A few examples of photogrammetry work in SketchUp using the PhotoScan plugin from tgi3D. This is a 3D model made from a set of photos, all shot from ground level, of a sculpture made of stainless steel, Volare by Arnold Haukeland at Kristiansand airport. It is an example of a type of object that could not easily be created using any of the automatic tools around, like PhotoFly. First problem is that the shiny steel surface would cause lots of problems for auto-creation (AC). Same problem would occur with transparent objects. Second problem is the shape, with lots of concave surfaces, which would also cause lots of problems for AC. It would require at least 100 photos, including many shots from birds eye view, to show enough details to generate a decent model. Next problem is that there are lots of overlapping parts, which also is a big problem for ACs. Next problem is that ACs will have a hard time defining sharp edges, as everything gets a bit blobby. If you still managed to generate a point-cloud mesh it would be huge, and need a lot of cleanup to be usable. The model was made from 14 photos (could probably have used less) in SketchUp, using the PhotoScan plugin from tgi3D. I did not use any of the automatic functions of PhotoScan, but modeled manually on top of the photos, using the brilliant view locking tool in PhotoScan. You just draw a curve on one photo, viewlock it, move to the next photo and drag the curve points so that it fits the same curve, and the curve is located correctly in 3D space :) With several curves/lines ready you just fill in the hole with a mesh and smooth it. You could also use surface fitting, but then you may face some of the problems related to shiny surfaces. You could also grab the materials from the photos, but in this case I just applied a generic steel material. 3D model on top of undistorted/calibrated photo 3D model overlaid on photo - slightly different viewing angles 3D model showing only the contours - sharp edges 3D model showing that it is a low-poly model with sharp edges 3D model on top of photo showing how well defined and lowpoly 3D objects can be when modelled “by hand”. What would happen with the hand rails, windows etc with AC? A complete mess? Click images to view larger versions You can probably tell that I’m not a fan of automatic “scanner- type” 3D model generators that creates huge point clouds? ;) As you can see on the head to the right PhotoScan can also generate huge meshes that follows the surface closely. The difference is that you can combine it with well defined edges, and you can add lots of 3D details where needed and keep larger flat areas very simple. Unless you’re going to make a mold for casting replicas of the head to the right you’re usually just as well served by using the lowpoly photo textured model on the right side, rather than the fully detailed version as shown in the red patch around the eye. Although I love PhotoScan, a lot of modelling from photos can be done in SketchUp using only the built-in PhotoMatch tool. Another advantage of manual modelling is that it doesn’t matter that much if there’s a tree in front of a house, some clutter inside a room, or other unwanted objects in the photos - you simply skip them when modelling, and edit them out from the photo textures. Bjørn K Nilssen