3D photogrammetry guide
This is a basic step-by-step guide to photogrammetry. There are more configurations and options to alter your photos and data in the software, but for the purposes of simple modelling, you should do fine only knowing the following.
Before you start:
- Download Agisoft professional version beforehand - keep in mind DEMO mode does not allow saving or exporting, and that the FREE TRIAL only lasts 30 days.
- For those using iPhones with iOS11 and above, remember to configure your camera settings to save photos as JPG.
- For those of you who cannot open the software on a Mac, you may want to override the security settings to enable opening Metashape Pro on your laptop.
- For those using Windows, after you have installed the software, click the new "Metashape Pro" programme icon instead of the installer to open the software.
Taking photos:
Practice makes perfect. Input photos into Metashape Pro and quickly align the photos on low to check for quality and decide if you need to make another batch of photos.
More information on making the 3D model on Metashape Pro can be found here: https://agisoft.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/31000152092
Export your final results
The final step for you is to export your results. After you finished building the mesh and texture as shown in the video, go to the File menu and select the Export Model command. The pop-up window will ask you to name your file and select a file type. Please select Wavefront OBJ (.obj) as your file format. This should be the default option, so most likely you don’t need to change anything. Then there will be another pop-up window. Just leave the settings on default and click OK
Then, in the folder you saved your model in, you will find 3 new files, a .obj file, a .mtl file, and a .jpg file. Together they form your 3D model. The obj file defines the geometry of your object. The jpg file is an image that is the “skin” of the model, giving the model its colors. The mtl file defines how that “skin” should be applied to the geometry.