Historical building getting taken down

So it was announced on my birthday that the empty arcade that has remained vacant for the last 3-4 years is finally being torn down now that Pilot gas station has bought the land.
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150721/business/150729847

So needless to say, my timing couldn't be better.  Mike Clancy was kind enough to take a bunch of photos all the way around the building since he lives much closer than I do.  The entrance looks pretty much the same, but then other parts are pretty worn (missing wood panels, worn wood.. people dumping tires, doors, and a tv in the back of the building)

My hope was to automatically convert photos to 3d using various software packages, but the software is nothing short of frustrating.  I've decided this software is great for complicated surfacing (humans, terrain), but for something like a building with fairly simple geometry I'm going to just model it from scratch.  I'm going to start by laying out the building in 2d using google maps, then extrude the ground, then a footprint of the area as a foundation, then model the interior, then put up walls, then a roof.  I'm going to model it as if I was building an architect foamboard model.  Built in layers so you can deconstruct it if needed.  One thing about modeling the real world, you have to have a cutoff.  When you play GTA, you don't actually see everything at once.  They have a fade perimeter (meaning you only see say a couple hundred feet from your view).  The rest is blurred out, or they add a haze.  This improves load time, FPS, etc.  To top it off, GTA is always on an island.  That way you just have infinite water, and if you try going out too far you'll get bored before you reach the end (probably why our universe is so big).  So my idea to tackle this is only model the parking lot, and the rest of the area will essentially be a cylinder with texture mapping representing everything around it (I'll eventually need to take photos facing away from the building).  That way you have a panoramic background that makes you feel like you're in a real world.  Granted you'll be able to walk up to it like a wall.  It's not unlike in the end of the movie Truman show when he takes the boat out as far as he can go, and he hits the end.

Pointcloud

Ok, so reading more into this.  I downloaded photosynth for the desktop.  Seems this format is known as (V1) which can create pointclouds.  Anything mobile doing V2 will work except panoramas (because it's flat).
https://synthexport.codeplex.com

So after downloading the "sythexplorer", I was trying to track down examples with point clouds, came across this page:
https://photosynth.net/userprofilepage.aspx?user=christoph_hausner

I specifically chose this one since it's architecture I'm interested in:
https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=ff2330d7-d1f9-4127-9dfb-1a9e0a81618a

You can now see what photos make it up:

No idea what sort of point cloud data that will export, but I would imagine with a lot of photos you'd get clean data.  Now my next challenge is figuring out what I can do with this exported data once I do get a good synthed photo (VRML, PLY, OBJ, X3D).

Of course it would be ideal if there were a way to crop the photosynth map and export the data.  It appears galaxy world is already covered:
https://photosynth.net/preview/map/#types=SynthPackets%2CPanos&lat=41.903434075925716&lon=-88.12231413445853&zoom=18.659659557876882

solidworks the best tool? maybe not

Ok, so I've really been struggling with this project.  I'm fluent in solidworks, but clearly that is a program designed for accuracy and detail, not necessarily for simulation.  And I knew that going in, but figured this would be a reasonable first step.  I mean I "could" probably model galaxy world purely by photos and estimated sizes (ask adam savage how he recreates props by taking hundreds of photos with a dollar bill next to it for scale).  But.. "THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY"... right?

Ok, so I've known for a while that there are programs that will take photos from multiple angles, and create psuedo 3d models based on that using point cloud information (not unlike how the 2 cameras on an xbox camera does).  So far all of these software packages seem very locked down without a way to export that into something usable.

I can't seem to get autodesk's 123d software to ever work on my phone.  However, googling around, it still seems like microsoft's photosynth still does a pretty darn good job of creating 3d objects.  If you don't believe me, look at this example (you need silverlight installed):
https://photosynth.net/preview/view/b729a003-9692-4fa7-9ad5-304d880cdd59

So what do you do once you have a "photosynth"?  Well, there's a few kluged options, like this supposed autocad 2011 plugin:
http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2010/04/importing-photosynth-point-clouds-into-autocad-2011-part-4.html

And this program that can supposedly convert it to something useful, like an OBJ file:
 http://synthexport.codeplex.com

But still, point clouds aren't exactly efficient.  They are hogs because they are made of points, not faces (and they are typically fuzzy so it would need cleaning up anyway).

So another thing holding me up right now, I finally upgraded from xp to windows 7 (64 bit) so that I could actually load that retro arcade simulator:
http://digitalcybercherries.com

It recommends a quad cpu and 8gb of ram (I have a dual core 2.33ghz and 4gb of ram, should be fine).  Nope, it ran MAYBE 9fps at 800x600 full detail, full screen.  Objects loaded really slow and there was lots of ghosting.  low detail, 640x480, windowed, ran fairly good without ghosting but it looked like crap.  So what the heck is going on?  Well I did some research on my video card (geforce 8400), and turns out it's dog slow.  Sure, probably better than the crappy on-board video card, but not by much.  In fact, if you do a comparison, my card ranks 115 while modern cards rank in the thousands:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+8400+GS

Now I'm not going to spend hundreds no a video card, I'm just not.  The used desktop I bought as an upgrade was a used box I bought off ebay for $45.  I AM however going to buy a pretty good bang for buck card that should get me by plenty:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYCTCZ8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=88UWXQ9B7XVR&coliid=I2UMGBVH3TPFA7

Not only will it be good for 3d, supposedly it's also good when it comes to video editing and photo editing.  Oh, one other thing, since I upgraded to windows 7 64bit, my solidworks 2012 no longer works.  So I'm also hunting for a solution to install "some sort of solidworks" on this "new to me" desktop.

