Photogrammetry help ....

[BigAl07]

I've embarked on a new side adventure, trying to learn Photogrammetry more and more. So I've got my DATA and it's been combined into an Otho, DEM, and a 3D model. The problem is, I have all these files ready to go and I have no idea what to do with them.

The files I have are:
PointCloud.laz
Ortho.tif
DEM.tif
Ortho.tfw

And whole folder called 3D with the following files:
3D,jpg
3D1,jpg
3D2,jpg
3D.mtl
3D,obj


Now what? LOL!

I can open the OBJ in 3D viewer but that's a horribly clunky interface.

Normally when I process the images myself I simply "EXPORT" them directly to SketchFab but I had a friend process these to see if his would turn out cleaner than mine (and it seems to have be a good bit cleaner).

Any suggestions?

 

[jaja6009]

You can usually view the outputs in the photogrammetry software that made them.

Also check this out: https://support.pix4d.com/hc/en-us/articles/202558499-Pix4D-outputs-with-other-software-by-output

For your Point Cloud try QT Reader Download - Applied Imagery
QT Reader is very fast in displaying your clouds. It works on LAS and LAZ.


For Ortho and DEM tifs Try Arc Map/Pro, QGIS and Global Mapper

The Ortho Tfw is needed by some software for some tifs to state how the tif file is georeferenced.

The 3D folder is your 3D model in OBJ. Various programs can open it, but in my opinion they all seem clunky. I don't use OBJ 3D models, I use tiled models like Cesium which have several online viewers for them. Maybe someone else can chime in on this one.

A low cost option is Agisoft Metashape Cloud. It will display all of the above for easy sharing, is a cloud based solution and is low cost. I am pretty sure you can use this even if you do not own Metashape Pro. It is $10 per month to host 100 GB of Data. Agisoft Metashape: Cloud


Check this out for Sketchfab: https://help.sketchfab.com/hc/en-us/articles/202600873-Materials-and-Textures


I assume the outputs are from Pix4D. But if it is Metashape have your friend export as a tiled model. Agisofts tiled models come out photo realistic.

Example: Agisoft Cloud — Intelligent photogrammetry in the cloud

 

[jaja6009]

After reading your post again, here is some more info:

Point Clouds are like LiDAR data. Photogrammetry makes very dense clouds, but they cannot penetrate trees and foilage like some LiDAR can. They are more accurate than models when measuring distances and such since the models add triangles to connect the dots so to speak.
Point Clouds come in many different formats but LAS and LAZ are common.

Orthos are your maps. They are rectified meaning that every pixel in the map has a perspective of being viewed from perpendicular from above. This is why in your maps you cannot see the sides of buildings like you can in a pure nadir image with its distortions.
Orthos usually come in tif file type and these georeferenced tifs can be viewed and edited in various software.

DEMs are Digital Elevation Models. These elevation models contain everything, while a DTM Digital Terrain Model will have buildings, trees and other objects removed to give you just the ground/terrain.
They are also georeferenced tif files and work in the same software such as Ortho tifs.

The OBJ file and other files are for your 3D textured model. There are various programs that can open and edit them. Usually people just zip together the OBJ and MTL and send it to Sketchfab.

The tfw file is needed by some programs to define how the tif is georeferenced. Usually though, there is a header on the tif file that defines georeferencing.

ESRI products Arc Map/Pro/Online can work with most of these files and have almost endless possibilites, but also cost money and have a large learning curve.
QGIS is free and does a lot of what ESRI does.
Global Mapper is low cost, easier learning curve and can do pretty much all most people need in terms of drone mapping viewing, editing and GIS generation tasks such as contours.

Pointbox is a free online point cloud viewer that you can easily share point clouds.


If you do buy photogrammetry software make sure you demo all of the popular ones. Agisoft Metashape does some really cool things and can output in far more file types than Pix4D.
An example being you can import free state LiDAR data and make your own DEM with it. Its Cloud Service can offer low cost processing and also low cost sharing of ALL of your data to the tune of $10/month for 100GB of data and the data can come from other sources.
Don't get me wrong, Pix4D is also incredible software, but their superior marketing makes them seem like a far better product, when they are very close in terms of real world testing and performance.

 

[BigAl07]

Thank you @jaja6009 for a very thorough and detailed response (both of them). I'll take some time when I get back to my office this evening to dig in and digest everything you so graciously shared.

My goal is to take these files, processed by someone else for me, and be able to open/view them on my computer like I can the projects I've created previously in MetaShape. Unfortunately I don't see a way to "import" these into MetaShape or at leas I haven't figured out how to.

I have MetaShape and have used it many times to process my images into Orthos and 3D models. When I am done with them I Export/Upload them to Skepthfac via the MetaShape to Sketchfab interface.

My latest model from last week, was supposed to be my best one to date because I made several additional "facade" images to help improve the model and hopefully make the facade less "Melting Wax" looking. Well, unfortunately this one turned out by far the WORST model yet. So I reached out to a couple of friends who are more "Photogrammetry Fluent" than myself and had one of them run my images through his software packages. I was hoping that his skills and experience could utilize my DATA and help clean up my model some. Once I know my DATA can produce a clean model I can then learn the steps to create that level of model for future projects. The problem is, my friend who processed my data is in the military in Germany. Not only is there a time zone difference but now he's "Deployed" for who knows how long and out of contact. He has sent me all of the files from the project but all I have is MetaShape and I have no clue what to do with these many files etc.