3D modeling and accuracy assessment- a case study of photosynth.

In recent years, many commercial 3D modeling software combined with cloud computing have been released. People can use these free software for getting point clouds data and building 3D models quickly with digital camera. The most commonly used software available on the Internet for 3D model reconstruction was Photosynth (Microsoft) and Project Photofly (Autodesk). The advantages of these two software include convenience to use and ease to operate. Users just need to take digital photos and upload them onto the website on the Internet. Point clouds data could then be generated for users to download point clouds from the website. After point clouds data editing, 3D models would be easily reconstructed. However, there may be insufficient point clouds generated for 3D model reconstruction caused by shooting angle, number of photos taken, and other factors. This study compares the positioning accuracy of point clouds by adjusting factors such as shooting rotation, photo resolution, and brightness of image.