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Matterport w/Z1 vs Matterport w/Pro215448

Hopscotch private msg quote post Address this user
I heard through the grapevine that folks were saving a lot of time doing scanning with the Z1 and perhaps their clients couldn’t tell the difference…so I did a field test. What do you guys think? Do any of you use both and choose one over the other for different clients or property types?

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DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user
Video: Matterport vs. Matterport! Can you tell the difference? | Video courtesy of Hopscotch Interactive YouTube Channel | 23 August 2021

@Hopscotch

I posted your video this morning

Video: Matterport Shot with Pro2 versus Matterport Shot with Ricoh Theta Z1

Dan
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Hopscotch private msg quote post Address this user
Sweet, thanks Dan!
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lilnitsch private msg quote post Address this user
I have done some A/B testing with Matterport between the 360 cameras and Matterport's own Pro Cameras. I primarily shoot luxury properties when using Matterport tours and when scanning larger spaces I prefer to use the Pro Cameras also the Z1 can have that dreaded "yellow" cast. Use of a supported 360 camera for those of us rocking Classic plans also costs more money per model it bills out like using the BLK camera

My M1 iPad Pro arrives today I am looking forward to see how this new iPad may speed up my process

Ricoh SC2


Ricoh Z1


Matterport Pro2
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Home3D private msg quote post Address this user
@Hopscotch - Thanks for doing this side-by demo. Informative!

Like you, I’ve been doing MP for five years and also carry the Z1 which I regularly use, but for different reasons. The Z1 is a great tool despite the many shortcomings: weak battery life, no swappable battery, no removable memory card, ugh… what was Ricoh thinking!!

But regarding your side-by, I see the time-saving with the Z1, however I suspect the speed benefit and 3D model accuracy would be far less with a furnished home.

However, there are many compelling reasons for the Z1 to be used for delivering really great MP tours. The majority of our tours are now Indoor/Outdoor with the Pro2 and we use the Z1 to capture the look of water in swimming pools. We’ve also begun using the Z1 for exterior 360’s because it’s HDR outperforms the Pro2 for color vibrancy. I’ve done side-by-side with Z1/Pro2 on 360s. We also use it at times to capture yards in full sunlight, despite Cortex’s tendency to misalign “scans” without depth data.

We’ve begun doing scanning with the BLK360 using Cyclone Field 360 (Leica’s software for the iPad) and despite its own quirks and limitations, one feature is the “holy grail” that I pray Matterport will, one day, make available to pros.

In Field 360, you capture a scan node and initially this point cloud is free-floating on the mini-map. Yes, you can move it around however you wish. Whereas Matterport’s “aligning” step searches the entire model’s database looking for an automatic “match” between the new scan and previously captured point-cloud data, in Field 360 the USER manually finds the closest match, which is quite easily done via the mini-map. You drag the new scan’s image to approximately where it lines up, then you tap to lock a link to the closest previous scan. Next you tap an alignment button causing the software to align the new scan ONLY with this closest previous one, ignoring all the others. Then you “Optimize” the link which corrects for tiny errors, and lastly you LOCK the new scan into the model.

What you get from Field 360 is a model which has considerably greater dimensional accuracy than Matterport, with none of the wandering bends that MP suffers from down long hallways. Yes, Matterport’s post-processing algorithms do correct a lot of this bending, but not perfectly. And wouldn’t you feel better knowing everything is accurate right then while you’re scanning?

We’ve all seen how a new MP scan node can end up way the heck on the wrong end of a large model. (MP alignment brain: “Oh, hey, it looks kinda like this doorway over here in the men’s bathroom, so I’ll place the scan here!”) This issue is particularly troublesome when you return to an area later in the day when lighting has changed.

Matterport would do professional users a great service if:
1) The user could SELECT a particular existing scan node and force the Capture app align the new scan ONLY with that node, ignoring all others, and
2) like Field 360, allow the user to grab the point-cloud image of a new scan on the mini-map, and rotate/slide it across the mini-map to place it in the proper location, then tap one or two nearby existing nodes to tell the Capture app to ONLY align it with these nodes.

Is this possible? Of course it is. It’s what we already do with 360s as we place them in the approximate position in yards around the outside of a home. MP simply has to choose to give us this option.

This would eliminate the wasted time of deleting a misaligned scan and “rolling the dice” time after time to find one that aligns properly. It would also speed and greatly improve alignment when switching between Pro2, Z1 and BLK360. There could be huge improvements in complex models and also those with many repeating characteristics like office hallways and warehouses.

Matterport! Please learn from Leica in this regard. Automated alignment is no benefit when it doesn’t work. Leica! Please learn from Matterport and give your camera a battery that will run all day (at least Leica’s is swappable, and you’ll be swapping a lot!)
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Dataventurer private msg quote post Address this user
@lilnitsch Thanks for the excellent comparos of the three cameras! I have an SC2 and was just on a Zoom demo today with RicohTours looking closer at their platform's built-in AI image enhancement as an alternative to using something like Topaz Sharpen AI to improve the quality of the SC2 shots.

I was trying to see how the three scans here compared and then found a couple spots to focus on. One spot is the light switch plates on the wall to the left outside the pantry door. This caught my eye in the Matterport scan because you can easily see the texturing on the wall! Neither of the other two cams show that detail. Then, taking a look at the stove, the Matterport cam enables easy reading of the clock and other labels. The Z1 dropped some of the clarity and the SC2 was almost unreadable. Good comparison there of the details.

