2022 Technical Update Archive – iGUIDE Help Center

Update 034 - December, 2022

Technical Update 034 - December, 2022

PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.5.26: improved and more familiar
Extended area reporting

PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.5.26: improved and more familiar

With the latest PLANIX ﬁrmware version, 1.5.26, we aim to keep all the battery life and performance improvements delivered in version 1.5.22, but also to reintroduce the more familiar workﬂow and system sounds that users have come to expect from previous versions. We hope users ﬁnd that this ﬁrmware version strikes a better balance.

See the full change log below:

New: Allow ﬁrmware update while connected to external power
Improve: Restored Ricoh Theta audio cues and volume controls
Improve: Optimized audio cue timing (all HDR modes) for speed without compromising battery life and performance improvements

Using this version, most users will ﬁnd the capture process quicker when using iGUIDE HDR modes (that is excluding External (Ricoh) and HDR Oﬀ), however your environment and capture conditions are always factors to consider.

PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.5.26 was released today, December 7th. If Stitch does not notify you automatically, it will be available to download at goiguide.com/downloads. For instructions, see the article Updating IMS-5 & PLANIX Firmware.

Extended area reporting

The Edit View page option formerly called “Include below grade in Total Area” has been renamed to “Extended area reporting”. By selecting this option, an additional Finished Area (Below Grade) total is appended to the regular RMS Total Area reported in the Details, PDF and iGUIDE Report; Finished Area (Below Grade) is deﬁned in iGUIDE Method of Measurement to comply with ANSI Z765 2021. For example, please see below.

If you had the option “Include below grade in Total Area” selected as part of your iGUIDE Default Settings or custom banner settings, the option will remain selected under its new name.

Update 033 - October, 2022

Old iGUIDE Viewer version (V3) option to be retired, Nov. 1st
PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.5.22: sound changes, extended battery life!
Discontinuing support ticket creation via email, Nov. 1st
Stitch v6.11.3
New video: Line Of Sight, Overlapping Data And Examples
iGUIDE Tags Share button
Final Reminder: Retiring Data-V1 iGUIDEs, Nov. 1st

Old iGUIDE Viewer version (V3) option to be removed, Nov. 1st

On November 1st, the option to select the old style (V3) iGUIDE Viewer will be removed. Earlier this year, we let you know in Technical Update 031 - March, 2022, that the option to switch to the old Viewer would be temporary and that, once it is removed, it will no longer be possible to revert to the old Viewer.

We have been steadily working towards updating the Viewer version everywhere it’s used on the iGUIDE Portal (e.g. Preview, Replace Pano) and you can expect the View Editor to be updated as well sometime in early November. The old Viewer will continue to be used on other pages of the iGUIDE Portal (e.g. Google Street View Exporter, Tag Editor) until Planitar determines that all tools are suﬃciently adapted to the new Viewer.

PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.5.22: sound changes, extended battery life!

PLANIX ﬁrmware version 1.5.22 is now available, and it’s highly recommended that all PLANIX operators update their system(s) as soon as possible in order to take advantage of new improvements! This ﬁrmware update delivers a handful of exciting improvements which include:

Uniﬁed system sounds
More consistent data collection
Increased battery life

The system sounds have been consolidated into two sounds: One to communicate that capture has begun, and a second sound to notify you of the moment capture is complete (and that it’s OK to move the camera to the next location). With this update, system sounds are no longer produced by the Theta Z1 and will be the same regardless of HDR or shooting mode. All sounds will now come from your smart device and will occur exactly when the camera is ready to be moved. This will result in the following beneﬁts:

Less looking at the screen means faster shooting
Fewer sounds means easier training of new photographers
Easier volume control on smart device for noise sensitive environments

Improvements have also been made to the way lidar data is collected in order to ensure more consistent data collection. This will result in better auto-alignment when surveying large properties and will make data capture faster when auto-alignment is used. A small delay will be introduced under certain shooting conditions but this should be more than made up for with better alignment.

Battery life has increased by up to 35%! Under ideal circumstances, that’s potentially an additional 400 scans that can be captured on a single charge. This will be useful for long days with big properties or multiple shoots. Or when you forget to plug the camera in the night before.

Due to these improvements, PLANIX operators that update to the latest ﬁrmware version will notice two options have been removed from the Settings page in Survey: ‘Always Show Lidar Scan’ and ‘360° Camera Volume’.

PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.5.22 was released today, October 25th. If Stitch does not notify you of the update automatically, it will be available to download at goiguide.com/downloads. Your iGUIDE PLANIX Instruction Manual will soon be updated there as well.

Discontinuing support ticket creation via email, Nov. 1st

If you have needed to reach out to our product support team at support.youriguide.com over the past few months, you will likely have already noticed the following message in the email signature of our product support team members:

We are moving towards a Support Desk (online only) ticket creation process, this means that you will no longer be able to create tickets via e-mail to support@planitar.com. This change will help us serve you in a more eﬃcient and responsive manner. Responding to tickets post-creation will still be available via e-mail, click here to sign up & create tickets online!

On November 1st, this change will ﬁnally take eﬀect, and we’ll tell you why! Originally, when the iGUIDE Support Desk was ﬁrst introduced, the ability to create new support tickets via email was allowed as a courtesy to those (at the time, most) iGUIDE service providers who had been previously accustomed to reaching out to drafting@planitar.com (inbox has since been closed) for support. To ensure a smooth transition to the new ticket platform, Planitar would temporarily allow for ticket creation via email, but no end date was ever ﬁrmly established. Besides this, requiring ticket creation via the Support Desk will also help many users avoid creating multiple accounts by mistake, since a Support Desk account is automatically created when our system doesn’t recognize a sender’s email address as an existing contact. Lastly, this change will serve as an additional measure to help our product support team eliminate spam emails from the system in order to collect more reliable support analytics.

Beyond November 1st, responding to tickets post-creation will still be available via e-mail. Click here to sign up & create tickets online!

Stitch v6.11.3

Stitch v6.11.3 was released today, October 25th, and delivers the following changes:

Improve support for HDPI monitors;
Add support for future functionality in Survey;
Fix limit in the maximum size of DXF exporter;
Other minor bug ﬁxes;

If Stitch does not notify you of the update automatically, it will be available to download at goiguide.com/downloads.

New video: Line Of Sight, Overlapping Data And Examples

Sam and Andrew of our Product Support Team enlisted the help of our Video Editor, Raniel, to produce a new video all about why and how to maintain line of sight and data overlap between scans when surveying a property! Please watch, like, and share this video with your colleagues!

iGUIDE Tags Share button

Back in August, we added a handy share button which allows you to easily copy and paste an iGUIDE URL that opens to a speciﬁc Tag.

Final Reminder: Retiring Data-V1 iGUIDEs, Nov. 1st

As previously mentioned in Technical Update 031 - March, 2022, Planitar will retire support of Data V1 iGUIDEs on November 1st, 2022.

Data V1 iGUIDEs are iGUIDEs produced before October, 2017
Data V1 iGUIDEs will be accessible on the iGUIDE Portal until November 1st, 2022
iGUIDE V1 data will be permanently deleted on November 1st, 2022

Data V1 iGUIDEs are iGUIDEs that were produced using a retired version of Planitar’s proprietary drafting software; this version was retired in October, 2017. Use the example below to visually determine whether or not your iGUIDE is Data V1.

If you wish to retain a copy of your Data V1 iGUIDE, please download an Oﬄine ZIP copy of the iGUIDE before November 1st, 2022. An iGUIDE Oﬄine ZIP is a complete copy of an iGUIDE that can be hosted on any platform, and even opened locally on your PC.

If you do not wish to retain a copy of your Data V1 iGUIDE, no action is required. Your iGUIDE will be deleted on November 1st, 2022.

Update 032 - June, 2022

iGUIDE data rejection and pre-publishing
New Viewer: Initial banner drop animation
New Viewer: Photos page improvements
New Viewer: Managing banners on the Portal
Stitch TAR size limit, warnings (later this month)
New Theta Z1 ﬁrmware v2.10.3 ﬁxes known HDR issue!

iGUIDE data rejection and pre-publishing

As described in the previous technical update, the new and improved workﬂows for data rejection and pre-publishing have since been implemented! Below are the details on what has been done so far, and what is coming soon.

Rejected Stitch Data

When your Stitch data submission has to be rejected by the Drafting Team, you will receive an email as notiﬁcation which informs you about the reason for rejection as well as how and what you can do to revise and resubmit the ﬁle. The email is sent by iGUIDE Portal (noreply@youriguide.com) and looks like this (reasons for rejection may vary):

We noticed some laser data alignment deficiencies in your submission for the iGUIDE 123 Example St, Waterloo, ON.

It's very important to us that we provide you with a reliable product, but that's only possible when we can rely on the data you submit. Since our team is unfamiliar with the property and the data submitted does not appear to resemble the property layout, your submission has been refused. Please also be aware that anything we draft must be based on scans taken using an iGUIDE camera system and we cannot rely on dimensions provided by any other means (e.g. builder's floor plans, tape measurements, photos, etc.).

In order to process your iGUIDE, we need you to eliminate the deficiencies indicated above, then resubmit a revised version of the project. If you're not quite sure where to start, please review these resources for guidance: Technical Training (text & video), iGUIDE Knowledge Base (text), Quick Tips (short-form video), Master Classes (long-form video).

Once you are confident that your revised project is sufficient for processing, please re-export it from Stitch in order to generate a new TAR file. Then upload the new TAR file to the iGUIDE's Stitch Data Upload page (this part will normally include a direct link).

WARNING: If no new TAR file is uploaded within 2 weeks from the time you receive this message, your iGUIDE Portal entry will be automatically deleted.

If you have any questions for us, please create a ticket at the Support Desk (support.youriguide.com). If the Support Team is currently unavailable, reach out on the iGUIDE Forum (forum.goiguide.com) for community support.

Pre-published Draft Data

When the drafting team is able to complete some, but not all of your iGUIDE, your iGUIDE is entered into the pre-published state, you will receive an email as notiﬁcation which informs you about the reason for pre-publishing as well as how and what you can do to complete the iGUIDE; whether to publish as-is or upload more data. The email is sent by iGUIDE Portal (noreply@youriguide.com) and looks like this (reasons for pre-publishing may vary):

We noticed one or more unscanned areas in your submission for the iGUIDE 456 Example St, Waterloo, ON.

Since our team is unsure about these areas, they have been left as-is, and your iGUIDE has been pre-published. To review the iGUIDE, click here (this part will normally include a direct link).

Please also be aware that anything we draft must be based on scans taken using an iGUIDE camera system and we cannot rely on dimensions provided by any other means (e.g. builder's floor plans, tape measurements, photos, etc.).

If you would like to adjust these areas before publishing the iGUIDE, please resubmit a revised version of the project. If you're not quite sure where to start, please review these resources for guidance: Technical Training (text & video), iGUIDE Knowledge Base (text), Quick Tips

(short-form video), Master Classes (long-form video).

If you do not want to make any adjustments, you can publish the iGUIDE at your convenience.

Please note: The emails for both scenarios include links to helpful resources on subjects like data alignment and area coverage, and normally include a direct link to the iGUIDE Portal page where you can review your iGUIDE and/or upload new data.

Skip pre-publishing

For users that do not want their iGUIDE pre-published under any circumstances, the option to skip pre-publishing is also now available! The option “Skip pre-publishing (automatically publish regardless of missing area/scans)” can be enabled on step 6 of the Create page, your iGUIDE Default Settings, Banner Settings, and the Stitch Data page of any iGUIDE Portal entry you create. When this option is selected, your iGUIDE is automatically published whenever the Drafting Team ﬁrst enters your iGUIDE into the pre-published

state. When this happens, you will receive two emails: The ﬁrst email is the typical

“pre-published” email (as shown above) and the subsequent email simply informs you that the iGUIDE was also published, per your selection. Both emails are sent by iGUIDE Portal (noreply@youriguide.com). The “Skip pre-publishing” option is disabled by default.

Image attachments (coming soon)

One more thing we have in the works is adding the ability for the Drafting Team to include image attachments (i.e. screenshots) to both the Rejection and Pre-published emails. We understand that image attachments are a useful tool in helping communicate speciﬁc details about a data deﬁciency in many cases, and we appreciate your feedback. Please keep an eye out for this change in the coming weeks!

New Viewer: Initial banner drop animation

On April 19th, thanks to your feedback, the initial banner drop animation was reintroduced to the new iGUIDE Viewer! Many had become familiar with this feature in the previous Viewer version and it allowed the banner information to appear on-screen brieﬂy upon loading an iGUIDE. This option can be found on the Edit View page as “Show initial banner drop animation” and all other places where iGUIDE View options can be set. This option was automatically enabled in all users default settings and their iGUIDEs that existed on or before April 19th. For all new users that joined after April 19th, the feature must be enabled manually.

