AutodesskReC

CapPh
hoto
Gettin
ngStarte
edGuide

esolution texxtured 3D models

m
from
Autodessk ReCap Photo is an online servvice that creates high re
photos. Inthetechn
nologyworld
dthisprocesssofgeneratting3Dmod
delsfromph
hotographsissknownas
basedmodelingorphotogrammetryy.
imageb

Photogenerratesmeshm
models(.OBJJ,.RCM,.FBX
X,.IPM)thattcanbeposttprocessed
AutodesskReCapP
inappliccations such as Project Memento
M
(software for cleanup/fix and editing huge meshees)orused
downstrream in mod
deling appliccations such
h as Autodessk 3ds Max
, Maya orr Mudbox. Autodesk
ReCap Photoalso generatesa pointcloud format(.RC
CS)thatcanffurtherbeusedinaworrkflowwith
desks laser scans regisstration, visu
ualization an
nd clean up
p solution),
Autodessk ReCap Pro (Autod
AutoCAD
D,Revit,In
nventor,Naavisworks,Infraworksetc..
AutodesskReCapP
Photoisafu
ullcloudsolu
utionthatreq
quiresnodo
ownload,itcanberunfro
omanyOS,
MacorW
Windowsan
ndasitleverragestheclo
oudforpoweerfulcomputations,itcaanbeusedffromavery
modestcomputer.

Photo
oto3Dp
process

ShootPh
hotos,goto
recap.au
utodesk.com
tostartR
ReCap
Photo

Startanewprroject,name
meshquality,,
it,selectthem
heexportfile
etype,upload
th
hephotosandsubmitto
th
geeta3Dmode
el

Viewthemo
odelonline
anddownloadthe3D
modelstousethem
furtherinvaarious
workflows

Beingssuccessful:
Oneofthemostfundamentalfactorsforgetttingagood3
3Dmodelreconstruction
nfromphoto
osistotake
otosthathavveGOODoverlap.Pleaseerefertotheendoftheedocument
GOODphotosandENOUGHpho
ongoodshoo
otingstrateggies.
fortipso
1

TableofContents
1.

GETTINGSTARTED...........................................................................................................................3

2.BASICWORKFLOW:Fromphotostoa3Dmodel..........................................................................5
STEP1Createanewproject.............................................................................................................5
STEP2Projectsettings.......................................................................................................................5
STEP3Uploadphotos.......................................................................................................................6
STEP4Viewingtheresultsonline....................................................................................................8
3.FOLLOWUPWORKFLOW:Resubmit..........................................................................................12
B1.Resubmittogetdifferentmeshqualityordifferentexportformat..........................................12
B2.Resubmittoaddmoreimages...................................................................................................13
B2.Resubmittomanuallystitchunstitchedimages........................................................................13
4.

ADVANCEDFEATURESANDWORKFLOWS....................................................................................15
ADDINGSURVEYPOINTS...................................................................................................................16
INPUTKNOWNDISTANCES................................................................................................................18

5.

WHATNEXT?.................................................................................................................................21

6.

3DPRINTING..................................................................................................................................21

7.

MANAGINGMYPROJECTSandSTORAGE.....................................................................................22

8.

NOTESforexistingusersofReCapPhotoonA360.......................................................................23

9.

KNOWNISSUES,LIMITATIONSandBUGS.....................................................................................24

10.

ADDENDUMHowtotakephotosthataregoodforphotogrammetry...................................25

1. GETTING
G
STARTED
Tostart,gotohttp:///recap.autod
desk.com/pho
oto

TostartusingReCap
pPhoto,youwillfirstneeedanaccoun
ntonAutodeesk360httpss://360.autod
desk.com
A360isA
Autodesksccloudplatforrmthatgivesyouaccessstomanyclo
oudbasedservices,storrage,online
viewing as well as collaborative
c
a sharing. If you already have an A360 account, use the
exchange and
button.Ifdon
ntyethaveaanA360acco
ount,signup
pforafreeaaccountusinggthelinknexxttoit.
Signinb

onstructionswillbehosteedonA360b
butcanbeaccessedvia
Knowthatallyourprojects(photosandreco
bsite,usingttheAutodeskk360linkintheribbonaatthebottom
mofthepage
e)
thisweb

MPORTANT:
VERYIM
A
or ReC
Cap Photo, you
y must usse Google Chrome
C
or any other WebGL
W
enableed internet
To run A360
browserr. (we use WebGL
W
tech
h for preview
wing the 3D
D model in a browser and Interneet Explorer
currentlyydonotsupportWebGLL.Chromeisourrecomm
mendation.)



Oncesiggnedin,youw
willarriveon
nthelandinggpageofReC
CapPhoto.

