For my final project, I dove deep into the world of photogrammetry and learned a ton, both through internet tutorials and trial and error. I'll be comparing some of the different tools you can use to complete photogrammetry, which include Autodesk, Photoscan and Trnio, plus, some tips, and the issues I had.

For starters, Autodesk isn't compatible with the Mac OS, so I quickly turned to Photoscan, which costs $179 for the standard version and About $3500 for Photoscan Pro. AGIsoft, Photoscan's developer, offers a free 30-day trial, which is what I used to complete the models for my project. When I first downloaded the software onto my computer, I faced a ton of difficulties, mainly because of the security and privacy settings on my laptop. After going to the settings menu to manually allow the program to open, when I entered the trial code I was provided with, I was faced with this message.

After a little over 2 hours and some internet sleuthing I was able to solve the problem. What you should do is take all the files in the photoscan download and copy it into the applications folder of your laptop. Once you do that, open Terminal to create a path for the program. You should then type in the code:

/Applications/PhotoScanPro.app/Contents/MacOS/PhotoScanPro --activate 11111-22222-33333-44444-55555

In place of the 11111-22222-33333-44444-55555 is where you should enter your trial or purchased license.

After I was finally able to overcome that ordeal, I was finally able to start working. Photoscan is a super user friendly platform and super simple to follow. I really liked this specific tutorial which helped a lot when I was first getting started.

One thing that I thought was really great about Photoscan was that the workflow was super easy to learn and even easier to follow. The system basically outlines each step for you and once you get in the swing of things, it becomes very easy to produce your 3D models. To produce the best models, make sure you take good photos of your subject, with about 40-60% overlap between each one. I learned this produced the most successful models out of all the ones I completed. It can be tedious to take so many but it's worth it in the end when you get a really clean model. Another important thing to consider is lighting. You don't necessarily want to have the flash on, but make sure you're not shooting in a dark space or somewhere with too many shadows. The software also has a harder time trying to construct the object when lighting is off.

For one of the scans in my final project I actually also used the photogrammetry app we were introduced to in class, Trnio, which has a really user friendly software and is definitely more accessible at $0.99. While creating models can be tricky with Trnio, especially when you don't know how well they turn out until after you can preview it (generating can take a while), I did find that the most effective way of photographing your model was in a spiral-like fashion, starting from a low angle, almost looking from below your model. What I really liked about Trnio was how easy it was to use and the wait time was significantly less than Photoscan however, the models definitely weren't the same quality. Also, photographing can be be difficult, especially when it's on a timer and if a crucial image comes out blurry your model won't generate.

Biggest Tips:

Take good photos (DSLRs are nice, but also not necessary!)- I found that I really did not like taking photos with a DSLR and that the camera on my phone could produce really good models, Yes, DSLRs have some good features that help take higher quality photos, leading to higher quality models, but if you don't already own one, there's no need to go out and buy one.

Aim for a good variety of photos, but also with consistent overlap (I would do about 70 for midsize objects such as shoes)

Be patient- it can take a long time for models to generate, especially when you're waiting for your dense cloud to form in photoscan, just remember, good things come to those who wait!