Bridge Command Forum

Support => Models => Topic started by: bradza on January 15, 2022, 08:49:29 PM

Title: Models based on photos feature
Post by: bradza on January 15, 2022, 08:49:29 PM
Hey there, firstly, well done on the new additions through the years, just visited back and saw some nice new features.

I was wondering if you could explain further on how to use the new feature:

"Support for own ship models based on panoramic (360) photos, instead of using a 3d model. This may make it much easier for people to represent their own vessels in the simulation."

Where and how would I access that? Thanks.

Stay safe and looking forward to the growing features!
Brad
Title: Re: Models based on photos feature
Post by: forum_admin on January 15, 2022, 10:29:52 PM
Hi, thanks.

You need to start with an 'equirectangular' panoramic image from each location you want to use (e.g. different steering positions). These can be obtained either with a specialist 360 camera, or from stitching multiple photos, or you can now do this with many phone cameras.

The next stage is to open the photo in an image editor, and set the areas where you want to be able to see the 'outside world' to be transparent. See the attached screengrab for an example (the hatched areas are transparent). This can be a bit fiddly if you have things like rigging visible.

Then in the boat.ini file, instead of setting the file name as the model file name, just set it to "360", and in each view section, you specify the image file to use. You can also adjust the rotation of the panorama in all three axes, so it lines up correctly. You should also specify the location of the viewpoints as normal, but of course you may need to guess the approximate location of each point, relative to the 'centre' of the vessel.

The example at https://github.com/bridgecommand/bc/blob/master/bin/Models/Ownship/VIC56_360/boat.ini, and the other files in this model folder may be a useful example.

Let me know any questions.

Title: Re: Models based on photos feature
Post by: bradza on January 16, 2022, 09:55:43 AM
Thank you for the walkthrough, I will give it a try.