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PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 - TheNew Release!

The Premier Software for Measuringand Modeling the Real-World is evenbetter! A new version of PhotoModeler Pro will soon be released. Thesepages describe what you can expect from the new release. If you area Pro 3.1b customer you can also download the beta version and testit yourself! If you are not a current PhotoModeler Pro customer, youcan purchase 3.1b now and you will get a free Pro 4.0 upgrade whenit is officially released later this summer.

If you are a PhotoModeler Pro 3.1b customer please read thePhotoModeler Pro 4.0 Beta Page.

Pro 4.0 Goalsfaster, easier and more accurateto improve the tools for the modeling of complex objectsto handle more single photo projectsto add and improve featuresto improve overall ease-of-useto improve efficiency (decrease time to complete projects)to upgrade to a more modern User Interface

What's NewPhotoModeler Pro 4.0 contains many new features andenhancements.

Study the new features one by one in the list below *, orTake the Pro 4.0 tour and use the navigation guides at thebottom of each page *.

* Please note that the following pages describe PhotoModeler Pro 4.0only and do assume the reader has some familiarity with howPhotoModeler Pro 3.1 works. If you wish to have more background onPhotoModeler Pro 3.1 please visit some of the links on the top left.

New Modeling Features

NURBS CurvesEdgesNew Surfacing Functions

New Surface ModesDouble-Sided Surfacing

New Advanced Features

ConstraintsImproved Single Photo Capabilities

Block project exampleRoad scene example

ProjectionsMore Accurate Sub-Pixel TargetsCamera Field-Calibration

New Referencing and Control Tools

Referencing ImprovementsAuto-DriveDestination Photo Drop Down ListAuto-Advance Photo / Next and PreviousDestination ButtonsSingle Point Mark and ReferenceAuto-Tile Mode

Auto-Drive for Control Points

Improved Image Control and Handling

Photo RotationResizeable and Dockable Project Photos DialogNew Image Formats and Image EngineReal-time Image EnhanceNew Zoom CapabilitiesTemporary Zoom Modes

Improved Data and Project Control

Object Property Dialogs3D Point Properties

Improved User Interface

Right Click MenusNew Toolbar Look & Dynamic ToolbarsConfigurable TablesUser Preferences

Other improvements....

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 Summary

Click here for Beta information!

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NURBS Curves

A new type of object called a Curve has been added. Curves aremarked and referenced across photographs like points, edges, andcylinders but like cylinders are computed outside of globaloptimization.

These curves are full high-quality NURBS (Non-Uniform RationalB-Splines). Do not be scared by the name- all high quality graphicsprograms use NURBS. NURBS give you great control over the shapeof a curve. The various points that guide the curve's shape can bedirectly manipulated to control its smoothness and curvature. NURBSoffer a way to truly represent curves while maintaining mathematicalexactness and accuracy.

The NURBS in PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 are full 3D curves not justcurves on a plane.

The new Curve feature improves the ability to model objects thatcontain curved edges. You mark a curve on photos to denote a 2d or3d curve on an object and then reference them together. Oncereferenced, an advanced (world-first!) algorithm is run to compute afull 3D NURBS curve that can be seen in the 3D Viewer, can besurfaced, measured, exported etc.

The Curve Tool can be used to create:Open Curves- needing only one marked 3D point to begin orend the curve withClosed Curves- smooth curves where start and end of curveare joined, excellent for circles, ellipses etc. (not in Beta 1)

Curves can go through existing 3D points too. In fact the curve can beinterpolated through solely predefined 3D points. You can also controlhow smooth the calculated 3D curve is.

1. Open 2 or more photos that have a curved area you want to mark.The car below has a curved area around the wheel that needs to bemodeled.

2. Select the Curve Tool by pressing the Curve button . Thecursor changes to indicate you are in Curve marking mode.

3. To mark an open curve, you must start or end at a regular 3Dpoint. Our project gives both a good start and end point so we useboth so the curve is attached to the rest of the model.

4. Click on the 3D point then place some curve points along thecurved area. The idea here is to minimize the number of curve pointsyou add and yet still have the NURBS drawn on the photo match theunderlying wheel-well edge. You can always add or remove pointslater. When you are finished with this photo's curve, click on the rightmouse button or use the ESC key.

5. Mark the wheel-well curved edge on the second photo too.

6. With the curves marked, you can now click the Reference button

.

7. Click anywhere on the Curve in the source photo. Move yourmouse over to the destination photo, and reference to the matchingcurve.

8. You now have a full NURBS Curve in your Project. Check yourresults in the 3D Viewer.

9. If you wish to add a curve point, go into Curve mode, move themouse to the area of the curve where you want the point added (noton top of an existing point), and click on the right-mouse button. Thisprovides a menu giving add and remove as options. Pick "add". Apoint will be added to the curve and then you can drag it around toget the desired shape. When satisfied with the location click the leftmouse button.

10. If you wish to remove a curve point, go into Curve mode, movethe mouse to point the cursor at the curve point (or marked point) youwish removed from the curve. Click on the right-mouse button andthis provides a menu giving add and remove as options. Pick"remove". The point will be removed and the curve redrawn with thepoint removed. Note, there are some restrictions as to which pointscan be removed when the curve is already referenced or has asurface attached.

11. If you wish to extend an existing curve, go into Curve mode, movethe mouse to point to the end of the curve to be extended and clickthe left mouse on it. You will get a menu asking whether you wish toextend the curve or start a new curve. Pick "extend" and you will beable to draw and add new points as you see fit. End the drawing withright click. Note, there are some restrictions as to what type ofextended you can do when the curve is already referenced or has asurface attached.


























Edges

A new type of object called an "Edge" has been added. Edges aresimilar to lines but their end points do not need to match acrossphotographs. Edges are marked, referenced and processed muchlike points. This makes Edges "first class objects" like Points are.

Edges are great when modeling a feature in an image where thereare no distinct end points shared with other photographs. Edges canbe used along with the new Constraints feature to increase the qualityand accuracy of your project.

Accident Reconstruction customers will be able to modelfeatures such as fog lines on a roadArchitects can use Edges to model structural features wherecorners or end points are hiddenOther customers can use Edges for any object where endpoints can't be matched across photos

House Example

1. Click the Edge button on the toolbar. Your mouse will displaythe Edge cursor. In the house image below, there is an area wherewe need to draw lines to but the corner is hidden behind the van. Thisis an ideal situation for the Edge feature.

2. Using the Edge tool, the area below can still be modeled eventhough it is partially hidden by the van. Mark the edge as far as youcan up until the van obstructs the view. The marked edge should bemarked as shown below in red. Marking edges just involves clickingtwice with the left mouse button at either end of the desired line.

3. Mark the same edge on a second photo where the whole edge isvisible.

4. Reference the edges. You can process the project or if the twophotos are already oriented you will be able to see the resultsimmediately in the 3D Viewer. You can see that the result shows thefull length of the edge, even though it could only be seen completelyin one of the photos.

5. You can continue to work with the edge, including referencing it toother photos to improve its accuracy/redundancy, doingmeasurements or adding surfaces.

6. Edges can be used very effectively with the new Contraints inPhotoModeler Pro 4.0. You can define edges to be parallel,perpendicular, to be at a certain known angle, to be on the x, y or zaxis, plus more.

Road Example

1. Click the Edge button on the toolbar. Your mouse will displaythe Edge cursor. In the road image below, the road lines do not havevisible start and end points. The Edge feature can be used to markthe edges of the road. Similarly you could model fog lines,non-dashed dividing lines etc.

2. Using the Edge tool, the road lines are marked.

3. Mark and reference the edges to a second photo. Or if there is onlyone photo, you can use the Edge tool along with the Constraintsfunction to do a single photo project. Click here for details.

4. You could then add surfaces to these edges and performphoto-texturing, ortho-photo, or surface draw for the skid marks.


























New Surface FunctionsSurfacing of objects and scenes has been improved with addedcapabilities. The aim is to increase the speed with which one cansurface objects and to be able to produce more realistic surfaced andphoto-textured results.

The new capabilities are listed below. Click on a section name formore details:

New Surface ModesDouble-Sided Surfacing


























New Surface Modes

In previous versions of PhotoModeler, clicking on 3 points to createan individual triangular surface was the only method to add surfacesto your model. PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 adds "4 Point Surfacing" and"Multi-Point Surfacing", and "Multi-Object Surfacing" (while keeping3-point surfacing).

