Photogrammetry Software Recommendations

Groups Cultural Heritage
#1

Hi,

I’m looking for photogrammetry software and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations?
I read the responses to “Industry Thoughts on Photogrammetry Software” which were quite helpful, but as the indented use would be more for buildings and landscape-scale features, I was wondering if there were other options I should consider.

I intend to use photogrammetry primarily for documentation of historic sites, mainly built structures such as buildings, bridges, boats, industrial equipment etc. Most of the photography would be ground based, but I’d like to be able to use drones to survey taller structures and landscapes. As some of our historic sites are undergoing riverbank and shoreline erosion, I was hoping I could use photogrammetry to monitor and measure erosion from year to year (in addition to our current field surveys). Documentation is the primarily goal, so the ability to pull fairly accurate measurements from the models would also be useful, so perhaps something that can use ground control points.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks…

  • Joel

Joel Le Baron
Historic Sites Project Officer
Tourism and Culture | Historic Sites Unit
Yukon Government

#2

Hi Joel - welcome to the Sketchfab Forum!

Echoing the advice in the thread you mention and as you require easy measurements, I’d recommend Metashape, I think they still offer a 30 day trial as well as a discount for educational use.

As a secondary option (and more dependent on your hardware setup), consider RealityCapture, also available as try-before-you-buy.

Both software allow for reconstruction via control points. Have you considered laser scanning for truly accurate 3D documentation?

You might also be interested in reading recommendations in this thread and glam3d.org.

Finally, have a read of these two articles from Historic Environment Scotland whose work covers both documentation and conservation as well as public engagement via Sketchfab:

Hopefully some other people will weigh in with advice too!

#3

Thanks for the feedback Nebulousflynn.
A 3D scanner would be ideal, but for now I think we will test the waters with photogrammetry and hopefully acquire a 3D scanner down the road.
Metashape and Reality Capture were at the top of my list. I think I just need to try them a bit more to see if they fit well with our intended use.
Thanks again for the advice and resources, most appreciated!

  • Joel
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