offline, free photogrammetry software - make 3d models from photos

After trawling the internet for a day, I came across this great program... and it is free!!  This breaks the typical rules... not only is it simple, and powerful, it is completely free.

Node-based, so plenty on functionality, but a simple one-click solution if you can't be bothered with all that.

https://alicevision.github.io/#meshroom

Shout out to this guy who sold me on it (tutorial included)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4NTf0hMjtY

Remove fluro flicker without plugins

such a cool method

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBYzqI-fnHE

show active properties in an after effects layer

U

yep.. that's it.

How to Convert 3D Blu-ray discs into Full-SBS or Half-SBS mkv files

It is actually very simple when you know how... but finding out how is the hard part!  So here is the easy way:

1. Install Aurora Blu-ray Copy (http://download.cnet.com/Aurora-Blu-ray-Copy/3000-7970_4-75964406.html) to rip Blu-ray to ISO file

From that software make an .ISO file of your Blu-ray

2. Install BD3D2MK3d 1.7 (http://download.videohelp.com/r0lZ/BD3D2AVS/BD3D2MK3D.7z) for more info: https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=170828) (*you will need 7zip to extract it: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html)

This program does the rest, however, it has a dependency which it will prompt you for.

If you need more instruction than that, let me know.

Premiere CC clips drag in without audio....aaaaarghh

With all the new random updates in CC, it is sometimes hard to keep up.  This problem was absolutely making me crazy.  Thankfully I wasn't the only one.  Thanks to the poster for this video.  Sanity restored.

How do you create Camera shake?

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/1045152 Re: Camera shake from a jet flying by the screenby Brendon Murphyon Dec 12, 2013 at 9:59:55 am

You can make this process easier by adding an expression.

First, precompose your scene, and then alt-click the stop watch next to the position property. You'll see an area appear where you can insert text (an expression). Select any text that's there and replace it with "wiggle(x,y)" - not including the quotations. For x, put the number of shakes you want per second. For y, enter the value for how large the shake should be (in pixels).

If you want to control this even more so that the wiggle only happens at a certain time, drop a "Slider Control" effect on your layer. This time make your expression say "wiggle(x," and then drag the pick whip to where it says "slider" on your Slider Control effect. Finish by adding the ")" at the end. It should now read wiggle(x,effect("Slider Control")("Slider"))
Now, the wiggle amount will follow your slider value, which you can keyframe to occur at the right time.

You can check out this documentation for further clarification:
http://helpx.adobe.com/en/after-effects/using/expression-basics.html
best,
Brendon Murphy

Create Offline Installer For Visual Studio 2017 Community or Enterprise in Windows

Why they don't have a offline installer for this is beyond me, but, it is pretty simple to create one (when you know how!!).

go to https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/whatsnew/ and download the visual studio of your choice.  I will use community for the example.
once downloaded run "cmd.exe" (command prompt)
go to your download directory
for me it is on c drive:
c:
cd \users\ben\downloads

make a new directory (call it whatever you want, I called it VCCOM)
md VCCOM

then run the command:
vc_community.exe --layout VCCOM


it will open a separate command prompt and start the download.  The download is approx 25GB, so it may take a while, depending on your connection.

All the files from this example will be stored in c:\users\ben\downloads\VCCOM

To install, simply open the created directory and run the vs_community.exe (you can transfer this directory anywhere and install it on any PC.

thanks to unExample Tech for the solution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R84-amOAUrE

Stop windows 10 hanging on boot up (infinite circle on black screen)

The Problem: Every time I boot up after a normal shut down,  it will sit on a black screen with a spinning windows circle... it will never actually boot.   By holding the power button, it will boot perfectly next time.

This has been driving me mad for a bit... was starting to consider it must have been a dying boot drive or something.  However, the problem is actually a power management issue incompatibility issue.  Basically your computer cannot hibernate properly.  "but I have disabled all hibernation options" I here you say.... yes, so had I, so I thought:

there is a very simple fix:

You need to go to power settings in control panel and switch off "fast start up"... ironically so called.

If you can't find it, here are the steps:

1. Control Panel / Hardware and Sound / Power Options
2. click "Choose What the power buttons do

3. click "change settings that are currently unavailable"

4. Then uncheck "Turn on fast startup"... and I would recommend also unchecking "sleep", as if your system can't fast start, it probably can't sleep properly either.

5. This is what it should look like (Make sure you save changes!)

And enjoy a boot up every time!

How to fix Facebook wrong featured image (Wordpress)

If you have ever posted anything on wordpress, and accidentally forgotten to add a featured image, you will notice, even if you change the featured image, the facebook preview will maintain.