The new surfacing modes allow you to:reduce the number of individual surface areas you need tocreate and work with,save time during surfacing, and while applying materials suchas photo-textures, and include Edges and Curves in the surface definition.

Example 1

1. Click the Surface button on the toolbar.

2. The Surface dialog will expand on the toolbar to show buttons for

the 3 surface modes: 3-Point, 4-Point, and Multi-Point.

3. In this example, the Multi-Point Surface Mode is used. We use theSurface tool to mark the 5 points shown in red below. You must selectthe points in order but it can be either clock-wise orcounter-clockwise.

4. To finish the multi-point surface you can either click on the firstpoint again or after the fifth point, right-click your mouse and choose"Close Surface" from the menu. A surface is created for the area youdefined.

5. You can then view the surface in the 3D Viewer, and assign it aphoto-texture as shown below.

Example 2

New modeling objects such as Curves and Edges can be surfaced aswell.

1. The image below shows the wheel area of a car marked with acombination of points, lines and curves.

2. Using the Multi-Point Surface mode , select the curve and theregular 3D points indicated in green in the image below. Complete thesurface by right clicking your mouse and choosing "Close Surface".Note, you need to select at least one of the Curve's end points andthe Curve itself for it to be included in the correct order but you do notneed to select the individual curve points.

3. A Surface will be created for the area outside of the curve up to themarked points. You can add Surface Materials includingphoto-textures to your new surface.


























Double-Sided Surfaces

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 allows you to set a property of a surface so itappears from both directions. For example, a window that appearsonly from the front view in your images can be assigned aDouble-Sided Surface. This allows the window to appear from bothsides in the 3D Viewer and exported models.

Double-Sided Surfaces is another highly requested new feature fromour customers. It benefits customers by:

allowing surfacing of areas of 3D models that normally couldnot be surfaced or textured because they were hiddengiving surfaced and textured 3D models a more complete andrealistic appearance

1. Right-click your mouse on a surface you want to be double-sided.Choose "Properties of selected" on the menu.

2. In the Properties dialog, choose the "Double-sided" option.

3. Open your 3D Viewer to view the double-sided surface.

4. You can also set Surfaces to be double sided by default in the"General" section of the new Preferences dialog.


























Project Constraints

Constraints allow you to enter known relationships into your projectwhich will be factored in when processing 3D data, measuring,etc. Constraints also open the door to new very powerful single-photocapabilities. Here are some of the new constraints available:

Constrain:2 points to be a given distance apart3 or more points to be colinear4 or more points to be coplanar2 lines to be perpendicular2 or more lines to be parallel2 lines to be a given angle2 or more lines to be equal length2 edges to a given angle 2 edges to be perpendicularlines / edges to be horizontal left to right (x axis) lines / edges to be horizontal front to back (y axis) lines / edges to be vertical (z axis)surfaces to be horizontal (xy plane) surfaces to be vertical front (xz plane)surfaces to be vertical side (yz plane) surfaces to be planar

Constraints can be absolute (the processing attempts to force theconstraint absolutely (eg. perpendicular lines end up exactly at 90degrees) or user weighted (eg. a constraint distance of 1.0m with aprecision of 1cm will be processed to be approximately 0.99m to1.01m).

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0's Constraints are a powerful feature that:increases the capabilities of single-photo projects,adds additional redundant scale using the distance constraint,orimproves the quality, accuracy and control of anyPhotoModeler project.

Accident Reconstruction customers will be able to do single unknownphoto projects even without control points. For multiple photoprojects, you will be able to add more known information about thescene to improve the results of your project.

Architects will be able to model structures and specify therelationships they want to hold in the output.

All customers will enjoy the ability to improve their projects by definingknown relationships of objects and features in the scene or objectthey are modeling.

In the example below, you will see how to add Constraints to a projectof a building window.

1. Click the Constraint Definition button to open the Constraintdialog on the toolbar.

2. Click the New Constraint button . This will open the ConstraintProperties dialog. In this example, we will define 2 constraints: 'linesto be of equal length' and 'lines to be parallel'.

Choose the Constraint 'lines to be of equal length' shown below in thedrop down list.

3. Give the constraint a name of your choice in the "Name" box. Theconstraint created in this example will be named "Window lines 1".

4. By default the constraint is created with "Precision: Fixed" checked.This tells the optimizer to attempt to force the lines to be exactly equallength (even if they aren't in the real world). If you think they are equallength to within some tolerance you can uncheck this and enter thetolerance value. Click OK.

5. Follow the same steps to define a 2nd constraint. Choose theconstraint 'lines to be parallel'. In this example, this constraint will benamed "Parallel lines".

6. Open the photo to add the constraints. In this photo, we know thatthe two lines shown in red below are parallel and of equal length.Select the lines.

7. Select the "Window lines 1" from the Constraint drop down menu.

8. Click the Add Constraints button . The 2 lines now have the'lines to be equal length' Constraint assigned to them.

9. Repeat steps for adding the same lines to the "Parallel lines"Constraint.

10. The lines are now constrained to be of equal length and parallel toeach other. These Constraints are enforced during the GlobalOptimization step so you must process the project to see the endresult. Note, if you later drag one of the end points of the lines orreorient this photograph (with Global Optimization) the constraint willno longer hold.

11. You can add and remove objects from any constraint using the

and buttons. You can also create a constraint quickly bypre-selecting objects before going into Constraints mode.

Click here for examples of how Constraints can be used in singlephoto projects.


























New Single Photo Capabilities

In PhotoModeler Pro 3.1 a single photo could be handled only if it hadcontrol points. In Pro 4.0, you can draw lines, edges and surfaces ona single photo, and by specifying certain types of parallel andperpendicular constraints on those lines, edges and surfaces you canget camera orientation and full xyz data for the points andedges. Single photo projects can be turned into multiple photoprojects at any time.

This new capability opens the door to a whole new type of singlephoto project. If your object or scene has a number of straight edgesthat are naturally parallel and perpendicular (such as on mostman-made objects) you can now perform modeling and measuringwithout any control points. This along with PhotoModeler Pro'sInverse Camera capability makes this a very powerful forensic orhistoric photography tool. Especially useful for projects involving:

road scenes, skid marks (accident reconstruction), room interiors (for forensics or architectural modeling), orbuildings and structures (architecture, preservation,archaeology, eCommerce).

You use the special constraints for defining coordinate systemrelationships. These are:

lines / edges to be horizontal left to right (x axis) lines / edges to be horizontal front to back (y axis) lines / edges to be vertical (z axis)surfaces to be horizontal (xy plane) surfaces to be vertical front (xz plane)surfaces to be vertical side (yz plane) surfaces to be planar

For additional information see the Constraints page first for furtherinformation.

Examples:Single photo blocks projectSingle photo road scene project


























Single Photo - BlocksExample

In this example, a single photo of some children's blocks is used todemonstrate the new capability. The same methods shown here canbe applied to do single photo projects of structures, historic buildings,interiors, etc.

View the Constraints page first for further information.

1. We can see a lot of useful information in the photo. The blockshave right-angle corners, so we know that there are suitable paralleland perpendicular lines.

2. Mark the lines on the blocks.

3. Define the following Constraints (for setup info, see the Constraintspage):

A. lines/edges to be horizontal front to back (y axis)B. lines/edges to be horizontal left to right (x axis)C. lines/edges to be vertical (z axis)

3. Select the lines that run horizontal front to back on the blocks asindicated in red below. Choose Constraint A from the drop down list.

Click the Add to Constraints button .

4. Select the lines that run horizontal left to right (x axis) as indicatedin red below. Choose Constraint B from the drop down list. Click the

Add to Constraints button .

5. Select the lines that run vertical on the blocks as indicated in redbelow. Choose Constraint C from the drop down list. Click the Add to

Constraints button .

5. With the Constraints defined, PhotoModeler knows how the linesrelate to each other. Process the project. You can now view theresults in the 3D Viewer!

7. Now add surfaces to complete your single photo model using theSurface tools. You can even add photo-textures to your model like aregular PhotoModeler project.

This photo-textured 3D model all from one photograph!


























Single Photo - Road SceneExample

Road scene projects are common among our accident reconstructioncustomers. Often all the evidence received is a single photo of thescene, with no further information. In PhotoModeler Pro 3.1, controlpoints (known 3D information from the scene) are required to dosingle photo projects. In Pro 4.0, this is no longer necessary.

In Pro 4.0, you can draw lines, edges and surfaces on a single photo,and by specifying certain types of parallel and perpendicularconstraints on those lines, edges and surfaces you can get cameraorientation and full xyz data for the points and edges. Single photoprojects can be turned into multiple photo projects at any time.

View the Constraints page first for further information.

1. We can see a lot of useful information in the photo: horizontalroad lines, buildings with straight vertical walls, light-posts, etc. Marklines or edges as shown below. Note that when doing a project thatwill remain a single photo project you can use lines or edges, it doesnot matter. If this project may have additional photos added, wesuggest you stick with the rule: if you can see distinct end points of aline in multiple photos use the Line tool, otherwise use the Edge tool.

2. Define two Constraints (for setup info, see the Constraints page):A. lines/edges to be horizontal front to back (y axis)B. lines/edges to be vertical (z axis)

3. Select the edges on the road. Choose Constraint A from the drop

down list. Click the Add to Constraints button .

4. Select the vertical lines and edges on the building and light-post.Choose Constraint B from the drop down list. Click the Add to

Constraints button .

5. With these constraints defined, PhotoModeler knows which edgesare parallel to each other and which are perpendicular. The minimumrequirements are: there must be two sets of parallel lines/edges andthose sets must be perpendicular to each other. For example, twovertical lines and two horizontal lines. Note: if you don't have verticalsin your scene you can always use the other perpendicular horizontallines (eg. a pair of lines on road expansion joints - which runperpendicular to the road sides).

6. Process the project. It will orient, even on this limited information.At this stage there will not be much 3D data. If you opened the 3DViewer now you would see the oriented Camera Station and just oneline. PhotoModeler needs just one extra piece of data so it can"connect" the one known line with the other edge of the road. You willneed to tell PhotoModeler that both road edges are sitting in thehorizontal plane.

7. Now add surfaces to connect the edges on the road. Use the newSurface Tools to create the surface.

8. The Surface needs to be constrained as well. Create a newconstraint 'surfaces to be horizontal (xy plane)'.

10. Select the surface and add the new Surface Constraint to it.

11. Process the project again so the new constraint will take effect.

12. The project now has enough information for you to do further workwith. If you look in the 3D Viewer, you can see how the projectshapes up so far. You can add surface materials includingphoto-textures.

13. With the surfaces defined, you can now do Surface Draw tomodel the shape of the skid marks. Click the Surface Draw button

.

14. Zoom in on the skid marks on the photo. Use Surface Draw tomark the shape of the skid marks. For better visibility, you can turn offSurfaces in the Visibility dialog. Remember you can only use SurfaceDraw to mark areas covered by the defined surface.

15. You can now view the true shape of the skid mark in your 3DViewer. In the 3D Viewer options, turn on Surface Draw, Lines, andEdges only. Also choose the "Orthographic View"; this will provideyou with a "Birds-Eye View" for a true representation of the shape ofthe skid mark.

16. The result can be measured in PhotoModeler, exported to CAD,or exported as an Ortho-photo.


























Photo Projections

Once an object has a 3D position it can be projected onto all orientedphotographs. These projections lie on top of the photo but"underneath" any user marks on the photos. Objects that are can beprojected are: points, point ids, lines, edges, curves, surfaces, and allcontrol data (points and lines).

Projections:help when marking or referencing objects that you find difficultto visually match up,help in finding referencing errors in your project,help you determine if an area has been surfaced already,help you to see how each photo ties into the project,provide a type of quality feedback for how well the 3D data"fits" the photos, orprovide a way to see imported control data (points, lines) ontop of oriented photos (great for bringing in a model or drawingof a scene and "laying" it on top of a photo so you can addotherwise unseen points and visually inspect the match).

1. In a processed project, open one or more photos that you wouldlike to examine.

2. Click the Visibility button . The Visibility dialog has beenexpanded to include Projections and other new features.

3. Click the "Projected" tab.

4. Choose the features you would like to see projected onto thephotos. The image below shows Projected points and lines (in blue),and you can see how points that only appear on other photos tie intothe whole project.

5. You can change the color of projected data in the new Preferencesdialog.


























New Sub-Pixel Target Marking

A new highly accurate sub-pixel target marking method called LeastSquares Matching (LSM) has been added for small circular targets.LSM can be many times more precise than the current centroidmethod. The centroid method is still used for larger targets as it isfaster. The decision between when LSM and centroid target detectorsare used is under user control in the Preferences dialog.

An important enhancement for users doing high accuracy projects.Least Squares Matching can be up to ten more times more precisethan the centroid method. This is used when you have circular targets(filled black circles on light background, filled white circles on a darkbackground, or retro-reflective circle targets with appropriateexposure).

There is no change in how the Sub-Pixel target marking is used. Themain changes are internal. You are able to control the threshold sizeon the General tab of the Preferences dialog. Anything below thethreshold size will use the new LSM method.

The image below shows a zoomed in view of a target captured withthe new Sub-Pixel marking tool. The red circle shows the fit that LSMcame up with for this 8 pixel wide circle target.


























Field Calibrations

PhotoModeler is now capable of doing full camera calibration whenthere is one camera in the project and certain photo positionrequirements are met.

Field-calibration is a great accuracy improver for large projects.Ideally one should calibrate one's camera at the focus settings and atthe distance they use it for project work. When you are dealing withany object over a couple of meters size this is quite difficult with theCamera Calibrator. The Camera Calibrator is still available in Pro 4.0and could be used in a two stage process for getting a greatcalibration for your camera. To use the new Field Calibration inPhotoModeler Pro 4.0 you find a suitable large object, takeappropriate photographs, mark and reference the points, turn on FieldCalibration mode, and process the project.

If you are doing large objects or scenes and you are striving foraccuracy, this mode is a key new feature!

1. Take your photographs from a constant distance from an objectwith many good well defined points (ideally sub-pixel circle targets butthey don't need to be). The photographs should have angles similarto those used by the Camera Calibrator (including some that arerotated to portrait orientation). This would usually involve eight to tenphotos taken from below, above, to the right and to the left of theobject. One possible object is a modern office building that you haveaccess to the building across the street for photography at groundlevel, at mid-level, and looking down.

2. Set up the project with one camera. This camera could be from theWizard or from a Camera Calibration.

3. Mark and reference your project as you would normally. Youshould have a good spread of points covering all photos as much aspossible. You will need at least 25 points per photo but more is better.

4. In the Preferences dialog, choose the "Process" tab.

5. In the Self-calibration area, click the field calibration box indicatedin the image below.

6. When you process, the camera will calibrate.

7. Open the Camera Information Dialog to see the results.

8. Save this camera to a .cam file for use in other projects.


























Referencing ImprovementsReferencing has been improved with added capability and simplifyingnotions. The aim is to increase the speed with which one canreference objects across photographs.

The new capabilities are listed below. Click on a section name formore details:

Auto-Drive Referencing - Once a point's basic 3D location isknown on an oriented photo (must be referenced on 2 photosor be a control point), Auto-Drive will automatically move themouse (and image if necessary) to the projected location of thepoint on the destination photo so it can be marked or chosenquickly. If the two photos are oriented but the point is not yet3D (appears only on one photo) then the Reference Helper line(as it was called in Pro 3.1) will appear.Destination and Source Photo Drop Down- Allows you tochoose the Source and Destination photos and easily switch tospecific project photos. Also makes it clear which is the sourceand destination for referencing. Single Point Mark and Reference- Provides a quick way tomark and reference single points quickly between two or morephotographs. Great for "touch up" work.Auto-Advance Photos / Next and Previous Destination PhotoButtons - "Auto-Advance Photos" drives the user through thephotographs in the destination list for the objects selected inthe current source. Instead of having to use the Project PhotosDialog to find photos to reference the object to, Auto-Advancequickly advances to the next photo for you. This feature alsomakes sure you don't miss a photo. The Next and PreviousDestination Photo Buttons allows the user to manually stepthrough a set of destination photos. Auto-Tile Mode - This new feature keeps the source anddestination photos visible at all times by automatically tiling thephotos side by side.

