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Generate Optimized 3D Models from Phase One Imagery

Eatay Ben Shechter
  • Updated

Overview

Urban planners, engineers, and city officials face a critical challenge: how to create highly accurate 3D models for large-scale mapping, virtual surveying, and infrastructure inspection—without compromising efficiency or precision.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, this challenge was tackled head-on with Skyline’s PhotoMesh and Phase One’s PAS 880 Aerial Camera System, delivering a highly-detailed PhotoMesh 3D mesh at an incredible 1.5 cm per pixel resolution, in under 15 hours of processing time.

With PhotoMesh’s ability to process native Phase One Intelligent Image Quality (IIQ) images, users can seamlessly generate engineering-grade 3D models and ultra-high-resolution true-orthophotos. The integration of high-resolution nadir and oblique aerial imagery with advanced photogrammetry processing enables faster, more scalable, and precise urban mapping. 

Click here to open in TerraExplorer Fusion a highly-detailed PhotoMesh 3D mesh model of Little Rock, Arkansas, generated from Phase One PAS 880 imagery.

phaseone.png

This tutorial outlines the steps to generate optimized models for the Phase One PAS 880 System:

Step 1. Organizing the IIQ Images

Unzip the attached PAS880_PhotoMesh_Import into the folder which will hold the IIQ photos. 
Organize the Phase One IIQ photos into sub-folders based on the seven camera positions:

  • AFT
  • FWD
  • LFT
  • NADIR_LFT
  • NADIR_NIR
  • NADIR_RGT
  • RGT

For each camera collection, the CollectionProperties.xml file configures the correct camera model and coordinate system. When the photos are loaded into PhotoMesh, PhotoMesh will create separate collections for each sub-folder.

Step 2. Loading Photos into PhotoMesh

Start a New Project in PhotoMesh.

  1. Start PhotoMesh and click New Project. The New Project dialog is displayed.
    pmnewprojpic.png
    newprojdialog.png
  2. Type a name for the project and browse to the location in which to save your project. Then click OK. The Add Photos Wizard is displayed.

Import and Define the Data

  1. In the Add Photos Wizard, select Load Photo Folder.
    2025-03-27 10_39_01-Add Photos Wizard.png
  2. Browse to the folder containing your photos. If you select multiple folders or a folder with sub-folders, a dialog is displayed asking if you want to create a separate collection for each sub-folder. Click Yes to create. This allows you to change collection properties for each group of photos.
  3. Once the photos have finished loading, click Next. The photo collections’ basic properties are displayed in the Add Photos Wizard.
  4. For each of your collections, under Focal Length Normalization, select Focal length and pixel size.
  5. Click Edit in PhotoMesh.

Adjust the Camera Orientations

After the collections are loaded, their orientations need to be adjusted. 

  1. In the Project Panel, select the Photos group. The Photos list is displayed showing two tabs. Click the Collections tab. 
  2. In the property sheet, to the right of the Collections list, scroll down to the Advanced Position section. Set the following values for each collection:
    • FWD: Rotate Pitch = -45
    • RGT: Rotate Pitch = -90, Roll Offset = -42
    • LFT: Rotate Pitch = -90, Roll Offset = 42
    • AFT: Rotate Pitch = -135
    • NADIR_NIR: Rotate Pitch = -90
    • NADIR_LEFT: Rotate Pitch = -90
    • NADIR_RGT: Rotate Pitch = -90

         

Step 3. Copying the IIQ Configuration File into the Fuser Folder

Copy the attached iiq.config folder into the Fuser folder. During the build process, PhotoMesh uses this configuration to convert the IIQ files to SMPT, PhotoMesh's internal format, as well as adjust photo parameters based on Phase One guidelines. Once the build's data preparation step is complete, you can open a photo inside PhotoMesh's Photo Viewer to ensure the colors, contrast, and details in shadows and highlights meet your processing standards. For further information, refer to the Phase One documentation. If you want to use different IIQ settings, contact Phase One directly.

Step 4. Performing a Full Build in PhotoMesh

Run a Complete Project build in PhotoMesh to generate the full 3D model.

More about: Building a project in PhotoMesh >

Also see our Step-by-step build tutorials >

Step 5. QA and Retouch Using PhotoMesh Tools

Use PhotoMesh’s manual retouch tool for:

  • Cleaning up water bodies.
  • Fixing artifacts caused by reflective surfaces.
  • Addressing changes in imagery during the flight (e.g., moving vehicles, construction, temporary structures).

More about: Editing Mesh Geometry and Texture >

Click here to see another example of the Skyline-Phase One collaboration: a high-resolution mesh model of a cell tower. The data was captured using the Phase One P3 and P5 cameras, equipped with global shutter sensor technology and processed with the latest version of PhotoMesh, leveraging Depth Anything V2 for automated mask creation and the Long Lens preset. 

 

 

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