What is Photogrammetry?

 What is Photogrammetry?

   To give an easy understanding of photogrammetry as I myself completely new to this method as well, it is the process of taking a real world object and capturing high resolution photos of the object from a 360 degree view point and then converting the images into 3d points reference in order to create a 3d mesh and texture.

    Breaking down this further it allows for high resolution objects and environments to be processed into full 3d meshes without the need to model them by hand in a sub division workflow or sculpting a mesh using a program like Zbrush. 

Why use Photogrammetry?

    Well the use of photogrammetry was originally implemented for surveying of landscapes to aid in construction and architecture. It has now migrated into the gaming world where it allows developers and artists to speed up the process of creating photo realistic models and environments to implement into their games without the need to do it all by hand.

Therefore this allows studios to make a visually stunning looking game in terms of the fidelity of the models with reduced effort and possibly time, which in turn these resources can be implemented into other areas of the game.

Are there drawbacks to Photogrammetry?

    Yes, like anything there are always compromises or drawbacks to a process. This is something I want to look into and compare with other methodologies in order to be proficient in assessing a situation or a need for something and being able to implement the most effective workflow for that scenario.

    Photogrammetry in itself can also be very time consuming, from the actual process of repeatedly photographing an object from every angle imaginable in order to capture the best data for a clean result to the clean up of the model as well as extra steps to get it game ready such as baking new textures, creating lower poly versions through retopology or decimation, importing the model into a game engine such as unreal to ensure it works correctly and all the problems you could face at that point.

    There is a lot to think about when it comes to using this technique for video game development, as well as the cost factor and entry level of setting it up inside a new studio. To get the best results you can get, the use of expensive 3d scanners and software can be too far of a hurdle for developers to justify when they can have artists do the same quality of work (or close to it) for a lot less. As well as this being an expert in this field takes time and to train someone to that level is a long endeavour which would take years of practice to master.

    For those interested in one way of getting started with photogrammetry that seems feasible on a restricted budget here is a tutorial video I found from a youtube channel named 3D forensics;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2JqiUHXm6A&ab_channel=3DForensics

    This really helped lay out one path of achieving a full 3d model from photogrammetry and I have decided this is the route I will try first as it seems relatively straight forward to get set up and test myself.


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