These new controls are set at reasonable defaults so new users donot have to deal with the extra complexity until they are more familiarwith PhotoModeler. They can also be enabled or disabled at will.














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Auto-Drive Referencing

A new Auto-Drive Referencing option drives the mouse cursor to thepredicted location of points when marking and referencing them onoriented photos. If the image is zoomed and the predicted location isnot visible the image will be automatically panned so the predictedlocation is centered.

Auto-Drive Referencing is a powerful new feature suggested by manyof our customers. This feature assists you by:

helping you mark and reference points in the proper position,thereby reducing the chance of referencing errors,reducing much of the searching and locating of points whenreferencing, andreducing the amount of zooming in and out during thereferencing process.

1. Click the Reference button . This will expand the Referencedialog on the New Enhanced Toolbar. Once you have clicked theReference button, the Auto-Drive feature is enabled.

2. Select one or more points on the Source Photo. Place your mouseover the Destination photo.

3. If the photos are already oriented and the selected source point isalready 3D (appears on two or more oriented photographs already),Auto-Drive will move the mouse to where it thinks you shouldreference the point.

4. Mark and / or Reference the point in the approximate area whereAuto-Drive left you. You should generally not mark at the exact spotwhere Auto-Drive left you but instead on the true feature in the photo.

5. You can turn this feature on and off by clicking the Auto-Drive button on the expanded Reference toolbar.

6. If the source point currently being referenced appears only on onephoto (so has no 3D position), there will be no Auto-Drive of themouse, instead a line will appear in the destination photographindicating that the destination point should be somewhere along thatline. This is similar to the Reference/Curve Helper of Pro 3.1 but itdoes not create Curve Helper points. In fact, Pro 4.0 no longer hasCurve Helper points because they have been replaced by the morepowerful Curve!


























Referencing Photo Drop DownLists

The Referencing Photo Drop Down Lists provide a convenient way tochoose the Source and Destination photos and easily switch to specificproject photos during the Referencing process.

The Referencing Photo Drop Down Lists are a great ease-of-useimprovement that benefits users by:

saving time and increasing the control you have when referencingobjects between photos,offering a more convenient way to open/access photos rather thanusing the "Open Photos" dialog or searching through all openwindows, andmaking the whole Referencing process a much quicker and easiertask.

1. Click the Reference button . This will expand the Reference dialogon the toolbar.

2. Choose the Source and Destination photos that you want.

3. The photos will open on the screen. If the new Auto Tile feature isenabled, the Source photo appears on the left of your screen, and theDestination on the right. Select an object on the Source photo andreference it to the appropriate object on the Destination photo.


























Auto Advance / Next andPrevious Destination PhotoButtons

These new buttons on the new Referencing Toolbar allow the user toeasily navigate through a set of destination photos during theReferencing process. Auto-Advance automatically drives the userthrough the photographs in the Destination List. Once you havereferenced an object (e.g. 3D point) between the Source Photo and aDestination photo, Auto-Advance will move to the next photo in theDestination list. The Next and Previous buttons let the user stepthrough the list of destination photos.

Good referencing is a key element to a successful PhotoModelerproject. These new features simplify and speed up the referencingprocess by:

reducing the time you spend in searching for photos in whichto reference points,making it easy to move back and forth among your Destinationphotos in large projects,reducing the need to open, close and switch between photoswhen referencing,moving you through the referencing process in an organizedand thorough manner, andhelping you avoid errors and unnecessary repetitive tasks.

Auto-Advance Photos

1. Click the Reference button . This will expand the Referencedialog on the New Enhanced Toolbar. Once you have clicked theReference button on the toolbar, the Auto-Advance feature isenabled.

2. Select one more more objects on the Source Photo. Place yourmouse over the Destination photo.

3. You will either do one of the following:reference the first object on the destination photo,if all the selected objects are already referenced on thedestination photo, the Auto-Advance will prompt you toadvance to the next photo using this symbol , or

if you choose not to reference on the photo, right-click yourmouse until you reach the Auto-Advance symbol. When theAuto-Advance cursor, , is on the screen press either

mouse button to advance to the next photograph. If you wish toend here, exit Referencing mode.

4. Continue until you have advanced through all the destinationphotos.

5. You can turn this feature on and off by clicking the Auto-Advance

button on the expanded Reference toolbar.

Next and Previous Destination Photo Buttons

1. Click the Reference button . This will expand the Referencedialog on the toolbar.

2. Select the point(s) or object(s) you want to reference on multiplephotos.

3. Choose either the "Previous" or "Next" Destination photobuttons to guide through the various project photos. If the newAuto-Tile feature is enabled, the Source photo will remain open onthe left side, allowing you to easily view which photos the point can bereferenced on.


























Single Point Mark andReference

You can mark and reference a single point at a time in PhotoModelerPro 4.0. The marking is done while in Referencing mode whichmakes the process much quicker - as you no longer need to switchback and forth between Point Mark mode and Referencing mode.

It is a convenient method of marking and referencing single points ata time. This feature is very useful when:

you need to add a single new point to strengthen your model,oryou prefer to mark and reference points one at a time ratherthan in bunches.

1. Open up your Source Photo. Click the Reference button topexpand your toolbar.

2. Click the "Mark on Source Photo" button in the ReferencingToolbar.

3. Mark a point on your Source photo. You can then immediatelyreference the point to the matching point on the Destination photo.

4. With just two clicks of the mouse you have marked a point on twophotographs and referenced it.

5. If you have Auto-Advance Photos turned on you canmark/reference this point in multiple destination photographs.


























Auto-Tile

Auto-Tile is a convenient new feature which keeps the Source andDestination photos visible and organized at all times by automaticallytiling the photos side by side during Referencing. The Source Photowill automatically be positioned on the left hand side, and the currentDestination photo will be positioned on the right.

Auto-Tile contributes to the overall speed and productivity of doingPhotoModeler Projects. As you use Auto-Advance or select throughvarious destination photos, Auto-Tile will:

organize your project photos by automatically tiling the CurrentSource and Destination photos, andhide other Destination photos until you access them.

1. Click the Reference button on the toolbar. This will expand theReference dialog on the toolbar. Once you have clicked theReference button on the toolbar, the Auto-Tile feature is enabled.

2. You can turn this feature on and off by clicking the Auto-Tile button

on the expanded Reference toolbar.



























Auto-Drive for Control PointMarking

A new Auto-Drive option for Control Point Marking drives the mousecursor to the predicted location of control points when marking themon oriented photos. If the image is zoomed and the predicted locationis not visible, the image will be automatically panned so the predictedlocation is centered.

This is similar to the Auto-Drive Referencing capability but is usedwith the Control Points Dialog.

Auto-Drive for Control Point Marking does much of the work for youwhen marking control points on oriented photos. Auto-Drive ControlPoint Marking will:

eliminate the need to search for location of the points, andreduce the need to zoom in and out during control pointmarking.

1. Open the Control Point dialog marking by clicking the buttonon the toolbar. Make sure the Auto-Drive option is turned on.

2. Select a Control Point to mark.

3. Move your mouse over the photo to mark the point on. TheAuto-Drive function kicks in and jumps the mouse to the projectedposition of the Control Point. Note, the photo may need to beactivated by clicking on its title bar.

4. Mark the point at the position in the photo close to whereAuto-Drive indicates - making sure to mark the actual position not thepredicted one. Once you have marked the point, Auto-Drive will selectthe next control point in the list and drive the mouse and image there.


























Photo Rotation

Photographs can now be rotated 90, -90 and 180 degrees whenviewed within PhotoModeler. The current rotation amount is storedwith the project so each time you open that photograph it will openthe same way.

Once a photo has been imported, you can rotate the photo to makemarking and viewing of photos easier. Benefits of this feature include:

there can be a mix of landscape and portrait images in oneproject,photos can be rotated at any time, before and after marking,referencing and processing, andit allows you to shoot your photographs of an object or scenewithout worrying about camera rotation.

1. Import all your photographs as they come off the camera orscanner. Usually all in landscape format (image is wider than it is tall).