Very simple to fix:
Simply go to this website, and enter your url that isn't working:
https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/

Then press "scrape", you should see the preview image change.  If it doesn't, just hit it again.

that is all.

DVD / Bluray Ripping Software

For legal purposes only... (yes there are legal reasons to do this!!).  A year ago I would have said Freemake, but since they have gone all crazy with bloat and spyware, and have failed to rip a lot of US DVDs without audio sync issues, it made me look again... and I'm glad I did.  This is basically a PC version of Handbrake, and by far the best DVD ripping software out there (and it rips blurays).

VidCoder
http://vidcoder.net/

that is all.

100% CPU Usage in Windows 10 (no performance hit, just won't throttle cpu) - simple fix

So, this was incredibly annoying.
All my 24 CPU cores running at 100% CPU usage in Taskmanager (but core temp shows not under load), but the computer isn't using cpu at all... and cpu won't throttle, so computer chuggs power like there's no tomorrow.

WELL.. after gradually disabling every single service and rebooting (ultimate tedium), I came to the power, and disabling that it went back to normal...

BUT... it naturally got rid of power management features...

So I went from my modified "high performance" to "balanced"... and .... all better.  Back to 0% CPU usage at idle!!!

Happy days.  I'm not sure exactly which setting in the High Performance mode is causing an issue, but this solved it, and I'm happy enough with that!

File Explorer doesn't open (windows 10)

Very weird issue.  File explorer wouldn't open but window just flashed... almost did a full repair install until I remembered I had been messing with a new display which was giving me troubles.

I disabled my second display (read, turned it off).  Then explorer started working again.

turned my display back on... and it stopped working, so I set my other display to primary... and now it all opens fine.

Very weird... I don't know if anyone else will have this weird fault, but hey.  It works now.

Windows Sound too soft playing DVD... fixed.

Wish I had known about this one years ago, but anyway... better late than never:

1. Step Use Sound Enhancements

1. Step Click on the system tray arrow and right-click the speaker icon, select Playback devices from the dropdown

2. Step Double-click your default speakers (not sure? start a track and see if green bars appear)

3. Step Go to the tab Enhancements and check the option Loudness Equalization

Read more at: http://windows7themes.net/en-us/4-ways-to-boost-your-sound-above-100-in-windows/ © windows7themes.net

Windows 10 Msvcr120.dll missing opening After Effects / Premiere Pro (fixed)

get this dll error... easy fix.  Do a repair install on the Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013.  Link here:  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784

Don't go to random sites downloading dlls!! 

Flicker Removal tool of awesome!!! (Drone Footage flicker, gopro shutter change flicker, fluro flicker)

I don't often get insanely excited about a plugin... but man, this is the most awesome plugin ever.

http://www.revisionfx.com/products/deflicker/

I am at a loss for words how awesome this is.

I am yet to try it on drone footage, but I have so far tried it on gopro footage that changes shutter speed and it actually worked.
As for the fluro flicker... aaah... this plugin... where have you been all my life.

that is all.

Best Downloader

Ok, time to revise my favorite downloader.
And the winner is:
JDownloader 2 - http://jdownloader.org/

Man.... so handy.  However, as with all "free ware", they are getting more and more tricky with installing extra software, so read what you are agreeing to, and if you don't agree, click disagree.

Find Network Password you are logged into

PC Command Prompt:
netsh wlan show profile name=[network name] key=clear

 

(leave out the square brackets)

 

Mac Terminal

security find-generic-password -ga [network name] | grep password

Daniel Unselaed

When I started this blog, it was putting things up here as I learnt making Daniel & The Revelation (now called Daniel Unsealed).  Well... it is out now on youtube and on a bunch of TV stations around the place, so here it is:

Fraps Alternative

Fraps has been the mainstay for recording games/direct3d/opengl from since I can remember.  While it is a great, simple program, it has one fatal flaw.  It is a MAJOR resource hog.

Why am I using fraps you ask?  To capture google earth into videos.
Fraps just doesn't cut it.... so I have found an alternative

http://www.d3dgear.com/ - Fraps couldn't do more than 10-21fps capturing, whereas this was capturing consistantly between 30 and 60fps with the same setup.  It is cheaper than fraps too.  Only downside of this app is, I can't seem to get rid of the cursor in google earth.  I solved this problem by recording a tour.

Another one I tried is:
http://www.bandicam.com/  It seems to have less trial restrictions and is comparable to w3dgear.  Also it has a much nicer interface.

