Photogrammetry with Metashape and Nuke

Taught by Hugo Léveillé

Course Number:
NUK245
Software Version:
11 
Original Run Date:
December 2019 
Duration:
6 hours 15 minutes 
3D
vfx
new
Photogrammetry without a 3D software? Yes! This course is designed for compositors that want to integrate objects generated in Metashape without the help of a 3D software. In this course, you will learn how to solve 3D objects in Metashape from scratch and then see various tricks on how to import them inside Nuke so that you can push your composites to the next level.

The course covers two projects. The first one will be an introduction to how you can use photogrammetry along with Nuke. In the second one, you’ll take what you learn, get serious, and push things to the next level. This is the perfect training for anyone wanting to learn Metashape or any compositor that want to learn several advanced tricks in Nuke!

Hugo Léveillé is currently head of compositing at Mels Studios in Montreal. With over 15 years of VFX experiences, he also shares his work time by creating and integrating pipeline tools for Nuke.
 
Photogrammetry with Metashape and Nuke
Watch our overview of the course

Class Listing

Class 1: The basics of photogrammetry

An examination of the important camera settings to make sure we get the best results in Metashape. Then, a sneak-peek of everything that will be covered in the upcoming course.

Class 2: Metashape Overview

A dive into Metashape with a look at the various steps needed to reproduce our object. We examine the important aspects of the interface as well as the various navigation tools. We go through the solving of the cameras, generating the sparse point cloud and dense point cloud and then generate our 3D mesh and how to generate a texture. The class ends with a look at how the batch processing of Metashape can be used to automate the workflow.

Class 3: Starting on Project One

We prepare our first project in Nuke. We see how to track our shot using Nuke’s 3D camera tracker. A look at how to manage the lens distortion and how to set up proxy geometry so that we can validate our camera move before importing our model.

Class 4: Getting the object into Nuke

How to import the geometry from Metashape as well as the solved cameras. Then, using the undistorted photos, we see how to do a re-projection of the object directly inside Nuke. Then, we’ll see how the edit geo node can sometimes help to modify the geometry without going back in a 3D software to do minor fixes.

Class 5: It’s time to comp

Now that our scene is ready and we know how to import our mesh, let’s put all this together. We see how to integrate the mesh in the scene while learning some tricks like using the position pass and some edge techniques to blend the object in the composite.

Class 6: Advanced Metashape

Now that we know our way around Metashape, it’s time to get serious. This project will require many objects out of Metashape so we inspect what we will be using and learn other tricks like masking and editing geometry directly in Metashape to delete portions of the object and fill some holes. Then, we plan our shot in Nuke and start the tracking process, this time, using the overscan camera. We also cover how to modify our elements to accommodate this technique.

Class 7: Project Two: Foreground Elements

We use projection techniques to blend our objects on the ground, re-project shadows, and use the FillMat node to holdout portions of our objects. The elements are integrated by re-projecting different textures, adding fire elements, as well as generating a heat shimmer effect for the fire.

Class 8: Project Two: Fixing Problems

Not everything is perfect, so it’s time to fix modelling problems from Metashape directly inside Nuke by using the deformGeo node. We also see how to extend our wall with the editGeo node.

Class 9: Finishing touches

We put all the pieces of the puzzle together. We see how to add reflections in our scene, fake shadows, re-project the original plate with a new camera, and finalize the shot by adding motion blur.