Introduction to Scan Planning

The video above is an urban explorer video about George AFB and the housing complex which was chosen as one of the subjects for the masterclass.

One of the most often neglected subjects in 3d scanning is proper planning, budgeting, and scheduling for a large environment scan. There are several factors that need to be taken into consideration including location scouting, size of the scan, time on-site, hardware and software, time of year, time of day, drone flight planning and restricted zones, weather, budget, labor and permits.  By the time you complete this lesson, you will have a good understanding of how to estimate a job, stay on time and on budget while delivering the best data possible for yourself or your clients. This lesson will continue the Environment Scanning for VFX module later in the coursework.

Project Planning Spreadsheet Template

It is always recommended to work within a spreadsheet to define your project, goals, points of contact, schedule, and budgeting. I have created a template spreadsheet which will be used for the entire masterclass project.  A copy of this spreadsheet can be found in the exercise files tab of this lesson.

Define the Project Objective, Budget, and Income

The first step is to define your project and have an idea of what your initial budget is. It is also recommended to define the project goal simply. A little vagueness in this initial goal is fine, it’s merely a summary of the project for now. Always keep an idea of a budget in mind as it can help limit the scope of the project. If your scope is too small, you can always make budget adjustments later. For my masterclass I have a clear goal of producing a comprehensive scan of a large 3d environment with several subjects using a variety of sensors across a number of domains for the purposes of teaching a masterclass in 3d scanning complete with 30–40 hours of training material with a budget not to exceed $5,000 including the cost of gear, rentals, materials, online subscriptions and any additional labor if the project calls for freelancers for completion.

As this is an online course, I should also establish what my minimum expected return is on the project. This in many cases can help define and frame your expectations going forward. If your return is not satisfactory in this initial stage, you may need to evaluate the viability of the project in general. In my case, projected income is $10,000 over the first 12 months and subsequently $5,000 per year for 4 years for a total of $30,000. This expected return is high compared to my investment and is valued given the short supply of comprehensive training material available with an average of $500 per sale and twenty sales in the first 12 months.

Typically, potential clients already have a budget range in mind and more than likely this number is woefully short to meet project demands. This is ok, it’s meant more of a conversation starter and while it may sound premature to attach a number at this stage, understand this amount is merely to help frame the project as it will establish initial expectations and automatically reduce scope. If the intended budget cannot fit within delivery requirements, the budget can always be adjusted. Budgeting during the planning stage should be considered a “living document”, one that is incrementally adjusted as the project design document progresses. As a rule of thumb, at least a 40-50% margin should be the goal. While difficult projects can break even or lose money, good margins will allow you to maintain finances in-between projects. Remember, the rent still needs to be paid, even when you don’t have work. Also, never forget to count your own labor against this margin. Your labor has value and expense, and you should always think of yourself as an employee as if you were to hire someone to complete the project instead of yourself.

One last consideration in my project, I am purposely keeping the project budget low, the amount is woefully low versus the cost of purchases and rentals so as a consideration, I have sought out software and hardware partnerships to reduce cost as well as increase marketing viability.

Project Goals, Scope, and Considerations

Now that we have a Project Objective and Initial Budget in mind, let’s start to refine and outline in detail project goals, scope, and any considerations. Since I haven’t decided on a location yet, I will keep these items simple as I expect to revise them after the location is scouted and I have a better idea of the scope and how much it will change.

Subject Matter & Expected Deliverables

This step is a pure wish list of items and may be well out of scope, time, or budget. This is fine as it is easier to cut subjects down then add them later.

• 3–5 building scans of distinct designs and functions with a single large structure chosen as the “hero” scan.
• Each building scan will consist of photogrammetry, drone and lidar data.
• Aerial site survey of a much larger area around subject for context
• 15–30 HDRI 360 captures
• 15–30 prop scans such as fire hydrants, rocks, tree & vegetation samples
• 15–30 Quixel Megascan style material scans
• 1 hero scan of a vehicle relevant to the subject
• Complete collection of lesson plans for all items.

Level of Effort Expectation

Now let’s break down an expectation of the labor needed for our subject matter and deliverables. My masterclass will go into great detail on how to estimate scans based on years of my experience and the depth is far greater than what can be covered in this short article. That being said, I already know what a good, conservative estimate is for each subject.  If I plug all this information into my spreadsheet, I’m looking at nearly 90 hours of work. Since this is well over my capture time limit of 1 week and only myself and an assistant will be doing the scan, I need to cut down on my subjects or consider renting gear for a longer period of time.

Location Research

Now begins the fun part and begins with simple Google searches for areas of interest near where I live. I need to choose an area close to my home with less than a one-hour drive so I may revisit the site as many times as required for both scouting and scanning purposes. After an exhaustive search I’ve limited my choices to two locations. The first is the abandoned George Air Force Base in Victorville, CA. The second site is an old western theme park, Calico Ghost Town which run by the county of San Bernadino.  After some searches on Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia as well as inquiries using ChatGPT/Microsoft Copilot, I can confidently say these two sites provide the kind of content I’m looking for.

