Paul wrote:
Peter Jason wrote:


Thank you, I'm still into the trial & terror mode.

I've been trying searches on and off, to find
a 3D contour tool, to extract data.

It appears Microsoft had something called Photosynth,
but it was shut down and is no longer offered.

So I tried plugging in "alternativeto photosynth"
in a search, and the list is here. There's one
commercial one that looks interesting.

https://alternativeto.net/software/photosynth/

https://alternativeto.net/software/3df-zephyr-pro/

https://www.3dflow.net/3df-zephyr-pr...s-from-photos/

"3DF Zephyr Free
A new, completely free, edition is now available for
download! Perfect for learning or as a viewer, is
also a great way to share your .ZEP files with
your customers. 3DF Zephyr Free can open .ZEP files
generated with any 3DF Zephyr version."

The idea is, you take multiple digital photographs, and
the tool reconstructs the photographs and
extracts a point cloud from the data. You will
likely still need some other tool, to massage
the data so someone with a CNC machine can help
you out and mill a board to match. The point cloud
needs to be inverted so the board will have a
shape to match that uneven surface.

Apparently the Microsoft tool did something similar.
Extract 3D from a series of arbitrary photos shot
from various angles.

At one time, some Intel RealSense web page was
claiming to do this kind of stuff too. Except
it doesn't need to use tricks, since it has
an infrared scanner for determining depth. But any
articles I see for RealSense these days, the
demo is always small objects being rotated on
a Lazy Susan turntable while you take pictures.
And that's no good for a door sill.

So anyway, the tech is supposed to exist to do
what you want. You just have to find a company
that hasn't gone out of business, to get it.

Paul

I tried out that software, on a "stick of wood"
I wanted to get a profile of. And it more or less
bombed out. I think my lighting needs work, for
the camera photos. I placed the stick of wood on
a white surface (a piece of plexi I bought a
couple years ago, the translucent kind). But even
without distractions, it didn't work.

When I tried the "sample images" for 3df zephyr pro
(a separate 500MB download), that did result in output.

This article covers the topic in some detail, the
need for lighting, the need for "targets with contrast".
I could also find some forum posts where people tried
to scan white bleached bones (with the intent of printing
a similar bone), and the tool failing to produce an
output.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017...y-machine-yet/

Photogrammetry is pretty sensitive to input provided,
even if the tools pretend they're "fully automated".
Using the mask tool didn't solve any problems
at all.

The obj file I got from the successful run, was too
large to fit into an online website. They had limited
upload size and the file was too big for that.

Paul