In our example we will model just the lens from images of a camera with attached lens. The lens model can then placed into a 3D scene in a 3rd party animation package (such as 3D Studio Max) for rendering and animating.
We now concentrate on building the geometry for the lens. To do this we will select a number of key images and edit the corresponding masks so that they only include the lens and not the body. The key images should ideally show the whole of the lens part. Figure 5.7.1 shows suitable key images and the edited masks. Figure 5.7.2 shows an unsuitable image where large areas of the lens are hidden behind the body and hence the lens mask would have to be a very rough estimate.
Note that in general only a few key masks need to be edited for a sub-part. The remaining masks should still be included as they still help define the shape.
Now save the edited masks in a new project. Use the menu item to save and rename the project. A good name in this case would be "lens_only.som".
Build a mesh for the lens using the Surface Wizard which is launched by clicking on the button. Use the "Generate wireframe" option to generate an initial mesh. If required the mesh can then be optimised.
Select a subset of the images that you wish to use to texture the subpart and reject the remaining images. Then for each included image edit the masks ensuring that any areas of the lens that are obscured by the camera body are masked out so that they are not used for texturing.
Figure 5.7.4 shows the initial mask for the top-down view and the edited mask used prior to building the textures.
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