Following on from a previous blog exploring the availability of photogrammetry software capable of creating maps and models from overlapping photographs taken using Small Unmanned Aircraft, this blog considers the application of the same software to ground based imagery.
Digital photogrammetric software such as Agisoft Photoscan, Pix4D and others, is becoming increasingly popular amongst archaeologists because of the speed and accuracy with which complex 3D objects can be modelled, and the ability of these models to convey that complexity. The software performs photogrammetric processing of highly overlapping digital images, to generate 3D spatial data, and is innovative because it can process images taken with a standard digital camera, it is a simple process and it is rapid.
Such software and specifically its implementation of various computer visualisation techniques, such as structure from motion and dense stereo-reconstruction, has effectively re-invigorated the powerful technique of metric photographic survey by lowering the barrier of entry to its use.