George Air Force Base

George Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located within the city limits of central Victorville, California and about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California. George Air Force Base was officially decommissioned in December 1992. In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced a “Five Part Plan” to speed economic recovery in communities where military bases were to be closed. One part of this plan called for improving public participation in the base’s environmental cleanup program. George AFB was among several installations where environmental cleanup was placed on a “fast track” so base property could be quickly transferred to the community for reuse. While the base remains closed, local rumors continue of the Wherry housing units being haunted. (Source: Wikipedia)

Calico Ghost Town

Calico is an old West mining town that has been around since 1881 and was abandoned in the mid-1890s after silver lost its value. The town that once gave miners a good living lost its hustle and became a “ghost town.”  Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950’s architecturally restoring all but the five original buildings to look as they did in the 1880’s. Calico received State Historical Landmark 782 and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California’s Silver Rush Ghost Town.  Today, Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system, which is visited by people from across the country and from all over the world. Along with its history and attractions, Calico Ghost Town has shops, restaurants and offers camping, hiking and off-roading. (Source: Wikipedia)

On-Site Location Scouting – George AFB

After reviewing the site online, some good YouTube videos, I already had a strong feeling about George AFB as my subject of choice. It hit all the things I wanted to cover and has a great post-apocalyptic feel like the hit TV show and video game Fallout. The next step was to pull Google Street View map data and aerial lidar and imagery from the USGS and integrate it in Agisoft Metashape to get a strong idea of the location before I even left my home. After a quick drive through the site, I didn’t find it necessary to do a complete scouting trip, there were a ton of great sites and enough data I found a preliminary scouting trip unnecessary. If I decide this will indeed be my site of choice, I will do a more detailed scouting trip to pick specific subjects of interest at a later date.

On-Site Location Scouting – Calico Ghost Town

While I already found George AFB to be a strong selection as my primary subject, I still decided to take the opportunity to visit Calico Ghost Town with family as it was a nice outing. Scouting trips don’t always have to be work, for a good hour I walked around with my family, taking pictures with my iPhone. It is a very well-done re-creation, and the buildings looked authentic enough that the final output would be a viable content pack for the Unreal Marketplace in addition to providing great material for a 3d scanning masterclass. On the downside, there was a considerable amount of foot traffic, but one church in particular was off the beaten path and was my favorite subject of what I saw. Unfortunately, I need to capture several buildings to meet my project goals, and it was clear this may be difficult to arrange with county officials.

Location Finalization

After scouting trips were finished, the next step is breaking down several items which need to be considered before I can finalize what the subject is for my masterclass:

Weather and Time of Year

The locations are in the Mojave high desert and while temperatures are more moderate in Spring, Fall and Winter. Late fall through early spring is the rainy season (even for the desert) with high winds which would make renting gear a problem. Rain and high winds during this time could ruin a scheduled capture, increasing my budget costs, even if the probability of inclement weather is low. Summer temperatures can reach as high as 110f in the summer so that leaves either late spring or late fall as the nearest available dates for capture. Additionally, time of year and amount of available daylight can affect the on-site scanning window. I need a solid 4–6 hours of scanning from 10am to 2pm with consistent overhead light direction. As you know there is less light in the winter months and the sun is lower in the sky so spring to fall are the best choices for this region.

Permits

Permits are an ongoing issue, especially in California. Great care must be taken to secure permits and be aware that many federal and state parks forbid drone flights. George AFB is also restricted but the site is compelling, so I will need to submit permits through SCLA Filming | Victorville, CA (victorvilleca.gov).

Foot Traffic

Assuming I’ve secured necessary permits, I need to consider the amount of foot traffic a site has. Scanning requires a clear view of the subject, even with permits, a high amount of foot traffic from other people could obstruct the subject, resulting in a need to capture 2–3x more data. As Calico Ghost Town showed significant foot traffic, this was another strike against choosing that site.

Drone Ops

I realized I should have checked drone permissions before I did my scouting trips. As the Calico Ghost Town is a county park, drones are forbidden and on site I even found a sign which explicitly states as much. Permits and permissions might be obtained but it is a lengthy process, foot traffic is heavy, so after some thought, I decided to eliminate Calico Ghost Town as my site of choice.

Realizing I missed this step, I checked George AFB and while drone flights are permitted, it is close to an airport and a federal prison, so I need to make sure through DJI’s Flysafe map if there are any flight restrictions for the drone I plan to use. As you can see, there are many restrictions but fortunately the region is within a permitted area for drone operations albeit with a properly submitted and accepted FAA flight plan.

Final Considerations

After review, George AFB shows itself to be more beneficial on many levels with only one remaining area of caution. George AFB was shut down to contamination issues with jet fuel runoff leaking into the water table and cancer-causing agents sprayed on building foundations for pest control. I researched the current contaminants, the safety levels and determined while safe, it was best to scan with protective gear such as a N95 mask, gloves and shoe covers and avoid excessively high wind dry days where dust and dirt are prevalent in the air.  Let’s review items of note which have led me to this decision:

• While I do need a permit, I was able to obtain details of the permitting process through SCLA Filming | Victorville, CA (victorvilleca.gov)
• Drone operations are permitted but restricted
• Low foot traffic
• Close to my home and easily accessible
• Solid subject matter which would market well
• Site contamination within safe levels but requires protective gear

For all these reasons, it is safe to choose George AFB as the subject for my masterclass. It’s a fascinating location with spooky, apocalyptic locations which are hot items in popular media, especially considering the hit TV show and video game series, Fallout.