TheLand
dingpageco
ontains:
Learninggandinformationalmate
erial(gettinggStartedguid
de,videosan
ndexamplep
projects)
Galleryo
ofprojectsyo
ouhavealreadydone,an
ndthelast3projectsexp
posed
PossibilittytostartaNewprojectt
Informattionaboutth
heusageofyyourstoragee(topright)
Linkstoforums
LinktoyyourA360acccountwhereeyoucanmaanageandsh
hareyourpro
ojectfiles

eReCapPhotoservice,w
werecommendyoutolookattheVid
deostoseeh
howtotake
Ifyouarrenewtothe
photosaandhowthissphototo3Dservicewo
orks.Yousho
ouldalsoreaadtheGettin
ngstartedgu
uide(which
obviousllyyouaressincethisisit!).Also,opensomeoftheexamplefilestoseeandexpeeriencehow
models//scenesgeneeratedfromp
photoslooklike.

So,letsstartmakingg3Dmodelsfromphotoss!

2.BASICWO
ORKFLOW
W:Fromph
hotostoa3Dmodel

STEP1Createan
newprojectt
Tostartanewprojecct,selectNeewProjectffromtheland
dingpage.

Changeimage

Thiswillopenanewdialogwherreyouwillbeepromptedtoinputallp
projectsettin
ngs.

STEP2Projectsetttings

You will start by giving a Project Name (this btw, will become the name of the project
folderonyourAutodesk360accountwheretheprojectsarestoredandcanbemanaged)
Nextyouselectthequalityforthe3Dmodelyouwishtocreate
Finally,yousetwhichexportformatsyouwishthe3Dmodelgeneratedfromthephotosto
bepublishedin

Fewdetailshere:

QUALITYOFMESH
Thereare3choicesformeshdensities/qualitiesforthegenerated3Dmodels:

Preview you can use this mode to get a quick result and see if your stitching (3D model
creation)willbesuccessful.InPreviewmode,youcanonlyviewthe3Dmodel,butyoucannot
export the mesh. (The export options are not available in this mode). This selection will give
youtheresultsinshortestamountoftime,butitwillalsobynomeansgiveyouthehighquality
resultsyouareaiming.Itismoreamodeinwhichyoucanseeifyoutookthephotoswellandif
theystitchwellatall,withouthavingtowaittoomuch.
High and Ultra These mesh densities give you a high quality mesh model that can be
exported in various formats. Given that they deliver high quality results, they will take some
timetogetprocessed,sometimesuptofewhours,dependingonthesizeofthescene.

Selectingwhichwilldependonthetimeyouarewillingtowaitforthe3Dmodeltobecalculatedand
thefinalqualityofthe3Dreconstructionyouwillneed.

EXPORTFILEFORMATS
ReCapPhotocanexportthe3Dmodelsthatitgeneratesfromphotos,in.OBJ,.FBX,.IPM.RCMand
.RCSformat.ThefirstfourareMESHfileformats,while.RCSisapointcloudfileformat,appropriateto
beopenedinReCapPro,Autodeskssolutionforvisualizing,cleaningandregisteringpointclouds
(scans).
The native file format in which ReCap Photo saves the 3D scene is .RCP. This is the Reality Capture
Projectfileanditisthatfilethatyouneedtoselectwhenwantingtoopen/viewyourmodelonline.Do
notconfuseitwithRCSwhichisthepointcloudformatthatcanbeopenedandusedinReCapPro.

Aftermakingallthechoicesabouttheprojectyouareabouttocreate,clickonNexttoopenthenew
pagewhereyoucanuploadthephotos.

STEP3Uploadphotos
Theservicenowguidesyoutothenextsteppromptingyoutouploadphotos.Youcanuploadphotos
fromyourDesktop(bybrowsingordrag&drop)orfromyourA360account,ifyouhavestoredimages
there).
TouploadfromtheDesktop,clickanywhereinthemainwindowthiswillopenFinder/Explorerand
youbrowsertothefolderwithyourphotos

Beawareifyouarreuploadinglotsofphottositmightttakeafewm
minutes,astthesystemissuploading
thephottostothecloud

beendone,cclicknext.
Afterallyourphotosshaveablueesignindicattingthattheuploadhasb

ucanchooseto:
Intheneextpageyou
Immediatelyy clicknext again,whichmeansthaatyouaressubmittingtthesceneasis,withall
t
theuploaded
dphotos
OR
Youcandele
Y
etefirstunw
wantedphoto
os(ifyounoticenowthaattheyareb
blurryorawrongphoto
e
enteredthe
set)
AND
D/OR
youcaninse
y
ertSurveypo
ointsorsetaaknownDisttanceyoumighthaveassadditionalinformation
f
forthereco
nstruction.TThesesettinggsareavailableunderth
headvanced
dtools(botttomlefton
t screen), that when activated, displays a new button in the ribbon,, called REGISTRATION.
the
ninthedocument
Moreaboutthislateron

nyoftheabo
oveandend
dingbyclickingNext,willsendyour sceneforco
omputation: Yourscene
Doingan
willbesubmitted.
hescenehassbeenfullyccalculated,youwillreceiveanemailnotificationwithalinkttoopenthe
Whenth
created 3D scene. Note
N
that the email will be sent to the email address with which you logged in /
registereedonA360.