But for a budget scan, I think either of the Ricoh cams do a decent job. When taking a quick tour of a property, it seems to me that getting a general idea of the layout and design can be accomplished without presenting a high-res tour.

Do you use or recommend any sharpening app to use with the Ricoh cameras? I have a demo of Sharpen AI that I need to spend some more time playing with.
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lilnitsch private msg quote post Address this user
@Dataventurer

I had picked up the SC2 just for a little comparison shooting ~ I primarily just use my Z1's for Zillow 3D home tours though I do occasionally recycle the panos into CloudPano tours to pick up the Realtor.com integration.

When recycling into CloudPano I typically just do a light once over in photoshop for a little color correction and to remove the monopod
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Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
I honestly do not believe anyone would think a Z1 is quite ok comparing with a pro2. Look at the screenshot attached. Both are set to maximum zoom at the same area. Matterport zoom is much bigger but you can still see a lot of small details outdoor


As for capturing, all my experiments with a Z1 when I had it shown opposite at least outdoor. Each scan with a Z1 covered much less than the same with a Pro2 so it took me more scans with a Z1 to cover the same area as with a Pro2.

Whether each scan is faster to do I do not remember but you cannot hide from a Z1 so you always need to hide behind something and use a timer. I do not think it can beat 37sec per a pro2 scan with alignment when it is used with an Ipad Pro 2020.
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Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home3D
However, there are many compelling reasons for the Z1 to be used for delivering really great MP tours. The majority of our tours are now Indoor/Outdoor with the Pro2 and we use the Z1 to capture the look of water in swimming pools. We’ve also begun using the Z1 for exterior 360’s because it’s HDR outperforms the Pro2 for color vibrancy. I’ve done side-by-side with Z1/Pro2 on 360s. We also use it at times to capture yards in full sunlight, despite Cortex’s tendency to misalign “scans” without depth data.


I have seen many of your examples with water shown in pools and they are great. However I always want to ask you why you are not using a Pro2 in 360 mode and simply do the same near a pool converting it to a 3D scan? Because that's what happens with a 360 from a Z1. Matterport just using their own conversion engine to turn it into a scan. So 134MP 360 should give you a better coverage comparing to 23MP from a Z1. Even though you need to place it manually while with a Z1 it does it automatically.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Home3D

We’ve begun doing scanning with the BLK360 using Cyclone Field 360 (Leica’s software for the iPad) and despite its own quirks and limitations, one feature is the “holy grail” that I pray Matterport will, one day, make available to pros.

In Field 360, you capture a scan node and initially this point cloud is free-floating on the mini-map. Yes, you can move it around however you wish. Whereas Matterport’s “aligning” step searches the entire model’s database looking for an automatic “match” between the new scan and previously captured point-cloud data, in Field 360 the USER manually finds the closest match, which is quite easily done via the mini-map. You drag the new scan’s image to approximately where it lines up, then you tap to lock a link to the closest previous scan. Next you tap an alignment button causing the software to align the new scan ONLY with this closest previous one, ignoring all the others. Then you “Optimize” the link which corrects for tiny errors, and lastly you LOCK the new scan into the model.


I am totally with you on this. More over after I started watching videos dedicated to BLK360 or any scanner with manual scan register I went to MOUG and created a post asking Matterport to add scan manual placement.

It is kind of silly for us to look at all misalignments & fight with them while scanning without any option to correct wrong scan placement manually. And I do not think it is a hard for Matterport to implement.

My BLK360 is going to be shipped tomorrow so I should get it either this week or on Monday. I have already have a client with a child care centre where I am going to use it with Matterport for all their outdoor areas.
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Home3D private msg quote post Address this user
@Wingman - Yes, duh, I should try using the Pro2 in this way for pools. It’s been a while since I tried using its manual placement / conversion which worked very poorly for me back then. I guess I just forgot about this technique, or maybe I’ve forgotten how to do it.

So, you shoot a 360, and then do what?
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lilnitsch private msg quote post Address this user
@Home3D

Shoot the 360 place on the mini map ~ tap off the 360 then tap the 360 again this time it should give you the option to convert to 3D

I do this from time to time to fill in decks or patios
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Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Home3D
So, you shoot a 360, and then do what?


Like @lilnitsch has mentioned already you just need to switch to 360 view and capture. Then a fresh 360 view will appear in 360 views section of the capture app(right bottom corner). Select it there and click place on map. Once it is placed in the spot it belongs check that orientation of 360 is correct. If it is not rotate it until you see it is pointed the right way. If it is click anywhere on the minimap and then click on 360 circle again and select Convert to 3D. Check that a place Matterport aligned it with is correct. If not you can try again by deleting converted scan.

And in case Matterport will screw it up create a duplicate of a job before you do your first 3D conversion just in case.

I also protect internal scans before conversion with trimming lines putting them in front of a property walls outdoor with lines arrows lines pointing inwards. I do not have a poof it works in the final result(I usually delete these exact trimming lines before processing). However it looks like it stops showing at least visually on the minimap a splash going over internal scans when you convert an outdoor scan nearby into 3D.
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