There are a few others, but I haven't tried these yet:
http://exkode.com/dxtory-features-en.html
https://obsproject.com/

my .mts files don't work with Premiere Pro cc2015

This is a recurring problem with updates in the creative cloud.  I think it is something to do with the fact that .mts files are designed to have a whole bunch of files associated with them... and we all just strip that garbage away and drag the .mts into the comp!

Anyway... whatever reason... it is monumentally simple to fix.

FIRST - This is a vital step!! - Rename the folder with your .mts files (project will need to be shut).

SECOND - open the comp and right click on the .mts file in the project tab and click the "link media..." .    Then press the locate button.  direct it to the file.  This should automatically find all of them, but if it doesn't, highlight the files you are having trouble with and link them as well.

If you skip step one, it will say .mts files are an unsupported format.  No idea why it does this, but either way, this fixes it.

that is all.

Razor at Edit line in Premiere Pro CC

I used to use Sony Vegas, and always love the razor at edit line function... but I have never been able to find the equivalent in Premiere Pro.  Finally though, I found it!!

Ctrl K

For some reason this sometimes misses certain clips.. I don't fully understand the command.  If it doesn't work fully, try highlighting all tracks (hit "a" and then click anywhere on the edit line) and then hit Ctrl K.

That is all.

Premiere Default Shortcut list

found this rather helpful

http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/default-keyboard-shortcuts-cc.html

Cutting one object out from another in Illustrator using Pathfinder

This is how to cut out one object from another in illustrator using pathfinder... very quick and simple.

Convert NTSC video to PAL without the shuttering

Most video caputured these days on DSLRs or HD/ 4k video cameras is 24p (which is 23.976fps).

If you make a PAL video from this, generally it will be very gittery and horrible.

So how to fix it:
take it into premiere and Right click on the clip and select Modify > Interpret Footage... and set it for the correct frame rate (25fps). Then create a comp by dragging the footage to the new comp button (see left)  (25fps comp)

You will then notice the footage sounds a bit chipmonk like.... to fix that, you need to fix the pitch.  You can do that in premiere, but I found that to make horrible quality sound.  The export the audio from this file.  (the high pitch audio).  And in Audacity, change the pitch by exactly this: -4.2709376042709 % (you just want to change the pitch, not speed it up as it is already sped up).


  

Then re-render your vid with H264, and all is good.

There will be a 4% increase in speed, but with the pitch fixed, no one will know the difference but you.  Most movies you will find are done using this method when converted to BluRay or DVD in Australia.

that is all.

Tap a tempo in protools

For those who want to set the tempo by feel rather than number.  SKIP to 1:53

Recover accidentally deleted files.

The free version of this actually works amazingly.  Just watch out when it offers to install the google toolbar.

http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download

Does deep scans also.  And I had good success retrieving files that I accidentally deleted. Amazingly powerful program for free.

Easy Way To Animate a Line or Arrow Along A Line

This is a good way to make a path, or animate an arrow along a path.. better than the previous way actually.

Efficient, Free backup (part of windows!)

I personally hate backup programs which "magically" lock your files up onto a hard drive with a proprietary format that if you lose the header of the file, or you change backup software or whatever random things happens (say your back up drive corrupts)... 

There is a ultra simple and free way in DOS... well.. windows command prompt now.

Now, I'm not sure if this works in windows 7 or lower.. but it works in windows 8.1.. I know they added a lot of dos functionality back into windows 8.. I think this may have been one of them.

Now brace yourself.. this is the procedure:

1. open command prompt (right click on the windows button in windows 8.1) - command prompt

2. type this:

xcopy "folder you are copying from" /s /d /y "folder you are backing up to"

(only type the red stuff)

Example:

xcopy "G:\Daniel & The Revelation Series" /s /d /y "H:\Daniel & The Revelation Series"

So what does it do?

/s = copies all directories

/d = copies the files where dates are different

/y = answer yes to everything (overwrites, etc)

optional:

/q = quite mode so it doesn't show you what is happening (I wouldn't do that)

If you are ultra lazy (like me) you can create a batch file (right click on desktop make text document, rename it to .bat and paste that command into it.

If that doesn't make sense... comment, I will try to clarify.

that is all.

How to create adjustment layers in premiere

click the new sequence icon at the bottom of the project pain (see below)

then follow the drop down menu - new adjustment layer.
then add your effects to that layer

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-video/using-the-new-adjustment-layers-in-premiere-pro-cs6/

that is all.

Surface Pro 2 network issues after reinstall

Did an upgrade system refresh on my Surface pro 2 and lost my wifi.  Here is a work around to get it back.

