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PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR AS-BUILTS: USING GROUND LEVEL IMAGERY TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY DURING SCHEMATIC DESIGN PROCESS By Alicia Schiff, Account Executive, Growth HOVER
THE PHOTOGRAMMETRY SOLUTION With HOVER, a photogrammetry app you can use on any Apple or Android smartphone, the future is here and hand measuring can be a thing of the past. HOVER transforms smartphone photos of any home into an accurate, interactive 3D model with measurements so architects and designers can save time sketching existing structures and spend more time doing what you do best—designing.
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magine never having to gather measurements for an initial exterior as-built model again. No pulling tape, no hand measuring, and certainly no getting up on a roof to estimate pitches for early measurements of a building. No more going from the project site back to the office to draw the structure from scratch or return trips to the site to verify forgotten details or measurements in messy handwriting. The initial assessment of a structure can be done many ways, but however you choose to do it, schematic diagrams and sketching are essential to quickly convey spatial ideas to the client. Today, creating as-built models in the schematic design phase of a project is highly manual and time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be.
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The technology expedites the concept and schematic design phases by creating as-built models with as little as eight smartphone photos in about two hours. The measurements are accurate within plus or minus five percent aggregate for the entire structure and an excellent place to start your work. HOVER uses ground level imagery to produce accurate measurements and 3D models of structures so you don’t have to. Once the model is generated by the software it can be exported into 3D files including DWG, DXF, and SKP files which can be taken into modeling software to work from or can be used as reference items. Measurements from the software can also be used by contractors when it comes to production and construction. Reports include detailed information on roofing, siding, openings including windows and doors, soffit, gutters, and more. These are especially useful for takeoffs and include waste factors and breakdowns of measurements by material types.