Youwill alsonoticetthatonthe landingpagee,theprogreessofthecalculationwilllbedisplayeedoverthe

projecttthumbnailinpercentage:

Dependiingonthesiizeandnum
mberofuploaadedphotossaswellastthequalityyyouselected,,thismight
takeaw
while,sobesttisnottowaaitanddono
othingbutgeetyourselfbu
usywithsom
methingelseuntilyou
Receivetheemailno
otification.

STEP4Viewingttheresultso
online
Whenth
heprojectisfullyprocesssedat100%,,anemailwiillbesentto
oyouinformiingyouthattheproject
is ready for viewingg. In the emaail there will be a link that opens th
he scene in the 3D online viewer..
c
back to
oyourlandingpage, reffresh itand open the 3D
D scenefrom
mthere,by
(Alternattively, just come
clickingo
onthethum
mbnail.)The filethatwilllbeopened forviewing inthebrow
wseristhe.R
RCP(Reality
CaptureProject)file..

Importantnote:thewebbrowseerviewerdoeesnotdisplaaythesceneinthevisuallordetailqu
ualitythatit
uallyprocesssed.Thiswebviewerweeareusingisslimitedto whatitcan displayinm
meshquality
wasactu
and textture and jusst shows a proxy
p
preview
w. To view the actual, high quality results of yyour scene,
makesureyouexportthesceneasRCMorO
OBJandthen
nopeninPro
ojectMemento(seelinkkattheend



of doc), Maya, 3dsM
Max, Mudbo
ox or any oth
her modeling application. The follow
wing messagge pops up
peningtheW
Web3Dvieweer,informinggyouofthattlimitation:
whenop

VIEWING
G
Herehow
wthewebviewerwillsh
howyouthescene.

INITIALFFEEDBACK
Thefirstttimeyouop
penageneraatedscene,w
wewillaskyyouifyougo
otwhatyoueexpected.A littledialog
box:Areeyousatisfie
edwiththe result?will popupinth
helowerrigh
htcornerof thescreen. Pleasetake
time to click Yes or
o No. if you have mo
ore time and the answer was no, maybe you could also
dbackfield.
elaboratteinthefeed

FEEDBAC
CK
Also,ifyyouwishto givefeedbacckonthese
erviceatanypoint,whileeworkingon
nyourprojeect,youcan
usetheffeedbackfield.Itisthelo
oudspeakericonlocated
dinthevertiicalmenu/sid
debarontherightside
ofthesccreen)tosen
ndusfeedbackorlinktotheforum.

a check box with which you will allo

ow us, Autod
desk, to takee a look at your
y
scene.
Note thaat there is a
Notethaatwewillloo
okatyoursceneONLYifyoudochecckthatbox.

NAVIGA
ATION
Tonaviggatethe3Dsscene,youcaanuseeitherthenavigattiontoolsdissplayedinth
hesidebaro
ontheright,
orthem
mouse:
ORBIT:leftb
O
button
ZOOM:mou
Z
usewheelforzoom
PAN:middleemouse+ho
old

Thesideebarinthe vieweralso givesyouth

heoptionto
ochangetheedisplayoftthemeshan
ndviewthe
generateed3Dmodellasatextureedmodel(Deefaultsettingg)orasmeshonly.Tosw
witchbetweeenthetwo,
clickon themonitoriconinthe menuontheerightsideaandselectth
heglobeicon
nformeshonlydisplay.
exture display, click agaain on the globe
g
icon. Dont forge
et what we mentioned
To comee back to te
previoussly in the do
ocument, thaat the vieweer does NOTT display thee actual reso
olution of th
he mesh or
qualityo
oftexture,itisjustaproxxyviewer.

10

wherethephotosweretaaken,byclickkingthecam
meraiconin
Youcan alsodisplay thecamerapositionsw
mesubmenu
u.Tostopvieewingthecameras,clickonthecameeraiconagain.
thatsam

Withth
hestepsabo
oveyoucou
uldbe:
1. DONE
andtthatsit,ifyo
ouarehappyywiththescceneandhavveexportediitinthefilefformats
youneedfordow
wnstreamusse.

