After a 3D mesh model is created in Skyline PhotoMesh, certain tiles may require editing, e.g. to remove a particular building that is being torn down, remove the texture of a vehicle, or to flatten surfaces and correct certain imperfections such as floating components (e.g. electric lines, lamp poles), bumps or irregular surfaces. These imperfections can be edited in TerraExplorer using manual retouch layers, in which you mark surfaces for flattening and floating artifacts for removal. The implementation is then performed in PhotoMesh.
The output of the Manual Retouch tool is a polygonal feature "retouch layer" with attribute information that defines what retouch action should be performed in each area: clean, flatten, and retexture. This "retouch layer" must then be reimported to PhotoMesh. When rebuilding the project, PhotoMesh uses the manual retouch layer to add a set of constraints to the reconstruction algorithms. Most of the constraints defined apply to the mesh model, and the modified model is then retextured using the project’s photos. There is also an option in the Manual Retouch tool to set a specific file texture, e.g., water or grass, for a marked area, instead of basing texturing on the project’s photos.
The manual retouch tool is run on an SQLite retouch layer that was exported from PhotoMesh.
Opening the Tool
The Manual Retouch tool is opened from the Tools tab > Manual Retouch
Retouch Operations
The following retouch operations can be performed:
- Flatten Polygon (Shortcut key: f) – Remove all elements inside a defined volume, and add a flat surface in the area of the 2D polygon. For e.g., filling holes and flattening walls.
- Flatten Profile (Shortcut key: p) – Create multiple flatten polygons by defining a profile line (usually on a roof top) and the base elevation. A flatten polygon is created for each segment of the profile line (from the line to the base elevation). This method is useful for creating retouch polygons in hard to access places, e.g., between buildings.
- Remove Floating (Shortcut key: r) – Remove all elements inside a defined volume. This option is generally used to remove floating elements that aren’t connected to the ground.
- Remove Wire (Shortcut key: w) – Remove thin elements such as power lines by drawing a polyline that marks the wire to be removed. A separate floating polygon is created for each segment of the polyline.
After drawing the retouch polygon or polyline, it can be extruded upwards or frontwards and downwards or backwards using Front buffer and Back buffer sliders.
Display Options
Retouch polygons can be displayed in any of the following ways:
- Volume Colorize – Mark the area for retouching by colorizing all parts of the mesh contained within the extruded polygon.
- Volume Polygon – Mark the area for retouching by displaying 3D polygons based on the extruded polygon.
- Volume No – Mark the area for retouching only with a 2D polygon.
Drawing Surface
Drawing surfaces can be used to create a surface on which to draw your retouch polygon or polyline, e.g., for a model that is not flat or missing corners. The following options are available:
- Horizontal – The surface is aligned horizontally to the area under the cursor.
- Vertical – The surface is aligned vertically to the area under the cursor.
- 3 Points – The surface is aligned to the polygon created by the three points you draw.
More about: Retouching a mesh layer in TerraExplorer >