An Open Letter to GeoCV Co-Founders CEO Anton Yakubenkoz/CTO Gleb Krivovyaz10216
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![]() Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
![]() GeoCV Moscow Team. GeoCV Co-Founder CTO Gleb Krivovya is 7th from the left. GeoCV Co-Founder and CEO Anton Yakubenko is 7th from the right. | Photo courtesy of Occipital ![]() Screen Grab from front page of GeoCV.com GeoCV Virtual Open House courtesy of GeoCV. --- An Open Letter to GeoCV Co-Founders CEO Anton Yakubenko and CTO Gleb Krivovyaz Helo Anton and Gleb, Congratulations and best wishes on the news that the GeoCV tech team joining with Occipital to launch a spacial computing research and Development office in Moscow. I wish it was better news for GeoCV Beta customers (and potential customers). I could imagine that the Matterport versus GeoCV lawsuit stifled both GeoCV sales and new venture capital which resulted in your announcement last night (1 October 2019). That’s too bad because GeoCV nailed it with image quality and: ✓ unlimited processing + unlimited hosting + unlimited floor plans for a flat fee per camera per month (or per year) ✓ White labeling ✓ Self-hosting ✓ Customers own the copyrights for delivered content ✓ Download of full-resolution 3D model and 360° panoramas ✓ Content editing and re-upload ✓ Offline viewing for PC and Mac ✓ Password protection for 3D tours access ✓ virtual staging" target="_blank">Virtual staging ✓ capture with a smartphone (and a vision for any smartphone) So, while you continue to fight the lawsuit, you have kept your tech team together. I had thought that Matterport would have acquired or invested 20 percent in GeoCV for many reasons, but it looks like that has not happened: a missed opportunity for Matterport. It looks like the Matterport versus GeoCV lawsuit – Goliath versus David – Goliath may have won the first round. That said, I could imagine that you continue to believe that you will win the lawsuit which will enable you to attract new venture capital to re-launch GeoCV. Perhaps I am too optimistic to think that Matterport will still buy GeoCV and offer Matterport Service Providers this list of features (above). If Matterport fails to buy GeoCV, it risks the phoenix rising if GeoCV wins the lawsuit. I suppose the good news for GeoCV Kit beta buyers is that they likely have an exclusive in their market since GeoCV has stopped selling new GeoCV kits. And, GeoCV Beta Kit buyers can still white label and self-host. Of course, since there are no GeoCV techs to continue to build-out the platform, exclusivity is bittersweet. GeoCV Kit Beta Buyer @Convrts likely sums up the sentiment of all GeoCV Kit Beta Buyers when he wrote earlier today: Quote: Originally Posted by @Convrts While I see that GeoCV has robust support online, the super-fast response time of GeoCV humans – including your posts in the WGAN Forum – will likely be greatly missed. For those that were on the waiting list to buy a GeoCV Kit when you existed beta, I could imagine that you did these potential customers a favor of not selling them a kit knowing that you were moving the tech team en masse to Occipital. That might explain why the GeoCV Kit was priced high to only attract those willing to live with uncertainty during the Matterport lawsuit. The big winner here is Occipital whom just added many talented vision computing engineers that have already been working together as a cohesive unit. Plus, Occipital get the rockstars … GeoCV Co-Founders: CEO Anton Yakubenko and CTO Gleb Krivovyaz. Long-time WGAN Member @GarySnyder likely speaks for many of the WGAN Community when he wrote earlier today: Quote: Originally Posted by @GarySnyder Best wish to you and the entire GeoCV team, Dan Smigrod Founder and Managing Editor We Get Around Network WGAN-TV WGAN-TV Training U Atlanta, Georgia USA |
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Tosolini private msg quote post Address this user | |
I like to think positive and celebrate @AntonYakubenko success for having created a very cool platform that does things that MP doesn't offer yet. As a recent customer myself, I knew I was buying into a risky technology, but I did it anyway. I've no regrets. While there will be no future updates to the product, we can still keep using it. It also comes to mind that there are a limited number of kits out there. Those who bought it, don't have much competition when customers want offline / self hosting tours. And with no opportunity to purchase new devices, the number of GeoCV partners will stay the same. That's what I call a differentiator and maybe we can charge a premium from now on. |
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immersivespaces private msg quote post Address this user | |
