Software Converts 2D Images To 3D 152
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the still-waiting-for-the-avi-to-3ds-converter dept.
from the still-waiting-for-the-avi-to-3ds-converter dept.
eldavojohn writes "Dr. David McKinnon from Queensland University of Technology, has recently launched a site that turns your sets of 2D images into 3D bump maps by way of 8 years of his research. The catch is that you need to have between five and fifteen photos of your object and they must overlap at least 80 to 90 percent. So with a video of an object, one might be able to extract every nth frame and use this site to generate a 3D model. Doctor McKinnon said, 'The full version of this software would be great for realistic learning simulators and training software, where you want everything to look like the real thing. This technology could also be great for museums wishing to turn their display objects into 3D images that can be viewed online. We are even looking into making 3D models of cows to save farmers spending thousands of dollars transporting their cattle vast distances to auction sites, allowing for an eBay style auction website for cattle. Films, animations and computer games could also benefit, since 3D film making is taking over from the traditional 2D method of filmmaking. Another application is allowing people to create 3D models of their own face to use on their avatar in computer games or 3D social networking sites such as Second Life or Sony's Home.' Physorg has more details."
VERY, VERY (Score:0, Informative)
old news.
Re:How much of the image is real? (Score:4, Informative)
So the 3D object in question will only have a front side? That's nowhere near enough for all sides.
It creates a bump map, not a 3D model. Think of a brick wall in a video game. This is simply a texture image stamped on to a rectangle, but newer games use bump maps to make the bricks stick out. This generates that bump map for you.
Re:Why bother (Score:4, Informative)
Any biologist will tell you: the digestive tract is external (there's never any form of membrane that has to be passed to get from one end to the other). I'd suggest that makes cows a torus.
Mmmm.... Having gone from cows' rectums to a torus, who's up for donuts this morning?
Re:VERY, VERY (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Cows are fractal . . . (Score:2, Informative)
Re:How much of the image is real? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually it does create a 3D model. The summary is a bit misleading. I went straight to the website, hoping to get in before the slashdot, and examined some of the results. After the photos are processed a 3D model is built and the bump map is generated off of that. You can also download the model separately as a .ply file.
'Trying to get his PhD'? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Anyone care to explain (Score:4, Informative)
Bump mapping [wikipedia.org] is often used to add textures to otherwise flat surfaces. Basically, the bump map is a channel where the intensity of a pixel represents the height (rather than colour) of the pixel.
It's very similar to this toy [shinyshack.com], which I'm sure you've probably seen before. The bump map represents the 3D shape of the object being portrayed. (It does have certain limitations; since each pixel can only have one height, the bump map can't represent surfaces which fold over themselves... e.g. a bump map of your face would look like your face from the angle it was intended to be viewed from, but from other angles you'd notice that the nostrils were solid underneath.)
Once you've generated a bump map, you can use it to render a true 3D surface, calculating the shadows based on the bump map and the position of the light source.