Common Problems with Measuring Boat Decks

This page discusses common problems that customers have running their PhotoModeler boat deck measurement projects.

When getting started with PhotoModeler we recommend going through all introductory videos and resources on the Learning Boat Deck Measurement page.

In addition to the information below you may be interested in Why My Deck Templates Measured in PhotoModeler Might Not Fit.

Below, if you see n:nn after a topic, this is a time code. When a time code is shown, you can scroll the video to the correct place. Otherwise the video link will take you directly to the relevant part of the video. 

Common Problems with Getting Started

A good place to start, if you are having trouble with your deck measurement project, is to review these common tasks that are prone to error.

Placing Targets and Taking Photos (Full Video - new tab)

  • Placing Letter Sheet and Individual Targets:  0:47
  • Taking photos and camera angles:  2:00
  • Getting photos from camera to computer:  3:33

Keywords: Letter Sheets, target placement, photography, camera angles, image file management, transferring images to computer, target coverage, minimum number of targets.

Common Modeling tools (Full Video - new tab)

Best Fit Plane

  • Best Fit Plane: 1:57
  • Negative offset for thickness: 2:30

Surface Draw Curves, Tracing, Outlining

  • Surface Drawing:  2:52
  • Projections:  4:30

Exporting

  • Export settings: 5:51

Keywords: Best fit plane, plane surface definition, surface plane offset, surface draw tips, exports, export settings, tracing, outlining, surface draw projections.

Troubleshooting other Problems

Surface Draw projection alignment issues

Reassigning Surface Draw's associated surface: (Full Video - new tab)

  • Setting Surface Draw Properties 

Keywords: Troubleshooting, associated surface, surface draw surface assignment, surface draw properties, projections, surface draw alignment, 


Sloped Deck Panels:

Flattening and Exporting (Full Video - new tab)

  • Export Settings:  1:14
  • Flattening results explained:  1:43
  • Exporting by Layer:  3:19

Keywords: sloped angled decks, flattening, export settings


Modeling Small Panels and/or non standard shapes (Full Video - new tab)

  • Target placement tips: 0:15
  • Manually marking and referencing points: 0:49

Keywords: target placement, small narrow deck panels, gunwales, narrow decks, manual point marking, manual referencing, point spread.

Improving Textured Deck Visibility

  • Using Image Enhance to improve decking surface visibility

Keywords: image enhance, deck texture visibility, trace pattern visibility

Point Mark, Lines and Projections Visibility

  • Setting Preferences for point mark colors

Keywords: point mark color, projections color, visibility settings, preferences, colors

Project Automation without Letter Sheet Targets

If you are not using the PhotoModeler Letter Sheet system for you deck measurement, you may find these videos of use.

Modeling without Letter Sheet Targets: (Full Video - new tab)

  • Setting up scales and a coordinate system:  1:19

Keywords: automated target marking, manual coordinate system, setting scale, non-letter sheet targets, custom targets

Coded Target Presets (Full Video - new tab)

  • Setting up Coded Target Presets 

Keywords: coded target presets, automated coordinate system setup, coded target offsets, applying presets, preset configuration, automated coordinate system setup, automated scales.