Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

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ccamember
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Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by ccamember »

I have been attempting to learn Aspire through using that trail software package. I have been trying to convert a photo (jpeg file) into a low relief 3d carving. So far I have been unsuccessful. I looked at the Aspire video tutorials and did not find one that was on point. I know this has to have been asked before, but can someone point me in the right direction with some rudimentary instructions?

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Adrian
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by Adrian »

The easiest way to get started is to go to the modelling tab and click the "Create a component from selected bitmap" icon (second to last one on the top row).

Choose the photo you want from the file open dialog that appears and Aspire will automatically create a 3D component from it.

It's highly unlikely to be exactly what you expect though as importing from a photo works best for textures rather than creating full reliefs. You can use it as a basis to sculpt on but the usual way of working with photos to get reliefs is to draw/trace vectors from the photo and then create components from there.

There are lots of tutorials on the support site (http://support.vectric.com) that show the process from that stage.

CraigW
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by CraigW »

You cannot convert a photo to a low relief carving with a couple of mouse clicks.
(Actually you can, but the results are horrendous.)

There are an awful lot of people asking for help on this subject. It is nearly impossible to get good results from a photo. Period.
I make my living as an illustrator and have tried every technique available.

The best success that I am having is sculpting in a program called Zbrush, and importing the file into Aspire. That involves learning a fairly complicated program in addition to Aspire, but the results are worth it.
Even at that, I've been drawing for 40 years – and working with graphics programs, (Illustrator, Photoshop) for about 25 years – and still find it challenging.

I don't want to be discouraging, just stating a reality. If you are willing to put in a lot of time learning software, illustration, anatomy, etc., you will have success. Aspire is an amazing tool, but it's just that: a tool.
Owning a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter. Owning a piano doesn't make you a musician.

There is no easy one-click solution, unfortunately.

ccamember
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by ccamember »

Adrian thank you for your insight and post. I have been playing with Aspire attempting to convert a photo to 3d and have had poor results. I am glay to know it is not just me. I thought I make have been missing a steo (and I may have). Thanks again for your post.
Adrian wrote:The easiest way to get started is to go to the modelling tab and click the "Create a component from selected bitmap" icon (second to last one on the top row).

Choose the photo you want from the file open dialog that appears and Aspire will automatically create a 3D component from it.

It's highly unlikely to be exactly what you expect though as importing from a photo works best for textures rather than creating full reliefs. You can use it as a basis to sculpt on but the usual way of working with photos to get reliefs is to draw/trace vectors from the photo and then create components from there.

There are lots of tutorials on the support site (http://support.vectric.com) that show the process from that stage.

jonnie
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by jonnie »

Hi

Just to qualify - requirements may be

1. At least two photos from different angles.

OR

2. At least two photos with static camera but lights positioned differently.

You can use a single processed photo ( a normal map or a displacement map ) to create a 3D rendering but
each of these processed photos requires two photos and contains information generated from the two views.

A normal map tells you by means of pixel color what angle the surface is at a particular position, if you could paint a mountain viewed from above with
colours telling you the incline at that position then you can use simple 3D geometry to determine the height at each point - 30 steps up a 1:3 incline means
you know you have gone up by a height equivalent to ten steps - its the same principle of geometry and accounting.

Displacement maps tell you something about height above some reference surface generally by means of pixel brightness.

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mikeacg
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by mikeacg »

Here's a fast and dirty way to at least get you started. I wanted to carve a sign for my neighbor for Christmas. He's a logger and uses a Husqvarna (they are very specific about what they use!). I didn't want to spend a lot of time modeling something I would probably never use again. So...
Find a real good black and white picture, import as a bitmap to convert to 3D.
Husky1.jpg
You may have to use "Create vector boundary from selected components" to get rid of the background junk.
Husky2.jpg
Make a duplicate of the model.
Select the bottom copy and apply smoothing (maximum) to it.
Husky3.jpg
Select the top copy and reduce the Z as this is just being used as a texture file for the other layer.
Husky4.jpg
In this example I had the depth of the smoothed model at 1.05 and the depth of the texture model at 0.075 - you will need to play with this a bit to get the desired effect and this may not work with all photos but, like I said, it will get you started. You can build up areas under the image if needed...
Husky5.jpg
Hope this helps!

