Half Dome walk-by scan (Photogrammetry scan of a mountain)

thingiverse

If you're looking for a printable half dome model check out http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:268845. This thing is mostly about scanning technique, but the result isn't printable. On our last day of a week-long backpacking trip along the Red Peak Pass Loop, my kids and I hiked out the Panorama trail to Glacier Point. The Panorama trail truly lives up to its name and presents an almost unbroken view of Half Dome for many miles. Just for fun, I decided to create a photogrammetry capture of the famous rock as we hiked by. Over the course of our 4-hour hike, I shot nearly 100 photos. When I processed them in Photoscan, they produced a pretty decent model of the parts of the dome visible from our trail. The software also calculates camera location for each shot, so it also produced a map of where we hiked. A longer lens would have captured more detail, but I only had an 18-55mm lens available. And of course, flying with a plane would have made the whole exercise much easier. We discussed this on the **3D Printing Today podcast**, which is available on iTunes and Stitcher radio. Learn more at http://www.threedprintingtoday.com/