CRITIRDocs
Getting Started

Quickstart

Walk through a full thermal façade survey in CRITIR — shooting, creating a project, generating an ortho, overlaying drawings, analysing and recording, and exporting the report.

This guide walks you through the full workflow: shooting → creating a project → generating an orthomosaic → overlaying blueprints → analysis and measurement → report export.

Detailed settings for each step are covered in the individual guide pages. The goal here is to get through the whole workflow once, end to end.


1. Shoot

Analysis quality in CRITIR depends heavily on the captured data. Keep the following points in mind before heading to the site.

1-1. Shooting essentials

  • 70–80% overlap — capture images so that adjacent shots overlap sufficiently. This directly affects the accuracy of orthomosaic generation (SfM)
  • Face the wall head-on — avoid extreme oblique angles; shoot as perpendicular to the wall surface as possible
  • Cover everything in a grid pattern — sweep the surface top to bottom and side to side without gaps
  • Do not use zoom — changing the field of view can reduce SfM accuracy and cause alignment problems with the infrared images
  • Use one folder per wall surface — keeping each wall you want as an orthomosaic in its own folder makes later processing much easier

Overlap is measured on the visible images. Visible images are usually captured with a wider field of view than infrared images, so sufficient overlap is achieved naturally.

Renaming files can break the pairing between infrared and visible images. Keep the captured data under the camera's default file names.

1-2. Tips for generating clean orthomosaics

In addition to the shots needed for a normal inspection, capture wide-area shots of the target while gradually moving away from it where possible. Adding wide-area images improves SfM reconstruction accuracy, making it much more likely that you get a clean orthomosaic with few visible seams.

From left: shots for high-accuracy ortho generation, inspection shots, target wall surface
From left: shots for high-accuracy ortho generation - inspection shots - target wall surface

See Shooting tips for details


2. Create a project

When you launch CRITIR, the project list screen appears.

2-1. Create a new project

Click "+ New Project" in the top right.

New project creation screen
  • Project name — enter an easily recognizable name, such as the building or site name
  • Description — optional; useful for notes

2-2. Configure sets and image folders

A set is a unit for grouping images. Orthomosaics are generated per set, so the usual approach is to create one set per building face (north face, south face, and so on).

  1. Enter a set name (e.g. North face)
  2. Use "+ Add Image Folder" to select the folder containing the captured images (you can also drag & drop folders)

For infrared and visible images to be paired, both images must be in the same folder. Point CRITIR at the captured data with its folder structure unchanged.

If the building has multiple faces, click "+ Add Set" to add as many sets as you need.

2-3. Finish creating the project

Click "Create". The images are scanned automatically and the main screen opens. The paired images appear in the image list on the left side of the screen.

Image scanning and pairing run automatically. If infrared and visible images are not matched correctly, check Supported cameras.

See Project management for details


3. Generate an orthomosaic

An orthomosaic is a single, front-facing image composited from multiple shots. Generating one not only gives you an overview of the entire wall surface — it also links the positions of the individual images, so measurement results are shared across images and onto the orthomosaic.

Visible and infrared orthomosaics of a wall
Visible orthoInfrared ortho
⇆

3-1. Launch the wizard

Launch the wizard in either of the following ways.

  • Toolbar Process ▾ → Image Linking, Ortho, and 3D Generation (choose Orthomosaic in the left rail of the wizard)
  • The Generate Orthomosaic button in the minimap at the bottom of the right panel (shown while no orthomosaic exists)

3-2. Output settings

The default settings are recommended in most cases.

See Output settings for details

The target is the set currently open in the main window.

Image linking can take anywhere from a few minutes to several tens of minutes depending on the number of images and your PC's specs. You can keep using the app while it runs.

3-3. Select the target plane

Target plane selection

Candidate planes automatically detected from the image linking (SfM) results are displayed. Select the target wall surface. The candidate with the "Recommended" badge is usually the best choice.

If needed, fine-tune the orientation with the rotation buttons.

