06/02/2017 TheHaskinsSociety3DPhotogrammetrywithPhotoScan

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Making3DModelswithPhotogrammetry
GettingStartedwithAgisoftPhotoScan

AustinMason
CarletonCollege

DownloadaPDFofthistutorialhere

Contents

Introduction
Software
TheresanAppforThat
AgisoftPhotoScan
ThePhotoScanWorkflow
ImportingPhotos
AligningPhotos
EditingtheSparseCloud
BuildingDenseCloud
BuildingMesh
AdditionalOptionsandNextSteps

Introduction

Photogrammetryisthetechniqueoftakingmultipleoverlappingphotographsandderivingmeasurementsfromthemtocreate
3Dmodelsofobjectsorscenes.Thebasicprincipleisquitesimilartothewaymanycamerasthesedaysallowyoutocreatea
panoramabystitchingtogetheroverlappingphotographsintoa2Dmosaic.Photogrammetrytakestheconceptonestep
furtherbyusingthepositionofthecameraasitmovesthrough3DspacetoestimateX,Y andZ
coordinatesforeachpixelof
theoriginalimageforthatisalsoknownasstructurefrommotionorSfM.

Photogrammetrycanbeusedtomakehighlyaccurateandrealisticallyphototexturedmodelsofbuildings,archaeologicalsites,
landscapes(iftheimagesaretakenfromtheair)andobjects.Closerangephotogrammetryofhistoricalobjectsoffersthe
possibilityofbothdigitallypreservingartifactsbeforetheymaybelostordamaged,andofallowingawholesuiteofdigital
measurements,manipulationsandotheranalysestobeperformedthatallowinsightsintothematerialthatmightnotbevisible
tothenakedeye.Thetechniqueisgaininginpopularityandusage,sinceitproducesveryimpressiveresultscomparableto
highendlaserscanningtechnologiesforamerefractionofthecost.Plus,itseasytogetstarted!

Thisdocumentwillbrieflydiscussthe123DCatchappthatisbyfarthesimplestwaytomakea3Dmodelfromphotos,
followedbyamuchmoredetailedtutorialofthemajorstepsinvolvedinmakingamodelusingAgisoftPhotoScanPro.

Software

TheresanAppforThat

Autodesks123DCatchisafreeappformobileplatformsthatletsyouquicklycreatescansfromimagesandautomagically
processthemintomodels.Thesoftwareisverysimpletouseandproducesdecent,ifmessyresultsoutofthebox,whichcan
beeditedandrefinedusingtheirrelateddesktopapplication.

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Autodeskhasproducedaveryhandy123DCatchquickstartguideandanumberofvideotutorials,whichIrecommend
exploringtolearnthesoftware.Theyalsocoversometipsthatareusefulforphotogrammetryingeneral.

Oryoucanjustdownloadthe123DCatchappanddiverightinitisveryintuitive.

AgisoftPhotoScan

Thistutorialwillmostlydetailtheworkflowforprocessingphotosinto3DmodelsusingAgisoftsPhotoScanProsoftware.
PhotoScanisawidelyusedapplicationthathasmadethecomplexalgorithmsnecessaryforprocessingphotosinto3Dmodels
accessiblethroughafairlysimpletousegraphicalinterface.Itisnotassimpleas123DCatch,butoffersmuchgreatercontrol
ofeachstageoftheprocess,andwillletusproducemuchmoreaccurateresults.

Youwillneedtodownloadthesoftwareinordertofollowalongwiththistutorial.

GotoAgisoft.com/downloads/installertodownloadPhotoScan.Ademomodeisavailableforfreethatwillletyoutry
everythingexceptexportingandsavingyourmodel.

Ifyouwanttoexploremore,theyoffera30dayfreetrialofthefullStandardorfullProfessionaleditions.

Longterm,youwillneedtopurchasealicensetousethesoftwarebeyond30days.Educationallicensesareavailablefora
veryreasonable$59forthestandardedition,andamoreexpensive(butstillordersofmagnitudecheaperthanalaser

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scanner!)$549forthefullProfessionalEdition.