Orcontinueto:
2. RESUBMIT
Y
Youwouldre
esubmitinth
hefollowingusecases:
o YoudidPrevieworStandard
dmodetocheckifallisgoodandyou
uwantnowtthe
highestpossiblequalityandexportedfilees
o YouareOKwitheverything,butforgotto
ochecksomeoftheexportformatstthatyou
need
dlater
o Youwanttoadd
dmoreimageesthatyouh
havetakenadditionally,ttoimprovethe
reco
onstruction
o Thereconstructiionfailedtotakeinaccountsomeofyourphotossandyouwaantto
man
nuallyaddthem.
o Youhavesurveyypointsoraknowndistancethatyou
ugotlaterassinformation
nand
youwanttoaddthatinfotothescene

Letustaakealookatthosescenarios

11

3.FOLLOWUPWORK
KFLOW:R
Resubmit

B1.Ressubmittogetdifferenttmeshqualityordiffe
erentexporrtformat

Ifyousu
ubmittedyou
urprojectiniitiallyinPrevviewmeshq
qualityinord
dertosavetiimeandhavvealookat
howwelllyoutookth
hephotosan
ndifyoursceenewillstitcch,youwillp
probablywan
nttothenreesubmitthe
sceneinahigherressolution,HighorUltra.(SSamegoesfo
or,ifyousub
bmittedinHighbutnowwantUltra
quality)
hat,youcan eitheropen
nthe linkfro
omtheemailthatwasssenttoyou oropentheeprojectby
Todoth
clickingo
onitfromth
heprojectG
Gallery.Them
momentyou
udothat,thewebVieweropens,an
ndthere,in
theloweerleftcornerrthereisaRESUBMITPR
ROJECTbutto
on.

oudothat,asettingsdiaalogappearss,similartottheoneyou sawwhenyyouinitially startedthe

Onceyo
project,butthisonehasfewmo
oreoptions:

12



This time, you are given the option to decide whether, when you reprocess the scene, you wish to
overwritetheexistingsceneorcreateanewscene.
Youcanalsoreviewprojectbeforesubmitting(whichwillbediscussedlater)

If you decide that the new reconstruction should be a new file and you dont want to override the
existingreconstructionyoumade,selectnewversion,selectthemeshqualityyouwishtomakenow
andtheexportfileformats,andclicknext.Thiswillrestartthecomputationonthecloudandyouwill
againreceiveanemailaboutthenewlymadereconstruction,onceitisready.
Note that, Ultra setting and more export types can mean few hours or calculation, so plan on doing
someotherworkwhilethatisbeingprocessed.

B2.Resubmittoaddmoreimages
Thisisasecondsituationforwhichyoumightwanttoresubmitaproject.Ifyounoticethatyouhave
lotsofgapsinyourreconstruction,orseethatyoudidntgetthelevelofdetailyouexpectedincertain
areas,itmaybethatyouhavenottakenenoughphotos.Ifyoudotakeadditionalphotos(theseare
oftendetailedcloseupsofapartoftheobjectwherelotofdetailisrequired,orreshootingfroman
anglewherethereconstructiondidntdosowell)youhavetwostrategiestofollow:
youcanstartawholenewprojectandrerunBasescenariowithallimages
youcanusetheADDIMAGESbuttonontheleftlowersideoftheviewerandaddmoreimages.
Note:pleasenotethatthecurrentsystemdoescareabouttheorderoftheimages(theirnaming).So,
beforeyouuploadmoreimages,trytonamethemsuchthattheywillfitontherightpositioninthe
sequenceoftheexistingphotos.

B2.Resubmittomanuallystitchunstitchedimages

Whenthereareissueswithyourphotos,afterthesceneisreconstructedforthefirsttime,youmight
seethatyouhaveafewunstitchedphotos,displayedinthesidebar(usuallyyouneedtoscrolldown
toseethemtheywillbelistedunder:Notstitchedimages).Unstitchedphotosarephotosthatthe
servicecouldnttakeintoaccountforthemodelgeneration,becausetheyhavelittlesimilaritywiththe
rest of the photos (for example, the contrast between two photos is too high, or the overlap is too
smalletc.).Addingthosephotosmightincreasethequalityofthegenerated3Dmodel,butitrequiresa
manualstitchingprocess.

Youwillbeallowedtomanuallystitchthoseimages,bydefiningmanuallymatchingpointsbetweenan
unstitchedphotoandstitchedphotosothatthesystemtakestheunstitchedphotoinaccount.

Notethatyoumustadd4manualpointsin4differentimagestohaveasuccessfulmanualstitch.

To start a manual stitch, from the left side bar, scroll down to see unstitched images, pick one and
selectSTITCHonthetoprightofthescreen

13

IIntheneww
window,thephotothatyyouselectedtobestitchedwillbedisplayedonttheleftside
o
on the scree
en. On the right side, you
y will be offered a ch
hoice of mu
ultiple, alread
dy stitched
p
photostopicckfrom.You
ushouldpickkanimageth
hathasmanyysimilarpointswiththeunstitched
o
one.Andyou
uhavetodoiton4differentimages,,defining4d
differentpoints.

EExpandthelittleiconontheleftcorn
neroftherigghtscreento
oseethepho
otostochoossefrom.

