'Spring has sprung' as they say for some reason. The reality capture technology we use has many varied uses as readers of this blog are finding out as the months sail by. With the new season came some new beginnings for us too.
This month saw us acquiring our first industrial clients namely Mac Geo and Clarke Energy.
Both clients shared a need to show off their very different product /services to their clients in a new and exciting way.
One of a kind
Mac Geo owns the only mobile core sample analysis lab in the country and they were keen to show this off to the world. As the brief was to showcase the vehicle and its features both inside and out the shoot had to take place at dusk so that the sun’s infra red light did not affect the camera’s alignment as our equipment uses IR to measure the space to build the mesh.
The shoot was staged at a haulage yard, shooting tours outdoors presents problems as just discussed in terms of daylight but also present a problem of backdrop to the vehicle. In an ideal world these vehicle tours would take place in a pristine white warehouse so the viewers attention is not drawn away from the vehicle but rarely is this possible as previous vehicle scans have proven. Also shooting indoors has the added advantage of not being time dependent as the roof cuts out the direct IR light rays.
In April the sun sets sometime shortly after 7pm so we scheduled the shoot for 6pm to give us an hour or so to complete the relatively short scan which we accomplished fairly comfortably in the given time.It is always a pleasant surprise when, after processing, the images look like they’ve been shot much earlier in the day which is testament to Matterport’s clever image processing system.
In the Post
The usual guided tour creation followed and the creation of interactive tags filled with content provided by the client highlighting the specific functions of the lab. The client also wanted to use the tour for a presentation he was doing. We screen captured a complete walk around the vehicle incorporating dollhouse view, walkthrough and activation of each tag which we edited along with branding and graphic overlays into a short video to be embedded into his presentation.
The immediate feedback was extremely positive as was the feedback from his presentation. Another satisfied client.
Power to the people
The second industrial client this month was in the business of installing gas engines to provide electricity. Clarke Energy have had some very high profile jobs including installing one of their gas engines in the basement of The Shard in London so we were very happy to have them as our client.
Fancy a brew?
The brief was to capture one of their complete design and build installations adjacent to Blackpool airport. This installation housed two gas engines that can provide over 7 megawatts of power to the national grid when watchers of Coronation street all turn their kettles on in the ad break.
The resultant scan which took a day was enthusiastically welcomed by their sales team who loved the fact they could allow their clients to remotely tour around their installation, clicking on technical info as they go. Something they’ve been unable to do before the space was captured digitally.
Simply sending the URL via email to their client allowed them to fully understand the key components of the installation as well as showing the high quality of the company’s work.
They have already booked us in to capture their Overhaul and Repair Centre next month.
So until then enjoy the spring, my favourite time of year, new beginnings and all that . . .
To view the Mac Geo core lab tour click here
To view the Clarke Energy Power Plant click here