Addon Usage with Python
There are two ways to access the functionality of the addon with Blender’s Python console / text editor (after installation and activation of the addon):
Import the addon as Python module
Call the appropriate operator registered in bpy.ops.import_scene
Option 1: Import the addon as Python module
According to the documentation:
The only difference between addons and built-in Python modules is that addons must contain a bl_info variable
Therefore, after installation and activation one can use Python’s standard import syntax to import different classes and functions such as:
from photogrammetry_importer.types.camera import Camera
from photogrammetry_importer.file_handlers.colmap_file_handler import ColmapFileHandler
from photogrammetry_importer.importers.point_utility import add_points_as_mesh_vertices
Example 1: Add points contained in a ply file as a particle system.
import bpy
from photogrammetry_importer.file_handlers.point_data_file_handler import PointDataFileHandler
from photogrammetry_importer.blender_utility.object_utility import add_collection
from photogrammetry_importer.importers.point_utility import add_points_as_mesh_vertices
ifp = "path/to/Blender-Addon-Photogrammetry-Importer/examples/Example.ply"
points = PointDataFileHandler.parse_point_data_file(ifp)
reconstruction_collection = add_collection("Reconstruction Collection")
add_points_as_mesh_vertices(
points,
reconstruction_collection=reconstruction_collection,
add_mesh_to_point_geometry_nodes=True,
point_radius=0.05,
point_subdivisions=1,
add_color_as_custom_property=True,
)
# Optionally, change the shading type to show the particle colors
area = next(area for area in bpy.context.screen.areas if area.type == "VIEW_3D")
space = next(space for space in area.spaces if space.type == "VIEW_3D")
space.shading.type = "RENDERED"
Example 2: Use the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of each reconstructed camera to render the corresponding point cloud via an off screen buffer to disk.
import os
from photogrammetry_importer.file_handlers.colmap_file_handler import ColmapFileHandler
from photogrammetry_importer.types.point import Point
from photogrammetry_importer.blender_utility.object_utility import add_collection
from photogrammetry_importer.importers.camera_utility import add_camera_object
from photogrammetry_importer.opengl.utility import render_opengl_image
from photogrammetry_importer.blender_utility.image_utility import save_image_to_disk
# Make sure you've downloaded the corresponding images (i.e. the sceaux castle dataset)
model_idp = "path/to/Blender-Addon-Photogrammetry-Importer/examples/colmap_example_model_bin"
image_idp = "path/to/Blender-Addon-Photogrammetry-Importer/examples/images"
odp = "path/to/output"
# Parse the reconstruction
cameras, points3D = ColmapFileHandler.parse_colmap_model_folder(model_idp, image_idp, image_fp_type="NAME")
coords, colors = Point.split_points(points3D)
# Render the point cloud for reach camera
camera_collection = add_collection("Camera Collection")
render_img_name = "render_result"
for cam in cameras:
cam_name = cam.get_file_name()
print(f"Camera: {cam_name}")
ofp = os.path.join(odp, cam_name)
camera_object = add_camera_object(cam, cam_name, camera_collection)
render_opengl_image(render_img_name, camera_object, coords, colors, point_size=10)
save_image_to_disk(render_img_name, ofp, save_alpha=False)
Example 3: Use the animated camera to render the point cloud with Cycles.
import os
import bpy
from photogrammetry_importer.file_handlers.colmap_file_handler import ColmapFileHandler
from photogrammetry_importer.blender_utility.object_utility import add_collection
from photogrammetry_importer.importers.point_utility import add_points_as_object_with_particle_system
from photogrammetry_importer.importers.camera_animation_utility import add_camera_animation
from photogrammetry_importer.importers.camera_utility import adjust_render_settings_if_possible
# Make sure you've downloaded the corresponding images (i.e. the sceaux castle dataset)
model_idp = "path/to/Blender-Addon-Photogrammetry-Importer/examples/colmap_example_model_bin"
image_idp = "path/to/Blender-Addon-Photogrammetry-Importer/examples/images"
odp = "path/to/output"
# Parse the reconstruction
cameras, points3D = ColmapFileHandler.parse_colmap_model_folder(model_idp, image_idp, image_fp_type="NAME")
# Add the reconstruction results
reconstruction_collection = add_collection("Reconstruction Collection")
add_points_as_object_with_particle_system(points3D, reconstruction_collection, point_extent=0.02)
animated_camera_object = add_camera_animation(cameras, reconstruction_collection)
# Adjust the render settings and render animation with Cycles
adjust_render_settings_if_possible(cameras)
bpy.context.scene.render.engine = "CYCLES"
bpy.context.scene.cycles.device = "GPU"
bpy.context.scene.render.filepath = os.path.join(odp, "")
bpy.context.scene.camera = animated_camera_object
bpy.ops.render.render(animation=True)
Option 2: Call the appropriate operator registered in bpy.ops.import_scene
In Blender open the Python Console and use Tabulator to list the available operators with corresponding parameters, i.e.
>>> bpy.ops.import_scene.<TABULATOR>
>>> bpy.ops.import_scene.
colmap_model(
fbx(
gltf(
meshroom_sfm_json(
mve_folder(
obj(
open3d_log_json(
openmvg_json(
opensfm_json(
point_data(
visualsfm_nvm(
x3d(
Or use Tabulator with a specific function, e.g. point_data(), to show the corresponding parameters.
>>> bpy.ops.import_scene.point_data(<TABULATOR>
>>> bpy.ops.import_scene.point_data(
point_data()
bpy.ops.import_scene.point_data(
import_points=True,
point_cloud_display_sparsity=1,
draw_points_with_gpu=True,
add_points_to_point_cloud_handle=True,
add_points_as_particle_system=False,
mesh_type='CUBE',
point_extent=0.01,
add_particle_color_emission=True,
set_particle_color_flag=False,
particle_overwrite_color=(0, 1, 0),
add_points_as_mesh_oject=False,
adjust_clipping_distance=False,
filepath="",
directory="",
filter_glob="*.ply;*.pcd;*.las;*.laz;*.asc;*.pts;*.csv")
Python Scripting with Blender
VS Code with this extension has many advantages over Blender’s built-in text editor. Here is an introduction / tutorial video.
Note: When using VS Code to start Blender with a specific addon for the first time, it is sometimes necessary to run the command twice (i.e. within VS Code run ctrl+shift+p / Blender: Start / path_to_Blender_executable, then close Blender, then run ctrl+shift+p / Blender: Start / path_to_Blender_executable again).