Working in collaboration with The Emerging Media Lab and Metanauts ( a dynamic small Vancouver VR start-up), we have been working to create VR field trips that entail photo realistic interactive environments built using photogrammetry techniques, and showcased with the HTC Vive running in Unity. In order to achieve this we have been using hand held cameras and drones to collect photo imagery of real world sites, processing this imagery through photogrammetry software into 3D digital models, and then importing these models into Unity in order to add elements and build out interactivity. We also set out to establish best practices in capturing and preparing photogrammetry for use with Unity. This project was funded by the UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund and BCcampus Open Education initiative.
The manual is written by Andrew Yao-An Lee of Metanaut. Metanaut is an indie VR studio based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Some examples in this manual are from the first field trip location made for the project, which is at Prospect Point of Stanley Park, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The manual provides best practices and complete workflow from capturing to creating a reasonably good photogrammetry model of an environment (versus an object) for viewing in real-time in Unity. Our methodology is for presenting the photogrammetry mesh that is captured and not about remodeling a scene based on photogrammetry meshes. The manual is intended to be a guide based on our experiences, and is therefore not completely comprehensive nor does it try to define the best way to approach creating photogrammetry models. It does, however, present one workflow for achieving good photogrammetry results. The manual contains some insight to specific features or tools in Reality Capture and workarounds to some quirks, as well as tips in optimizing photogrammetry meshes. It is assumed that you have some knowledge in using each of the software mentioned (ex. Reality Capture, 3DsMax, Lightroom), and will not explain the basic tools and workflows of the program that the respective documentations will cover.
The link to the guide can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UyUrTLm6t_5IHcvABwkONOL4VwfsBHHjzIQSE_bq-Vw/edit#
This manual is provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
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