Why is the software doing this?!

This is a video of what my scanner does when I try to scan a wall. It’s impossible to get a full and accurate scan.

https://imgur.com/a/PhcDbYR

It’s a white wall, I’m using a tripod. All the sudden it loses tracking, even though I added a tape measure in the middle so it has what to reference against.

Any ideas of what I can do?!

I’m not a Revopoint support person. What you see is a phenomena many of us users have observed already, usually called “runaway”. It happens mostly with flat surfaces like walls, but also with rotational scan. Though with rotation a “stall” happens more often, that is when the software doesn’t recognize the rotation anymore and superimposes new points on top of the already scanned ones.
I tell you this so you know that you’re not the only one and that it’s not your individual scanner or software settings. Usually the advice is to use markers, but as far as I have seen, markers don’t solve the problem all the time.
It is still for Revopoint to give a definite answer to why this is happening and how to avoid it.
@Revopoint-Cassie or @Revopoint : could you please address this issue?

The tape measure is not enough. The tracking algorithm in the POP does not pay attention to makings on the ruler, so it’s just another repeating feature, no different than the wall. Place markers and try again in Marker mode. Make sure the markers have no repeating pattern.

Marker mode cannot be combined with Body mode, but you can still scan at a lower resolution (which isn’t a problem for mostly flat objects) by setting the distance to “Too far”.

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Hi @Eldkatten, @JoeJones,

I still think it is because the scanned objects like the wall need to use the “Marker mode,” which means users need to put markers on them.

It runs away because the scanned area is almost the same, with no feature.

I also shared this video with our developer team and asked them to see if we could improve the algorithm.

Best Regards
Cassie

Its normal, once I saw what you were trying to do I knew what would happen. It will always happen on regular (primitive) geometry (flats, tubes etc) where there is no detail for the new scanned frames to align to the previous ones.
You can add gizmos (small physical items, blue tack, that can easily be removed later in editing software) or best to use dots to track.

There is nothing to “resolve”, this is how optical scanning without a CMM works, you either track dots or track features. Also if in doubt, for tracking dots, I have found the POP works better under low infrared light conditions, ie after dark or with the blinds closed which may increase dot tracking success. White/silver objects can reflect IR and dazzle the POP.

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Hi @JonHimself ,

Yes! Your explanation is so clear. Thank you so much. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Best Regards
Cassie

The problem is that when you use marker mode the camera only looks “close” and not far. So when you move far away from the surface to capture more of it at a lower resolution, it does not capture it in the main window at all.

I wish there was a custom mode where you could manually set the focus distance and manually toggle markers on and off. So I could set the focal distance as “far” (like in Body mode) but have it track markers.

Oh, yes… Marker mode combined with either Body or Dark mode would be a useful option.


This is an example where running away makes no sense. There are plenty of sharp, defined geometric shapes that tracking should not be an issue. Yet on the edges, it becomes a runaway. This is a toy truck I was attempting to scan. I bought this because the Artec Eva is not good with small detailed scans and the Leo is way too expensive for my needs. I had hoped this would be the perfect tool for this kind of work and maybe it can be if the software is were VASTLY improved.

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Sharp edges are not the solution; unique shapes are the solution. When the scanner only sees shapes that look the same as something else already scanned, it gets confused.

Better to try Marker mode.