Align Photo Rendering to 3D Document

[Anonymous]

I would like to overlay a photo rendering onto a 3D Document. Is there a way to do this with accuracy?

[Karl Ottenstein]

Accuracy is a relative thing. 🙂 You have to understand that the ARCHICAD model is "perfect", and any photograph has distortion related to the camera lens.

That said, ARHICAD's "Align View" is how you would do this - basically it changes the 3D viewpoint to match the perspective of a photo (vs your question of making the photo line up with your 3D document).

https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-21/archicad-21-reference-guide/visualization/visua...

A 3D Document is a snapshot of a 3D view ... so you would want to do the Align View, then capture/redefine the 3D document which would allow them to be at the same perspective.

Alternatively, using only Photoshop CC and/or Lightroom Classic, you can change the perspective of a photo to match that of a relatively close drawing. Export your 3D Document as a PDF, and open both it and your photo in your photo software to shift the photo. While in Photoshop or Lightroom, correct for lens distortion using the lens panel.

[Anonymous]

What I would like to do is use the 3D Document for the building lines and the white model effect from CineRender for the shadow. This would all be generated from the model within Archicad 19, no outside photo will be used. I can use the same camera position, but it is tedious to get the scale to match up. I am wondering if there is a more accurate/easy way to get the scales to match so I can overlay them on my layout sheet.

[Karl Ottenstein · Accepted solution]

Lori wrote:
What I would like to do is use the 3D Document for the building lines and the white model effect from CineRender for the shadow. This would all be generated from the model within Archicad 19, no outside photo will be used. I can use the same camera position, but it is tedious to get the scale to match up. I am wondering if there is a more accurate/easy way to get the scales to match so I can overlay them on my layout sheet.

Aha. Now I understand what you're after. (This "Presentation" forum is still the right place for this topic - I had moved it here.)

There is no easy way to scale a line drawing (3D Document here) and an image file to align them, unless you are sure to generate both the 3DD and the rendered image from the complete 3D window from exactly the same camera position (or axo) with exactly the same window size and/or marquee. Given that, they should align if you make the drawing settings for each create identical sized drawings.

If your 3DD does not have annotation, but rather, you are trying to make the linework of the drawing 'pop' - you may be interested in this old tip for the Sketch Render engine, where a photographic render is used as the background with the sketch lines on top:
https://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18981&start=20#p101831
and a sample result of the technique:
https://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18981&start=10#p104296

This general idea appears in at least half a dozen different threads over the years, with examples.

In the original post above, where it says "LW" (Lightworks - the old rendering engine in ARCHICAD), think CineRender instead.