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Augmented Reality

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:31 am
by Lemo
Hey guys
I know AR is not brand new tech but I think it can be a good complement for those of us who are into product or arch viz.
So anyone tried already?

I did some experiments this week and it was quite fun.
First thing you need is the piece of software to augment your life.
After bumping into over-expensive ones, laggy flash solutions, or developer-oriented tools, I finally found a nice one: ARive.

Image
Nice design and easy to use. (non-commercial though)

Then you need a plugin to export the model from your 3d software:
http://www.openscenegraph.org/projects/ ... ty/Plugins
The one for 3dsmax works great, but (again:p) the one for maya seems quite complicated (I couldn't even install it).

Here is a snapshot of what I could do for now
ariveSnap.jpg
You can play with it there if you like:
http://dl.free.fr/tg2XDsF25 (link will self-destroy in a month)
This file is a bundle of a "lite" install of ARive and my model, with a custom launcher .bat file, that I turned into a "user-friendly" .exe with that:
http://www.bdargo.com

Actually it's part of a (not that sexy) project I'm doing in Indigo for a friend
1806duo.jpg
Tips:
If you really don't wanna print, you can show the marker on your screen and flip your cam. (it's harder to turn the screen though)
ARive also works with DV cam or HDV in DV output mode. (through firewire)
You can display the marker on a smartphone. (but the reflections are not your friends)

Okay so to make it short, I think I gonna continue some testing, and if you do too please post here.
And If someone succeed with the Maya plugin I'll be happy to know how he did.
The osg format also support animation, baked lighting and switch interactivity, so there's a lot to play with.

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:01 am
by PureSpider
Woah thats nice!
Im struggling on getting a nice osg model at the moment, didn't find any C4D exporter!

€dit: just seen ARive comes with a nice converter 8)
Let the games begin! :lol:

Nice find, Lemo!
However, your packed exe thing doesn't seem to work for me...

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:54 am
by PureSpider
My own test...
A pity I cant export any nice lighting or textures cause I need to export to DXF first :(
Does ARive support transparency?

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:29 pm
by Lemo
Cool test :)
Maybe you can try through Blender and its exporter?
The manual says you'll only get basic stuff with the built-in converter.

I haven't tried my .exe on another computer yet, can you describe what happens at launch?

About the transparency, it's supported indeed as I can see through my windows :]
You may as well get nice reflections on glass if you set up an environment map.
I think I'll also try to bake some shadows for my next test.

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:58 pm
by Lemo
There is another good software for AR, actually it's a "cousin" project as it's based on the same core tools than ARive (ARtoolkit & Open Scene Graph). It's called BuildAR and it's from New Zealand like Indigo :) .
I tried the free version last week, which wasn't that great, but I just noticed they have a "pro" version with a better tracking, additional features and, more important for me, FBX support! which is just perfect for Maya and Max users.(it's not fully supported yet though)
I'll try to make some video later with BuildAR or ARive.

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:09 pm
by Lemo
A lil video test with an animated version of this guy.
http://img850.imageshack.us/i/u7j.mp4/
Too bad it doesn't render like in Indigo in realtime :mrgreen:

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:18 pm
by OnoSendai
cool :)

Re: Augmented Reality

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:41 pm
by hcpiter
very cool ! :D