Readme PTStereo 2.1

Changes to version 2.0b3:

o first Linux and Win32 version.

Changes to version 2.0b1:

o Arbitrary many input images can
be used

o Map-to-map option: A map or ground plan 
of an object can be used as one
of the input images.

o World coordinates of camera positions
are individually settable or can be
calculated.

o 3DMF output option added.


Changes to version 0.1:

o Textures for texture mapping can be selected from
  different images.
o Front end 'PTPicker' added for simple 
  triangulation.
o Versioning has been adjusted to the
  library file 'pano12.lib'.
  
  
General:
=======

PTStereo creates 3D-worlds from sets of photographs.
Applications range from object movies to terrain 
visualization. Any set of images can be used 
without alignment requirements. 3D-data can be
extracted for any feature visible in both images,
as long as the images have different viewpoint
(non-zero stereo base). 

User input involves the triangulation of all
images: Corresponding feature points have to be 
identified, and connected to a mesh consisting
of triangles. The output of PTStereo is a 
3D-world ready to be viewed with any VRML or 3DMF-browser.
This world consists of a texture mapped indexed face
set. In addition, world coordinates of all feature
points and camera positions are calculated and
can be used for measurements.


Installation:
=============

Same as PTStitcher.


Using PTStereo:
===============

PTStereo should be used as helper for the
frontend 'PTPicker'. Using PTPicker, a textfile
is generated consisting of feature point coordinates
and triangles. Download the file
<http://www.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch/examples.zip>.
for an example.

More Uses:
==========

(1) The final Project file contains
vertex coordinates in Meshwork syntax. These
can be cut and pasted into mesh file to
generate a 3D-mesh for editing in Meshwork.

(2) The final Project file contains
commands ('o'-lines) for Panorama Tools:
Execute these lines in the adjust-submenu
(mode 'insert', 'use script') and the images
texture0.jpg and texture1.jpg are transformed
to have parallel film planes. They can then
be used for view interpolation  with any
Morphing software, or for stereo viewing.


Accuracy depends on the distance of an object relative
to the stereo base. Distances much larger (eg > 20 times)
or features much smaller than the stereo base are not well
resolved.



Enjoy.

Helmut Dersch
der@fh-furtwangen.de

-------------------------------------
Spherical Panoramas, Macro Panoramas, 
Free Panorama Software:
<http://www.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch>