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3D Maker Pro Eagle Max ScannerBLK360 G1Capture AppMatterportQuestionsScanning

Blk360 G1 scanning without Matterport or any app.20810

WGAN Fan
Club Member
Queensland, Australia
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
Since I have got this SLAM 3dMakerPro Eagle Max scanner and started playing with different point cloud software it has reminded me that I still have a BLK360 G1 scanner.
If you do not know but Matterport is shutting down its support in April 2025. So far it works however it will stop soon.
I checked an option to use my BLK360 without Matterport and it is expensive if you do not charge a lot for scanning. And when I say a lot it seems I have to raise my fees at least 4-5 times just to cope with cost of Cyclone Register alone.

The cheapest option without paying 1000s(in AUD) a month is to pay $350 AUD per week.
I'd rather pay $100 per project as it is easier to put that cost on a client. $350 AUD won't be easy especially if it is for small rare projects that you may do 1-2 times a month, meaning that you have to buy 2 weeks if it is done on a different week or keep projects unprocessed for 1-3 weeks to accumulate more than one and then buy one week of Cyclone Register to process them all. It still does not look like a good business plan at all.

So I have started googling and found out there is software called PinPoint Registration tool which let you download blk files directly from the scanner, register them and export out as e57.

I have done it already following their tutorial on their registration tool and it has worked well.
There is another software included PinPoint subscription and it is called PinPoint modeler and it can do more things with point clouds. I will need to watch a video to see what it can do.

Pinpoint is a subscription based and they sell one month for 119 euros which is about $205 AUD. $205 AUD per month and $350 per week is a huge difference and it much more affordable for me.

However, that when my topic title comes in play. Today I have captured half of my house with my BLK360 using Matterport capture app just to try PinPoint. But when Matterport kills support with a BLK350 G1 that's not going to be an option.

Blk Live app which is free and could replace a capturing app and e57 export does not support G1 and it only supports G2 I kind of want to say wtf but it is Leica. They do whatever they want with their software cost and what new software can support.

I am pretty sure I can try blind capture by just placing my BLK360 where it needs to go and taking a scan by pressing its button. Sure I will need to pick the next sport properly and remember all previous spots positions but has anybody tried it to do that way?

To avoid remembering previous spots I can draw a simple floor plan and just mark roughly all pervious positions on it so I do not need to keep them in my memory.
Post 1 IP   flag post
Matterport
Camera
Repair Service
Gainesville, Florida
MatterFix private msg quote post Address this user
The push button method you are describing is I think how LiDAR scanning was done in the beginning, and then the individual sweeps were manually registered to create the finished point cloud. As long as Leica allows for the scan points data to be copied off of the BLK in a useable file format this should work fine. For small to medium sized projects this should allow for a method to get really good quality scan data at a reasonable cost since gen1 BLKs in good condition can now be found for $5K or so. Keep us informed of your progress!
Post 2 IP   flag post
WGAN
Standard
Member
Osaka, Japan
Meidansha private msg quote post Address this user
As @Matterfix says, the button press and register later is done by most users actually. However you cannot set the HDR or density when scanning so that may result in scans that are unusable for your purposes. You will have to check how to set that before scanning.
Post 3 IP   flag post
WGAN Fan
Club Member
Queensland, Australia
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
Thanks guys. I have another idea that I am going to test. I have an old Ipad that has been the first one I bought for Matterport. It is not fast but the good thing about it I can just keep an old version of the capture app on it, turn all updates for it OFF and never update to new IOS. That will give me an option to use it just to track BLK360 capture with the capture app.

I just need to find a charger for it as it seems to have 0 battery left. I hope it still works.
Post 4 IP   flag post
WGAN Fan
Club Member
Queensland, Australia
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
I could not revive that old ipad but found a good deal on a refurbished one with M4 chip. So I am going to follow the plan with a new one being be used with a Pro3 and my current one(I believe 2017/2018 Pro version) is going to be rejecting all updates on IOS and Matterport capture app so I keep it working with my BLK360

Since I am not going to send these scans to matterport and only use the capture app as a referral where BLK360 scans are taken I believe it all should work in a long term.
Post 5 IP   flag post
ron0987 private msg quote post Address this user
@Wingman Have you looked at Recap Pro, it is an Autodesk product that is fairly inexpensive and will register scans and develop a usable product. It is extremely easy to use and as long as you have good over lapping data its registration is extremely good. The catch is you do the registration in the office not in the field you have to be confident in your scanning capabilities. I used it for years and never walked away with an unregistered product. But just say it did not register for some reason. You can add additional scans. You should look into it.
Post 6 IP   flag post
WGAN Fan
Club Member
Queensland, Australia
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by ron0987
Have you looked at Recap Pro, it is an Autodesk product that is fairly inexpensive and will register scans and develop a usable product. It is extremely easy to use and as long as you have good over lapping data its registration is extremely good. The catch is you do the registration in the office not in the field you have to be confident in your scanning capabilities. I used it for years and never walked away with an unregistered product. But just say it did not register for some reason. You can add additional scans. You should look into it.

I have used it recently to do registration for scans for e57 ordered from Matterport. It is great and it works. It costs about AU$70/month and it is reasonable however there is a catch.. it does not work with raw BLK files. I think it used to be but then Leica decided to do everything through their own Cyclone Register software and Recap stopped supporting blk files.
Post 7 IP   flag post
ron0987 private msg quote post Address this user
Ugh, bad news I did not know they stop supporting Leica, that is kind of surprising for Autodesk but definitely not surprising for Leica. Sorry to hear that.
Post 8 IP   flag post
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