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From: gillies@uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: 3-D Graphics Question
Message-ID: <76000052@uiucdcsp>
Date: Fri, 27-Nov-87 12:34:00 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcsp.76000052
Posted: Fri Nov 27 12:34:00 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 30-Nov-87 01:27:09 EST
References: <1259@saturn.ucsc.edu>
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Nf-From: uiucdcsp.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Nov 27 11:34:00 1987


One known way to get a good 3-D terrain rendering is to start with two
images taken at a fixed difference apart.  Then you can write image
processing algorithms that can correlate similarities in each image
and give you a 3-D rendering.  This is possible for LandSAT photos
because the LandSAT satellite takes many pictures, at known, regular
intervals.

However, if you only have *one* image of an african village, or even
if you have two but they were *taken inaccurately* (e.g. the camera wasn't
perpendicular to the ground, or you don't know how far apart they were
taken), then the problem is likely to be unsolvable.

There may be commercial companies that may vend this type of image
processing.  Or you could seek out a university with a professor in
image processing (C.S. or optics/physics dept) to find out more
information.

Don Gillies {ihnp4!uiucdcs!gillies} U of Illinois
            {gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu}