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1.1. Critical Shooting Requirements

**Please note that not adhering to these requirements will result in a decrease in measurement accuracy or an inability to create a sketch**

Pre-Shooting Requirements:

Before shooting, make sure of the following:


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The camera should be as close to level as possible.
The pitch/roll of the camera can affect measurements in a significant way.  Although there is a correction that can be done for lower degrees of pitch/roll, those are more difficult at larger numbers. 

The height from the floor to the middle of the lens should be as close to 5ft as possible.
This is the optimal height for measurements and for the overall look of the tour to not be too high nor too low.  A height of 5.1ft or 4.9ft is perfectly fine, please make sure it is accurate when input into the app during the shooting process.

Each camera shot should be no closer than 3 feet to a wall, but no further than 7 feet from a wall.
These distances are what make the accuracy threshold possible.  For example, in a 10x10ft room, you would only need one shot from the middle of the room since you wouldn't be more than 5ft from any wall.  Alternatively, in a 20x10ft room, you would need at least 2 shots to make sure it is captured accurately.  More images are better for everyone involved!

Distance between shots should not exceed 7-10 feet and doors throughout the property should be open.
DocuSketch isn't magic, although it may feel like that at times!  What can't be seen can't be sketched, just as if someone was sketching on paper.  For navigation to be accurate, doors must also be open.

Corners of the room either at the floor or ceiling should be visible through a combination of images.
Corners are pivotal to our system.  In a room with a lot of contents, several shots may be necessary not based on the size of the room but instead based on being able to see all corners of a room.

Please consider the following:

Room names and assignments of those rooms to a floor need to be accurate.
How the images of rooms are named when the sketch is ordered is how they will be named when the sketch is delivered.  For multiple images of the same room, please use a numbering system after the room name.  For example, Kitchen > Kitchen 2 > Kitchen 3.  Similarly, rooms need to be assigned to the appropriate floors at the time the sketch is ordered.  Failure to do this will result in the sketch order being delayed until this is corrected by the user.  Please consider these examples as well:

Keep the camera steady between each lens shot

Keeping the camera steady between each lens shot keeps the shot consistent between lenses. When the camera is moved prior to shooting the other half of the panoramic image, problem occur with the image's stitching.

See sample:




Notice how the image between both doors appears folded or incomplete looking like a cut out of two halves? This affects the measurements being made for the sketches.

To avoid this, keep the camera steady, unmoved and stationary when taking shots between the camera's two lenses.

Avoid holding the camera by hand and keep the camera mounted on the tripod if possible.



Make sure there is proper lighting in the room or area

Remember, what can't be seen can't be sketched.





To avoid this, remember to always switch on the lights.

If switching on lights is not an option, remember to bring hand help lamps bright enough to illuminate the room.



Remember to shoot entryway, hallway and landing shots

These areas and rooms help add direction for your audience. That being said, it also helps people understand which room connects to which by passing through the hallway entryways and the likes.

This helps in accurately creating the sketches.





Keep areas or rooms uncluttered as possible


Remember, what can't be seen can't be sketched and the same goes for overly cluttered rooms, spaces or areas.


See example:




In cases however where this isn't possible, the best thing to do is to ensure that the ceiling height is accurate and that all four corners of the ceiling can be seen in the overall image.



Elevate the camera from the tripod head


The camera being too close to the tripod head usually causes the tripod to cover almost majority of the panoramic image.


See:




Notice how the tripod obscures the view when looking at the floor?

This is because majority of the measurements being done for the sketch is done by measuring the base of the wall towards the base of the tripod.

As a solution, a mountable selfie stick can be acquired and used to elevate the camera from the head of the tripod.

See: Mountable Selfie Stick

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