New Viewer: Photos page improvements

The initial release of the new iGUIDE Viewer focused on improving the look and feel of the 3D Tour page. On May 10th, the Photos page received the same treatment! Functionally, there are no major changes, but here are the design changes that you may have already noticed:

Adjusted the size of gallery images and slideshow preview images so they have a consistent aspect ratio
Increased the density of gallery images and slideshow preview images
Aligned the toolbars and scroll buttons with the ones found on the 3D Tour page

Check out the new look and feel of the Photos page on any of your recent iGUIDEs! And see a small preview below.

New Viewer: Managing banners on the Portal

On June 1st, banners as seen on the iGUIDE Portal were updated with the new look in order to accurately reﬂect how they appear in the new Viewer. With this update you can conveniently edit and manage your banners without having to check how they actually look in the iGUIDE.

Stitch TAR size limit, warnings (later this month)

Later this month, attempting to upload a large Stitch TAR ﬁle on the iGUIDE Portal will begin showing some new messages regarding the number of scans detected.

For TAR ﬁles containing >100 scans, you will see this message: “This iGUIDE has a large number of panos and may take longer to process.”

For TAR ﬁles containing >2000 scans, you will see this message: “This data exceeds the maximum number of panos (2000) and cannot be uploaded.”

To be clear, only iGUIDEs which turn out to be greater than 10,000 sq ft in ﬂoor area are exceptions to standard delivery time. The new warning for ﬁles exceeding 100 scans is meant only as a reminder, since ﬁles exceeding 100 scans are more likely to also exceed 10,000 sq ft.

TAR ﬁles exceeding 2000 scans, however, will no longer be accepted.

New Theta Z1 ﬁrmware v2.10.3 ﬁxes known HDR processing issue!

The latest RICOH Theta Z1 ﬁrmware version, v2.10.3, was released on May 31st. This ﬁrmware update ﬁxes a bug aﬀecting HDR processing when using the -3EV/+3EV (iGUIDE) option in Survey. All PLANIX users should update their Theta Z1 ﬁrmware as soon as possible in order to avoid this issue. Please note that PLANIX ﬁrmware and Theta Z1 ﬁrmware are updated separately.

Update 031 - March, 2022

New data rejection and pre-publish workﬂows, notiﬁcations
New Viewer, April 4th!
Viewer version switch on Edit View page
iGUIDE Radix soon available without request
Data V1 iGUIDEs to be retired, November 1st, 2022

New data rejection and pre-publish workﬂows, notiﬁcations

Planitar is working on streamlining workﬂows and notiﬁcations for two key iGUIDE processing conditions: Rejected Stitch Data, and Pre-published Draft Data (aka iGUIDEs on hold).

Rejected Stitch Data

Presently, whenever the iGUIDE Drafting Team determines that a data submission is insuﬃcient for processing (e.g. all data is misaligned), an email is sent by the Drafting Team to the uploader as notiﬁcation of the refusal, including instructions on how to share a revised ﬁle via ﬁle transfer service and to reach out to the Support Team for any assistance. The refused ﬁle remains stored on the iGUIDE Portal unless manually removed by Planitar or unless 2 weeks is exceeded, the ﬁle being automatically deleted in the second case.

Soon, instead of the present workﬂow, an automated email will be sent to the uploader with the reason for refusal and some helpful information on providing a new ﬁle. The email will also include a link to the iGUIDE’s Stitch Data page on the Portal where it will become possible to reupload a new ﬁle, replacing the originally refused ﬁle, and automatically reentering the iGUIDE to the Drafting Team’s processing queue.

Pre-published Draft Data

Presently, whenever the iGUIDE Drafting Team determines that a data submission can be mostly but not fully processed (e.g. there are one or more major unscanned areas), the iGUIDE will be put on hold and an email is sent to the uploader requesting their instruction on whether to: (A) publish the iGUIDE as-is, intentionally omitting the unscanned areas, or

(B) continue to withhold the iGUIDE in order to allow the uploader to provide the unscanned areas via ﬁle transfer service before publishing the completed iGUIDE.

Soon, instead of the present workﬂow, the Drafting Team will opt to pre-publish an iGUIDE whenever it can only be mostly processed, and an automated email notiﬁcation will be sent to the uploader with instructions. When an iGUIDE enters this new pre-published stage, you are presented an opportunity to review a draft of the iGUIDE before the Report is sent and make a choice: (A) publish as-is and send the iGUIDE Report, or (B) upload an additional TAR ﬁle to the iGUIDE Portal which contains the originally unscanned areas. If an additional ﬁle is uploaded which resolves the deﬁciencies, the iGUIDE will reenter the processing queue and be subsequently published.

