This article describes the main steps and general recommendations for processing images from HDR panorama cameras in Agisoft Metashape. We thank the company Weiss AG for the provided data set for writing the article.


This article describes the following processing steps:


Add Photos

1. To add photos select Add Photos... command from the Workflow menu.


2. In Add Photos dialog browse the source folder and select files to be processed.



We recommend creating a mask for the black bar at the bottom of the image. You can create it using a rectangular selection on one image. then apply this area to all images. You can find more information about masking in our articles - Masking. Same mask image can be imported for all spherical panoramas at once.


  


Camera Calibration

Spherical camera type should be selected in the Camera Calibration dialog window (browse Camera Calibration command from Tools menu).



Align Photos

The steps to Align photos and generate Model/Mesh are the same as the process for any other sensor. The parameters can be set by the user depending on the particular project characteristics. To start alignment select Align Photos... command from the Workflow menu.



The results of the alignment operation will be shown in the Model view and will include the estimated camera locations and tie point cloud, representing the matching points between the images. 


The positions of the cameras are displayed as spheres.


Metashape calculates bounding box dimensions, orientation and location automatically. But it is recommended to check if any correction is needed because further reconstruction steps deal only with the data inside the volume. Bounding box can be resized, moved, and rotated with the help Resize Region, Move Region, and Rotate Region tools.


If the coordinates of the images are available, you can add them to the project. The coordinates will be displayed in the Reference pane.


Build Point Cloud

Based on the estimated camera positions the program calculates depth information for each camera to be combined into a single point cloud. 


1. Select Build Point Cloud command from the Workflow menu. Set the recommended values for the parameters in the Build Point Cloud dialog as presented on the image below:



2. Click OK button. The progress dialog box will appear displaying the current processing status. To cancel processing click Cancel button.



Build Model

After the point cloud has been reconstructed it is possible to generate a polygonal mesh model based on the point cloud data or depth maps data. The second approach supports GPU acceleration and mostly provides better results for the same depth maps quality for objects and scenes with a lot of minor details.


1. Select Build Model command from the Workflow menu. Set the recommended values for the parameters in the Build Model dialog as presented on the image below:



If Depth maps were built and saved at the previous stage, we recommend using the parameter - Reuse depth maps.



2. Click OK button to start building geometry.


Build Texture

1. Select Build Texture command from the Workflow menu. Set the recommended values for the parameters in the Build Texture dialog as presented on the image below:



2. Click OK button to start building texture.

Export result

The data can be exported from Metashape with the File > Export command. The type of data to be exported (Point cloud, Mesh, Texture, and so on) can be selected from the dropdown menu.