It would be unfortunate if they don't resurrect the Virtual Open House at some point... or at the very least opensource the technology and let the 3D developer community take it further. CeoCV, in my personal opinion, was the better platform for performance and user experience hands down. Given time, I think they could have been a major player in the market. Unfortunately, at this point, it looks like my early prediction of their premature demise was spot on. Sadly, I think the monster in the room is ultimately Matterport who in its selfishness will likely destroy the very industry it helped create. Across the country, I have been hearing reports of rapidly declining capture sales as former customers are embracing the Zillow Home Tour and other low-cost/free alternatives. That too may have had some impact on the move by GeoCV. Regardless of the motivation, the loss of GeoCV is a sad one and is a notable set back for the trade. The Occipital union has some potential to do great things for the industry overall, but at the end of the day, the losers in this situation are the capture professionals that saw the light at the end of the tunnel of the Matterport nightmare of being undermined and disregarded at every turn. My next prediction is that the Matterport support for MSPs will continue on its downward spiral as they shift focus to gaining more customers in the 360° camera space. With Matterport in the past year or so it has always been about volume over quality or service. How many MSP have gone weeks or months without answers on support questions? (I have one that has been open for over a year without resolution.) I wish the team at GeoCV all the best. I also express my sympathies to the early GeoCV adopters who have unwittingly fallen victim to the perils of beta development and startup culture. |
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![]() Standard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
@immersivespaces - no sympathy required. I jumped on the GeoCV beta ship and the journey was wonderful. Innovation at a rate I could barely keep up with, customer support on challenges second-to-none, and a longed-for opportunity to offer customers something better, much better. I was looking forward to joining Dan for a WGAN webcast on using the GeoCV "build-your-own-3D-Indoor-Outdoor-Model", directions for which worked perfectly the first time I tried it. I join - @Tosolini - in congratulating the entire GeoCV team of innovators who launched features so fast I could barely keep up and their support staff who were accessible and talented. The cost of the camera was worth it. Whether GeoCV Tours are orphaned or simply on an undefined hiatus, this is a team of people who we will be hearing more from. I look forward to more surprises. Here's one more chance to play with GeoCV's astounding aerial 3D mode: |
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immersivespaces private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Home3D Without question the feedback I have seen on the GeoCV experience has been awesome. That said, if the examples of history prove true, which they usually do, I don't see GeoCV maintaining their current customers for very long. The stellar customer support that everyone has raved about will end on October 8, 2019, and I predict that the service itself will start to degrade very shortly thereafter until, ultimately, the platform is shuttered permanently. All that is happening now I believe is they are milking every last drop of revenue out of their current paying base to appease their investors. By all accounts GeoCV didn't "merge" with Occipital, Occipital simply hired some of the former GeoCV team and GeoCV is going out of business; a slow burn death for us all to see. For the experience as it was, I think GeoCV was a worthy investment for some and significant advancement of a technology that has been largely surrendered to Matterport for the foreseeable future. Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see so many of the minds from GeoCV join Occipital, a company I have been watching closely since they launched in 2008. I have no doubt we will continue to see great things from Occipital, but as for GeoCV, the sun has set and I don't think we will see it rise again any time soon, and most likely not at all. Moreover, since the virtual tour aspect of GeoCV isn't something that is in Occipital's wheelhouse, I don't imagine we will be seeing a replacement for the Virtual Open House from them anytime soon either. If it was, they would have likely procured the Virtual Open House system form GeoCV... Instead, they made it a point to say that they specifically did not... likely to avoid people calling Occipital for support on the GeoCV Virtual Open House, falsely assuming that Occipital and GeoCV are now one company. |