Some prefer not to have an iGUIDE withheld, i.e. pre-published, under any circumstances.

To account for this, there will also be a new option which allows users to skip

pre-publishing. This option will be selectable per iGUIDE (on the Create page) and in a user’s iGUIDE Default settings. When an iGUIDE that would normally be pre-published is immediately published as-is because this option was selected, the uploader will receive an automated email as notiﬁcation of the occurrence.

Billing pre-published iGUIDEs: It is important to note that pre-published iGUIDEs will be billed upon entering the pre-published stage. The billable area of the iGUIDE will be added to your monthly total immediately, and subsequent updates to the iGUIDE (e.g. providing additional data for previously unscanned areas) will also be billed accordingly. Like the present workﬂow, you will continue to be billed for your iGUIDE as soon as it is available to you; your iGUIDE will no longer be withheld due to being suspected of unscanned areas, but will instead become pre-published.

These changes are currently scheduled to be released on Monday, April 18th. We’re conﬁdent that these changes will make for a smooth transition, but more details will come, and our Support Desk will remain available to anyone requiring assistance.

New Viewer, April 4th!

On Monday, April 4th, the new iGUIDE Viewer will be oﬃcially released and the default iGUIDE Viewer will be switched to the new version! This means that all iGUIDEs created before and after this date will start using the new Viewer version, unless reverted using the Viewer Version switch. The new iGUIDE Viewer has been available to try in BETA since February 22nd.

These are the key changes featured in the new iGUIDE Viewer:

Overall more immersive feel
Overall more consistent UI design
Updated agent banner with better visual hierarchy, CTA (call-to-action) buttons and social media links
Collapsible top navigation menu
Measurement tool moved outside of the ﬂoor plan to allow for contextual toolbars (e.g. measure mode displays a diﬀerent toolbar and hides irrelevant options) and to allow for a larger ﬂoor plan, especially in landscape orientation on small mobile device screens
To reduce decision fatigue, functionality that is secondary to home buyers, such as autoplay and “download ﬂoor screenshot”, was moved into the new “more” menu
Retired initial banner drop upon load to provide a better user experience to iGUIDE end-users
Improved the usability of iGUIDE Tags list by moving the search bar to the top, and added accordion (collapse) functionality per ﬂoor to eliminate excessive scrolling
“Manage” (your iGUIDE) button moved to the “more” menu

Viewer Version switch on Edit View page

On March 28th, a new Edit View page option was added which allows users to select their preferred iGUIDE Viewer version. The available versions are: Default (V3), Old (V3), New (Refreshed).

This is a temporary option which will continue to be available until Planitar determines that the new Viewer is suﬃciently stable, that there are no critical bugs, in approximately one to two months following the date of its release. After this option is removed, it will not be possible to revert to the old Viewer. The old Viewer will also continue to be used on the iGUIDE Portal (e.g. Preview, Replace Pano, Google Street View Exporter, View Editor, Tag Editor) until Planitar determines that the new Viewer is suﬃciently stable and that the View Editor tools are suﬃciently adapted to the new Viewer.

Please report any and all technical issues involving the new Viewer or Viewer Version switch to our Support Desk. Please also consider posting your ideas about how we might improve the new Viewer in the Feature Suggestions category of the iGUIDE Forum. Thank you!

iGUIDE Radix soon available without request

On Monday, April 4th, iGUIDE Radix will become a package option to all Operators when creating a new iGUIDE. So far, the iGUIDE Radix package option has only been available per request, and remained hidden to others. iGUIDE Radix was originally introduced as a solution for the insurance and restoration industry, but some other applications for iGUIDE Radix were soon realized. On Monday, no request will be required in order to access iGUIDE Radix, so we look forward to seeing the new and creative ways it will be used!

Data V1 iGUIDEs to be retired, November 1st, 2022

On November 1st, 2022, Planitar is planning to retire support of Data V1 iGUIDEs.

Data V1 iGUIDEs are iGUIDEs produced before October, 2017
Data V1 iGUIDEs will be accessible on the iGUIDE Portal until November 1st, 2022
iGUIDE V1 data will be permanently deleted on November 1st, 2022

If you do not wish to retain a copy of your Data V1 iGUIDE, no action is required. Your iGUIDE will be deleted on November 1st, 2022.

