Rio de Janeiro State University | E-Foto Project

E-Foto integrated project Stereoplotter Module Tutorial. Author: Patrícia Farias

E-Foto Free Software Stereoplotter Module

Introduction

The E-Foto Free Software Stereoplotter Module was designed to perform the three-
dimensional photogrammetric restitution (COELHO, L., BRITO, J. N., Fotogrametria
Digital, Eduerj, Rio de Janeiro, 2007, pp. 175) of terrain surfaces represented by a
stereoscopic model. This operation plots the outline of natural or artificial objects
(features) in the stereoscopic model. In order to perform the photogrammetric drawing,
it is necessary to have the stereoscopic model properly oriented in relation to a three-
dimensional referential system of the terrain. For representing the features, there are 3
graphics primitives: Point, Line (mapping streets, for example) and Polygon (mapping
buildings, for example). Before running this module, it is necessary to have the
parameters of both the interior and exterior orientation of the respect images used in the
stereo-pair calculated and saved.

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Presentation
After starting the E-Foto Free Software, the start up screen will appear, as shown in
figure 1. Before starting the integrated Stereoplotter Module, a project file (.epp) with
both the interior and exterior orientations of all images that will be used in this module
is necessary.

Figure 1 – E-Foto start up screen.

Example 1: Creating a Photogrammetric Restitution of a stereoscopic model.

Step 1: There are several options on the Project menu. Choose the option Load File to
load the file containing the interior and exterior orientation parameters
previously calculated. It is possible to navigate between folders to find the
requested file. Choose the desired file, as shown in figure 2.

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Figure 2 – Loading a project previously registered, where both interior and exterior orientation have
already been executed.

Step 2: After loading the file, the project manager screen will be available, as seen in
figure 3. Click on the Execute menu, then click the Stereoplotter option to run the
Stereoplotter Module. You may also perform this operation by pressing “Control-P”
simultaneously.

Figure 3 – Project manager screen and stereoplotter module execution.

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Step 3: After loading the Stereoplotter Module, the main interface will show up, as
shown in figure 4.

Figure 4 – Stereoplotter module interface window.

NOTE: For the position calibration of stereo images, hold the “Shift key” while
dragging the image to move the left image. Hold the “Control key” while dragging the
image to move the right image.

Step 4: As soon the program starts, the first pair of the stereo-pair list will load – in this
example, the stereo-pair are images 016 and 017. If you want to work with another
stereo-pair, go to the General tools tab and modify the “Pair” option (See figures 5 and
5a). If you want to change the stereo view mode, use the “Stereo mode” option. The
“Left anaglyph”, “Right anaglyph” and “Stereo mode” options and currently

unavailable. To view whole images, click on the “Fit View” button.

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 Figure 5 – “General tools” highlighted.

Figure 5a – “General tools”

Obs.:

(1) If you have polarized glasses, you may change the “stereo mode” (figure 5a)
option to “polarized glasses”.

(2) To activate/deactivate overview and detail windows, click on the respective

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Step 5: After choosing the right stereo-pair, you may start the image geometric
restitution using points, lines or polygons. Now, let's take a look at an example of a
building restitution using the polygon feature. In figure 6, the Feature editor and
Feature tools are highlighted. Figure 6a shows the Feature editor in detail, and figure
6b shows Feature tools in detail.

Figure 6 – “Feature editor” and “Feature tools” highlighted.

Figure 6a – Feature editor

In figure 6a, you will need to create a name for the feature, and select the feature type
(point, line or polygon) and the class. There are no classes available for feature points.
Thus, the feature line offers the the following classes: undefined, paved street, unpaved
street, trail, railway, river, and bridge. For polygons the following classes are offered:
undefined, house, building, industrial, club, station, wasteland, square, park, forest,
lagoon, pool.

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 Figure 6b – Feature tools

Feature tools functions are described in the Table 1.

Button Function
“Add new feature” – Add new features like point, line or polygon.

“Remove feature” – Remove the current feature.

“Remove all features” – Delete all features.

“End feature” – Stop editing the current feture.

“Select feature / point” – Select a feature / point to be edited (current feature).

“Insert point mode” – If held down, indicates that new points will be added to
the current feature.
“Remove point” – Remove the current point of the current feature.
“Edit point mode” – If held down, indicates that the current points will be
modified.
“Load features” – Load previous measured features.

“Save features” – Save current work.

Table 1 – Feature edition tools.

Step 6: Once the Stereoplotter main tools are available, you may begin working. Now,
let's create a polygonal feature named “Metrô” (subway in Portuguese) and choose the
“Building” class for it. Select the correct options in the Feature editor (figure 6a).
Then, click on the “Add new feature” button (figure 6b). The feature was already
created and ready to be measured. Click on the “Insert point mode” button (it is a modal
button which has 2 states: on and off) and measure the building corner points on the top.
In figures 7, 8, 9 and 10, you can see the measurements of the four corners of the
Maracanã subway building. This will result in the building top restitution. If necessary,

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use image calibration (see Step 3 observation on page 4) to make sure that the
homologous points are precisely under the marks.

Figure 7 – Measuring the first point on Maracana’s subway building.

Figure 8 – Measuring the second point on the Maracanã subway building.

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Figure 9 – Measuring the third point on the Maracanã subway building.

Figure 10 – Measuring the last point on the Maracanã subway building.

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 Figure 11 – Point coordinates values results from the Maracanã subway building measurement.

Step 7: Next, click on the End feature button to stop the measurement. If you
want to modify a feature, for example, add or delete a point, edit the name, type
or class, or even delete one or all features, go to table 1 to see the proper tabs to
use for modifications.

Step 8: To save your work, click the Save button (see table 1). You will need to
choose the name and the path of the file to be saved.

----- End of Tutorial -----

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