New Algorithms for Modeling and Rendering Architecture from
Photographs
George Borshukov, Master's Thesis
University of
California at Berkeley; May (1997).
/ Acrobat /
Facade is a system developed by Paul Debevec, C. J. Taylor, and
Prof. Jitendra Malik for modeling and rendering 3-D architectural models from
photographs. Until recently, the reconstruction capabilities of Facade were
limited to polyhedral structures such as boxes, frustums, octagons, etc. The
rendering algorithms were computationally expensive. Facade needed tools for
recovery of some non-polyhedral structures appearing in architecture. The first
part of this work describes a new set of tools for recovery of surfaces of
revolution and arches which made a project such as the reconstruction of the
majestic Taj Mahal from a single uncalibrated photograph possible. The second
part, describes the significant advances made in image-based rendering. New
robust ways of performing view-dependent texture mapping are introduced. The
novel rendering algorithms allowed us to produce completely photorealistic
renderings of flying around the Berkeley tower, the Campanile, and the
surrounding campus at speeds close to real-time.