YYoushouldn
nowstartideentifyingmatchingpointtsbetweenthetwophottosthatare commonin
o
order to help the system understand where th
he unstitche
ed photo fitss. Defining 4
4 matching
p
pointsintotaalisusuallyggoodpractice.
W
When
you click
c
on a po
oint you wish to set as common be
etween the two
t
photos, the cursor
t
turns
into a magnifying glass that helps
h
more precisely
p
deffine the poin
nt. You can change the
on factor witth your mou
use wheel. Start finding a point on the left clickk. It will be
magnificatio
markedasPoint1.Thentrytofindthesamepoiintontheph
hotoontherrightside.Th
hatwillalso
p
You should see
be marked as Point 1. Continue until you do this with 4 matching points.
s
somethingli
nyouaredone.
kethiswhen

14

O
On the bottom left of the screen you will also have a disp
play of all matching poin
nts and the
ccorrespondin
ngselection..Toviewallpointsyou haveidentiffied,hovero
overthefirstticon.Then
yyoucanclickkonanyofth
heotherpointstoseeth
hecorrespondingmatchin
ngpoints.

W
Whendone,clickonthenextandyouwillbeaggainresubmiittingthesceeneforrecalculation.

4
4. AD
DVANCED
DFEATUREESANDW
WORKFLOW
WS
ReCaap Photo haas advanced features and those are optional to the straightforward phototo3D
p
proccess. You can
n see the ad
dditional advvanced toolss by clicking on advanced tool buttton on the
botttom left of the sidebar in
i the initial settings scrreen or in th
he viewer, when
w
a scene has been
proccessed.

TThiswillinvo
oketheRegisstrationtabtthatwillapp
pearintherib
bbononthetopofthesccreen.

TTheregistrattiontabwillofferwaysto
oaddeither:
SURVEYPOINTStodefinetheco
orrectcoord
dinatesoftheeobject
DISTANC
CEknowndistancesoto
osetthecorrectscaleofanobject

henyoustarrttheprojecctforthefirssttimeand priortosubmittingthe
Registrationcanbedonewh
3 reconstru
uction, OR, if you gott that inforrmation late
er, you can reopen a
phottos for a 3D
reco
onstructedsccene fromth
heemailor fromthe prrojectgalleryy and Resubmit,thistim
me checking
the Review prroject settin
ngs option that will give
g
you acccess to the
e advanced tool after
onstruction.
reco

15

ADDING
GSURVEYP
POINTS

Survveypointsarecollectedo
onsiteusingTotalStatio
onsorlaserscanners.Th
heyarehard
d3Dpoints
used
dinthestitch
hingprocessstomakeitm
morerobust,,andtoscale
eorlocateyour3Dmodeel.Toadda
survveypoint,selectRegistrattion.
oasplitwind
dowastheon
neshownbe
elow:
Thewindowwillchangeinto

he left window you will have a cho

oice to select one photo
o and on thee right side, you select
In th
anottherphototh
hatisdiffereentthantheoneontheleft,buthasssomecommonpoints.

Youshouldthanselectapointonthelefftphoto(lick,amagnifierrglasswillzo
oomintotheephotoand
clickkapointofw
whichyouhavesurveyccoordinates, anddothe sameontherightphoto,tryingto
findthesamepo
oint)

16

With
h this, you have
h
helped the system to identify a point in space
s
and now you can go on the
botttomleftofth
hescreen,seeethedefine
edpointandcanfillintheeX,YadZco
oordinates

Nextandresu
ubmitthesccene.
Afterthis,clickN

NOTTE:
Wheenyoustart theprocess ofdefiningtthepoints,aandclickon thephoto,yyourmouse pointerwill
turnintoamagn
nifierglass.YYouwillgetaamessageab
boutthemou
usecontrol,pleaseaccep
pt.
detailapointtonthephottoforwhichyouhaveco
oordinates.
Themagnifyinggglasswillhelplocateind
hemousewh
heel.Eachtim
meyouusetthemagnifieerglass,the
You canchangethezoombyyscrollingth
used.
lastssetzoomfacctorwillbeu

17



Notee: ReCap Ph
hoto currenttly has a lim
mitation of 6
6 decimal places
p
when it comes to
o inputting
coorrdinates. Inp
putting coorrdinates with more than 6 decimaal places might result in
n incorrect
distaances.

INPUTK
KNOWNDISSTANCES

Phottogrammetryy does not have

h
a sense of scale. When
W
we crreate a 3D model
m
from photos the
actualsizeoftheereconstruccted3Dobjecctisunknow
wn.Ifyoukno
owthedistaancebetweenpointson
usscalethem
modeltoitsactualsize.
yourroriginalobjectyoucansetadistanccetoyourmodelandthu

points,thisccanalsobed
donepriorto
osubmittinggyourphotosfor3Dreco
onstruction
Like thesurveyp
headvanced
doptionsand
dtheRegistrrationtab
oraffterwards,byyselectingth

ncedistance,,afteruploaadingthepho
otos(oritsaaresubmit,
Tosttarttheproccessforsettiingareferen
afterrselectingR
Reviewprojeectsettings) selecttheadvancedtoo
olsinthesid
debarandtthen,inthe
blueeribbon,clickkonRegistraation.