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![]() Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by @immersivespaces Respectfully, I disagree. GeoCV expects to win the Matterport lawsuit and re-boot GeoCV. To help accomplish this re-boot, it's essential that the GeoCV earlier adopters - WGAN Members like @Home3D @Tosolini @Metroplex360 @Convrts (and many, many more) - have the best possible experience. As you know, as a long-time reader and contributor to WGAN Forum, GeoCV Co-Founder and CEO @AntonYakubenko is also a long-time reader and contributor to the WGAN Forum as well. Anton has always answered questions in a timely manor. He obviously listens to the WGAN Community (which may explain why he nailed the features that professional photographers seek.) My sense is that Anton deeply cares about his customers (and potential future customers) and wants to do everything possible to make this a positive experience within his ability to do so. Entrepreneurs are inherently optimistic. Perhaps Anton is too optimistic that he will be able to re-boot. That said, I would give Anton the benefit of the doubt that he will do everything that he can for early GeoCV Beta testers - early adopters to have a positive experience. Time will tell ... Best, Dan |
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Convrts private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DanSmigrod I second this... the whole GeoCV experience has been fantastic and while I'm personally a little nervous as to what the future holds with regards our upcoming GeoCV spaces, the product continues to be the best in the field as far as I'm concerned. Some confirmation of details of which features will continue to be available with a "non-human" processing future would put my mind at rest mind you. Nothing's set in stone as we all know from recent past experiences but, for example, I've spent the last couple of months woo-ing a very large client with the exterior 3D model feature for their many buildings and am guessing this will no longer be an option as it's separate to the GeoCV portal? I'll still continue to sing GeoCV's praises, as it is it's still great.... it's just a shame the product development isn't to continue |
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![]() Standard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Convrts - As far as I'm aware, GeoCV Indoor-Outdoor process is fully available. @AntonYakubenko, can you confirm? The catch is that it's now "do-it-yourself" following their instructions. I've only done this once so far, but it worked perfectly. Just my speculation, but these instructions were released only about 4-5 weeks ago and I'm guessing they did so precisely because they knew that direct support to assemble these was having to end and they wanted to give us the ability to continue making these. Hmm, I guess that means instead of GeoCV tech team to assemble Indoor-Outdoor, you're stuck with only advice from me out here in LA. But I assure you, you can do this yourself. My first attempt took some time due to the learning curve, but came out perfect. Here it is: By the way, for everyone who did buy into the GeoCV beta group, I would personally love to know who all of you are. We're sorta orphaned now so we may need each other. Most of the new features GeoCV delivered in the past few months, I have tried and all work, including: 1) Downloading panos after a model is processed, tweaking them in Lightroom or Photoshop and re-installing them to your model 2) Uploading aerial panos, adding them as Viewpoints to your Highlights 3) Building 3D Outdoor models with DroneDeploy, exporting these, aligning them to processed GeoCV Indoor models using CloudCompare, and uploading to GeoCV for reprocessing into Indoor-Outdoor tours Things I have not done include Self-Hosting, so I don't have expertise there. Dan, perhaps you can help all us GeoCV beta shooters to connect. |
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![]() Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Home3D If you would still like to do a WGAN-TV Live at 5 show on How to combine outdoor-indoor GeoCV Tour - I am still up for it to help those that are GeoCV Kit Beta Customers. Perhaps @Convrts could join us and you show and tell him how. He asks questions and WGAN-TV records the show for those that would like to do this too. If we promote the show a week or two out, perhaps some additional GeoCV Service Providers can join the WGAN-TV Live at 5 show to participate in the discussion. Your thoughts? @Convrts how about you? Best, Dan |
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![]() Standard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
@DanSmigrod - Great idea. What I'd better do in the meanwhile is one more assembly! It makes me a touch nervous to serve as an "expert" when I've only done this one time thus far. But living on the edge is exciting and I'm really happy I invested in the GeoCV beta. This is all thanks to you, Dan, through whom I learned of GeoCV. You arranged the beta camera loaner program and expanded the 3D world for all of us. I'd like to lift a toast to Dan. |