Hey guys/gals I got WiFi and telemetry working by doing the following:
- Search C:\ for mwlu97w8x64.inf      I ended up using the following path which is dated 8/15/13:
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_mwlu97w8x64.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.16384_none_3bc4e8962996b5bb
- Right click onmwlu97w8x64.inf and select Install.
After you click install it should recognize the WiFi adapter and start working again. I tried doing the same with the Surface Cover Telemetry but no such luck.

Windows 8.1 Protools 11, keystudio issues

I'm almost too embarassed to admit to this one, however here it is.  unlike protools 10, when you load up aax64 bit plugins in protools 11, the record function doesn't automatically come on... and you need to enable record in order for your midi keyboard to work!!  Bah... yes I feel stupid.
But... keystudio does work with windows 7 sp1 driver in windows 8.1.

that is all.

Element 3d won't activate automatically

Try deleteing the directory "C:\ProgramData\VideoCopilot" and then reinstalling and trying again.

Media Encoder CC fails while loading (program has stopped working)

start media encoder and hold "shift", and it will clear out the settings that are causing the problem.  Worked perfectly for me anyway :)

that is all.

How do I get started in 3d / Motion graphics?

The key I found is finding good teachers.  Here are the courses I have found utterly invaluable.

Andrew Kramer and his crew at video copilot really define teaching on the internet for me.  So I went around trying to find a "VideoCopilot of before I invested 6 grand in 3d software.  I am a bit of a noob and not overly good at just working things out, so for me I need good training that doesn't make me bored out of my brain.

For After Effects: 

VideoCopilot.net - it almost goes without saying, if it wasn't for Andrew Kramers tuts, I would still have absolutely no clue about 3d or after effects.  He tackles real world problems and does it in a way that is entertaining.  Even my wife watches along when he puts up a new tut and she has no idea what he is on about, but she finds it entertaining.  For anyone wanting to get into any aspect of 3d or motion graphics, I recommend this as a starting point.
Also  http://www.sternfx.com/ has some good stuff too.

For Eon Vue (http://www.e-onsoftware.com/):

quadspinner.com  -  Dax is one of the few guys doing Vue tuts out there that can actually produce scenes that you would want to copy... or that could be considered realistic.  If you are new to vue, you can't go past his stuff.  Unfortunately not much is free, but it is worth the money.  I particularly liked his tuts on lighting, which is so vital to get a scene to work.

Also 3d World magazine has a few useful tuts every now and then.

For Zbrush:
There are a few around, but the only guy I could really learn from was http://www.zbrushworkshops.com/.

This guy charges, but man, it was worth every cent.

For Cinema 4d:
http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/ pretty much sold me on cinema 4d.
http://www.digitaltutors.com/ was quite good, but I found their tuts rather laborious and not particularly entertaining, so I quickly gave up.  (yes I have a very poor attention span).

For Maya:

Yet to find.

For 3d Studio Max:

Other than Andrew Kramer who has done a bunch of video copilot, I haven't found any good ones.

For Protools

Duncan Wood from touchwoodproductions.com taught me pretty much everything I know in protools, but sadly he hasn't made any tuts yet.  If I ever convince him to, I will link it, as he is a good teacher. 

There are obviously probably way more that others have used and found success with, but these were the ones I found incredibly useful.  google/bing is also very helpful for finding random tuts for specific problems.

that is all.

Best download manager (free)

I was downloading a file and it was sitting on 32KB/s... 2 days to download a 2GB file.  So yea... not having that.  Went trying to find a good virus and spam free downloader that splits the file and downloads it in segments... now I am download at 727KB/s which is much nicer.

The download manager I use is called... wait for it... Free Download Manager.

Thanks to lifehacker for reminding me:

http://lifehacker.com/5045093/five-best-download-managers

that is all.

Windows 8.1 upgrade from Windows 8 results in "0xc1900101 - 0x400017" error (fix)

When I say fix, this is actually a very simple problem assuming your manufacturer has updated drivers.  Go to your mobo manufacturer website, download and install the latest drivers.
By doing this I got my ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS to work fine.  Windows 8.1 has been very well worth the upgrade too.

Also install the latest Nvidia drivers.

Once you have done that, try again.

Note, some boards like the EVGA SR-X I couldn't get going with this fix, as EVGA is working on a Bios fix.

Compatibility 
My compatibility has improved for a number of programs.  Some have had mixed opinions as far as this goes though, so check if your programs work in windows 8.1.
- Eon Vue xstream 11 and 2014 work fine for me.
- Cinema 4D r14 & 15 seem to work fine also.
- Premiere and AE CC all work.
- Protools 10 & 11 work.

