Measure
Measure takes dimensions off the capture itself: no tape, no second visit.
Taking a measurement
Opening Measure
Click Measure on the tool rail. The panel opens with the tools across the top and your measurements below, filtered by Current Capture and Type.
On a capture with none yet it says No Measurements Yet: pick a tool above and start.
- Measure - opens the panel.
- RulerBoard - with its orientation list.
- Distance, Radius, Angle, Path, Area, Volume - pick one, then click in the view.
- Current Capture and Type - filter the list below.
- Your measurements - grouped by capture date.
How measuring works
Every tool works the same way:
- Pick the tool. A step dialog opens beside the panel, starting at STEP 1 OF 2, Select position.
- Click the point in the capture.
- In first-person mode, StereoPick follows: click the same point again on the dotted line in a second photo.
- Repeat for the next point. The result is drawn as you go, so you can see whether you picked the right points.
- Click Save, or Start New to throw it away and try again. Cancel stops at any step.
Saving shows Measurement saved; saving the same one twice tells you it is already saved.
Why StereoPick: a point picked from one photo alone is less certain than one picked from two. The dialog shows how to pick, a magnified view of your selection, and Next View to try another photo when the point is hidden in this one. If you cannot see the point at all, use Can't see the point?
- STEP 2 OF 2, StereoPick mode - a photo has no depth, so you confirm the point from a second photo.
- How to pick - click the same point on the dotted line.
- Your selection - magnified.
- Next View - tries another photo.
The tools
Seven buttons, left to right. The first is not a measurement: it places a reference grid, and it is the only one with a dropdown arrow. The other six each answer one question, and each names its result the same way, tool then number, so the second angle you take is Angle 2.
| Tool | What you click | What you get back |
|---|---|---|
| RulerBoard | One point, after choosing an orientation | A measured grid left in the scene, see below |
| Distance | Two points | A length in metres, and under it XY (the horizontal run) and the X, Y and Z parts, colour-coded to the axes. For example 1.01 m, XY 1.01 m, X 0.95, Y 0.36, Z 0.00 |
| Radius | Points on a curve | A radius: round ducts, columns, arcs |
| Angle | Three points | An angle in degrees, to one decimal |
| Path | A run of points, segment by segment | One total length for the whole run |
| Area | A closed outline | The area in square metres and the perimeter |
| Volume | A region | A volume, with Cut and Fill and the surface area: the tool for stockpiles and excavations |
- The result - length, XY length and slope, and the X, Y, Z parts.
- Save - keeps the measurement.
- Start New - discards it and starts again.
- The line - drawn on the dollhouse.
In aerial mode the points are picked straight off the 3D map (depth pick), so StereoPick is not needed. The result also gives the Slope, as a percentage and in degrees.
- Area - the tool used.
- The result in the list - area and perimeter, under its capture date.
- The area on the photo - the outline you clicked, with its value.
RulerBoard - a grid left in the scene
Placing a RulerBoard
The other tools answer a question once. RulerBoard puts a measured grid into the scene and leaves it there, so everything in that part of the capture can be read off against it.
- Click the arrow beside the RulerBoard button and pick an orientation: Vertical X, Vertical Y, Horizontal, or Best Fit, which lets the surface you click decide.
- A dialog headed with that orientation opens at STEP 1 OF 2, Select position. Click the point where the grid goes.
- If the spot is hard to hit, use Can't see the point? on the same dialog.
Setting the grid
Click once on the surface and the grid is placed; the dialog shows its distance to the origin. Click Save to keep it, or Start New to place it again.
Click the RulerBoard in the list to open its settings panel:
| Setting | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Ruler Size | How far the grid extends, as Vertical X and Vertical Y in metres |
| Step Interval | The spacing between lines, X and Y in metres |
| Number of Ticks | How many labelled marks run along the grid |
| Offset | Moves the grid off the surface, in metres |
| Rotation | Turns the grid, in degrees: drag the dial or type |
| Grid Opacity | How solid the grid is drawn |
| Clip to Floor/Ceiling | Keeps the grid inside the room's floor and ceiling |
- Rename, collapse, close - the panel's own controls.
- Ruler Size and Step Interval - grid size and spacing; the link button keeps X and Y the same.
- Number of Ticks - marks between steps.
- Offset, Rotation, Grid Opacity, Clip to Floor/Ceiling - move, turn, fade, and trim the grid to the room.
- In Use - the RulerBoard on screen.
- The grid - drawn on the floor.
Each pair has a link toggle between its two boxes. Linked, which is how it starts, typing one value sets both, so the grid stays square. Unlink it when the thing you measure against is not square.
The pencil in the header renames it, so RulerBoard 2 can become something a colleague will recognise. The collapse control tucks the panel away when it is in the way.
While a RulerBoard is in use, its row in the list carries an In Use badge and the point it was placed at.
Keeping measurements
Your saved measurements
The list groups measurements by capture date and shows each one with its value. Each row has a visibility toggle, so you can keep a measurement without drawing it, and a menu for the rest.
- Saved measurements - under their capture date.
- Show / hide and menu - toggle each one, or rename and delete it.
- Measurement saved - the confirmation.
Whether saved measurements are drawn at all is a Settings choice (Settings > Measurements, or right-click > Layers > Measurements, Shift + M). They also travel: Include Measurements is an option when you create a Timeline Report.
How accurate is it
Accuracy depends on the capture, not on the tool.