See your photos in 3D on new website

July 9, 2009
See your photos in 3D on new website

Dr David McKinnon

(PhysOrg.com) -- You could turn your holiday snaps or favourite figurines into three-dimensional images with new free software developed by a researcher from Queensland University of Technology and the Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID), based at QUT.

Eight years of research is coming to fruition for Dr David McKinnon who has designed software that could revolutionise the way three-dimensional images are created.

And the best part is anyone can log onto Dr McKinnon's website and use the software prototype, called 3Dsee, for free.

"In the film and computer games industry, you would spend a really long time making 3D models to create footage like what 3Dsee could create in just a few minutes," Dr McKinnon said.

"Instead of 3D animators working from a set of photos to model an object or using a cumbersome laser scanner, this software can create 3D models directly from a series of photos, which is a great time and money saver.

"The full version of this software could create 3D action shots, like the famous Matrix bullet scene."

Dr McKinnon said the software automatically locates and tracks common points between the images allowing a determination of where the cameras were when the photos were taken. This information is then used to create a 3D model from the images using to massively accelerate the computations.

"The full version of this software would be great for realistic learning simulators and training software, where you want everything to look like the real thing," he said.

"This technology could also be great for museums wishing to turn their display objects into 3D images that can be viewed online.

"We are even looking into making 3D models of cows to save farmers spending thousands of dollars transporting their cattle vast distances to auction sites, allowing for an eBay style auction website for cattle.

"Films, animations and computer games could also benefit, since 3D film making is taking over from the traditional 2D method of filmmaking.

"Another application is allowing people to create of their own face to use on their avatar in computer games or 3D social networking sites such as Second Life or Sony's Home."

The free prototype software can be found on the http://3Dsee.net website.

To create a 3D image, the requires between five and 15 consecutive, overlapping photos of an object. The must overlap each other by a minimum of 80 to 90 per cent.


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Provided by Queensland University of Technology, Dr David McKinnon

4.1 /5 (14 votes)  

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Yes
Jul 09, 2009

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Great.
Use with giftodxf converter to get 3D models.
Can be loaded in autocad/3dstudio and blender.
mckddd
Jul 09, 2009

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This gives you very accurate 3D .obj models given the right photos
Alexa
Jul 09, 2009

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This SW is based on this research...
http://aig.cs.man...tion.php]http://aig.cs.man...tion.php[/url]
Have look at these videos...
http://aig.cs.man...tion.php]http://aig.cs.man...tion.php[/url]
earls
Jul 09, 2009

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If I take pictures all the way around the object (360) is it going to give me a 360 model?
mckddd
Jul 09, 2009

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The software actually reconstructs the shape of an object based upon principals similar to binocular vision, the same way our eyes determine depth
Yes
Jul 09, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
If I take pictures all the way around the object (360) is it going to give me a 360 model?

Yes but you need not go in a circle but in a square. Four straight lines around the object should do it.
Yes
Jul 10, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
And then develop a software that interprets the pictures of course
Rank 4.1 /5 (14 votes)
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