A Low-Cost, Flexible and Portable Volumetric Capturing System

TL;DR

This paper presents a portable, low-cost multi-view 3D capturing system using commodity sensors, featuring an easy external calibration method that simplifies setup and broadens accessibility.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible, affordable multi-view capture system with a novel, simplified external calibration approach, making 3D asset creation more accessible.

Findings

System is low-cost and portable

Calibration process is significantly simplified

System is publicly available for use

Abstract

Multi-view capture systems are complex systems to engineer. They require technical knowledge to install and intricate processes to setup related mainly to the sensors' spatial alignment (i.e. external calibration). However, with the ongoing developments in new production methods, we are now at a position where the production of high quality realistic 3D assets is possible even with commodity sensors. Nonetheless, the capturing systems developed with these methods are heavily intertwined with the methods themselves, relying on custom solutions and seldom - if not at all - publicly available. In light of this, we design, develop and publicly offer a multi-view capture system based on the latest RGB-D sensor technology. For our system, we develop a portable and easy-to-use external calibration method that greatly reduces the effort and knowledge required, as well as simplify the overall process.