Module 7 Quick Field Guide
The numbers, limits, and sequences for PortalCam work, on one page. Setup, capture settings, control points, Map Fusion collection, and the mistakes that cost a job.
Setup and Initialization
LCC Scan is the PortalCam's field app. The L3, L2 Pro, and K2 use LixelGO. The apps are not interchangeable.
- Clean every lens. Critical for texture quality and not fixable afterward.
- Connect via Direct Connect or Bridge Mode and confirm the link before tapping record.
- Initialize on the tripod, on stable level ground. Stationary and level through the full 25-second startup. An uneven surface causes calibration errors that distort or fail the scan.
- Initialize in the main display area with the front camera facing a clean, static view. The finished model opens on whatever the camera saw at initialization. That is the default opening view, and it can be reset afterward in the Scene Editor with Set Spawn Point. Avoid crowds, vehicles, and moving objects.
- Select the scan mode. It locks once the scan starts.
- Decide layered optimization before you start. It is on by default, which is right for most scenes. Turn it off where the space carries heavy repeating texture: cubicles, open-plan offices, data halls, racked warehouses, uniform corridors. It cannot be applied after the scan.
- After pressing record, wait about 6 seconds, then wait for the slow green flash before lifting the device.
- Confirm the project naming convention matches the rest of the session. Inconsistent names cause fusion failures.
- Confirm spare batteries are above 10 percent. A battery below 10 percent will not power the device on.
Capture Settings and Limits
The PortalCam is slower than both the L2 Pro and the K2, and by a wide margin. Its ceiling anywhere is 1.6 ft/s (0.5 m/s), which is the indoor speed for the L2 Pro and K2, not their ceiling. Applying an L2 Pro pace to a PortalCam job degrades the data with no warning at the time.
model folder.Scan modes. NIGHT for low light, INDOOR for standard interiors, NATURE for bright outdoor light, PORTRAIT for human subjects. Choose NIGHT whenever the route crosses a bright-to-dim boundary. The mode locks when the scan starts.
Standing still does not improve results. The PortalCam is not a terrestrial scanner. Detail comes from movement across a subject and from multiple angles, not from dwell time. When there is no single focus object, saturate the scene with multiple routes and heights.
Control Point Marking
Control points are the only way to connect PortalCam segments. The device does not support absolute georeferencing, so there is no RTK alternative.
- Choose a spot with good light, clear texture, and open space around it. Avoid corners, narrow passages, and harsh light on the cameras.
- Set the device on the tripod and let it settle. The PortalCam is marked from the tripod, not handheld.
- Tap the control point button, select the type, and enter the name. Names are case-sensitive and must match exactly across segments.
- Do not power off within 5 seconds of tapping Add. The device needs that window to write the point to the project file. Miss it and the point never reaches LCC Studio.
- Walk one full circle around the point before moving on. The 360 degree coverage measurably improves fusion stability. Skipping it leaves a weak anchor.
- Photograph the location with your phone so you can find the identical position in the next segment.
Shared points need only approximate consistency between segments: within 1.6 ft (0.5 m) horizontally, 20 degrees of orientation, and about 4 in (10 cm) in height.
Map Fusion Collection
- Up to 10 segments, 200 minutes combined. Those are the two published fusion caps. LCC Studio sets no per-segment time limit at all, so the combined total and the segment count are the only software numbers that bind.
- Plan each segment at 12 to 15 minutes. That is the Alpine working target. XGRIDS guidance is 30 minutes or less per capture in any mode, because longer captures tend to produce drift and layering artifacts, and the device stops recording at 60 minutes regardless.
- Your workstation binds before any of that. Reconstruction memory climbs at roughly 2 GB per minute of scan. A 64 GB machine reconstructs up to 30 minutes reliably and risks failing past 45; 128 GB reaches 60 and risks failing past 90. Plan segments against the machine that will process them.
- Overlap adjacent segments by about 50 ft (15 m). Avoid overlap under 33 ft (10 m). Plan 65 to 100 ft (20 to 30 m) to leave field margin.
- Never let one segment fall entirely inside another. With no unique coverage of its own, LCC Studio cannot resolve the spatial relationship between them.
- Put the overlap somewhere with rich texture. Avoid placing seams in low light, on stairs, in narrow corridors, or against reflective surfaces.
- Every segment must share named control points with at least one neighbor. A segment with no connection cannot be fused and must be rescanned.
- Finish the whole project within about 2 hours. Fused segments need consistent lighting. Capturing across a major lighting change degrades the seams.
- All segments must come from the same device type. Devices cannot be mixed in one fusion.
There is no pause function. A project that outlasts one battery is a multi-segment project. Stop the segment cleanly inside the overlap zone, mark the shared control points, wait out the fast green flash, swap the battery, and initialize a new segment. Full procedure in 7.2 and the collection strategy in 7.4.
Field Quality Check
Review each segment on the phone before you leave the area. LCC Scan analyzes model quality automatically after every scan and reports it as green for excellent, yellow for good, and red for poor. Red areas should be rescanned while you are still on site.
- Open the viewer immediately after each segment ends, before moving on.
- Check the quality indicator across the whole model, not just the areas you remember struggling with.
- Use the crop tool to cut the roof and inspect interior coverage, and the trajectory view to confirm your route matches what you intended to walk.
- The viewer renders raw SLAM output, not the finished reconstruction. Some imperfections improve after LCC Studio processing. The quality indicator is the reliable field signal, not visual appearance alone.
- Watch for real-time alerts during capture rather than after: initialization failure, capture anomalies, low battery or memory overflow, posture and speed violations. None are recoverable once the scan ends.
Connection
A connection drop does not stop the scan. The PortalCam records to its own internal storage and keeps capturing when LCC Scan disconnects. The phone is for monitoring and control. Walk back into range and reconnect; the session resumes with the scan still running.
If the phone cannot find the device, check for a WiFi network beginning with PCAM. If it does not appear, change Device Region in app settings, which resolves connection failures after the device has moved between regions. Confirm Location, Bluetooth, and Local Network permissions are granted, and keep the phone near the PortalCam while pairing.
Critical Warnings
- Data loss Fast green flash means saving. Do not power off or remove the battery. The project file writes immediately after you stop. Interrupting it corrupts the file and the data is not recoverable. Large scans flash for several minutes.
- Device damage Never begin a firmware update below the device floor: above 70 percent on the L2 Pro and K2, above 50 percent on the PortalCam. An update interrupted by a dead battery can corrupt the firmware and require a factory repair.
- No recovery Rescan red-rated areas before you leave the site. There is no processing workaround for poor source data.
- Warning Do not walk the PortalCam at L2 Pro pace. The ceiling is 1.6 ft/s (0.5 m/s) anywhere and 1.0 ft/s (0.3 m/s) indoors. Nothing on screen warns you at the time, and the damage shows up in the reconstruction.
- Warning Do not power off within 5 seconds of marking a control point. The point will not appear in the project, and any fusion depending on it fails.
- Warning Control point names are case-sensitive. A mismatch fails silently. No error is shown; the segment simply will not fuse.
- Warning POI markers are not control points. They are reference labels with no alignment function and cannot carry a fusion connection.
- Warning Complete segment overlap causes fusion failure. Every segment needs unique coverage beyond the shared zone.
- Warning The PortalCam has no pause function and no RTK. A scan runs start to stop, and control points are the only way to connect segments.
- Warning Never point the device straight up or straight down. Data captured beyond 60 degrees of tilt is distorted and cannot be corrected in processing.
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