barkingdigger Wrote:Bear in mind the current crop of "techies" pushing the development of digital drawing, TST/GPS capture, GIS databases etc are all skilled veterans of the Pencil Era. They already know what to record, how many dots to use, how to check accuracy etc because they've had to do the mental gymnastics in the old days. I've run across folk who assume the "magic box" can do all the thinking, so three points round the edge can obviously create a great drawing of a complex pit! The new tech could replace pencils (and paper CXT forms) with lots of added benefits, but only with extensive training so noobs can learn the whys and wherefores of recording that us "old lags" take as second-nature.
Nail on head!
There is increasingly several moves towards digitising of rectified photography of some sort, in 2 and/or 3D. However, there are pitfalls. For example, to digitise, say a stone, the person doing the clicking has to decide where the edges are....just like if they were drawing it. If that person wasn't on the site/ never saw the thing with their eyes and/or has a dodgy image to work from mistakes happen.
I agree Barking, to measure on site and/or draw by clicking (digitising) the operator still has to go through the same interpretation that a digger does with pencil, hand tape and eye. The tools may change but the skills of interpretation are the same and need to be passed on from old lags to newbies.