Update 030 - March, 2022

Optional Total Building Area (Above & Below Grade)
Optional Bathroom/Washroom in Property Details
iGUIDE Method of Measurement Deﬁnitions Clariﬁed
Reminder: New iGUIDE Viewer BETA

Optional Total Building Area (Above & Below Grade)

It was previously announced that, with the formalization of ANSI Z765-2021 and RECA RMS-2017 standards, the option to include below grade area in a building’s total area

would no longer be available. Based on feedback from users in certain regions, we decided to bring it back (albeit with some necessary changes)!

The renewed option to “Include below grade in Total Area” will no longer aﬀect the standard Total Area of a building as it used to, but will instead generate an additional Total Area underneath; the area is clearly titled “Total Area (Above & Below Grade)” in a way to distinguish it from the standard Total Area. Below are two examples of iGUIDE Floor Area Information with this option enabled, one using ANSI Z765-2021 (left), the other using RECA RMS-2017 (right).

The “Include below grade in Total Area” Edit View page option will be available for all iGUIDEs that have selected a non-legacy Measurement Standard option. Like other options, this can be selected on the Create page, on the Edit View page, your iGUIDE Defaults and Banner Settings. This option will be available on or before Friday, March 18th.

Optional Bathroom/Washroom in Property Details

You might not have noticed it, but one of your iGUIDE’s subtle quirks is that Room Measurements of bathrooms/washrooms have always been shown in the Property Details even if the room options “Show Dimensions” and “Show Room Area” are deselected on the Edit View page (see image below). This behaviour is diﬀerent from that of other Room Types, was originally designed as an optimization for residential real estate, but has since become an inconvenience to those in other industries.

Bathroom room options , Bathroom room measurements

Thanks in part to the recent addition of the Property Industry selector on the Create page, we’re now able to optimize your iGUIDE for use in multiple industries. This particular optimization comes in the form of a new option to “Always report washrooms/bathrooms in Property Details” (see image below). For example, if the Property Industry selected is Residential, this option will be enabled by default in order to keep things exactly the same as before. On the other hand, if Commercial or Insurance & Restoration are the selected

Property Industry, this option will be disabled by default. However, please note that Property Industry selection does not aﬀect options on the Create page if your account already has iGUIDE Default Settings saved.

The new option to “Always report washrooms/bathrooms in Property Details” will be available for all iGUIDEs, new and existing. All iGUIDEs created before March 1st will have this option appear as enabled. Only Residential iGUIDEs created after March 1st will have this option appear as enabled. All other iGUIDEs created after March 1st will have this option appear as disabled. All iGUIDEs created after this option is available will have the option enabled or disabled depending on the property industry selection (unless your account already has iGUIDE Default Settings saved). Like other options, this can be selected on the Create page, on the Edit View page, your iGUIDE Defaults and Banner Settings. This option will be available on or before Friday, March 18th.

iGUIDE Method of Measurement Deﬁnitions Clariﬁed

Tomorrow, March 18th, two iGUIDE Method of Measurement Deﬁnitions will also be updated in order to clarify how walls are currently calculated in certain situations. The deﬁnitions of Finished Area and Unﬁnished Area will be updated as follows:

Finished Area is a per-ﬂoor calculation made by adding all enclosed areas in a house that are suitable for year-round use based upon their location, embodying walls, ﬂoors, and ceilings and which are similar to the rest of the house. Footprint of walls is attributed to ﬁnished area only when the walls are bounding ﬁnished areas.

Unﬁnished Area is a per-ﬂoor calculation made by adding all enclosed areas that do not meet the criteria for Finished Area. Exceptions are outdoor and non-walkable areas, for example porches or areas open to below. Footprint of walls is attributed to unﬁnished area only when the walls are exclusively bounding unﬁnished areas.

Reminder: New iGUIDE Viewer BETA

On February 22nd, the new iGUIDE Viewer was made available for BETA testing! Check the iGUIDE Forum for more information and instructions on how to participate. We’d love to hear your feedback. Want to see it now? Fun fact: Any iGUIDE can be viewed using the new viewer by adding ?viewer=refresh to the end of the URL.

Update 029 - February, 2022

Selecting a Property Industry on the Create Page

All users creating new iGUIDEs must ﬁrst select a Property Industry. This is necessary for the iGUIDE Portal to apply settings that are better suited to each industry, so long as custom iGUIDE Default Settings have not already been saved at the account level. This choice is not critical, since all the settings listed below can still be changed on the Create Page before you decide to upload your Stitch data. If you ﬁnd yourself unsure about what to choose, use the information below to determine what industry your iGUIDE belongs to (see Figure 1).

