November 5, 2013

Get Accurate Measurement Results this Season

Author: Stockpile Reports

2013 is almost over. Are you hoping that your yearly inventory estimates have been accurate?

Now is an excellent time to measure your stockpiles– before the weather begins changing in unpredictable ways.

For customers in the US that means there is less daylight available during business hours. Our northern customers will experience earlier sunsets, wind, rain and (probably) snow.

These are not optimal conditions in which to measure stockpiles, so we’d like to share our tips on how to get the best possible video collects with your smartphone. We also have several tutorial videos in our Help area to assist you.

Lighting

Taking videos when there isn’t enough light can heavily impact the overall picture quality– and possibly impact measurement results. Shoot in the morning or early afternoon before the sun begins to get low on the horizon.

This helps prevent both washed out imagery as well as lens flare. You may also find that holding a flat lightweight object such as a clipboard over the top of your iPhone while collecting data both helps you see the screen better and can also block lens flare from reducing the quality of your imagery. This will also protect your camera from rain and snow.

Clean Your Lens

Beware of wind and dust. Having a dirty camera lens can dramatically lower the quality of your pictures, so consider taking a microfiber cloth and some screen cleaner to your iPhone.

Plan Your Steps

Mud, rain and ice can be slippery. Think about where you will be stepping ahead of time, so when you ‘walk the pile’ your video collect will not be shaky, and your camera will remain firmly in your hands.