Photogrammetry is a fancy term to describe taking 2D images taken from a camera (even a camera phone as I have used) and turning them into a 3D object. How is this possible? The complicated algorithm used in photgrammetry software find points in each 2D image and is able to map it out in 3D space by comparing it to the other images taken. There are many programs that are able to do this but I am currently using a free one: 123D Catch made by Autodesk. 123D Catch comes as a desktop program or an app on your phone. Here’s a link to download it: 123D Catch. It is by far the easiest photgrammetry program to begin with, and it produces pretty good 3D objects. Here is an example I made from an old wooden model car used for decoration.
After taking about 30 pictures (from my Galaxy phone) I transferred them to my laptop and created a new project on 123D Catch. I then proceeded to upload the images:
After uploading, the software does the rest to create the 3D object.
This is my final product:
As you can see, it is not perfect. However, for only taking 10 minutes to capture the pictures and upload, it’s not too bad. In my next article I will give some tips and tricks to help make better models. I also will be using photogrammetry and my drone to make 3D landscapes.