Week 6 Photogrammetry Lab

Initial Steps/Preparation

For this week, we had many buildings to pick from that we would be modeling in 3D. I selected Aster House because I was somewhat familiar with the building. I should have considered the challenges that picking this building would bring in terms of this modeling assignment.

It is very far away from anywhere I normally go to throughout my day-to-day at Carleton. The only time I am near it is when I am going to the Rec Center. I tried taking pictures on my way back, but I go at night and it was far too dark to take any pictures, so I had to return another day to get my 30 pictures. As shown below in this picture, some sides were difficult to take pictures of because of where the house is. There is an issue with elevation and getting it to register in the program.

Aster House is a residential building in Lilac Hill. It was constructed very recently.

Major Issues

For the entire term, I have been using the computers in the computer lab for my coursework done (while in class). I leave my laptop in my dorm unless it is required for a class. Apparently, ReCap Pro can’t be installed in the computer lab. I was able to use the trial version but the version I need to be able to export was not working. It was a major hurdle and my dorm is a 13 minute walk from the class, so going back was not an option. Instead of the embeds, I will send screenshots of my work.

I see why we need 30 pictures, the more data there is, the more accurate the model will be. I miscounted and only took 29 pictures, but I don’t think the 30th picture would have miraculously fixed it. The orientation on some of my pictures were a bit off, but due to elevation issues, I couldn’t snap a picture of the back side and a good chunk of my photos were from the side of the house at a lower elevation, which weren’t able to be used by the program. As a result, the back is completely missing, but I am glad my model still somewhat resembles a house.

Questions

How does moving from passive observer to active modeler change your thinking on communicating about campus, lived experience and history to various publics?

It sort of changes the perspective of “seeing the world” and “looking at the world.” I may not have taken much thought into certain elements of a building. If I am being honest, I lived in Aster House for a singular term and I noticed a lot of things this time I didn’t notice at all during the Spring term I was there. I knew it was on a hill, but I didn’t consider the viewpoint of the side being obscured, part of the basement being visible from the front, and some of the finer details. Modeling forces you to take on a different lens.

How does attempting to model a building compare to simply viewing one through photographs or maps?

In a photograph, things are often made to look presentable. Look at this picture from the Carleton Website:

They paint a pretty picture. The camera isn’t pointed towards a basement or considering an angle of an unsightly part. We see what they want us to see, and that often isn’t a 360 degree view of the exterior. A map gives us an idea of where it is situated but a Google Map on the standard viewer won’t let you know much about the relative elevation, the color of the building, etcetera. You have to click in to see those details. You really do notice these details when being forced to model something.