2. Open a photo that you would prefer to work with at a differentrotation. The photo below is a good example.

3. Right-click your mouse over the photo, then choose "PhotoProperties...".

4. In the Photo Properties Dialog, choose the Photo Rotation of either90 deg., -90 deg., or 180 deg. For this photo we chose the -90rotation.

4. Hit OK or Apply and the image is rotated. No more neck pain!


























Improved ProjectPhotographs Dialog

The Project Photographs dialog has been revamped. It is nowsizeable: allowing you to view different numbers of photo chips atonce and dockable: allowing you to place the dialog at the side of theapplication area out of the way and always accessible.

The new Project Photographs dialog is one of the many features thatcontribute to the improved interface and better access to project databy:

allowing you to see all of your photo chips at once no matterhow many you have,keeping your PhotoModeler screen area "cleaner" whileallowing you to see the photo chips at all times, andmaking it much easier now to work with project photos - byright-clicking your mouse over the photo chip you can accessProperties of the photo or Add/Remove photos.

1. Click the Project Photographs icon on the toolbar. The newProject Photographs dialog will open.

2. Click the "Dock" button. The photos will be docked on the left handside similar to the example below. You can use the Shift and Ctrlbuttons on your keyboard to select multiple photos.

3. Select a photo chip and right-click your mouse. You can choose toeither access Photo Properties data or Add/Remove Photos.

4. Once the Project Photos dialog is docked it will open docked nexttime (and visa-versa). You can also use the new "Open Photos Dialogwhen Project is opened" setting in the General tab of the Preferencesdialog to make this dialog open automatically whenever a project isopened.


























New Image Engine

The PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 Image Engine (used for displaying andloading photographs) has been upgraded to allow faster loading ofimages as well as supporting new image types. PhotoModeler Pronow supports the following image formats: Tiff (.tif), Windows BMP(.bmp), PC Paintbrush (.pcx),Targa (.tga), JPEG (.jpg) [Includingprogressive], Portable Network Graphics (.png), Pict (.pct),Photoshop (.psd), Portable Pixmap (.ppm), Macintosh Paint (.mac),EA Interchange File Format (.iff), CALS Raster (.cal), and PhotoCD(.pcd). Note: due to licensing issues LZW compression in TIFF andGIF is no longer supported in read or write.

Users with a large number of photos or very large sized photos willespecially enjoy the new Image Engine. Benefits to the user are:

more types of image files are now accepted, and faster loading of the photos.


























Improved ImageEnhancement

Image enhancement has been improved to update the image in realtime. Brightness, contrast and now gamma correction are adjusted onthe screen as the Enhancement scrollers are dragged. There is noneed for a Preview button anymore!

The improvements to image enhancement will help users achieveproper marking of points by:

making it easy to work with photos where features are difficultto see due to factors such as poor lighting, andstoring image enhancement values with the photograph andsaving with the project data so whenever a photo is re-openedit is displayed with the same enhancements.

1. With a photo open, click Marking / Image Enhance from the mainmenu.

2. Adjust the Gamma, Contrast, and Brightness until the visibility ofyour photo has improved, as shown below. The changes will remainwith the photo until you click the reset button in the ImageEnhancement dialog.

3. The Model check box controls whether the model data (points,lines, etc) are shown on the photo during real-time enhancement.Turning the model display off makes the adjustments much faster butyou can have it on if it is critical to the adjustment you are making.


























New Zoom Capabilities

Two new zoom capabilities have been added for photographs. Theright click menu now has 'Zoom previous', which resets thephotograph to the most previous zoom (ie. if you just zoomed in witharea tool, the zoom-previous command will return the photo display tothe view seen just before that zoom area), and 'Zoom 1:1', whichchanges the photo zoom so one photo pixel is displayed for eachscreen pixel.

The New Zoom capabilities are a great addition that allow users to:improve control over working with photos, increase the ease of use and speed of of marking andreferencing.

Along with new Right-Mouse Click Control, working with your imagesis much easier in PhotoModeler Pro 4.0.

1. Right click your mouse on the photo you are working with.

2. Choose from the list of Zoom functions PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 hasto offer.


























Temporary Zoom Mode

A new form of zoom is now available during all modes (e.g. marking,surfacing, referencing, etc). This new zoom function is accessed bypressing the Alt key, holding it down, and clicking your left or rightmouse buttons.

This new zoom function is a convenient feature that you can even usewhile in the middle of operations such as point, line, cylinder marking,or referencing. It means you don't have to switch modes to zoom thephoto in or out. (Pan may be added later also).

1. Move the cursor over a photograph. Hold the keyboard Alt keydown and the cursor will change to a magnifying glass.

2. Press and release the left mouse button to zoom in (this acts justlike the zoom in mode).

3. Press and release the right mouse button to zoom out (this actsjust like the zoom out mode).

4. Press on the left mouse mouse button, hold down and drag themouse to get a zoom area marquee (this acts just like the zoom areamode).

5. Once you have completed the zoom operations, release the Alt-keyand you will be returned to the mode you were previously in.


























Properties Dialogs

Most objects now have an associated properties dialog that providesan easy and central way to change it's settings. These propertydialogs are easily accessed by selecting items and using the rightmouse menu or the Edit/Properties menu item.

These property dialogs make it far easier to review object propertiesand do global property changes. This also makes PhotoModeler moreconsistent with modern user interface standards. Some of theproperties you can add to or change are:

Photos: change or assign a camera, control texturing, rotation,enter a text description, control Inverse Camera, controlprocessing, camera station dataPoints: assign an ID name, change xyz data, freeze oroptimize point data, assign materials and layersSurfaces: assign materials and layers, change to bedouble-sidedLines, Edges, Cylinders: assign or change materials andlayers

1. Select an object (point, line, cylinder, curve, surface) from anywindow: Photo, Point Table, Photo Table, or 3D Viewer.

2. Right-click your mouse and choose Properties. If you are workingwith one object the selection and menu activation can be done withone click of right-mouse button when the cursor is on top of thatfeature.

3. Analyze or modify your Object Properties. Here we selected asurface and right-clicked for Properties. We can perform functionssuch as changing materials, layers, and adding double-sidedsurfaces.

4. You can select multiple objects and change all their properties atonce. You can even select a combination of different objects andchange the Material or Layer.


























3D Point Properties

Pro 4.0 has these new properties for 3D Points:a user can now name a point and this name is visible in PointTables and optionally on photos (when IDs are visible),points can be frozen at their current 3D positions (similar toautomatic conversion to fixed control points), no action willchange their position, andpoints can be removed from processing (their 3D position iscomputed by intersection only) - this is good for points that aremarked with guesses.

The Object Point Properties feature allows users to have more controlover the points in their project. Benefits to the user are:

it is easier to identify points with a user-centered namingscheme,it is now easier to work with a mixture of good and weak(guessed) points, and you can now do combined known/unknown photo projects(typical of exemplar car, crushed car photo measurement) inone project without going to an external control file.

1. Select one or more points from any Photo, Point table, or 3DViewer window.

2. Right-click your mouse and choose Properties.

3. Analyze or modify your Point properties.


























Right Click Menus

Right-click popup menus are now available in most modes and frommost windows (Photos, Tables, 3D Viewers). These menus allowaccess to object properties, access to controls for some modes andshort-cuts for new zoom capabilities.

A great addition to PhotoModeler's interface and a convenient featurefor working with project data. For example:

Right-clicking over photo-chips (thumbnails) allows you to:access photo properties through photo-chipsadd / remove project photos

Right-clicking over a photograph allows you to:select and de-select objectsaccess photo propertiesuse various zoom functions

Right-clicking an object (e.g. point, or line) allows you to:access its propertiesunreference the object

Right-Click menus can be used on Photographs, 3D Viewers, 3DPoint Tables, and Photo Tables.

1. Place the mouse over window or object of your choice and clickthe right mouse button. Here we will right click a photo chip.

2. In this case, these 2 options appear after right clicking. Theoptions vary on the window or object you have selected. Here wechoose the "Photo Properties..." item.

3. The Photo Properties dialog appears. We can perform a numberof functions from here, such as Photo Rotation, changing theCamera, controlling how the photo is processed, and adding a photodescription.

4. You can also select multiple items and use right-click menu toreview the properties of all the selected items.


























New Toolbar Design

The main toolbar has been expanded and buttons have beenredesigned to have a new 'flat' look. As well there are new mode-specifictoolbars for referencing, fiducial marking, measuring, and constraintdefinition.