UIwindowap
ppears.Hereeyoupickon
neimageinttheleftpaneethatshowsthepartof
ThesamesplitU
whichyouknowthereferencedistan
nce,andthenselectano
otherimage intheright
the objectforw
nwhichyouhaveadistancevalue.
paneewhereyoucanalsoseeethesamereeferencepoiintsbetween

n
to do is identify a
a pair of thee same poin
nts in both images
i
and then set a
Whaat you will need
referencedistancebetweenthem.
StarttbyclickingintheleftpaanetocreateePoint1.Inthesamepaane,clickagaaintocreatePoint2.

18

wmovetoth
herightside andintherrightpaneclickthespot thatmatcheesthePoint 1fromthe
Now
leftp
photoandcllicktocreateeaPoint1.
VERYYIMPORTAN
NT:beforeclickingintheerightphoto,youmustaactivatepoin
nt1,sothatthesystem
undeerstandsthatyouarecreeatingamatchingpointttoPoint1.Repeatforpo
oint2:Selecttoactivate
Poin
nt2inthelefftphoto,and
dtheclickon
nthesamepointontherrightphoto,tocreatePo
oint2there.

DotthesameforrPoint2.ClicckfirstintheeleftpaneonPoint2toaactivateitan
ndthenclickkinheright
paneeonthesam
mepoint.

upwithpoin
nt1and2inboththelefttandtherightpane.
Youshouldendu

OnceeyouhavessuccessfullyccreatedPoin
nt1andPoin
nt2inbothiimages,yougotothedistanceicon
onthebottomrightofthescreen.(make
esureyoud
didntclickth
haticonpriorbeforetheabovewas
donee)

19



Onlyynowshould
dyouclicko
ontherefereencedistancetool,locattedinthelow
werrightco
ornerofthe
screen.Whenop
pened,clickonthetapemeasureico
onandthenclickonceon
ntheiconw
withthefirst
wophotoson
nPoint1.ThiiswillsetPoint1.
quesstionmark,aandtheninaanyofthetw

Now
wselectthessecondiconw
withthequeestionmarkaandonceselected,clicko
onPoint2.

oumadethattcorrectly,yyourtwoicon
nsontherightofthetap
pemeasuresshouldreadPoint1and
Ifyo
Poin
nt2.Afterthiis,simplytyp
petheknownlengthbetw
weenthosetwopoints.

Whaatyoushould
dendupwithisabluelin
nethatconn
nectspoint1andpoint2inbothofth
hepanes.

(Nottethatinthe
ecurrentreleeasewedon
notletyoudefinetheunitsforthediistance.)

nthecurrenttreleaseofR
ReCapPhoto
o.
Theabovecoverrsjustabouteverythingyyoucandoin

20

5
5. WHATNEXT?

Ifyo
oumadegoo
odphotosan
ndasuccessfful3Dreconstruction,yo
ouprobably endedupw
withnice3D
mesh models. Even
E
though they are high quality meshes
m
and the texture
es are of beest possible
htfindthattthemodelsh
haveerrors,holesorspikkes.
quality,youmigh
ou will need
d to use a mesh
m
editingg software which
w
can be
b any mesh
h modeling
To ffix those, yo
applicationthatyoumightbealreadyusing.
wever, note that
t
when you
y ask for Ultra
U
high quality, you will
w get such
h dense messhes that it
How
migh
htbeverydifficulttoop
penthemin manymodeelingapplicattionsastheyywerenotd
designedto
dealwithmeshe
esofsuchdensityandsizze.

w started a
a technologyy preview off software specifically
s
d
designed
to
To aaddress this problem, we
hand
dlesuchhuggemeshesandhelpyou
uidentifypotentialproblems,fixtheem,cleanup
pthescene
and preparetheemodelsfor publishingo
ordigitalfabrication(3D printingaseexample).Th
hesoftware
owerful,fastandrealfun
ntouse!
ispo
The firsttechprreviewofthaatsoftware iscalledProjectMemen
ntoandyou canfindtheelinktothe
wnload and all relevantt information on Autod
desk Labs. follow
f
this link to acceess Project
dow
Mem
mentoslabssite:
http
p://labs.auto
odesk.com/u
utilities/meemento

6
6. 3DPRIINTING

Whilewestillcannottclaimtobeeabletofixaallissuesinameshwithttheearlylabspreviewoff
beenhavingsomegreatresults3Dprintingthem
modelsthatw
wefixedin
Mementto,wehaveb
Mementto.
Hereanexampleofaastatueofw
whichphotossweretaken
n,ameshmo
odelwascreaatedusingAutodesk
hoto,themeeshwasfixed
dandpreparredinMemeentoanddireectlyprintedwithOBJET3D
RecapPh
printer.

