant and no shadows.

Check them out at https://lumecube.com/

Good luck.

Paul
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by sim.herrod »

LPaulCook wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 6:46 am I have velcrowed two light cubes on each side of my FARO X330 some time ago and got excellent rresults.Im sure my S350 w HRD would result in even better color images in a very dark room...

...Check them out at https://lumecube.com/

Good luck.

Paul
Paul, I was looking at the Lume Cubes the other day, and wasn't sure if they'd be bright enough and diffuse the light enough. The light needs to evenly illuminate, without any bright spots in the centre, so I thought the panels might be better?

https://lumecube.com/collections/stream ... l-two-pack

As I said above, the S150 HDR, even at max, got overpowered by static LED work lights.
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Re: scanning in a low light basement

Post by HThomas »

Hello Ioannis

You may find this video useful - it shows a test I did with the Spheron ScanLight system, so you can see for yourself how effective it is in low light conditions. I have used the system to scan pitch black basements also - no problems at all.

Spheron ScanLight night test
https://vimeo.com/184393147

The resultant image can easily be paired with laser data.

You can now hire the entire system (SceneCam plus ScanLight) directly from SpheronVR for a very reasonable weekly rate.

Contact Spheron for more information
https://www.spheron.com/about-us/contact.html

Kind regards, Huw
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