More software...

Here is a screen capture from my first test of Photoscan, a software package for photogrammetry that lets you export models and DEMs for use in a GIS. This is some pretty cool stuff. The main drawback of photoscan is that, unlike the other software that I have preferred (hypr3d, photo synth, and 123dcatch), this is not distributed "cloud" computing. As such it tends to hog the processor for hours at a time. I first tried to do a high res model with 190 photos. The first of 3 steps took 12 hours.

This is a top down look of area AA at the Chalcolithic site of Marj Rabba:

Stereoscopic Images - Maitlands Mesa

Ive just been playing with Stereoscan to see how well agisoft products works at creating 3d models. Stereoscan can make suprisingly awesome 3d models using only 2 photos, but what it is really for is creating traditional stereoscopic images. Below is a stereo pair of 2 photos taken with our fishing pole PAP setup at Maitlands Mesa, Jordan.

Stereoscopic images are made by taking 2 photos of an object from slightly different angles, approximating the different perspectives that your two eyes give you naturally. If you focus on the two images correctly, you can view the original scene or object in 3D. Here is a link to some more in depth directions for how to view these.

This is structure MTSS11, which we excavated extensively, but these photos were taken before excavations began:

Here is a nice 3-d model of a stone lined pit at Marj Rabba. This was excavated in 2010 and 2011 but remains in fairly good condition. This pit is cutting two of the enigmatic round features which make up the bulk of the architecture in this area of the site: