View planning and mesh refinement effects on a semi-automatic three-dimensional photorealistic texture mapping procedure

Abstract

A novel three-dimensional (3-D) photorealistic texturing process is presented that applies a view-planning and view-sequencing algorithm to the 3-D coarse model to determine a set of best viewing angles for capturing the individual real-world objects/building's images. The best sequence of views will generate sets of visible edges in each view to serve as a guide for camera field shots by either manual adjustment or equipment alignment. The best view tries to cover as many objects/building surfaces as possible in one shot. This will lead to a smaller total number of shots taken for a complete model reconstruction requiring texturing with photo-realistic effects. The direct linear transformation method (DLT) is used for reprojection of 3-D model vertices onto a two-dimensional (2-D) images plane for actual texture mapping. Given this method, the actual camera orientations do not have to be unique and can be set arbitrarily without heavy and expensive positioning equipment. We also present results of a study on the texture-mapping precision as a function of the level of visible mesh subdivision. In addition, the control points selection for the DLT method used for reprojection of 3-D model vertices onto 2-D textured images is also investigated for its effects on mapping precision. By using DLT and perspective projection theories on a coarse model feature points, this technique will allow accurate 3-D texture mapping of refined model meshes of real-world buildings. The novel integration flow of this research not only greatly reduces the human labor and intensive equipment requirements of traditional methods, but also generates a more appealing photo-realistic appearance of reconstructed models, which is useful in many multimedia applications.