Mike

jonnie
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by jonnie »

Hi

Just read my previous post - not well written, here is another attempt,

I have seen this question many times on various forums, with the rise in particular of 3D printing a lot of people are interested in trying to pull 3D information out of 2D photos.

In general a single photograph cannot supply you with sufficient information to capture 3D shape, if you close one eye you lose the ability to judge distance, thats why you have two eyes and old fashioned miltary range finders use two objective lenses distanced as far as practical from one another.

If you have two photos of the same scene taken from different angles you can in principle recapture 3D information although this method will generally capture
overall shape rather than fine detail. The clue is to be had in the file format name STL ( stereo lithography - that was one of the first file formats for dealing with 3D shape capture ).

The general area of interest is called photogrammetry - there are loads of articles online on this topic but a lot is not intended for the non-expert, its a hot topic at the moment, archeologists are using cameras on radiocontrolled helicopters to 3D scenes (on the cheap) so it scales up easily, similar uses by accident investigators and of course there are many many young folks out there all fired up about 3D printing who cannot afford 3D scanners and are interested in
this.

One type of image that does give reasonable 3D information ( with just one image ) is a displacement map - this is typically a B/W image where a white pixel represents a point that is close to the camera and a black point represents one that is far away. This is actually the type of image you would ideally use to create a relief in vectric but the question "where do I get a displacement map image from" is unfortunately chicken and egg because in general you need to have the full 3D data to create the displacement map.

If you take an ordinary black and white image and import it into vectric and create a relief you will see that ordinary images are not displacement maps, sometimes white points are far away and sometimes close points are black. If you had a suitable displacement map image of the same and used that in vectric
you would see that you had captured the shape - the issue is how to get the displacement map and the simple answer is that you cannot unless you have
at least 2 photos from different angles with which to create it and then the process is not easy and requires specialist software.

Once you have the idea of a displacement map image in mind you sometimes spot B/W images that are by chance actually reasonable displacement maps, I have B/W photos and drawings of the Jazz greats on my walls and sometimes just by chance and accident of lighting the regular image would actually serve as a reasonable starting point for a displacement map - by chance the white areas are actually the ones closest to the camera - there is an element of luck in this, moody high contrast highlighting is usually the most successful.

There is nothing to stop you taking your B/W photo and modifying it in a paint package using your imagination to try and grade areas into height and then filling in with white or black according to your judgement, I have seen people do this successfully but personally I didnt have a lot of luck with it.

If you want to create abstract designs then you may well find that a paint package and black and white images is an ideal place to start, you are painting in white and black and all shades in between but actually in your mind you are "painting height" - I see this as a very viable technique but limited in scope.

In conclusion.

If you have only one photo then you cannot in general re-create a realistic 3D relief.

If you have two suitable photos from different angles then you can in principle but expect a learning curve.

Jon

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Ms Wolffie
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by Ms Wolffie »

Hej Jonnie
Hvor i Danmark?
Hilsen
Wolffie
Cheers
Wolffie

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jonnie
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by jonnie »

Ms Wolffie wrote:Hej Jonnie
Hvor i Danmark?
Hilsen
Wolffie
Hej
Saltum Nordjyland - Hilsen Jon

( I am English - not a long term resident in Denmark - my wife is Danish - we are here for a few more months - my Danish is
poor spoken and non-existent written hence this :roll: )

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Ms Wolffie
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by Ms Wolffie »

OK
Wolffie
Cheers
Wolffie

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Creation in Wood
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Re: Converting a photo into a low-relief 3d carving.

Post by Creation in Wood »

Very Cool
Thank You
Doug

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