- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report
First of all, let me state the I really love Recap Pro (pricing schemes aside). At first I thought the interface was weird (ala Poser or Bryce), but I really like the concept now and can appreciate the "form follows function" layout with an emphasis on visual feedback. They really thought outside the box on this one.
A client has recently paired with me to provide extensive point cloud support services and though he was advocating Faro Scene, without reading a manual, I started importing, registering, indexing, editing and then unifying 20 vehile and scene scans in the last month with the trial version of Recap Pro. He says I've been turning the work around 6X faster than the way they were previously processing the data. I recommended we stick with Recap Pro and he agreed (and he is also keen to scrap the plastic balls he has to carry around when on the road).
Now for the bad news:
Two days ago, my client sent two more scans my way and both of them will not import. We are on a tight deadline, my Recap Pro trail (the latest version) ends in 8 days and I have to pull the trigger on a full license. Now this hiccup.
My first thought was, "Why was I able to process 20 scenes and suddenly I cannot process these two?" The first problematic job had 19 individual scans and when I point Recap to that folder, it brings them up instantly in a row at the top of the screen. The first one started to import, with the starting, default, blue highlight from the 12 to 1 o'clock position. Then after a minute or two the next file does the same thing. After about 20 minutes, all nineteen scans show merely the default starting highlight and nothing else happens. I've let it run overight and nothing further happens. If I start over and load one scan, after the starting blue highlight, it goes away after a few minutes and a dead circle with the scan file name in it sits there.
Wondering if I had a general software issue, I went back and imported some of the original scans that previously had worked. They imported just fine.
I then figured, "There has to be something different between the datasets that work and the ones that do not. Taking this opportunity to learn Faros data structure, I explored the scan file folder and logged the file/folder structures and sizes in a spreadsheet. An individual scan has a prefix (probably set by the cleint in the field for the scan series) called "SCANNAME###.fls". This is a folder and the ### is a numerical series 000, 001...019, etc. Within that folder is a "Bitmaps" and "Scans" folder and they each have a "1" subfolder. Bitmaps has four files all 1KB in size. The Scans, 1 folder seems to have the meat in it. There are 14 common files, Calib, Dist1, Log, MirrorIndex0.hls, etc., most being 1KB and a few 67 to 650KB. The scans themselves seem to be in the files ScanDataStream0 and sometimes ScanDataStream1 to 3. They are usually about 65MB. Sometimes there is only the "0" scan and sometimes there are "0 through 3". When that happens 0-2 are 65MB and 3 is 6.5MB. The root "SCANNAME###.fls" folder has a 1KB ",classid" file, a "Main" file about 32KB and a file that matches the root folder name ("SCANNAME###.fls") but listed as 0KB.
When comparing the scan folder that imports with the scan folder that doesn't import, the folder structure, files and file sizes are consistant. I cannot see any difference between them.
When a file properly imports, ReCap creates some files and folders itself. In the scan file root folder Recap creates three folders called RawScans, Revisions and WorkSpaceData. I've never found anything to be in these folders. There are also two files, ScanProject.fpr and temp.lsproj. You set a project filename in a designated folder before you start importing scans. In that folder Recap creates a .rcp file (Recap Project) in that directory and a folder called "(Project Name) Support". When a scan properly imports Recap generates several files within the Support folder, .rcc, .diff, etc., and all the files start with the project name. There is also an interesting "Temporary Cache Files" folder which, again when a file properly imports, Recap generates a series of .png, .jpg and other support files. The .png and .jpg's are box texture mapping sub maps; Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Front & Back 2048x2048 images that are obviouly what is used to create the VR view you get during the registration phase where you can rotate around the scene from the focal point of the scanner in each of the split screens to place the registration markers.
Improtant Note: With the Faro Scans that do not import, the folders and files within the scan .fls folder are not created and all the files within the project Support folder and Temporary Cache Files folder are not created. Recap recognises the scan file. It pops up with the circular icon with the scan filename in the circle. The blue highlight starts, then nothing more happens. No support data showing any amount of Recap processing occurs.
I've created a test dataset that can be analysed by my peers and AutoDesk. The RecapTestData.zip file online has two Faro scan folders; "GoData001.fls" will import and generate all the associated files and folders, "NogoData001.fls" will not import and no files/folders are generated. There doesn't appear to be any difference between these two scans as far as data structure is concerned.
The test data is at:
http://www.buckward.com/RecapTestData.zip
I need to purchase Recap soon. The client is depending on me to knock this stuff out. I cannot afford to be embarassingly dead-in-the-water on some scan projects. I hope we figure this out soon.
Thank you.
Buck Wyckoff
Buckward Digital Services, Inc.
Solved! Go to Solution.
