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COLMAP VS VisualSfM

Compare COLMAP VS VisualSfM and see what are their differences

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COLMAP logo COLMAP

Image-based 3D reconstruction pipeline with a graphical and command-line interface

VisualSfM logo VisualSfM

VisualSFM is a GUI application for 3D reconstruction using structure from motion (SFM).
  • COLMAP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-17
  • VisualSfM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-02-19

COLMAP features and specs

  • Comprehensive Toolkit
    COLMAP offers a wide range of features for 3D reconstruction, including Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo, allowing users to handle complete reconstruction pipelines.
  • Open Source
    COLMAP is open source, enabling users to study, modify, and adapt the code to fit their specific needs without licensing costs.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    The software runs on multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide user base.
  • High Accuracy
    COLMAP is known for producing precise and accurate reconstructions due to its advanced algorithms.
  • Active Community
    There is an active user and developer community that provides support, tutorials, and documentation, facilitating new users to get started.

Possible disadvantages of COLMAP

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users may find COLMAP challenging to master due to its comprehensive set of features and complex workflows.
  • High Computational Requirements
    The software demands significant computational resources for processing, which may limit its use on less powerful systems.
  • Interface Complexity
    The user interface can be overwhelming for beginners, as it presents a wide array of options and settings.
  • Limited Real-Time Capabilities
    COLMAP is not designed for real-time processing or applications, focusing instead on high-quality offline reconstruction.
  • Sparse Documentation
    While there is community support, the official documentation may not cover all user scenarios extensively, requiring users to seek information from multiple sources.

VisualSfM features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    VisualSfM offers a straightforward and user-friendly interface, which makes it accessible for both beginners and experienced users in photogrammetry and 3D reconstruction.
  • Fast Processing
    The software is optimized to handle large datasets efficiently, leveraging multi-core CPUs and GPUs for faster computation, which significantly speeds up the reconstruction process.
  • Integration with CMVS/PMVS
    VisualSfM easily integrates with other tools like CMVS and PMVS, enhancing its capability for dense point cloud reconstruction and allowing more detailed models.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, users have the ability to modify and improve the software, and it allows for community collaboration and sharing of improvements or custom functionalities.

Possible disadvantages of VisualSfM

  • Limited Platform Support
    VisualSfM is primarily built for Windows and macOS, with limited support for Linux, which restricts its use for users relying heavily on other operating systems.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic features are user-friendly, advanced functionality may require a steep learning curve, especially for users new to photogrammetry.
  • Sparse Documentation
    The documentation for VisualSfM is not as comprehensive as some other software, potentially leading to difficulties for users attempting to troubleshoot or fully utilize all features.
  • Limited Support for Non-Standard Inputs
    VisualSfM may struggle with or not support non-standard or highly diverse image datasets, which can limit its use in some complex or custom projects.

Analysis of COLMAP

Overall verdict

  • Yes, COLMAP is considered a good tool for 3D reconstruction tasks, offering a comprehensive set of features and reliable performance. It stands out for its accuracy, ease of use, and flexibility, making it a preferred choice among researchers and professionals in the field of photogrammetry and 3D modeling.

Why this product is good

  • COLMAP is widely regarded as a robust and efficient structure-from-motion and multi-view stereo pipeline. It is open-source and provides extensive documentation, making it accessible for both academic and commercial uses. It supports a wide range of features such as automatic reconstruction, custom parameter settings, and advanced algorithms for feature extraction and matching. Additionally, it is actively maintained and updated by its developers, ensuring its compatibility with the latest advancements in computer vision technology.

Recommended for

    COLMAP is recommended for researchers, developers, and professionals working in fields such as computer vision, photogrammetry, and 3D modeling. It is particularly useful for those who require high-quality 3D reconstructions from photographic data and need a versatile, open-source tool that can be customized for specific projects.

COLMAP videos

+ Add

Free Photogrammetry: Photos to model in 6 minutes with COLMAP

VisualSfM videos

+ Add

Free Photo Scanning Workflow! (VisualSFM and Meshlab)

More videos:

  • Review - Turn any camera into a 3D Scanner for FREE! (photogrammetry using VisualSFM)
  • Review - VisualSFM Mac Install - High Sierra Update - LINK UPDATED

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to COLMAP and VisualSfM)

COLMAP

VisualSfM

3D
72 72%
3D
28% 28
Architecture
69 69%
Architecture
31% 31
Freelance
74 74%
Freelance
26% 26
Photos & Graphics
100 100%
Photos & Graphics
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using COLMAP and VisualSfM. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VisualSfM should be more popular than COLMAP. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

COLMAP mentions (1)

  • How to do Structure from motion (SfM) from a video in Blender?
    First there's COLMAP that seems to be able to work with SfM data. And then there's Blender-Addon-Photgrammetry-Importer which can take the output of COLMAP and import that into blender. Source: almost 3 years ago

VisualSfM mentions (2)

  • Softwares recommendations for non-Nvidia GPU
    Do a look on http://www.regard3d.org/ and http://ccwu.me/vsfm/ that not use acceleration. Source: over 3 years ago
  • My girlfriend wants me to print this. If anybody has the STL please reach out. Thanks
    There are a number of steps you can take to make an original of this following a similar idea. So the Etsy shop has images from multiple angles. Alternatively you can grab each frame from the shining with the desired facial expression and use a photogrammetry program and export to blender or whatever you use for 3D modeling. Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing COLMAP and VisualSfM, you can also consider the following products

Regard3D - Regard3D is a free, multiplatform, open-source structure-from-motion application.

openMVG - openMVG: "open Multiple View Geometry" is a c++ library for computer-vision scientists...

3DF Zephyr - Next up in my series of Photogrammetry Software Reviews — after ReMake, PhotoScan & RealityCapture — is 3DF Zephyr (including the Free version).

Pix4Dmapper - Photogrammetry software for professional drone-based mapping, purely from images.

ContextCapture - Acute3D develops breakthrough photogrammetry software solutions to automatically turn photos into photorealistic high resolution 3D models

RealityCapture - RealityCapture is a software solution which automatically produces high resolution 3D models from photographs or laser-scans.

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