ThePhotoScanWorkflow

PhotoScanmakestheorderofoperationseasytofollowviaitsWorkflowmenu.Basicoperationscanbeaccomplishedby
steppingthroughthemenuandperformingeachofthefollowingtasksinturn.

AddPhotos(orAddFoldercontainingallphotosfromyourshoot)
thisfirststeploadsallofyourrawimagesintothesoftwaresinterface.
AlignPhotos
thefirstprocessingstepcomparesthepixelsinyourphotostofindmatchesandestimatecameralocationsand
3Dgeometryfromthem
BuildDenseCloud
oncesatisfiedwiththealignment,thesparsepointcloud(amerefractionofthetotaldata)isprocessedintoa
densecloudinwhicheachmatchablepixelwillgetitsownX,Y,Zlocationin3Dspace
BuildMesh
thisstepconnectseachsetofthreeadjacentpointsintoatriangularface,whichcombineseamlesslyto
produceacontinuousmeshoverthesurfaceofyourmodel
BuildTexture
Inthefinalstep,theoriginalimagesarecombinedintoatexturemapandwrappedaroundthemesh,resulting
inaphotorealisticmodelofyouroriginalobject.

Inordertoimproveresultstherearevariousoptionsandothertoolsinthesoftwarebeyondthesebasicsteps,butthistutorial
willfocusonthebasicworkflow.

ImportingPhotos

Steponeisgettingourdata(ourimages)intoPhotoScan.

1.Ifyoudonthaveyourownimages,downloadasamplesetofimageshere
2.GotoWorkflow>AddFolderandnavigatetothedirectorycontainingyourimages
3.SelectCreatecamerafromeachfileandclickOK

(Atthispoint,youwouldprobablywanttomaskoutthebackground
behindyourobjectsinordertolettheprogramfocusonthedatayou
areinterestedin.Thiscanbetediousandtimeconsumingifdone
manually,buttherearewaystoautomatethemasking
processsignificantly.Wewillskipthisstepfornow.)

AligningPhotos

Itistimetotellthesoftwaretocomparethephotosandfigureouthowtheyoverlapin3Dspace.Thisisthemagicingredient
ofthephotogrammetryprocess,withoutwhichnothingelsewouldwork.

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1.GotoWorkflow>AlignPhotos
2.AcceptthedefaultvaluesandhitOK
a.Ifyouhadcreatedmasksinstep1youwouldwantto
gointotheadvancedoptionsmenuandenablethe
ConstrainFeaturesbyMaskcheckbox.

Thisstepwilltakeawhile,soyoumightwanttogodosomething
elsewhileyouwait.

Theresultofthisprocessshouldbeasparsepointcloudofyour
objectthatisspotty,butrecognizable,surroundedbybluesquares
representingeachcamerapositionin3Dspace.Wehavea3D
representationofourobject!Butnowwehavetorefineit.

Checkthebluesquarestomakesuretheyalllookgood.Ifthereareanygaps,someimagesmaynothavealigned.You
canselectthephotosindividuallyanditspositionwillbehighlightedinpink.Rightclickinganimagewillgiveyouseveral
optionsforeitherdisablingcameras(iftheyaretooblurryorcontainbaddata),resettingalignment,oraligningphotosthatgot
missedthefirsttimearound.

EditingtheSparseCloud

Onceyouaresatisfiedwiththealignmentofallenabledcameras,itisagoodtimetogetridofanyclearlybaddatapoints.
Forediting,itcanhelptoremovethecamerastoseetheobjectbetter.

1.GotoView>Show/HideItems
2.ClickonShowCamerastoturnthebluesquareoff
a.Youcandothesameforthetrackballandtheregionboundingbox

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Theeditingtoolscanbefoundnexttothemousepointerimage,andwillletyouselectpointstobedeleted.

1.Usetheindentedcircleshapedlassotooltoselectpointsand
highlightthempink.
2.Pressyourdeletekeytoremovethesepoints

Whenyouaresatisfied,itistimetoextractalltheusabledatafromeachphotoandbuildthedensecloud.

BuildingDenseCloud

Thisstepwillusethealignedphotostogenerateapointcloudthatshouldbedenseenoughthatitwilllooklikeasolidmodel
fromadistantzoom.