Insurance & Restoration (IRC)

iGUIDEs of this type are usually part of an insurance claim or have been damaged in some way (i.e. ﬁre, ﬂood) and need documentation to estimate the cost of damages and reconstruction. Whether the property is Commercial or Residential, select this option if it is being documented for insurance and restoration purposes. Typically these iGUIDEs would be used for visual inspection and measurement during the claims process and should be available to speciﬁed users and not the general public. Selecting this industry will default to the following settings:

The Default View is Protected. To view a Protected iGUIDE you must log in to the iGUIDE portal and be given permission to see it by the iGUIDE’s manager.
RMS will be the measurement standard selected for Canada and other areas.
ANSI will be the measurement standard selected for the United States.

Residential Real Estate

iGUIDEs of this type are usually private dwellings that are for sale or rent. They can include detached, semi-detached, and fully attached properties. Typically these iGUIDEs would be used for marketing purposes and should be publicly available and searchable online.

Selecting this industry will default to the following settings:

The Default View is Public and is indexed by Google. This means that if someone were to search for the address using Google they will encounter the iGUIDE 3D tour link in the search results.
RMS will be the measurement standard selected for Canada and other areas.
ANSI will be the measurement standard selected for the United States.

Commercial Real Estate

iGUIDEs of this type are a mix of private and public spaces. Uses may include facility management, commercial sales and retail. Selecting this industry will default to the following settings:

The Default View is Protected. To view a Protected iGUIDE you must log in to the iGUIDE portal and be given permission to see it by the iGUIDE’s manager.
RMS will be the measurement standard selected for Canada and other areas.
ANSI will be the measurement standard selected for the United States.

Update 028 - February, 2022

Stitch v6.11: Required update by March 15th
PLANIX Firmware v1.4.32
Measurement Standards, Room Types & Room Flags: Exits BETA March 1st
New iGUIDE Viewer BETA!

Stitch v6.11: Required update by March 15th

The latest Stitch version is one that all users will be required to use by March 15th; the iGUIDE Portal will reject any stitch.tar exported using a previous Stitch version after this date. Stitch v6.11 makes performance improvements and oﬀers better guidance in the error checking dialog, particularly for users having diﬃculty with overlapping scan points. See the full change log below:

Performance improvement on export;
Improve error checking dialog;
Check when loading invalid directory;
Internal improvements;

Stitch v6.11 was released yesterday, February 17th. If Stitch does not notify you of the update automatically, it will be available to download at goiguide.com/downloads.

PLANIX Firmware v1.4.32

Based on your feedback, as always, PLANIX ﬁrmware version 1.4.32 improves on the new HDR capabilities added in last November’s version 1.4.18. With this update, you’ll be able to easily switch between HDR modes by tapping “HDR” in the bottom-left corner of the Survey page instead of always having to make the change on the Settings page.

In addition to this, a few improvements involving HDR freezing and error messages have been made. See the full change log below:

New: Change HDR setting on Survey page
Improve: Improve Two-Shot mode scan cancellation
Improve: Add auto-detection of 360 camera freezing in PLANIX -3/+3EV HDR mode
Improve: Improve the ﬁrmware update messaging
Bugﬁx: Resolve an issue related to projects with a corrupt conﬁguration ﬁle
Bugﬁx: Fix scan mesh coverage in Survey

PLANIX ﬁrmware v1.4.32 was released earlier today, February 18th. If Stitch does not notify you automatically, it will be available to download at goiguide.com/downloads. For instructions, see the article Updating IMS-5 & PLANIX Firmware.

Measurement Standards, Room Types & Room Flags: Exits BETA March 1st

Last December, Measurement Standards, Room Type, and Room Flag selection was announced for BETA testing. In a couple weeks, March 1st, these features will exit the BETA phase, oﬃcially becoming a required selection for all new iGUIDEs. So, regarding measurement standards, what does this really mean?

