Canvas: LiDAR 3D Measurements

This app used to be excellent. You could scan a house using your iPhone pro and scale from the scan (that you paid circa $5 for). Since the app updated I have not managed a scan that actually works, instead I receive an error noting scan empty. Such a shame.

Free to use for scans, you can even download the scan for free. You only have to pay if you want the CAD files, which are really good and save you a lot of time.

No mention of Additional cost. Should have clearly highlighted that there are in app purchases or services.

You need to download other apps and sign up to paid stuff

I used the scan-to-cad service for a previous property with pretty good results; I planned to use it again this week, but the app seems to have gone downhill massively (on the same 2020 iPad Pro) and now crashes so much that it’s unusable. The scans being produced are exceptionally low quality, even compared with what I got previously. The enormous price hike for the scan-to-cad service is mind boggling; the first room I scanned (a small reception mezzanine) was quoting me $60 for conversion to SketchUp. So disappointing as this could be a great app and service - I was happy to pay premium prices for a premium product, but unfortunately the product is not premium and the price has gone ultra-luxury.

Scanning the room was easy. Paid for the 3D enhanced lidar view. After processing (and charging me), the app simply crashes and doesn’t display anything. Can’t use the scan at all. Not good at all.

Quality is insanely low. Even Occipital’s own “crashes 4 times in 5” Skanect produces literally 100 times more accurate scans than this app. Still doesn’t export to standard formats (only to proprietary ones that limit use to working in outdated software, and prevent you doing anything useful with your scan. Eg they prevent you using it any 3d application or engine). Sad to see Occipital still hasnt learnt their lesson, still shipping fundamentally broken software and then trying to charge per scan 20% the price of their competitors’ entire product. Ie after 6 scans you could have bought better room scan software outright and all future scans would be free! So very sad that so much potential was destroyed.

App doesn’t mention that even the transferring into 3D Options costs you. Better would be a full price version instead of scan by scan. Also on scan by scan base it’s incredible expensive. Nice idea but not useful for private usage.

Well, I just purchased a structure sensor which is a mark 2, as this is all that’s available if you order a sensor now. This was especially for a job I am flying to survey tomorrow in Spain. Imagine my disappointment that you have released the mark 2 sensor without first making Canvas work with it..... So no scan to cad for me, back to old fashioned manual measurement and input into Sketchup. I Feel cheated. I know it is in the faq, but quite a way down. This should be made clearer. When is the update coming?

When I first saw the app I thought it looked great, just what I wanted. I am currently buying a new home and want to possibly do some alterations and extensions to it. I thought this would be perfect to do a quick survey of the place and then do some simple sketches to review the proposals with my wife. I visited the developer website and confirmed the iPad app was free, which I thought was wonderful. It all seemed amazing. It was only after downloading the app that I realised you also need to buy a $379 sensor unit to connect to your iPad to make it work. I realise it was naive to think that someone had managed to turn an iPad into a 3D scanning machine, but why not just state clearly from the outset that the sensor purchase is necessary? If it is as good as it seems, then it may well be worth the cost of the sensor, but I am not going to spend $379 on something unseen, untested and unproven. This was a real case of hero to zero in 60 seconds! App deleted and left with disappointment.