1.GotoWorkflow>Builddensecloud.
2.YoucansettheQualityvalueasdesired.
a.UsuallyyouwouldwantMediumorHighbutforthisdemo,chooseLowtospeedtheprocessing.

Toviewtheresults,youneedtochangethedisplaystyleusingthetopribbon.

1.Clicktheoptionwith9coloreddotstoseetheshadedpointcloud.
a.Theresultshouldlookprettygood!
2.YoucanalsoclickthebuttonnexttoittoDisplaydensecloudclasses,ashadedrepresentationwithcolorvalues
removed.

Shadedpointcloud Colorstrippedpointcloud

Youcandosomemoredatacleaningatthisstagetoremoveanybaddatafromyourmodel,andthiswouldbeagoodtimeto
removethetableorsurfaceyourobjectwassittingon.

BuildingMesh

Thiscloudlooksgreatfromadistance,butifyouzoominyoullnoticethatitisreallyacloudofpoints,asthenamesuggests.
Weneedtoconnectthemintofacestomakeacontinuoussurfacemesh.

1.GotoWorkflow>BuildMesh

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2.MakesuretheSourceDataisDenseCloud
3.Facecountcanbesetashighasdesired.
decimatethemesh
a.IngeneralitisbesttosetitHigh,sinceitiseasyto latertosaveamorelightweightversion
ofahighqualityoriginal.Conversely,itisnotpossibletoaddmoredetailtoaverygeneralizedmodel.
b.Iwouldrecommendsettingittonolessthan500,000ingeneral,butforthisdemoyoucanusealowersetting
forspeed.

ExplorethedifferentdisplayoptionsbyclickingthepyramidstoviewaShade,Solid,orWireframeviewoftheresultingmesh.

Iftheresultslookblotchy,rememberthatthisisjustcolorshadedfromthepointRGBvalues.Tomakeaphotorealisticmodel,we
needtowrapatexturemaparoundthemesh.

BuildingTexture

Almostthere!

1.GotoWorkflow>BuildTexture
2.Youcantrydifferentblendingmodesettings,butMosaicorAverageshouldgivethebestresults,dependingonthe
qualityofyourphotos.

Theprocessingshouldbefairlyquickforthisstep.

1.Clickthetexturedpyramiddisplayoptionwhichshouldnolongerbegrayedout

Congratulations,youhaveaphotorealistic3Dmodel!

AdditionalOptionsandNextSteps

Thereareanumberofadditionalstepsyoucantaketoimproveyourmodel.

ScalingtheModel

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Photogrammetrydoesnotproducemodelswithaknownscalesoyoumustaddonemanually.Theeasiestwayistoincludean
objectwithknownscaleinthephotos,e.g.aruler,yardstick,orthegraphpaperintheexamplephotoset.Aslongasyoucan
seethesamepointsfromatleastthreephotosyoucanusethesetwosetascale,bycreatingmarkersandthenadjustingthe
distancebetweenthem.

Producinga720degreemodel

Withanobjectsittingonasurface,youcannotgetcompletecoverageofthebottomside.Thesolutionistofliptheobject
overandtakephotosoftheothersideaswell.

Thesephotoscanbesplitintochunks,whichcanbeprocessedseparately,thenalignedandmergedintoacomplete720
degreemodel,ifyouwill.ThisisacommonenoughoperationthatAlignChunksandMergeChunksareincludedinthe
Workflowmenu.

ExportingtheModel

Yourfinishedmodelcanbeexportedinvariousformatsfordisplayorimportintoother3Danalysissuites,animationsoftware
orgameengines.Commonformatsare

3DPDF:aninteractiveformatthatiswidelyaccessible,asthemodelcanbeviewed,manipulatedandevenmeasured
usingtheubiquitousandfreeAdobeReader
Wavefront(.obj)andCollada(.dae)arethemostportable3Dmeshformats.Ifyouareworkingwithother
animationplatformslikeBlenderorgameengineslikeUnity3D,theseformatscanbeeasilyaddedasassetstoyour
project.
Pointcloud(LAS,.txt,etc.)theseformatsareprobablythemostfutureproofforlongtermstorage,andalsooffer
manyoptionsforsecondaryanalysisinothertoolslikeGeomagicandMeshlab.

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