RIP

MOD

FAB

R
ReCapPhoto
o

Proje
ectMementto

OB
BJET3Dprintt

21

7
7. MANA
AGINGMY
YPROJECTTSandSTO
ORAGE

mentionedattthebeginningofthisdo
ocument,to
oaccessReCaapPhoto,yo
ouwillneed anaccount
Asm
on A
Autodesks cloud
c
platforrm: Autodessk 360. Signing up for the account is free and your A360
acco
ountwillcom
mewithfree5GBspace.

Caplandingp
pageorgoto
o360.autodeesk.comto
YoucangodirecctlythereusingthelinkfrromtheReC
signup.

3 (located on the bottom of the

Oncee signed up,, when you click on thee link Accesss Autodesk 360
ReCaapPhotopagge),youwillseeapagetthatlookssomethinglikeethis.

Mightlo
ookconfusingg,butdontw
worry:gotoplefttotheDocumentsTabandoncceyouclicko
onit,all
theprojeectsyoucreaateinReCap
pwillbethere.(ifyouhavventdoneanysceneonReCapPhottoasyet,
theDocu
umentsfoldeerwillbeem
mpty).
Itishereethatyoucanmanageyo
ourReCapPh
hotoprojectts,deleteorsharethemw
withothers((right
clickonaanyofthefo
oldersandsaayshare).Ob
bviously,youcanusethissspaceforsttoringorshaaring
othertyp
peofdata.

22

Knowthatcurrentlythereisnow
waytoincreaasethestoraagespacesowhenyouareclosetoreachthe
hiswillalwayysbedisplayeedontheLandingpageo
ofyourReCaapPhotosite
e),youwillneeedto
limit(th
downloaadyourproje
ectsanddeleetethemfromyourA360
0account.Donotforgettoemptyyo
ourtrash
binthatislocatedintheleftpaneofyourDo
ocumentstab
bonA360.

orming
hichemailad
ddressyouu
usedtosignu
uponAutodesk360,asttheemailinfo
Pleasereememberwh
youthattasceneisre
eadywiththecalculation
nandcanbeeseenonline
e,willbesentttothatemaail
address..

8
8. NOTESSforexistiingusersofReCapPhotoonA360

Thoseoffyou,whow
werethefirstttestersofReCapPhototrialonA360
0,knowthatttheoldwayyof
accessingtheserviceewillstillwo
ork.Webelieevehowever,,thatthisfro
ontendwillaallowforclearand
urfolders,deeletingorshaaringprojectsetc.willstiillneed
morepleeasurableexxperience.Managingyou
tobedo
oneonA360.

23

9. KNOWNISSUES,LIMITATIONSandBUGS

Limitations
BROWSER:YouwillneedtouseGoogleChromeasthebrowser.WeareusingaWebGLbased
3Dmodelviewertopreview3DmodelsinA360andthusInternetExplorerarenotsupported.
Trynottoexceed200photosperreconstruction.
Fisheyelensesarenotsupported(GoProlenses,8mmSLR,oranyotherfisheyelens).Weonly
currentlysupportrectilinearlenses
5GBstoragelimitoftheA360storage
3DWebViewerAspreviouslymentioned,notethattheviewerwecurrentlyusetopreviewthe
generated3Dscenehaslimitationsinthesizeofthemeshandthequalityofthetexturethatit
candisplay,andthuswhatyouwillbeviewingonscreenisonlyaproxyandwillnotdojustice
totheactualqualityofthemeshandtexture,whenprocessedinHighorUltraresolution.You
can see the high quality results once you import the exported meshes in Memento, Maya,
3DsMax,Mudboxetc.
ReCap Photo currently has a limitation of 6 decimal digits when it comes to inputting
coordinates. Inputting coordinates with more than 6 decimal places might result in incorrect
distances.

24

10.ADDENDUMHowtotakephotosthataregoodfor
photogrammetry

Whatmakesphotosgoodforphotogrammetry?
The photogrammetry process looks at series of photos and reconstructs the camera location,
orientation,lenstypeandlensdistortion.Itdoesthatbycomparingandmatchingpixels/pointsacross
photosintheEntireSceneandmatch/triangulateonvisualfeatures.Thismeansthatyoushouldfollow
thefollowingguidelines:

ENVIRONMENT(Lightingconditions)
Youshouldavoidanyenvironmentinwhichthelightcreatesstrongcontrastshadowsovertheobject
youshoot.Shadowsareenemytothereconstructionprocess.
Ifyoushootininterior
o Theobjectmustbeplacedinaroomwithdiffuselightthatdoesnotproducecontrastlight
orshadow.
o Donotusetheflash.
Ifyoushootoutside
o Avoidshootingatmiddayunderstrongsun.Besttimesareearlyinthemorningorlaterin
theafternoon
EQUIPEMENT
You can get good results with any camera. However, plastic lenses only go so far in terms of
sharpness.Ifyouareseriousaboutthisprocessagoodlensmakesadifference.
Try to shoot the photos with a fixed lens. Fixed lens have no focal change which is good for the
photogrammetryprocess.A50mmlensisgood.
Wheneverpossible,shootwithatripodandifpossibleaclicker.Youneedthisbecauseinorderto
make the entire photo sharp, you will have to set a wide depth of field. This means that a very
smallamountoflightwillbecominginthecamerasoyouwillneedtosetyourshutterspeedlong.
Thismakesevenatiniestofshakeofthecameraresultblurryphotos.Thetripodandaclickerwill
assuresharpphotos.

