PhotoModeler’s New Video Support

PhotoModeler Technologies is excited to announce a powerful new capability: the direct import and use of video files. This new feature allows you to expand your photogrammetry projects from static images to dynamic, time-based analysis. This new video file import capability was added to PhotoModeler Premium in version 2025.1.

A common use of this functionality will be in accident reconstruction and vehicle speed analysis, although the use is not limited to that.

Photogrammetry with a Single Video

Video files can now be imported and played directly within PhotoModeler. For videos taken from a fixed, static location, the software can solve the camera’s position and orientation to calculate 3D locations within the scene over time. This opens possibilities for measuring speeds, accelerations, and other changes, which were not possible before.

PhotoModeler offers three flexible ways to work with imported videos:

• Extract Frames as Individual Photos: You can extract specific frames from a video and treat them as a set of individual photos. This method is useful for both moving and fixed cameras. *
• Extract Frames as an Image Sequence: For a camera at a fixed location, you can extract frames to be used as an Image Sequence.
• Use the Native Video File Directly: For a camera at a fixed location, the native video file can be loaded and played directly in PhotoModeler.

The new Video Control Pane provides intuitive navigation, allowing you to scrub forward and backward, play the video, or jump to specific frames. You can zoom and pan videos the same way photographs are. You can even play and scrub the video while it is zoomed. You can also use Bookmark tools to identify key frames and timestamps, creating a direct association between a 3D location and a specific moment in time.

A speed report and CSV export assists with speed calculations of objects and vehicles modeled in the video.

See the Video Import Tutorial for more details.

* The ‘Extract frames’ function was available in earlier versions but has been improved.

 

Advanced Projects with Multiple Videos

For more complex scenarios, you can create PhotoModeler projects using multiple video files captured from different fixed locations, such as security cameras. These multi-video projects can also be combined with still images and/or image sequences.

When working with multiple videos, each file opens in its own window. The software conveniently displays the time difference between the active video and all other open videos. To ensure you are analyzing the same moment across different viewpoints, you can use the Approximate Synchronization checkbox. When activated, all open videos will automatically jump to the timestamp closest to the active video’s frame. The multiple videos do not need to start or end at the same time.

See the Multiple Video Import Tutorial for more details.

This powerful new capability provides an unprecedented way to capture and analyze dynamic 3D data.