Anyway, getting back to point clouds and that retro arcade simulator.  So that simulator is based on the unreal 4 engine.  I googled it and wouldn't you know, theUE4 engine is completely free.  That means I can download it right now and start playing around with it (FREE).  Just check out how powerful it is in the embedded video (they just released a ton of objects from some 3d animation called a boy and his kite):
http://www.pcgamer.com/epic-gives-away-fantastic-unreal-engine-4-assets-for-free

Have I ever messed with 3d engines?  Well, sorta.  I mean I was pretty dam good with duke nukem 3d (the first one, not the one that took 11 years to release).  I got really good with it.  Then around, oh 1997 I started messing around with the first unreal tournament engine.  It was somewhat impressive, I mean back then it sure was.  You could literally walk around the engine in realtime (with lighting and shadows) and move objects and walls around.  The thing that turned me off was dealing with all the scripting needed for objects and players (I'm not a coder).

With that said, I'm going to assume that in 15 years the engine has become more user friendly so I'm going to give it a shot.  I figure even if I can't somehow import my map into the nicely done retro arcade package, at the very least everyone can load the free engine and go explore.

Token machine

Might be a while before I get the arcade building model done.  Right now I'm playing around with Autodesk 123D catch.  I've yet to be able to get an object to render from photos, but I think it's picky with contrast and distance.  It's got good app review, and other people have successfully uploaded models.
 It's too cold and snowy to get decent photos, so in the meantime I'm going to work on internal components, starting with the token machine

I managed to grab a decent view of one, and got the dimensions from this site:
http://www.primetimeamusements.com/arcadegame.php?id=142

And here's the token machine 3d model on the carpet:

stopped by for a visit

I happened to be in the area, so figured I might be able to take some photos.  I thought the snow might have melted enough today, but the parking lot was packed with snow (and a giant drift at the entrance).  So I parked at the holiday inn next door and snapped this photo:

I would have gotten out of my car to get more photos, but there was a cop sitting on Gary avenue and I was afraid he might think I was up to no good, or arrest me for trespassing.  When it gets warmer out, I'll probably take another trip out to get photos all around the building.

3d maps

So I haven't checked google earth, but bing maps has an ISO view (can rotate only 4 views), but it does give pretty good detail of the building.

outside building shell started

Still trying to figure out the best way to do this assembly.  I think what I'm going to do is model the outside to capture the boundries of the arcade, then create a separate model that is just the internal flooring (various levels, the ramps, the railings).  This way I can hide the outer walls and roof so I can easily add things inside, sort of like how architects build model houses where you can disassemble each level to reveal the floorplan of each floor.  Anyway, there's still lots of work to be done, but it's slowly starting to look like galaxy world.

I may need to pay a visit to the actual building in carol stream to get an accurate height measurement before the building gets leveled.  So far I've been using the top down google map, and tracing it in autocad to get reference dimensions:

3d carpet!

So I've got a pretty clean texture, though it needs slight adjustment because it doesn't quite line up perfect, but not bad for a first shot.

Press START

So for years since the closing of galaxy world in carol stream, IL in 2012, I've been doing google image searches now and then to see if anyone has posted photos of the place (I'm very nostalgic to my childhood).  By chance, I came across a blog called "clancy's arcade" that posted a bunch of photos just before they closed.  Some blurry dark shots, some pretty good.  I send him a message thanking him for posting them, but get no response.  Fast forward 5 months, and I finally get a response.  Apparently, his server held onto his message, so he didn't get it until now.  We exchange a few emails back and forth, including a link to a facebook page where he's posted even more photos.

I now realize something.  With my great solidworks skills, I could probably recreate galaxy world in 3d.  Seriously, with a little imagination and my vague recollection of how the arcade is laid out, I could model it in 3d complete with textures taken from the photos.  Solidworks lets you do a walk through inside the program, but of course that does nobody good that doesn't have the software (the free viewer may let you do a walkthrough).  Sure, I could probably do it in something like half life to make it feel more realistic and accessible, but I'm not comfortable enough in game engines to do that.  I mean, I have created duke nukem maps about 2 decades ago (including the building I worked at), but that's pretty limiting.  Besides, I figure if I've got a solid model, if someone really desires to convert it to something else, it'll be easy to do so.  Ideally, I'd like an oculus rift version of galaxy world, something that looks like this!

So anyway, I've decided to at least start working on this project, no idea how long it will take.  My goal (at the very least) is to archive what was an amazing arcade in the chicago suburbs for all future generations.  My hope is that it serves as a historical archive of what an arcade actually looked like, not some imagined version of an arcade by some future historian that is nowhere near accurate.  Remember on futurama when they toured the history museum, and they showed the pizza parlor.  The pizza spatulas were imagined as tools to spank bad employees.. Yea, like that.
So I started this morning by trying to convert the very distinct carpeting that they used.  I took the clearest photo I could find, and brought it into photoshop.  I then used the loop grab tool to trace a perspective box, and then warped it out flat until the circles fit inside a box.  I then grabbed a piece inside the pattern, and extended it out to 4 pieces to verify.  Granted this will need cleaning up (I'll probably recreate the shapes in autocad since I suck at illustrator), but at least I have something reasonable to start off with.