The new toolbar look is more consistent with modern Windowsapplications and just looks nicer! The buttons provide more feedback asthe state of the program and all toolbar items (including disabled buttonsand drop-down lists) have Tool-tip help.

The sub-toolbars provide better organization of application space andoptionally remove the dialog boxes (Measure, and Fiducial marking)from the client area so they don't get in the way. The buttons in the newtoolbar stay "down" while an action is taking place (processing, openingproject etc) to provide more feedback on what the program is doing.

1. Using the Measure tool as an example, we click on the "Measure"toolbar item.

2. The expanded measure dialog appears on the right side of the maintoolbar. Select an object (e.g. line) with the measure tool, and the resultsappear.

3. You no longer have to find space on your screen to fit Measure DialogBox. The Measure and Fiducial Marking Dialog boxes are still availableif you prefer.


























Configurable Tables

New configurable tables have been added to allow you view and workwith Points and Photos.

The Photo Table shows the properties of all photographs at a glance.Along with the new Photo Properties dialog (described below) thisnew table replaces, a) the Photograph Properties Dialog, b) theCamera Station Properties Dialog, and c) the Project Photographsreview pane that were in Pro 3.1.

The Point Table contains the information formerly shown in Pro 3.1'sTable Viewer, plus much more data. The Point Table displays moretypes of data in 20 different fully configurable columns.

Both Tables are configurable by the user. An unlimited number oftable configurations can be created, saved and used betweenprojects. Each configuration stores the type and order of the columnsof data to be displayed.

The Photo Table offers users easier access to project photoinformation such as image width / height, file name, focal length,number of referenced points, and more.

The Point Table provides a detailed spreadsheet view of all yourproject point data. All project points are displayed now- making it easyto find unreferenced points. Information you can view includes:

xyz dataangleIDtightnessmaterialphotos it appears inplus much more

The currently viewed Photo or Point Table (in its current columnconfiguration) can also be exported to a text file for printing, importedinto a spreadsheet such as Excel, or used for electronic distribution.

1. To configure a table, click either the Photo Table button or the

Point Table button on the toolbar. In this example, we will clickthe Photo Table button.

2. The Photo Table will open. Click the Configure button to set up thetable to suit your needs.

3. Click OK to view the table with the new configuration.

4. You can access Properties of the Photo by right-clicking anywhereon the photo's row in the table. In the Point Table, you can accesspoint properties by clicking on any point's row.


























User Preferences

All configurable options, which previously could only be changed bydirectly editing the cryptic .ini file, can now be changed from the newPreferences tabbed dialog.

Hundreds of settings can be changed to alter PhotoModeler's look,calculations, colors, defaults and more. Preferences allows you topersonalize your copy of PhotoModeler and increase control overyour projects.

Preference highlights include:adjust the color of objects that appear on photographsadjust the background colour of your 3D Viewercontrol quality of export filesset image zoom levelsadjust threshold levels for control points, inverse cameraset audit thresholds for your own preferred level of qualitycontroladvanced control of processing and camera orientationplus much, much more!

1. From the File Menu, choose Preferences.

2. Choose from the 11 Tabs, and adjust the settings to your needs.

3. For example, under the "Colors" tab, view the 3D Viewer Colorsarea. Sometimes you may have projects with darker textures, andmay find it difficult to view your model with the default blackbackground. Click the "Pick" button beside the Background settings.

4. Choose a preset color or a custom color. Hit ok, then OK on thePreferences dialog and the 3D Viewer will update immediately.

5. Make as many changes as you like. You can choose to return todefault values at any time.


























More New PhotoModeler Pro4.0 FeaturesScale / Rotate Point Identification

When Scale / Rotate points are viewed on photos, they will havedifferent colors than normal points, and will also have text labels foreasy identification. Text labels are: "S" for scale points, "O" for theorigin point, "X" for the X axis point, "Y" for the Y axis point, "Z" forthe Z axis point, "P1", "P2", and "P3" for the points in a three pointrotation definition, and "WS" and "WD" for the Weld source anddestination points.

Line and Edge Display

A new "Thick" properties in the visibility dialog has been added forlines and edges. When "Thick" is chosen, lines and edges on photosare drawn with a thicker line to improve visibility.

Material Application Review

The Materials Dialog now has an Apply button- allowing you to try outdifferent material settings and view results in the 3D Viewer withouthaving to close and re-open the dialog. The Materials Dialog can alsonow be directly accessed through the Edit menu.

Post Processing Modification

The Pro 3.1 functions such as Fit to Line, Fit to Grid, and Fit to Planecan be now be easily accessed by clicking Project / Post ProcessingModification.

Camera Copy Feature

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 allows you to copy a Camera within a projectwith just one button press on the Project Cameras Dialog.

Improved lens distortion correction

A new more accurate method for correcting for lens distortion is usedwhen computing and displaying Marking Residuals, displayingProjections, and computing photo-textures/ortho-photo. This newmethod kicks in when the correction required is larger than a user setthreshold.

Undo and Redo descriptions

The Undo menu item in the Edit menu now switches from "Undo" to"Redo" depending on what action has just been taken and there isalso a description of the action. Eg. "Undo Point Mark".

Fiducial names display on photo

The names of the fidicual are shown on the photograph when pointids are turned on making it much easier to determine the correctfiducial has been marked.

All the Details!

Click here for a text list of all changes to Pro 4.0 (small and large, bugfixes and new features).

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 Summary


























1. A new capability for constraining the relationships between objects has been added.The following constraints are available: constrain the distance between two points togiven amount, constrain points to fit on a plane, constrain points to fit on a line,constrain two lines to be perpendicular, constrain two lines to be a given angle,constrain lines to be the same length, constrain lines to be parallel, constrain edgesto a given angle, and constrain edges to be parallel.

2. Existing 3D points, edges, lines, surfaces, control points and surface draw can now beoptionally projected onto other oriented photographs. These projections can be used toaid in referencing, for finding errors in your project, for determining accuracy, toallow you to see how each photo ties into the project, and to import external data andmap it on top of the photographs.

3. Referencing has been improved with added capability and simplifying notions. The aimis to increase the speed with which one can reference. The new capabilities are: - Destination photo drop down - a control that shows which is the destination photographand allows the destination photograph to be opened from a list- Auto-tile mode - keeps the source and destination photos visible at all times side byside- Auto-advance - drives the user through the photographs in the destination list for thecurrent referencing object- Auto-drive - once a point's basic 3D location is known (after it is referenced on 2photos or a control point) auto-drive will automatically move the mouse (and image ifnecessary) to the projected location of the point so the destination point can be chosenmore quickly. If the point does not yet have 3d position but the source and destinationphotos are oriented then the reference helper line will appear.- Next and previous destination photo buttons - allow user to manually step through a setof destination photos- Useable defaults - the new controls are set at reasonable defaults so beginners do nothave to deal with the extra complexity until they are ready.

4. A new type of object called an Edge has been added. Edges are like lines but they donot have distinct end points. Edges are marked and referenced between photographs muchlike points are. Edges are also processed in Global Optimization like points are. Edgesare used when modeling some feature in an image where there are no distinct end pointsshared with other photographs. (Eg. a fog line on a road or a building feature where thecorner is hidden).

5. A new type of object called a Curve has been added. These are marked and referencedacross photographs like points, edges, and cylinders but are not computed in globaloptimzation. These curves are full NURBS (Non-uniform Rational B-Splines). You mark acurve on photos to denote a 2d or 3d curve on an object and then reference them together.Once referenced an advanced (world-first!) algorithm is run to compute a full 3D NURBScurve that can be seen in the 3D Viewer, can be surfaced, can be exported etc.

6. A new auto-drive option for control point marking will drive the mouse cursor to thepredicted location of control points when marking them on oriented photos. If the imageis zoomed and the predicted location is not visible the image will be automaticallypanned so the predicted location is centered. This eliminates the need to zoom in andout during control point marking. This is similar to the auto-drive capability ofreferencing described above.

7. Photographs can now be rotated 90, -90 and 180 degrees to make the making of portraitphotos easier. One no longer needs to worry about how to import photos (they should beimported landscape always now). You can have a mix of rotated images in one project andthe rotation amount is stored with the photograph so it is always opened at the specifiedrotation.

