Mxg Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Hey guys I am trying my hardest to get the camera I am trying to setup somewhat perfect for this picture using camera matching and it is probably by far one of the toughest things I have ever had to do in Max. It never comes out right, so i'm wondering if any of you guys could help me out. I've attached the picture I am trying to do the camera matching on and the building I am trying to fit on properly. The red lines on the picture I was trying to align the model onto that but I could never get the model to stay a good size it would always be to small, however after reading many articles on the net it seems the camera matching is my one way to fix this. Please help me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAcky Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Are you using the camera match utility? The proper way to do a camera match is to have a site survey completed with specific points taken (points visible to camera) then use the camera match utility to create the match. I recently used it for the first time in a paid job and it worked perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Nelson Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 You need to apply your background image to your viewport in max. Make sure that the render dimensions match the pixel dimensions of your image. Then in the viewport it will be easier lining up the model to your background image. Chances are you won't get it absolutely perfect, but close enough to work with in Photoshop. Camera match can do some pretty weird things unless you have enough accurate points to match up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAcky Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 sometimes it can do wierd things if you have too many Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Hamelrijckx Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 In this case you could do it with the camera match utility of sketchup, it's extremely easy to use and it goes very fast. I have the impression that the red lines are too arbitrary, and not parallel to the real ones. Take care with that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Thomas Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Check the EXIF info in the photograph if possible to work out what focal length of lens was used. You may neeed to apply a multiplier depending on the camerea. Then position your camera at the rough location and height the photo was taken from, it helps if you have a cad plan. Set the correct focal length of lens to match the camera. As said already, use the photo as a viewport background, set the render dimensions to be the same as the original and enable safe frame. Tweak the position of your camera/target till things line up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxg Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 Well It seems after hours of camera matching and tons of trail and error I am finally able to produce something decent to work with in photoshop I will post results later after I do the touching up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil poppleton Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Well It seems after hours of camera matching and tons of trail and error I am finally able to produce something decent to work with in photoshop I will post results later after I do the touching up. It gets easier the more you do, trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias_marks Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I agree that the best/ most accurate way to do things is from a site survey, get your camera focal info, and use the camera match utility. However I've also had the camera match utility do some very funny things. A lot of times there's just not the info to approach it that way, so here's a little write up I did a while back I hope is helpful if the most accurate solution isn't really required but needs to look good - Import all of the surrounding buildings from google ketchup warehouse into sketchup (if you can). Export as a one object .3ds with all textures into Viz. This way I got the correct shadows and reflections. This only worked out really well because Denver is so well built up in the sketchup warehouse. Make this "site" object a matte object that doesn't affect the alpha. This also helps to align to buildings of the site photograph. - Set the background photo in the viewport. Always turn the safe frame on to make sure the BG image when doing adjustments so it is being scaled correctly to the right aspect ratio. - Camera. I use a vray phys camera for this scene and begin to play with lining things up. Since I imported the 3d site from ketchup, I set the camera exactly where I was standing on the real site. Then, there's about 3 or 4 settings I tweak and play with until I get the angle right (see in the image below) Since you've placed the camera correctly on the site, you shouldn't have to move the camera at all, and just play with these specific settings. Take a look at the "walkthrough" part of the help file to figure out what those little footprints do. I use the over-ride shortcuts to use the ASDW keys while in walk through mode to look around and "walk" around a bit to line things up. Use the Film gate and focal length instead of the perspective button I've crossed out. Alternatively, if you're using a Regular Max camera, you can use this perspective adjustment next to the footprints in conjunction with a camera correction modifier. this is a clip from this longer post I did - http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/26350-tower-wip-2.html#post182426 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxg Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 I agree that the best/ most accurate way to do things is from a site survey, get your camera focal info, and use the camera match utility. However I've also had the camera match utility do some very funny things. A lot of times there's just not the info to approach it that way, so here's a little write up I did a while back I hope is helpful if the most accurate solution isn't really required but needs to look good this is a clip from this longer post I did - http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/26350-tower-wip-2.html#post182426 Hey thanks a lot for this Will definitely be giving it a look over thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 The next time you try this when you go to take your picture try bring along an object that you can easily model 1:1 like a card board box. Place it in the foreground of the picture you are taking, make sure to take a second picture from the exact same location so you can have a clean background to composite on. It should then be a simple operation to model the box and camera match it to the one in the picture. This should be a lot easier than trying to match up property lines or points that you aren't exactly sure where they are or how accurate they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias_marks Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 The next time you try this when you go to take your picture try bring along an object that you can easily model 1:1 like a card board box. Place it in the foreground of the picture you are taking, make sure to take a second picture from the exact same location so you can have a clean background to composite on. It should then be a simple operation to model the box and camera match it to the one in the picture. This should be a lot easier than trying to match up property lines or points that you aren't exactly sure where they are or how accurate they are. Nice idea maxer! I'm definitely going to use that on my next shoot. Thanks so much for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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