3-4. Scale setup (optional)

Scale settings

You can calibrate the real-world scale of the orthomosaic by marking two points with a known distance between them. This step can be skipped.

See Orthomosaic generation for details


4. Overlay a blueprint

Once the orthomosaic has been generated, you can load a blueprint and overlay it on the ortho. This is also used when creating deterioration maps for reports.

4-1. Load a blueprint

Go to Input → Add Blueprint File to load a blueprint (DXF / PDF / JPG, etc.) and align it with the orthomosaic. Click four points that mark the same locations, in order, on both the orthomosaic and the blueprint.

Blueprint alignment

See Loading and aligning a blueprint for details

Loading a blueprint is optional. If you have no blueprint, skip this step and move on to analysis.


5. Analyze and record

Analyze the images and record your findings using the tools below.

5-1. Switch between images

Click an image in the image list at the bottom of the screen, or use the ← → keys to switch images. Press SPACE to jump between the ortho viewer and the main viewer.

5-2. Switch display modes

Use the display mode button on the toolbar, or press 1–8 on the keyboard, to switch display modes.

Main window
KeyModePurpose
1InfraredCheck the temperature distribution
2Visible imageCheck the visual appearance
3Zoomed imageMagnified view of part of the visible image
4Side-by-side viewCompare infrared and visible images next to each other
5SwipeReveal infrared or visible with a draggable handle
6Picture-in-PictureOverlay a small infrared window on the visible image
7OverlayBlend the infrared image translucently over the visible image
8Compare modeCompare infrared-to-infrared or visible-to-visible across different images

5-3. Adjust the temperature display range

Use the temperature slider at the bottom of the screen to adjust contrast.

  • Drag the blue handle (low end) and red handle (high end)
  • Drag between the handles to slide the whole range
  • Double-click to cycle through percentile presets (95% / 98% / 100%)
  • Right-click → Lock to fix the temperature span

5-4. Measure anomalies

Select a measurement tool from the tool icon bar at the left edge of the window, or switch tools with the shortcut keys.

KeyToolOperationMeasured values
SSpotClick a single point on the imageTemperature at that point
LLineClick two pointsTemperature profile along the line, max / min / average temperature, distance
BBoxClick the start point → click the end pointMax, min, average, median, standard deviation, area
CCircleClick two points to set the bounding box (ellipse)Max, min, average, median, standard deviation, area
PPolylineClick multiple points → double-click or press Enter to finishTemperature profile along the polyline, max / min / average temperature, distance
GPolygonClick multiple points → double-click or press Enter to finishMax, min, average, median, standard deviation, area
DPen - LineDrag to draw freehandTemperature profile along the line, max / min / average temperature, distance
FPen - PolygonDrag to draw a freehand regionMax, min, average, median, standard deviation, area

Measurement results are listed in the Inspection Results panel on the right side of the screen. For each measurement you can set a type (delamination, crack, water leak, etc.) and a judgment (Normal, Needs Review, Needs Correction, etc.).

A warm band outlined with a measurement, with the inspection results

Measurements created on one image are automatically projected onto other images showing the same location, as well as onto the orthomosaic.

See Viewer basics, Thermal image analysis, and Measurement tools for details


6. Export a report

Once measurement and judgment are complete, export the inspection report.

Report creation screen

6-1. Open the report creation screen

Select Export menu → Create Report on the toolbar.

6-2. Choose a template

TemplateContents
StandardA formal survey report with cover page, overview, detail sheets, and summary tables
Photo ledger A / Photo ledger B / Visible photo ledgerInfrared and visible images organized by shooting location
Deterioration mapDeterioration locations mapped onto the orthomosaic or a blueprint
Deterioration Quantity Summary TableDeterioration quantities totaled by type

6-3. Check the preview and export

Check the result in the real-time preview in the right panel, and click "Export Report" when you are satisfied.

See Report creation and Export for details


Next steps

Once you have the basic workflow down, the following guides help you get more out of each feature.

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