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Create and edit an alignment

You can improve the accuracy of the georeferenced position and orientation of your camera sessions by creating an alignment. With an alignment, you can also refine the internal camera definition parameters.

Create an alignment

To create an alignment, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Home tab, click New Alignment .

  2. Provide a name for the alignment in the Alignment Name text box.

  3. In the Camera Sessions section, check the camera sessions you want to include in the alignment. Select the capture session check box to include all camera sessions within the capture session. Uncheck the boxes for the ones you do not want to include.

    By default, all camera sessions containing at least six images are included.

    Note:

    For multiple capture sessions, all capture sessions must have the same target spatial reference.

    When you check a capture session, all the camera sessions in it are automatically checked.

  4. Optionally, optimize the camera calibration settings of the camera sessions.

    The calibration settings are contextual to the selected camera session. In the Camera calibration settings for section, click the drop-down menu and select a camera session. Check the camera settings you want optimized by the alignment.

    1. Check Optimize Focal Length to estimate the focal length of the camera.

    2. Check Optimize PPA to estimate the Principal Point of Autocollimation (PPA).

    3. Check Optimize Distortion to model the distortion of the camera based on the Distortion Model stated directly below.

    The optimization is applied to the selected camera session.

    Reality Studio will provide reasonable camera calibration settings depending on your input data.

    Tip:

    To apply calibration settings to multiple camera sessions at once, follow these steps:

    1. In the Camera Sessions section, select the desired dataset or session for Dataset or Capture Session.

    2. Choose the camera calibration settings you want to apply in the check boxes below.

    3. The selected settings are applied to all camera sessions within the chosen dataset or capture session.

  5. Optionally, under Control Points, click Import Control Points to add them to the alignment.

    Note:

    If you have already imported control points into your project, check the box to include them here.

    Only control points with the same spatial reference as the selected camera sessions can be used.

    Learn how to import control points

    Tip:

    If the control points have existing manual image measurements, you can check the manual image measurements from the drop-down menu below the control points to include them in the alignment.

  6. In the Workspace section, click Browse , choose the workspace where the alignment will be processed, and click OK.

    You can either specify a path to an existing workspace or choose an empty folder. Reality Studio will automatically create the required folder structure. If you plan to contribute to this reconstruction from other machines, ensure that the workspace, as well as all input data, is available from the network.

    Tip:

    A default workspace can be defined on the General page of the Options dialog box.

  7. Optionally, edit the values in the Standard Deviations section:

    1. For Camera Sessions, provide the standard deviations of the position and rotation for the camera sessions.

    2. For Control Points, provide the standard deviations for the control points.

    Reality Studio will recommend reasonable standard deviations depending on your data.

    In cases where rotation data is known to be highly inaccurate or unreliable, setting the rotation standard deviation to a value above 60 may enhance the results.

  8. Optionally, select a Region of Interest geometry from the drop-down menu.

  9. Expand the Advanced Settings section, if necessary, and check the Optimize Lever-Arm Misalignment check box.

  10. Click Create.

    Learn how to process an alignment.

    Tip:

    Alternatively, click the Create drop-down arrow and choose one of the following options:

    • Create and Submit—Create the alignment and add it to the workspace.

    • Create, Submit and Start Contribution—Create the alignment, add it to the workspace, and start contributing.

The alignment is created and appears in the project tree.

Edit the alignment settings

To edit the alignment settings, complete the following steps:

  1. Select the alignment in the Project Tree pane.

  2. On the Alignment tab, click Settings .

  3. Edit the alignment settings as necessary.

  4. Click Save.

Changing settings will result in a reprocessing of the alignment.

Alignment template

An alignment template is a .json file that stores all the parameters entered in the Alignment pane. You can export a template to save your settings and import it later to restore those values.

Export an alignment template

To export alignment settings to a new template file:

  1. In the Alignment pane, click Manage Alignment template and click Export Template .

  2. Browse to the desired location and enter a name for the template.

  3. Click Save.

    The alignment template is saved to the specified location.

Tip:

To merge the current alignment settings into an existing reconstruction template, click Extend Template .

Import an alignment template

To import an alignment template:

  1. In the Alignment pane, click Manage Alignment template and click Import Template .

  2. Browse to the template file, select it, and click OK.

    The Alignment pane is populated with the values from the template.

Set a default alignment template

To set a default alignment template:

  1. Click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the list of side tabs, click Options.

    The Options dialog box appears.

  2. If necessary, click General.

  3. Under Default templates, for Alignment, click Browse .

  4. Select the application template and click OK.

Every time you use the Alignment pane, the values automatically fill using the alignment template.

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