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Render proposed extension on a photo


weim

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Hi All,

 

My question is this......I am planning on building an extension but wanted to see what this would look like on my house, I was wondering if it is possible / what is done in industry to provide a 3D visual of the proposed extension against a photo as a background image.

 

I'm not sure if AutoCAD is the best tool for this, any recommendations would be much appreciated.

 

I am from a Mechanical Design Engineering background and can use pretty much all the standard CAD packages so would be interested in learning a new software......

 

Thanks in advance.

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I have done this sort of thing many times in 3D Studio Max. In older versions, it used to be a bit more challenging, but since 2014 it has become a lot easier with the use of Perspective Match: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/3DSMax/files/GUID-CA74469E-9320-4801-B3F0-B4E00461689C-htm.html

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Thanks, I shall take a look at that.......this would be a handy tool for builders and alike to show clients what their extension would look like. I'm guessing 3DS Max is the best tool for the job?

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Well, I wouldn't say it's "the best" tool for the job, but it is certainly one of the best. And it plays well with Autocad, so if you wanted to build your model in Autocad, you could then import your CAD .dwg file directly into Studio Max to apply textures/materials and render.

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Yes that's what I plan on doing, model in AutoCAD and Map/Apply materials in max.........was just curious of the other methods available.

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Ok while 3D Max will work and deliver a great end result 2 far easier solutions might be worth looking into.

1. One solution would be Trimble SketchUp Make. It has a very slick "Photo Match" tool that might be just what you are looking for.

Here is a quick overview and tutorial.

 

2. Another to look at would be AutoDesSys Form-Z Free. It has a similar feature called "Match View". Which will allow you to match your model to a photo's view.

Here is a video tutorial.

 

Good luck

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  • 1 month later...

This is my current question too. It's incredible that Acad has no good solution - or perhaps later versions do?

 

Starting from an Acad 3D model, seems there's 2 parts to it - the first is doable but I would appreciate suggestions on the second part.

 

The first part - rotating and scaling the model to match the perspective of a background 'as existing' photo - is easy enough to do using SketchUp.

 

In the model dwg, turn off layers and/or hide entities - leaving just enough edges and vertexes so you'll be able to see to align to the photo;

WBLOCK that as a special 'for export' dwg;

in SketchUp, import that dwg:

use SketchUp's MatchPhoto - Add New Photo and align the guides to match the model's perspective to it - v easy (see Utube etc videos);

without touching any rotate, pan, zoom controls, Save as a skp;

re-export that back to Acad;

without touching any rotate, pan, zoom controls, in View note down the camera and target coordinates that will match the model (in any software) to the photo.

 

In the original model dwg, in Camera type the camera and target coordinates, V>switch to camera view;

in View, notice it's been turned into a Named View;

add the photo to it as Background>Image.

Note that in the photo's jpg Properties (EXIF data) its 35mm-equivalent Focal Length (e.g. it was zoomed to 62mm) may differ from the Lens Length figure given in the Named View's Edit panel (seems to stick on 50mm whatever) - experiment to see whether or not to correct that in the Named View.

 

The dwg model is now in perspective with the photo but this is where the problem starts.

 

The second part seems impossible, in Acad. The dwg model is in perspective but way out of scale and location relative to the photo.

Of course it must not be rotated, but it can't be zoomed or panned either as that changes its perspective.

The only possibility is to effectively zoom/pan the photo background, behind the model, by the Offset and Scale controls in the Named View's Background>Image>Edit dialog.

But that's like trying to do jewelery with a sledge hammer.

 

Acad seems to lack some mode of zoom/pan that I can't get my head around - please show me I'm wrong!

Nearest I can describe is as if zoom/panning across a flat image (i.e. the actual photo plus the model Named View on top of it) without changing the image itself.

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From https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/3DSMax/files/GUID-CA74469E-9320-4801-B3F0-B4E00461689C-htm.html

this seems to describe what's needed in Acad:

While you use Perspective Match, 2D Pan Zoom mode lets you pan (truck) or zoom (dolly) the viewport without changing the rendering frame. In a Camera view, 2D Pan and Zoom does not change the camera's position.

Looks like Adesk only provide this in 3ds Max.

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Yes, that's the same link I posted previously.

 

If you're serious about doing architectural renderings, Autocad really isn't the right tool for the job, unless you incorporate another program into your pipeline. You could build your models in Autocad and then take them into any number of other applications for rendering. Studio Max does a great job, but it is also very expensive and has a very steep learning curve. There are many other programs which are much cheaper and easier to learn.

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Strange that Acad doesn't include an integrated first rate renderer - AFAIK its competitors, Bentley etc, do.

 

What do we think of AccuRender/nXt, as a near-enough integrated renderer (leaving aside whether it will do this particular task)?

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Autocad does have the Mental Ray renderer, which is very good, but it's a stripped down bare bones version.

 

I've never used Accurender, so I can't really comment, but Sketchup + Vray would be a good and relatively inexpensive way to go.

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You mean the RENDER command in Acad gives that stripped down Mental Ray?

 

Excuse beginner's ignorance about rendering, but how does it work, importing an Acad 3D to SU? AFAIK it becomes one single entity in SU, not a Layer-type attribute in sight.

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Autocad uses Mental Ray as it's rendering engine, but the options available are very minimal in comparison to Studio Max which has lots of options and allows you to have total control over the rendered output.

 

When you import a dwg into Sketchup, yes, it does come in as one single object, (called a component), but you can access the individual objects within the component by right clicking on the object and choosing "Edit Component". When you're done editing, just right click again and choose "Close Component". Or you can right click and choose "Explode" if you want to separate the component into individual objects.

 

Sketchup also imports the Autocad layers as well. Just go to the "Window" menu and select "Layers" to open the layers palette.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am guessing that the 3ds Max method is going to work best for you due to the compatibility with AutoCAD, but for the sake of giving options, I'll mention my preferred method.

I have found that Blender + BLAM addon works perfectly for this purpose and is what I have been using to superimpose floor designs over images. I don't know if people are still frowning on Blender or not (older versions were a nightmare to learn. It's still a bit tough, but not bad), but I have had excellent success with it. I'm hoping to make a tutorial at some point, but I probably won't have it up anytime soon. A bonus is that it's free, but I would still be using it even if it weren't.

 

Here are some videos about it:

 

Blender and BLAM links:

https://www.blender.org/

https://stuffmatic.github.io/

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If you're looking to match it up to multiple photos (or video), it MIGHT be worth looking into 3d reconstruction.

 

Going the Autodesk route, you tend to get a decent result out of the box with 123d Catch or Recap 360

Alternatively, Visual SFM gives you more control if you want to put a bit of extra effort into it.

 

 

It also depends on whether you're using it for personal or professional use. I assume that if it's your house, all of the options are viable, but anything commercial will likely drop 123d Catch and VisualSFM from the options.

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