8. A new highly accurate sub-pixel target marking method called Least Squares Matching(LSM) has been added for small targets. LSM can be many times more precise than the previous centroid method. The centroid method is still used for larger targets as it is faster. The decision between LSM and centroid target detectors is settable in thepreferences.

9. A new photo table has been added which allows you to see the properties of allphotographs at a glance. This along with the new photo properties dialog (describedbelow) replaces the Photograph and Camera Station properties accessed through the ProjectPhotographs dialog in Pro 3.1.

10. The 3.1 Table Viewer has been renamed to the Point Table (to differentiate it fromthe new Photo Table). The point table displays more types of data in 20 different fully configurable columns.

11. The Point Table and Photo Table are now fully configurable including which of thecolumn types are visible, their order and their width. An unlimited number ofconfigurations can be created, saved and used between projects. The currently viewedtable (in its current column configuration) can also be exported to a text file forprinting, importing into a spread sheet or distributing electronically.

12. The Project Photographs dialog has been revamped: - first it is now sizeable so you can see different numbers of photo chips at once - second the dialog show the chips only as the other data has been moved to the PhotoTable - third the dialog can be docked on the left hand of the application client area makingit easier to access photos.

13. The main toolbar and buttons have been redesigned to have a new 'flat' look. Thebuttons in the new toolbar stay "down" while an action is taking place (processing,opening project etc) to provide more feedback on what the program is doing. As wellthere are new mode-specific toolbars for referencing, fiducial marking, measuring, andconstraint definition. These sub-toolbars provide easy configurability and optionallyremove the dialogs from the client area so they don't get in the way.

14. Most objects now have an associated properties dialog that provides easy and centralaccess to view and change their settings. A new photo properties dialog combines the oldcamera station dialog with the old photo properties dialog to make a central area forediting photo related items. These property dialog are easily accessed by selectingitems and using the right mouse menu or the Edit/Properties menu item. These propertydialogs can display multiple items (even of different types) at once making it far easierto review properties and do global property changes.

15. Right click popup menus are now available in most modes and from most windows(photos, tables, 3d viewers). These menus bring up short cuts for zooming, for performingactions for some modes (ie add/remove curve point in curve mode), and for accessing properties of selected items.

16. 3D Points have new properties: - a user can now name a point and this name is visible on the Point Table and optionallyon photos (when IDs are visible) - points can be frozen at their current 3D positions (similar to automatic conversion tofixed control points), no action will change their position - points can be ignored from processing (their 3D position is computed by intersectiononly), this is good for points that are marked with guesses.

17. The image engine (used for displaying and loading photographs) has been upgraded to allow faster loading of images as well as supporting new image types. PhotoModeler Pronow supports the following image formats: Tiff (.tif), Windows BMP (.bmp), PC Paintbrush(.pcx), Targa (.tga), JPEG (.jpg) [Including progressive], Portable Network Graphics(.png), Pict (.pct), Photoshop (.psd), Portable Pixmap (.ppm), Macintosh Paint (.mac), EAInterchange File Format (.iff), CALS Raster (.cal), and PhotoCD (.pcd). Note 1: due tolicensing issues LZW compression in TIFF and GIF is no longer supported. Note 2: the 3Dviewer texture files previously saved with the extension .ppm are now saved as .3DTfiles (internally still PPM files).

18. Image enhancement has been improved to update the image in real time. Brightness,contrast and now gamma correction are adjusted on the screen as the scrollers aremodified. No need for a Preview button anymore! The image enhancement values are alsostored with the photograph now and saved with the project data so whenever a photo isopened it displays with the same enhancements.

19. A new form of zoom is now available in all modes. This new mode is accessed bypressing the Alt key and holding it down. While in this sub-mode mouse left click zoomsin, mouse right click zooms out and left click and drag does a zoom area. When the Altkey is released the previous mode is immediately reset. This makes it far easier to zoomwhile point, line, cylinder marking, or referencing.

20. All configurable options, that previously could only be changed by editing the .inifile, can now be changed from the new Preferences tabbed dialog. Over a hundred settingscan be changed to alter PhotoModeler's look, calculations, colors, defaults and more.

21. PhotoModeler is now capable of doing full camera calibration when there is only one camera in the project. This is controlled through a Preferences setting and can be usedto perform field calibrations of cameras.

22. There are new capabilities for handle single photo projects. In Pro 3.1 a singlephoto could be handled only if it had control points. In Pro 4.0, you can draw lines,edges and surfaces on a single photo, and by specifying certain types of coordinatesystem constraints on those lines, edges and surfaces you can get camera orientation andfull xyz data for the points and edges. InverseCamera for focal length is also avialablemaking this a very powerful forensic or historic photography tool.

23. When a point is projected back onto a photo (for marking residual display, projectiondisplays, ortho-photo production, etc) the lens distortion has to be compensated for.Pro 4.0 now has a more accurate method of doing this compensation for very high accuracyprojects. The old method is still available as it is faster. This can be controlledwith the ini setting LensDistortionProjectionMethodThresh or from the new Preferencesdialog setting General / "Amount of lens distortion correction (during projection)...".If the lens distortion correction is larger than this setting (in mm) then the accurateslow method of projection lens distortion correction is used. To stop the slow methodfrom ever being used set this to 300mm (bigger than any possible correction). To force itto be used always set it to 0.0mm. This change can make a big difference in thecalculation of marking residuals and the positions of projected points esp. near theedges of the photos where lens distortion is largest.

24. A new form of feedback is provided during point highlighting in the Scale/Rotate andWeld dialogs. When the Scale/Rotate points are being shown on a photo their color changes(as it did in Pro 3.1) but there is also a text label: 'S' - for the scale points, 'O' -for the origin point, 'X' - for the X axis point, 'Y' - for the Y axis point, 'Z' - forthe Z axis point, 'P1'- for the first point in a three point rotate, similarly 'P2' and'P3'. When the Weld dialog is up the two points being welded are colored as before butnow also show 'WS' for source and 'WD' for destination.

25. The controls for fitting 3D points to a grid, to a plane or to a line, formally foundon the Point Table Viewer, have been moved to their own dialog called Post ProcessingModification.

26. The Project Photos dialog, the Tables, and the Add/Remove photos dialog all nowrespond to shift key and control key modified selection in a more Windows standard way(extend select and pick select respectively).

27. Surfaces can now have an "double-sided" property. This will produce surfaces thatare visible from both sides, instead of just from a single side (as all surfaces previously were) in both the 3D Viewer and compatible export formats.

28. The Materials dialog now has an Apply button - this will allow you to try outdifferent material settings (and see the results in the 3D Viewer) without having toclose and re-open the dialog.

29. The undo menu item now includes a description of the action that will be undone and will toggle between Undo and Redo.

30. The names of Fiducials are now displayed when point ID visibility is turned on.

31. Combo boxes on the toolbar now display tool-tips and disabled toolbar buttons displaytooltips.

32. When a camera is loaded and its name is already in use by a previously loaded camerathis new camera will be renamed to "#:CamName" where # is the next available number andCamName is the camera's current name.

33. The number of projects shown on the File Menu/Recent Projects> is now configurable (accessible through the new preferences dialog). A maximum of 25 recent projects can be shown in the recent projects list.

34. The visibility dialog is now accessible always and has a new tabbed display allowing you to toggle the visibility of each project data type as well as their projections.

35. The 'Examine' property set by Pro 3.1 for VRML 2 export is now optional (set inPreferences).

36. The default precision used by the Control Import dialog can now be controlled. Set bythe preference variable ControlPointImportDefault.

37. Zoom levels are no longer restricted by image size - at extreme zoom levels the imageand vector data now draw correctly.

38. Text fields that exceed the column width in a table will now have '...' appended tothem rather than displaying a series of #'s like number fields do. This applies toexported table data also.

39. The number of sides used to to display the cylinder for lines in the 3D Viewer is now configurable in the preferences dialog.

40. If a Surface Draw Mark is placed on a surface that does not have it's 3D position yetfully defined, a warning message will tell you which points/objects the surface relies onthat do not have a 3D position.

41. If you select a surface that does not have a 3D position for inclusion in anOrtho-Photo Export an error message will explain which points/objects are preventing thesurface from having a valid 3D position.

