Project Photofly allows anyone with a common point and shoot digital camera to create near accurate 3D models from photographs using the power of cloud computing. Creating 3D models is almost as simple as snapping the photos.
Here are some of the 3D Photo Scenes I have created, and a brief background on each of them. The first image is a photo of the actual object while the following image is a screenshot of the 3D model in the Project Photofly’s desktop Photo Scene Editor.
Pueblo Kiva Ruin located in the Cedar Mesa area near four corners Utah. Photofly can export an automatically created video to your computer or YouTube. Here is the YouTube video of the Kiva model: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeHLEWae35c
The 1000+ year old kiva might not even be noticed while standing next to it if it were not in a 3D context of seeing it as a whole with depth and virtually walking around, and above it. The export of this kiva and many other ancient pueblo ruins as a LAS point cloud in AutoCAD are very valuable as the mesh is nice not only for visualization but the geometry in a point cloud for analysis, documentation, and study is the most valuable result.
Brock Sisson - Fossil Jawbone YouTube video http://youtu.be/Jg86-17Y970 Brock Sisson is a fossil reconstruction expert restoring fossils and building some of the world's most famous dinosaur and fossil exhibits in the world. Brock lives in Utah a real hotbed of fossil finds so I visited him and captured some of his fossils in 3D.
This model is the jaw is from a Tarbosaurus bataar, which is a tyrannosaurid.
The Juggler Petroglyph YouTube video http://youtu.be/cVz9eqS5MC8
This is a petroglyph I hiked into a few weeks ago. This ancient artwork could be 800-1500 years old. Seeing 2D photos of this hidden gem is nice, but seeing it in 3D blew people's minds without them having to make the hot desert hike and potentially disturb the location and rare art. Within Photofly a person can look around the scene anywhere they want not just the single perspective of a 2d photo is shot at. Here is another petroglyph named Cowboy’s Secret http://youtu.be/YMgrwhs8D0k.
Independence Hall Stairs - YouTube video http://youtu.be/q9E4FiOm5fM and a video showing the mode and export to AutoCAD http://youtu.be/9wUg9c3s69w.
This model was created from photos at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. When I was there the main entrances were always packed with people so I was unable to shoot the photos. I then saw the side door steps of Independence Hall and thought that entrance or exit from the building may have more interesting stories than the main entrance to the historic building.
Ant Hill - YouTube video http://youtu.be/q9E4FiOm5fM
This model speaks for itself. The randomness of all the small pebbles is great for Photofly to recognize unique calibration points. This is one of those reality capture projects you can capture in 3D without the laborious measurements to manually create a 3D model, and of course being bitten by the angry ants.
Pueblo ruin named "Doll House"is in pristine condition complete with corn cobs remaining from 1280AD. I visited this location with archeologist last month. Here is the video animation as a work in progress http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgkR_gCEjFk. Some government archeologist will be using Photofly for monitoring remote locations for preserving digital records of the locations and objects as well as the human and environmental degradation over time by comparing point clouds from different points in time.
I have literally hundreds of favorites in shared videos on YouTube from people experimenting with Photofly including my favorite from yesterday a human head anatomy model http://youtu.be/1eo1vmYwzMo which we have now added to our Photofly gallery page. You can also search “Photofly” on YouTube to see hundreds of videos created by people testing Photofly.
Imagine trying to model many objects around you in any 3D modeling tool accurately in the same time it takes you to generate a 3D model with your camera and Project Photofly.
Some Photofly Tips and Tricks Link
The most important advice is to have fun and just try capturing new things around you in 3D.
Cheers,
Shaan