Thoughts

Windows 8.1 improves things nicely.  Not a game changer, but certainly worth the download.

That is all.

UEFI boot fail when changing mobo (Windows 8)

I changed my mobo and I get no boot device.  Here was the fix:

- turn secure boot on
- turn CSMboot to Auto for HDDs
- reboot
- change boot device to UEFI boot (Microsoft boot manager).

If that doesn't fix it
- boot from windows 8
- repair install
- command prompt
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

If you try those commands and they don't work, or you get the error message "The drive where windows is installed is locked.  Unlock the Drive and try again", go to command prompt again, and do this:
bcdboot c:\Windows /s c:\
(assuming your boot drive is c:

Once you have done all those things, try changing the boot order again in the bios to Microsoft boot manager.

If that doesn't work... google is your friend, I have no idea.

How to make a line draw on in after effects

It has been a while since I did this in the first section of D&R so I forgot how to do it!  Apparently Trim Paths is the way to go.

Basically create a path using a pen (I was tracing a river to make it stand out), disable the "fill" (in the same tool bar as the pen tool), and change the stroke to the colour you want for the line (and thickness). 

If you are doing camera moves on the map, make sure you set the shape layer to a 3d layer before you get carried away making a good line.

Then Select the layer and add a trim path parameter (use the start and end to animate the sequence):

If none of that made any sense (it is actually just to jog my memory cause I forget this stuff all the time!), watch the video here:

Pretty good tutorial here: (go to 9:36 for the useful bit):

That is all.

Mysterious Color changes when saving for web in photoshop

I was going crazy again today trying to sort out color spaces in photoshop CC.  I kept saving the file with various color differences, and when I looked at the final jpg the color was different to what was on screen.

So much for WYSIWYG.  Anyway... This solution worked for me:

I Skipped step 3 and 4 (I couldn't figure out how to find them! Yes I am a noob).

If you're saving PNG or GIF images from Photoshop, they can't contain colour profiles. If you're saving JPEG images from Photoshop, they can contain colour profiles.
If you'd like Photoshop to match what you're seeing in your browser, and you're designing user interfaces, and you'd like colours in images to match colours in PNGs and GIFs, then here's how to set up Photoshop:
Step 1 — Choose Edit > Color Settings and set the working space for RGB to Monitor RGB.
Step 2 — If you’re using Photoshop CS6, click More Options and turn off Blend Text Colors Using Gamma, because it changes how non-opaque text is rendered. It should already be off, but if it’s not, turn off Blend RGB Colors Using Gamma as well.
Step 3 — Open a document and choose Edit > Assign Profile, then set it to Don’t Color Manage This Document. This must be done for every single document you work on.
Step 4 — Ensure View > Proof Colors is turned off.
Step 5 — When saving files with Save For Web, ensure Convert to sRGB is turned off. If you’re saving a JPEG file, then also turn off Embed Color Profile (there are some cases where you might want this on for photos, but chances are you’ll want it off for interface elements and icons).
This answer provides way more detail: http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/a/9241/3901

Sanity restored :)  Thanks Marc Edwards for your answer. 

View active keyframes only in After Effects

Click on the layer you want and hit: U

That is all.

Mapping Tools for Cinema 4d (if you want to get DEM info into Cinema)

Have you ever tried to create realistic terrains by sculpting them?  If you are like me, you are wasting your time.  Here are some epic pluggins that take all the effort out of making terrains, by simply taking the data from google earth automatically.  (no I'm not joking.. if you are like me you have spent a lot of time trying to find GeoTIFFs or DEM files, or whatever of the earth to bring them into Vue or Cinema.. or whatever... and to no avail.  This will require cinema 4d.  I have studio, but I'm guessing it will work with the version that comes with after effects CC.

These plugins cost money.. but so does all the time I wasted doing this manually!!

If only I had this site a year ago... but anyway.  Here is one for getting textures:
http://www.lizard-labs.net/ultimate_maps_downloader.aspx

Here is an awesome plugin for getting the elevation data (imports it directly into cinema with simple copy and paste of coordinates from google maps. (not joking)
http://www.cinemaplugins.com/c4d-plugins/demearth/

And here is a tutorial (not by me)
https://vimeo.com/68479957

Reboot.

Ok.. time for a new type of blog.  From now, I am going to be posting useful things I find while building Daniel & The Revelation.  This is mainly because I have a horrible memory and forget all the useful stuff I learn along the way.

Software I use:
Cinema 4d r15,  Adobe CC, Eon Vue 11.5, Protools 10 & 11 (native instruments)

My other websites

This is my other site for those who want to understand the purpose of existance.

http://www.godslastwarning.com