SHOOTINGSTRATEGIESSCENESETUP
Makesurethatheobjectyoushootisalwaysinthemiddleofthephotoandfillsmostoftheframe
Userichbackground.Ifyoushootasingleobject,avoidplacingthemonamonochromaticsurface.
If the surface is monochromatic, add many other smaller objects around the target object. The
algorithmsneedasmanydifferentreferencesinthespacetodobettercalculation.
Avoidgreenphotographersscreens(ChromaKey).Photogrammetrydoesntdowellwiththem.
Dont moveobjects around during the shoot and dont have people walk around. Movements in
thephotoscreateuncertaintyinthereconstruction.
Shootallaroundtheobjecttocovereachaspectofitwithmultipleoverlappingphotos.Shooting
each515degreesonthesameheightoftheobjectisagoodpractice.Ifyouwanttohaveagood
level of detail, you should shoot at 23 different heights of the object, ending up with 70100
photosforasmalltomediumobjectand180200photosforabuilding.

25

Takeeenoughpho
otos.Itisnotenoughtohavemanyp
photos,butttheymustallsohaveago
oodoverlap
betw
weenthem. If theoverlaap is too sm
mallornoneexistent,the software mightnottakean entire
clustter of photo
os in account for the recconstruction
n, and the reeconstruction will be infferior to its
poteential.

Wheen shooting Interiors, fo

ollow the dirrections on the
t diagram below. Insttead of standing in the
midd
dleofthero
oomandrotaatingaround
dyourownaaxistoshoottthephotoss,movealon
ngthewalls
tosh
hootintheo
otherdirectio
on

Wheenshooting Exteriors,aggain,avoidsttandinginonespotand shootingpanoramalikeespherical

phottosbutmove
ealongtheffaadewithtthecamera.

Dont have people walking cross the scene while the photos are taken. Anything
A
thaat makes a
movvementintheescenemakkesithardforthealgorith
hmtocompaarepixelsbeetweenthep
photos

PHOTOQ
QUALITY
The photosmustbeinfocussSHARPand
dCRISPthrou
ughoutthee
entirescene (notjustth
heobjectof
ompare pixeels from thee entire pho
oto. If you happen
h
to have few blu
urry photos
desire) as we co
ongtheentireset,removvethembefo
oremakingth
hereconstru
uction.
amo

26

Avoid blurriness in any part of the photos (ah, that beloved Depth of field effect). That will not
workverywellforphotogrammetry.Donotassumethatalliswelliftheobjectyoutrytoshootis
sharp.Wecalculatetheentirescene,notjustthetargetobjectandanyblurrinesswillconfusethe
algorithm.
Donotchangethezoomifyoudonthaveafixedlens.Rathermovetowardsandawayfromthe
object.
Donotchangeexposureduringthesameacquisition.
SetISOto100,itworksonprettymuchanyreconstruction.OrsimplykeeptheISOlow.Highiso
bringsnoisewhichshouldbeavoided.
The ReCapPhotoservice currentlyacceptsJPEG format only. However, if you shootinRAW,you
willhavetheabilitytodosomechangesintheRAWimagesthatWILLaffectthequalityofthe3D
model.YoucanalwaysreexportJPEGsfromtheRawimagesusingphotoeditingsowftaresuchas
AdobePhotoshoporBridge.

KNOWNTECHNOLOGICALLIMITATIONSOFPHOTOGRAMMETRY

Thephotogrammetryprocessdoesnotworkonshiny,transparentorhighlyglossyobjects.Thisisdue
to the fact that these reflect the surrounding which makes the same point on one photo to be in a
differentcoloronanotherphoto,makingitimpossibleforthealgorithmstocalculatethescene.

EnjoyusingReCapPhotoandpleasesendanyquestions,suggestionsandwishesontheReCapPhoto
forumhttp://feedback.autodesk.com/cloudservices/products/cloudservices_recap

Want to know more about Project Memento, Autodesks fun, fast, powerful solution for fixing huge
meshes?Gohere:http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/memento

Foranyquestionsorsuggestionsforimprovementofthetutorial,pleasecontact
recap.photo.support@autodesk.comorTatjana.dzambazova@autodesk.com

27