The Poles step is the first pass through a project. You go to each detected pole, adjust or accept its geometry, check its class and length, give it the right name, connect it to the next pole(s), and mark it Done. When you are done with the poles you want to model, move on to components.
This article covers where the poles come from, how to move around them, naming, and duplicates. The next two articles cover the pole's geometry and connecting poles.
Going to a detected pole from the pole strip. qPole centres the 3D view on the pole and clips away everything around it.
Where detected poles come from
Looq detects poles automatically when a capture is processed. When you open a project, qPole adds the poles detected in every capture on the site, including captures that aren't turned on, and frames the 2D map around them. New captures only ever add poles.
A detected pole starts as New and is named DetectedPole plus a number. On the map and in the strip, it's shortened to # and the number.
When you arrive at a pole, qPole fills in anything empty: the detected geometry, the project's default species and owner, and the ANSI class and length. Everything it fills in is a starting point that you can check.
Detected poles can't be deleted. If one isn't part of your job, Ignore it.
If detection missed a pole, press Add pole in the pole strip and click the pole in the 3D point cloud. qPole reads the points around the space that you clicked and opens the geometry editor.
Pole statuses
Status |
What it means |
On the 2D map |
|---|---|---|
New |
Detected, not reviewed yet |
Blue |
Accepted |
Reviewed and in the project (you pressed Done) |
Green |
Flagged |
Needs recollecting |
Red |
Ignored |
Left out of the project, for example a duplicate. Never deleted |
Grey (hidden by default) |
Imported poles |
Points from your KML or CSV pole list. Not poles: they only lend their names |
Amber |
The pole strip
The strip under the 3D view at the bottom of the screen lists every pole in the project.
The pole strip: progress bar, Add pole, search, the status filter, the review count, duplicates, the timer, and a chip for each pole.
The thin progress bar has one segment per pole (the oval shape), coloured by status. Click a segment to go to that pole.
Search poles… finds a pole by name or number. Press Enter to go to the first match.
The filter to the right of the search bar chooses which statuses to show. It starts at All but ignored. The filter applies to the 2D map and the 3D view as well as the strip.
The status filter. At least one status always stays on.
Reviewed shows how many poles are accepted or flagged, out of all poles that aren't ignored.
Duplicates shows how many poles were detected twice. Click it to go to the next one.
The timer shows how long you've spent on this pole and your average.
The chevron on the far left hides or shows the strip. qPole remembers your choice in this browser.
Go to a pole
Click a pole in the strip, on the 2D map or in the 3D view, or press Start with the first new pole in the left panel. qPole centres the 3D view on the pole, looking along the line towards its nearest neighbour; clips away the points around it so only the pole and its wires show; switches to the pole's capture if it isn't turned on; fills in the pole's panel on the left: its name, status, Pole geometry, and Connect spans.
A new pole: the pole's name and status at the top, Pole geometry with what's still needed, and the pole centred in 3D.
The first time you go to a pole, qPole also turns on pole-centric navigation: the view orbits the pole and keeps the camera level. Press O to turn it on or off. In pole-centric view, A and D turn around the pole, W and S move the cross-section, and Q levels the camera.
The pole-centric card: cut depth and thickness of the cross-section through the pole.
Name a pole
The pole's name is its pole number in the export. Press the pencil next to the name (Rename or link an imported pole), then type the name and press Enter (or X if you don't want to change the name); or open Nearby imported poles and pick one from your pole list. The list shows imported poles within 150 ft, nearest first, with their distance. Picking one copies its name and attributes (owner, species, class, length) onto the detected pole. The pole keeps its measured location.
Nearby imported poles from the KML, nearest first, with their distance from this pole.
Linking P12345, 1.0 ft away. Press the tick or Enter to save.
To read the pole tag, press V to open the image viewer, then double-click the pole in the 3D view at the height of the tag. The viewer shows the photos of that spot.
Reading the pole tag in the photos.
You can also link from the map: click an amber imported pole, then choose the detected pole it belongs to under Link to a nearby pole.
With several poles selected, Link imported poles to pairs each selected pole with its nearest unused imported pole within 150 ft, in one go.
Duplicates where captures overlap
Where two captures overlap, the same pole is often detected by both. qPole never merges them on its own; it shows them as a duplicate so you choose which copy to work on.
The pole's chip in the strip shows a warning triangle (Possible duplicate: seen by 2 captures).
On the 2D map, a violet ring marks the duplicates, with a count next to the selected one.
A duplicated pole on the 2D map: the violet ring and ×2.
The pole's panel shows Duplicate · seen by 2 captures, with one row per copy: its capture, date, status, and any work already on it. qPole marks the copy it suggests keeping: the one with the most work on it, then the newest capture.
A duplicate pole. View loads that copy's capture in 3D; Keep this one keeps it and sets the others to Ignored.
Press View on each copy to load its capture and compare them.
Press Keep this one on the copy you want. The other copies are set to Ignored: hidden, not deleted.
Keeping the suggested copy, then Done. The other copy is set to Ignored.
If they really are two different poles standing close together, press Not duplicates. qPole keeps both and stops flagging them.
Ignore, flag, and move on
The footer at the bottom of the panel decides what happens to the pole.
The decision footer before Done: Previous, Ignore and Next, with Flag pole for recollect at the top right.
Done adds the pole to the project (Accepted). It's greyed out until the pole's geometry is accepted and its required info is complete. Hover over it to see what's missing.
Next goes to the pole marked as the next one in the run (To), or the next new pole. After Done, the main button becomes Next pole.
Previous goes back through the poles you've visited.
Ignore leaves the pole out of the project and moves to the next one.
The flag (Flag pole for recollect) marks the pole Flagged, for example when it's hidden behind trees, and moves on.
Undo done takes an accepted pole back to New.
Work on several poles at once
Shift-click in the strip to select a run of poles, or Cmd-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (Windows) to add or remove one pole. On the 2D map, hold Shift and drag a box to select every pole inside it. Done, Ignore and the flag then apply to every selected pole, for example Done · 5 poles. You cannot adjust the geometry of several poles at once.
Five poles selected with Shift-click. The panel shows the ANSI result across the selection, and Done applies to all five once their geometry is accepted.