For iGUIDEs created before this date:

Area totals will remain unchanged, and will start to be considered as System Default (Legacy) Area Totals.
On the Edit View page, the new measurement standard selector will have 3 options:
- System Default (Legacy)
- RECA RMS 2017
- ANSI Z765 2021
iGUIDE Views that had the option “Enable Finished Area Reporting” enabled will have their selected measurement standard automatically changed to “ANSI Z765 2021”.
“Enable Finished Area Reporting” will no longer be an option on the Edit View page.
Measurement Diagrams appended to PDF will no longer be available when “ANSI Z765 2021” is the selected measurement standard.
Changing the measurement standard from another option back to “System Default (Legacy)” will reset a View’s data back to default and all changes will be lost after saving. To retain any changes, duplicate a View prior to changing its measurement standard.
For some older iGUIDEs, you may not be able to make a new measurement standard selection. The iGUIDE must ﬁrst be updated, or a new iGUIDE should be created.

For iGUIDEs created on or after this date:

System Default (Legacy) will not be an option.
On both the Create page and Edit View page, the new measurement standard selector will have 2 options:
- RECA RMS 2017
- ANSI Z765 2021
For US iGUIDEs, the default measurement standard will be set to “ANSI Z765 2021”.
For ALL other iGUIDEs, the default measurement standard will be set to “RECA RMS 2017”.
“Enable Finished Area Reporting” will no longer be an option on the Edit View page.
Measurement Diagrams appended to PDF will no longer be available when “ANSI Z765 2021” is the selected measurement standard.

To reﬂect these changes, the iGUIDE Method of Measurement page will also be updated on this date.

If you’re unsure about which measurement standard is appropriate for you or your area, visit these sites to learn more about each one:

RECA RMS 2017:https://www.reca.ca/licensees-learners/tools-resources/residential-measurement-st andard
ANSI Z765 2021: https://www.homeinnovation.com/z765

If you or your clients have questions like “Why has this changed?” or “Was something wrong with the legacy method?” don’t worry, the legacy method still essentially follows the Alberta Residential Measurement Standard (RMS), which is currently the most comprehensive standard in North America. Consider these changes more as a formality, a necessary step to more easily distinguish the diﬀerences between multiple measurement standards in the future.

If you only want to know which standard you should choose in order to keep things similar to the legacy method, choose “RECA RMS 2017”. If you’re in the US and you want “RECA RMS 2017” to be your default measurement standard, you can do that, just like your other iGUIDE Default Settings.

Now, what about the Room Types and Room Flags?

Room Types and Room Flags are the properties of rooms on the ﬂoor plan that, until now, could only be changed by the iGUIDE Drafting Team. These room properties directly aﬀect the Floor Area Information of the iGUIDE so, in order to access these new options you must ﬁrst have selected either “RECA RMS 2017” or “ANSI Z765 2021”. Room Types and Room Flags cannot be changed in iGUIDE Views with “System Default (Legacy)” selected.

What are Room Types?

Room Types stay the same no matter which measurement standard you have selected. Basically, these are the categories used to easily identify diﬀerent types of rooms on the ﬂoor plan without having to look at the panorama, e.g. bathroom = blue, bedroom = yellow, etc. These are the available Room Types:

Outdoor, No Floor, Bedroom, Living, Bathroom, Kitchen, Storage, Other, Garage, Unﬁnished, Void Space, Stairs, Oﬃce, Dining, Laundry, Utility, Cold Room

It’s also important to note that the Room Type determines each room’s available Room Flags. So…

What are Room Flags?

Room Flags ﬁrst depend on the Measurement Standard you select. For example, when “RECA RMS 2017” is selected, the Room Flags are: Included, Excluded, Exterior.

When “ANSI Z765 2021” is selected, the Room Flags are: Included-Finished, Included-Unﬁnished, Excluded, Exterior.

Secondly, the available Room Flags depend on the selected Room Type. For example, after selecting “RECA RMS 2017” measurement standard, then the “Outdoor” Room Type, the only Room Flag available is “Exterior” and it cannot be changed.

Basically, Room Flags are strictly used to classify which rooms should be included and excluded from the Area Totals. For “RECA RMS 2017”, sun rooms in regions that experience cold winters best exemplify when this is necessary, e.g. some sun rooms are liveable

year-round and should be included, some other sun rooms are not and should be excluded. In other words, rooms of the same Room Type sometimes require diﬀerent Room Flags.

More detailed information on Room Types and Room Flags will be available in the coming weeks.

New iGUIDE Viewer BETA!

Next Tuesday, February 22nd, a new iGUIDE Viewer will be made available for BETA testing! Remember to check the iGUIDE Forum for more information and instructions on how to participate once it’s available.