TECHNOLOGY
Working Smarter, Not Harder 3D Building Capture Tools Streamlining Documentation and Coordination
Designing for a renovation project
uncertainty meant sending designers
Invariably, a critical detail or two was
scanner and capture a complete 3D
“The data capture process and
has always come with a degree of
to the site with tape measures and
missing, so verifying details meant
“marionette” model accurate from
software are quick and relatively
uncertainty. Record drawings which
clipboards to check very wall, door,
driving back to a site and taking
1” to 1 mm, depending on the tool.
easy to use, depending on the
were accurate the day of the grand
and window. This measurement
more photographs or measuring a
This model can be shared with the
complexity of the system, and we
opening may be wildly outdated
and documentation process often
forgotten element.
entire design team to streamline
now have options that will work for
decades later; walls may have been
took weeks. Laser measuring tools
coordination and verification –
documentation for a wide variety of
reconfigured and interior details may
sped up the process (sometimes
Today’s tools for 3D building capture
without anyone else having to leave
project needs.” The tool selected
have changed over time, and small
at the expense of accuracy), but
have changed the landscape entirely.
their desk. LS3P Associate Clay
might depend on whether a virtual
details can make a big difference
documenting existing conditions
Using picture-to-picture scanning
Horney, an in-house expert, uses a
walk-through is needed, and the
when it comes to code compliance,
still meant piecing together
and/or “Light Detection and Ranging”
variety of tools to capture existing
degree of accuracy required.
change orders, and surprise
photographs and measurements to
technology (commonly known as
conditions, depending on the size
deficiencies in a building’s condition.
establish trusted working drawings
LiDAR), designers can walk through
and complexity of a project. “These
In years past, navigating this
impacting a host of design decisions.
a building with a tripod and a
tools are a game changer,” he says.