Step 6

6.0 Building and Refining a Model

To build a model press F3; or select the Tools->Build 3D Model menu item; or press the Build Model button on the image toolbar.

After the model is built the program automatically starts Real2Virtual Viewer with the new model created. The model may be viewed at any time by selecting the Tools->View Model menu item.

The viewer will by default view the Front of the object. If you would like to start the viewer in one of the other Standard Viewpoints, select one of these from the Tools->Initial View sub-menu.

Tip: Build an un-textured model to start with, when the shape of the model is correct then apply texture.

Using the viewer to refine a model

The viewer may be used to save any view of the model, as a JPEG file. This file also contains information about the model's orientation. These special JPEG files are called Simulated Views.

To refine the shape of the model, without needing to take more photos with the camera, save a simulated view using the viewer. Then load this into the project using the Project->Files-> Add/Remove Simulated Views, add the image to the list of project images.

This image may now be used as if it had a viewpoint cue defined already (as this information was attached to the image by the viewer program). Add silhouette cues to the image , and rebuild the model, to refine the model's shape.

If necessary this process may be repeated using further simulated views.

Editing Build Settings

Select the Project->Settings menu option and select the Build tab. The following dialog is shown,

Modeller comes with 2 builders, the newest one and the previous version. By default the newest builder is used. However, you may wish to use the older version if the newest one encounters an error. When reporting bugs please try both builders and report the outcome of each.

After a build Real2Virtual Viewer is started to display the model, you can disable this by de-selecting the Launch Real2Virtual Viewer checkbox.

When exporting models to VRML the VRML files is displayed when the export is complete. Again you can disable this feature by de-selecting the Launch VRML Viewer checkbox.

If you are exporting VRML for use by IBM's HotMedia program then select the Ensure VRML is IBM Hotmedia compatible checkbox. Note that in this case you will only be allowed to export VRML2.0 format files to ensure compatibility with Hotmedia. Also the files created will be tailored for optimal use by Hotmedia. Do not set this option for other kinds of VRML export.