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Convrts private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Home3D I've seen your tour @Home3D and it looks fantastic, I didn't realise there was a way to upload the model to GeoCV without sending it over to support so that's brilliant news! I've seen the other outdoor stuff you've done and that looks great, I'm adding some outdoor panos as viewpoints which is fine, it's the model I had no idea how to upload going forward. I also love the outdoor idea with replacing the evening panos with daytime highlights, I'm actually trying that trick in an upcoming job by replacing the indoor panos of a busy student bar (which will be full of ghosting due to the nature of the multiple shots taken by the GeoCV camera and lots of movement) with panos from a Ricoh Z1 taken at the same spot... to capture a freeze frame of the scene. Will post a link to the tour when it's done As I mentioned previously, I'm still a huge advocate of GeoCV and think it still offers a great opportunity to be creative Quote: Originally Posted by DanSmigrod Thanks for the invite Dan, count me in!! |
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![]() Standard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Convrts - Be aware that when you replace panos in a GeoCV tour with others, the alignment of everything within the two panos must be, for all practical purposes, identical. Before I do a replacement with a different pano, I load both into Photoshop, layer them with original below and copy above, set the copy to 50% transparency and then adjust the replacement shot so that it PERFECTLY matches the original in alignment. This must occur, as you are not only replacing the 360° view when in "walking" mode, you re also replacing the photographic data mapped onto the point cloud mesh for the Dollhouse view. The tolerances are extremely tight. I use a high-quality bubble level when shooting both the original and replacements, I'm very precise about the location and height of the tripod (ie, within an inch), the compass direction when shooting, and even with this I have to make Photoshop corrections using Filter/Other/Offset. I have always shot both original and replacement with the GeoCV camera. You are braver than me to try a different camera, but in principle it should be possible. I look forward to hearing the results. | ||
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![]() Standard Member Los Angeles |
Home3D private msg quote post Address this user | |
One last opinion on the future of GeoCV... If anyone wants to sell their GeoCV camera, kindly PM me. |
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![]() Founder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Home3D That sums it up nicely ![]() Actually, anyone that wants to buy/sell a used GeoCV Kit can post to the WGAN Private Group for buying/selling used 3D/360 Camera gear. Join this WGAN Private Group: Buy-Sell Used Matterport Cameras (and Related Gear) (No charge for WGAN Basic, Standard and Premium Members whom can Private Message me to be added.) Best, Dan |
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Convrts private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Home3D Thanks for this @Home3D, very good points! I think I'll have a play around with it and see just how it looks prior to doing it on the actual job!! |
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![]() Co-Founder New York City |
AntonYakubenko private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Convrts, yes, you could now add outdoor 3D model by yourself via GeoCV Tour Editor: https://support.geocv.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035101713-Adding-an-outdoor-3D-model You could also upload aerial 360 panoramas captured with a drone or another camera as Highlights. |
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Kumar private msg quote post Address this user | |
I am in total confusion with all derivatives made from this announcement and I would like to ask in the forum, @Anton, could you please help clarify on continuation of the services? How do you mean by no more tech support from 8th Oct onwards? Are you resuming it later? Thanks |
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Kumar private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Home3D I believe I can help on this. To add on features, The floor plan rotation doesn't work on editor yet - I had to get it done through support. I will be more than happy to see GeoCV services as DIY rather than shut as some are assuming it to would. |
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andreabortolot private msg quote post Address this user | |
Well, I am an early adopter of Geocv and I am really happy with it. In few months I had the ROI and got several other projects that were impossible to reach with MP. We produced VT for industrial sites where clients main request was: outdoor model, self-host and off-line view. I disagree with whom said above we are orphans or we did a bad investment....a bad investment is owning a MP and there are dozens of photographers on your area that sells the service at a very low rate. For people who predicted this of Geocv and other things, I ask if they can predict what will happen in 2-3 years in 3D Capture industry..nobody knows.. maybe just a phone in the hands of a realtor will do a whole Virtual Tour and our services will be unnecessary. I really hope that Geocv+Occipital will develop a brand new camera that will kick MP in the corner..this time would be pretty difficult to lawsuit a Russian competitor under Russian jurisdiction ![]() ![]() ![]() @Anton, thanks a lot for all the support and for replying personally to my emails. I wish you all the best! Question: will the Virtual Stagging still be possible? I know is not hosted on our spaces. And will be the plan overlay still produced? I know is man-made. @Geocv support (Sameer, Mikhail, Natalya, Kristina, Jonathan), thanks a lot for your precious work and for helping me. Your support was fast and your effort was fantastic! Sorry for bothering you ![]() @home3D, thanks for your drone tips! If you need any help I did experince in self-hosting an Javscript on pins! I'm testing now to change with a picture the background. |
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3dblickwinkel private msg quote post Address this user | |
Hi, first I would like to introduce myself short: My name is Jens, I live in Germany (the reason for my bad English), 55 years old, married, adult daughter. After working as a MD/ CEO for many years I have started a new business, founded on GeoCV, in spring this year. Maybe I´m the only user in Germany and believe me, a very proud one. I have evaluated the different systems on the market for weeks and have decided to use GeoCV because it was the best system and, to my surprise, it becomes better and better from month to month. Today I´m very sad and concerned after having received and mentally processed the mail from Jonathan. It is so hard to understand what is going on, because from my point of view it is unbelievable to give up the best system on the market. Every declaration trial is speculation. I will and have to use it until the last minute it works and I hope it will work for a long time. I`m ready to provide my knowledge to everyone in this community. @Home3D I´m familiar with selfhosting and offline viewing, it is very easy to implement. If GeoCv were a German located company I would suggest that all early adopters found a company with limited liability and buy the system via asset deal, waiting what the patent lawsuit will bring. Maybe anyone has ideas how to rescue GeoCV, count me in. Of course it would be easier to have ideas knowing the true reason for all this. Finally many thanks to the whole team from me too. |
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trunganhvux private msg quote post Address this user | |
To be honest, I feel very grateful for GEOCV's technology. Ability to customize, edit panorama, customize pins with javascript, self-host, white label, outdoor model ... Because we have to work on government projects, they need to store data, as well as self-hosting and GEOCV does it well. With a few minor tweaks, you can even make your model run offline with Ubuntu. Truly awesome. I really look forward to the return of GEOCV. |
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![]() Co-Founder New York City |
AntonYakubenko private msg quote post Address this user | |
@Kumar, first of all I'd like to thank you for becoming a GeoCV customer. Your custom asks have definitely helped us to push the boundaries of our product ![]() Quote: Originally Posted by Kumar GeoCV Cloud would continue to automatically process and host your 3D tours, you'll continue to have access to GeoCV Tour Editor, for the foreseeable future. Quote: Originally Posted by Kumar There will be no human tech support because of the transition of the team. We don't have any particular plans to resurrect it. But we've prepared a lot of help materials at https://support.geocv.com and... Quote: Originally Posted by Kumar ...we're fixing the remaining imperfections in our software, so all the features could be done DIY. |
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Pau private msg quote post Address this user | |
Hi @Anton When you say, GeoCV Cloud will continue to process and automatically host your 3D tours, you will continue to have access to the GeoCV Route Editor, in the foreseeable future. Could you explain what "the foreseeable future" is for you? Greetings and luck! |
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![]() Co-Founder New York City |
AntonYakubenko private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Pau It means that we don't have any particular plans to terminate GeoCV Cloud services anytime soon. And given there are no such plans, we can't translate "foreseeable future" into any particular period of time. |
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