Home Floor Plan Video Scanning
By Ha Phuong Nguyen
Summary
Your phone records a video of the home, and your floor plan is built from it. Anything that hurts the video hurts your plan.
Chapters
- Your phone records a video of (0s)
- Free up storage, start the day (7s)
- Turn on every light and open (19s)
- Keep five to ten feet from (32s)
- Hold the phone with both hands (40s)
- Move through the room along natural (55s)
- Open every door fully before you (66s)
- For small rooms, scan from the (82s)
- Scanning the exterior is optional. Porches, (96s)
- Before you leave, review your 3D (115s)
FAQ
What affects the quality of a floor plan scan from a phone video?
The quality of your floor plan depends entirely on the quality of your phone video. Poor lighting, shaky footage, or obstructed views will directly degrade the resulting floor plan, so video quality is critical to scanning success.
How should you prepare a home before scanning for a floor plan?
Turn on every light in the home and open all blinds to maximize brightness. Charge your phone to full battery before starting. A well-lit environment scans significantly better and produces more accurate floor plans.
What is the correct technique for holding a phone while scanning a floor plan?
Hold the phone with both hands at chest height, as if carrying a full cup of coffee. This stable grip prevents shaking and ensures smooth, consistent video capture throughout your scan.
How should you move when scanning a home for a floor plan?
Walk at a calm, steady pace and only turn the phone while moving forward, similar to driving a car. Maintain five to ten feet distance from walls to capture the full room layout accurately.
What should you do after finishing a floor plan scan?
Review your finished model before leaving the home to verify it captured all necessary details and spaces accurately. This allows you to rescan any areas that may need improvement while you're still on-site.
Transcript
Your phone records a video of the home, and your floor plan is built from it. Anything that hurts the video hurts your plan. Free up storage, start the day fully charged, and keep the phone cool. Don't leave it on the dashboard or in direct sun between scans — a cool phone scans better, especially on large properties." Turn on every light and open all the blinds. Finish each floor completely before taking the stairs — do not go back and forth between floors. Scan one floor at a time, lowest floor first. Keep five to ten feet from the walls. Walk at a calm, steady pace — not too fast, not too slow. Hold the phone with both hands at chest height — like a full cup of coffee. Keep it steady and upright. Don't tilt, swing, or hold it with one hand. And don't cover the lens with a stray finger — this can quietly ruin minutes of the scan. Move through the room along natural curves. Only turn your body while you are walking — never stop and spin in place. That is the most common mistake. Open every door fully before you begin scanning — don't scan a door mid-swing. On stairs, point the camera up the staircase and walk at a normal pace. Watch your feet, not the screen — the scan doesn't need your eyes on it, your footing does. For small rooms, scan from the doorway — ease a step forward and back as you sweep across, then move on. If you do enter a narrow space, back straight out the way you came. Do not try to turn around inside it. Scanning the exterior is optional. Porches, patios, decks, and balconies only appear on the floor plan if you choose to scan them. If you do, walk the perimeter at a steady distance from the walls, capture from foundation to roofline, and close the loop with some overlap where you started. Before you leave, review your 3D model on the app. Check that all rooms are captured, all doors were open, and any special features were recorded. And if the app ever crashes and offers to send a crash report, always send it — it's the fastest way to find and fix what went wrong.