42. When a Point Table closes, if no other windows are open, the line and surface markingtools will now disable.

43. If Ortho-Photo Export fails the cursor will no longer stay as an hourglass.

44. The width of lines displayed in the 3D Viewer no longer change when a project isscaled.

45. The Setup Wizard now sets the diretory path when it's changed so next time an openfile dialog is used it starts at the last location a file was obtained from.

46. Using the Project Photos dialog to re-open two or more photos will now tile theopened windows.

47. The Visibility and Project Photos toolbar buttons are now toggle buttons, this meansthe buttons can be used to open and to close their associated windows.

48. You can no longer delete points when in Measure mode.

49. Selecting multiple photos in the open photos dialog and pressing the Open button willnow cause these photos to be opened (if not open already) and tiled.

50. When a Table View is opened it now sizes to fit the columns configured for display.

51. The 'show' check boxes on the scale/rotate dialog have been removed since thescale/rotate points are now shown with tags.

52. A new "Thick" properties has been added for line and edge display. When checked inthe Visibility d Dialog, all lines on all open photos are drawn with a thicker line forgreater visibility. The thickness of the line can be changed from the preferencesdialog.

53. A few areas where PhotoModeler still used fixed colors in the user interface havebeen changed to use the correct UI colors as specified in the Windows settings.

54. When referencing mode starts it now automatically selects the currently active photoas the source.

55. Two new zoom capabilities have been added for photographs. The right click menu nowhas 'Zoom previous', which resets the photograph to the most previous zoom (ie. if youjust zoomed in with area tool, the zoom-previous command will return the photo display tothe display just before that zoom area), and 'Zoom 1:1'. which changes the photo zoom soone photo pixel is displayed for each screen pixel.

56. If there is an error writing a DXF file PhotoModeler will no longer shut down afterwarning you, it will just abort writing the file.

57. When a project containing an unoriented photo that was set to "do not use" wasprocessed, points computed by global optimization that also appeared on this photo wouldbe degraded back to an "intersection only" type calcuation right after processingcompleted. This no longer occurs.

58. Point tightness is now scaled by user Scale/Rotate to provide more realistic numbersrelative to the user defined project size (Project Info Dialog). - absolute tightness =point tightness scaled by user defined project scale (if defined in Scale/Rotate) - %tightness = absolute tightness / user project size (project info dialog) * 100.0

59. Global Optimization (bundle adjustment) has been completely rewritten for Pro 4.0.Some of the changes are:- added edges as "first class" processed objects (like points)- added weighted and absolute constraints support- minor efficiency improvements- the approximated positions of camera stations are no longer treated as observations(this will reduce the need to reprocess the same project to lower the total error dialog,this will increase the probablity that bundle will pull in and solve even withincorrectly oriented stations, and this will make error propogation (standard deviationsfor points after processing) more useful and more accurate)- the approximated positions non-control points in a non-free network adjustment (iewhere there are control points) are no longer treated as observations- the approximated values of camera parameters are no longer treated as observations infull and self calibrations- the code has been completely restructured to handle the adjustment of camera stations,camera parameters (self-calibration, full calibration and field calibration), points,edges, and constraints in a more modular and robust fashion- the restructuring also gives more flexibility for future enhancements

60. The 3D viewer symbol sizes (for points, lines and camera stations as found on theOptions Dialog) are now saved with the project (pmr). The symbols sizes for newlycreated projects and pre-4.0 projects default to the ini file settings.

61. The Point Table now shows all points not just those with 3D position.

62. Photo Properties dialog (used to be Camera Station dialog) will now set the camerastation angles and position correctly even if the project has a scale/rotate set.

63. The rubber-band temporary line (used for line, edge, curve, cylinder, ref. helperline etc) is now drawn using a new method that guarantees the line will always havecontrast with the background no matter its color. This method does have slightly lowerconstrast for pure white and black backgrounds. This can be turned off by settingNewXOR=0 in the ini file in section [General].

64. The surface tool now supports creation of 3, 4 and multi-point surfaces as well assurfacing to Edges and Curves.

65. The Curve Helper mode and Curve Helper point have been completely removed. NURBScurves replace the need for the Curve Helper (and do a much better job!). The ReferenceHelper line that appeared and helped one pick a point when referencing between twooriented photos has been replaced by Referencing Auto-Drive. When a pre-4.0 pmr projectis loaded into Pro 4.0 or later, all Curve Helper points (those that appeared as X withsmall c on the photographs) are converted to normal 3D Points but with their "Use inProcessing" flag set to "no". This way Global Optimization ignores the older Curve Helperpoints just as it did in Pro 3.1b and earlier.

66. An undo of a point reference or undo of a point unreference would not update thePoint Table correctly. This has been fixed.

67. Changing a Material will no longer cause a full update of the 3D Viewer unless itaffects more than 10 objects.

68. Some project would display "fixed" for point precision when scaled/rotated. This hasbeen corrected.

69. Pressing the 'x' button on the Export dialog now acts the same as Cancel in allsituations.

70. Removing a photo with only cylinders on it now gives a warning that you are about todelete marks (as it does when you have other marks on the photo).

71. The number of surface draw points on a surface is now shown in the Status Bar when aSurface is selected.

72. There is now a Copy Camera button on the Project Cameras dialog giving you singleclick duplication of Cameras in a project.

73. The Total Error Dialog now shows the correct number of iterations (vertical bars) inthe text section at the bottom (used to start at 0 but now starts at 1 which makes moresense). It also does not count the vertical seperator bar in the case of two stageprocessing.

74. Certain types of failure to process (global optimize) are due to a problem with asingle point. In 3.1 this failure is just reported generically like other failures but inPro 4.0, you get told the point number so you can investigate it (and perhaps correct theproblem).

75. InverseCamera and resection can now be done using "frozen" points as control. Thisallows one to execute a normal project, then freeze the object points, mark/referencethem on a new unknown photo and do an InverseCamera. Makes doing combined known/unknowncamera projects faster and easier (no need to use an external control file).

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0Summary

The Premier Software for Measuringand Modeling the Real-World! Thank you for taking the PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 tour. As you can see,there is a lot of information to absorb. PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 is amajor upgrade and we hope these webpages have provided you withthe information you need. If you have questions not answered inthese pages, please email us at [email protected].

Finally, here is a quick summary of PhotoModeler Pro 4.0.

Main New Features

PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 contains many major and minor improvementsand enhancements. Here are a few:

NURBS CurvesEdgesNew Surfacing CapabilitiesConstraintsImproved Single Photo Project CapabilitiesProjectionsImproved Referencing FunctionsPhoto RotationNew Zoom FunctionsObject and Point PropertiesImproved Projects Data SpreadsheetsRight Mouse MenusNew Expanded ToolbarUser PreferencesMuch more!

Benefits

Benefits to the user of PhotoModeler Pro 4.0 include:faster, easier and more accurate projectsimprovements in the tools for modeling of complex objectshandles more single photo projectsadds and improves featuresimproves overall ease-of-useupgrades to a more modern User Interface

AdvantagesPhotoModeler Pro software is used for many different applications.Users will find many advantages when using Pro 4.0 for their work.Highlights of these advantages include:

Accident Reconstructionhandle more complex single photo projectsimproved handling of control points for Inverse Camera andhigh accuracy projectsimproved access and control of project data with newProperties and Spreadsheet functionsmodel more complex objects and scenes using new Edge andCurve toolsimproved internal algorithms for better accuracy

Architecturehandle single photo projects, including historical or archivephotosmodel structures even if some features are obstructed orhiddenmodel more complex objects and scenes using new Edge andCurve toolsfield calibration for greater accuracy with large structures

Archaeologyhandle single photo projects, including historical or archivephotosmodel more complex objects and scenes using new Edge andCurve toolsimproved access and control of project data with newProperties and Spreadsheet functions

Engineeringmodel more complex objects and scenes using new Edge andCurve toolsimproved internal algorithms for better accuracyimproved Sub-Pixel target marking for higher accuracyimproved access and control of project data with newProperties and Spreadsheet functionsfield calibration for greater accuracy

3D Graphics / Multimedia / Web / eCommercemodel more complex objects and scenes using new Edge andCurve toolsimproved Surfacing functions for realistic photo-textured 3Dmodelscreate 3D models from single photos

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