Documentation -> PhotoCloud

Running PhotoCloud

Double-click on the “PhotoCloud” icon on your desktop. A window will open showing the PhotoCloud logo on a black background.

Open a dataset

from the toolbar, select “File” –> “Open data from network/internet” (or press CTRL+N keys). A dialog appears in which you should type the dataset index url, and press the “Ok” button to start loading.

e.g. for the “Cavalieri Square” dataset, copy:
http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/~brivio/PhotoCloud/PiazzaCavalieri/PiazzaCavalieri_synth_highres.pxi

e.g. for the “David” dataset, copy:
http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/~brivio/PhotoCloud/David/David.pxi

Then, the following information dialog will be shown, which will automatically disappear when the index is loaded. Note that, depending on your network connection speed, you might wait a few seconds before watching the dataset.

Interface description

Once loaded, you will be shown a screen like the this:

The 3D model is devoted the window largest area, while at its bottom it is overlapped by a thumbnail bar featuring a low resolution version of all the images. We will refer to the central (and largest) thumbnail in the bar as the focus. The focus image and the view are interconnected, as when the user changes view the nearest image becomes the new focus, while when the user sets a new focus the view moves to the focus view. The focus image is also projected on the 3D model, gradually fading out as the current view and the focus view are more different. Initially, on the right side a panel resumes graphically the basic interaction controls, but it can be hidden by clicking on the “X” at its upper right.

Navigate images through the animated thumbnail bar

The thumbnail bar presents all images available in the dataset, always reflecting their given order from left to right and using clustering to present a large set of images in a compressed manner. The focus image is displayed at the bar center, while the others are smaller and more clustered as they are farther (in the order) from the focus. The user can select a new focus by clicking with the left mouse button on a thumbnail, which determines an animated re-arrangement of all the thumbnails. Keeping pressed the right mouse button on a thumbnail, even a clustered one, causes a larger preview to be shown above the bar. For rapid browsing, the user can drag a thumbnail across the bar by keeping pressed the mouse left button and moving the mouse. Alternatively, the user can scroll the focus image-by-image either by rotating the mouse wheel, or by keeping pressed the PLUS/MINUS keyboard keys. Additionally, the thumbnail bar height can be changed by dragging the horizontal line that appears when moving the mouse over the bar top edge.

Navigate images in the 3D scene

Every image is represented in the 3D scene as a framelet, a colored wireframe quad which reflects the image shot position, orientation, and field of view. The current view can be moved to the framelet’s one by clicking on it with the mouse left button. Furthermore, keeping pressed the mouse right button over a framelet enables the preview of the corresponding thumbnail in the thumbnail bar. To enable/disable this functionality, which is initially disabled, click once the SPACE keyboard key.

Navigate the scene

Basically, the PhotoCloud scene can be navigated by:

  • freely moving, rotating, and zooming the view;
  • selecting the view from any photograph.
At any moment, the user can change the view position by keeping pressed the W A S D (or analogously the arrow) keyboard keys, respectively moving forward, left, back, and right. Scrolling the mouse wheel changes the view height. Movements are sped-up while the CTRL keyboard key is kept pressed. Furthermore, the user can rotate the view direction by moving the mouse while keeping pressed its left button. Finer details can be explored by keeping pressed either the SHIFT keyboard key, or the mouse wheel, which both enable zooming. Movements and rotations can still be changed, as described above. If the user is interested in some specific image, he/she can select it by clicking on its thumbnail in the thumbnail bar, or by clicking on its framelet. As said, this will move the view to that of the selected image.

Navigate datasets with two image sets Some datasets comprehend images shot in different photographic campaigns. For instance, the “David” dataset includes two image-sets: one shot before and one after the recent restoration. These image-sets are laid out in two thumbnail bars, one at the bottom and one at the top of the rendering area. In such cases, there are two focuses which are interconnected with the 3D scene view and with themselves, such that the focus of one thumbnail bar represents the nearest shot to the other thumbnail bar focus shot. The user can control one thumbnail bar per time, and can switch to control the other thumbnail bar by moving the mouse over it. When controlling a thumbnail bar, only its focus image is projected on the 3D model, and, when enabled, framelets are shown of only the controlled image-set.