MatterPak: the 3D file bundle for your building

What is a MatterPak?

In short: a lightweight set of 3D files, taken from a scan you have already paid for.

When we scan a building with the Matterport Pro3 camera, the assembled model first serves the 3D tour. The MatterPak draws from it a set of files you use outside the tour: a colourized point cloud in XYZ format, a 3D mesh in OBJ format with its JPG textures, a reflected ceiling plan image and a high-resolution floor plan image. The plans come as one JPG per level, and as a single PDF gathering all levels. The cloud and the mesh are at a scale of 1 unit = 1 metre.

A point cloud is a set of measurements, each with its position and its colour. A mesh links those measurements into surfaces: that is what gives solid walls, floors and ceilings rather than a haze of points. A reflected ceiling plan shows the ceiling as if it were mirrored on the floor: you read light fixtures, grilles and bulkheads, seen from below but drawn in the same orientation as the floor plan.

MatterPak or E57 file: which one to choose?

Both come from the same scan. The E57 point cloud is the dense reference cloud: the one you ask for to draw the existing conditions in modelling software. The MatterPak is lighter, because it holds an XYZ cloud without the per-position panoramas, plus a mesh. It suits visualizing the building, checking dimensions, preparing a base plan or feeding a 3D presentation. If your team is unsure, the 30-minute call is there to choose based on your software and your use. The seven files produced from the same scan are compared on the 3D files and deliverables page.

Compatible software

The point is that you do not have to buy anything new to use these files: they are standard formats that the usual design and visualization tools already read.

The MatterPak opens in 3ds Max, ReCap, Revit and AutoCAD. The usual workflow: import the XYZ cloud into ReCap to convert it to the project format, then reference it in Revit or AutoCAD; open the OBJ mesh in 3ds Max to view or present it; place the plan images under your drawings as a base plan. To receive a model rather than draw it yourself, we can also produce a Revit model or DWG drawings from the same scan.

Accuracy, turnaround and language

Three questions come up before every order, so here are the short answers.

Matterport states a deviation of under 1% from reality. It is not the level of a land survey or of sealed drawings. The MatterPak is available as soon as the model is processed, without another scan. The files contain no labels, so there is no language to sort out.

A MatterPak in Montreal and across Quebec

We scan in Montreal, in the Montérégie, in the Outaouais and across Quebec; beyond about 100 km from Montreal, a travel fee of $0.73/km applies, shared between the sites of a single trip. A single point of contact, Marc Durand Bréard, follows you from the quote to the delivery of the files, in French, with scans possible in the evening and on Saturday mornings.

• Matterport Service Partner, equipped with the Pro3 camera.
• More than 1,000 tours published on Google Maps since 2015.
• A downloadable sample in the pricing section, to check the contents before you decide.

The limits, stated plainly

The MatterPak is neither a full point cloud nor an engineering drawing. It does not replace the E57 file for drawing the existing conditions, and its stated deviation of under 1% is not enough for fabrication tolerances, a land survey or sealed drawings. For the full set of deliverables, see 3D building scanning and our architecture and construction sector. See our prices or write to us for a 30-minute call.