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Augmented Reality Add-on for Showcase Now Available on Autodesk Labs

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Message 1 of 85
scott.sheppard
14598 Views, 84 Replies

Augmented Reality Add-on for Showcase Now Available on Autodesk Labs

We have a free technology preview on Autodesk Labs for augmented reality for Showcase:

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/showcase_ar

We are interested in your feedback on the desirability of such an add-on as well as commentary in whether or not you found it easy to use. You can reply on this thread.


Scott Sheppard
Program Manager
Autodesk Labs
Autodesk, Inc.
84 REPLIES 84
Message 2 of 85
cpennetti
in reply to: scott.sheppard

I'm a big fan of AR tools, but thinking about how I'd present it to a client, I think having this on a mobile device would be ideal, as opposed to a laptop/desktop that you need a USB camera to work with... which also makes it difficult to keep yourself oriented. Maybe with Windows 8 and tablets running windows it'll be easier. Or, if a mobile version was simply a viewer, and the intial model was setup with the QR code on the desktop?

Good to see these tools coming around through, I like what i saw with the AR on AIM as well, when it was demonstrated on an iPad. Thanks.
Message 3 of 85

Thanks for the feedback. I have a distinct feeling that support for mobile/tablet devices is going to be a popular request.


Scott Sheppard
Program Manager
Autodesk Labs
Autodesk, Inc.
Message 4 of 85

Looks great.
It would be nice if the augmented video existed as a 'virtual camera' on the system, so that the doctored video stream could be sent to Skype or other video chat programs.
I suppose you could share desktop then open Showcase.
Message 5 of 85

Tried for an hour this morning w/ no luck. Plug-in installed fine and I followed the steps in the video tutorial, but when it comes time to enable the AR mode I just see my printed sheet of the QR code, no model on it. Objects are grouped, infinite background, marker is linked to the grouped object. I've tried with my models and the car model that came w/ showcase. I'm using showcase 2013 SP2.

Do you need a high megapixel webcam? I'm using the integrated web cam on my Dell M6500, not sure what mp it is.
Message 6 of 85

I have tried a lot of models (mostly exported from Revit) and found that any models that are too large and complex never appear (even when shrunk), possibly due to the computer not being able to display them when in AR mode. If its not working the best thing i found to try was a simple model, then make sure you scale it so its about the size of the QR code box and also make sure its sitting on the same level and not floating in the air.

It sometimes seems a case of imported models are offset in either the X,Y,Z plane too far to appear when in AR mode.

Other than that, I have had great success with it so far, been a fun day!
Message 7 of 85

Maybe this is caused by the integrated web cam not being supported by OpenCV. So the plugin failed to get the camera frame data. There is a way to check this. In marker setup dialog, press "Capture" button, if the capture marker dialog doesn't show, we can say the camera is not supported. If capture marker dialog shows, please go to the Showcase installed folder, run "ShowcaseConsole.exe", then do all the preparation steps and enable "AR mode" to see whether there is any error message in the console.


Scott Sheppard
Program Manager
Autodesk Labs
Autodesk, Inc.
Message 8 of 85
barth
in reply to: scott.sheppard

I've got everything working with this plug-in, imported revit models and set the markers works good the only issue I'm having is that the video that comes through Showcase is very grainy and washed out. Bright spots on the marker will make it untrackable. The video running through other programs from the same HD webcam looks much clearer and higher resolution and better contrast.

Message 9 of 85
Anonymous
in reply to: barth

Hi Balo,

Plz go to "Appearance"->"Lighting Environment and Background Properties"->"Lighting"->"Exposure value for light conditions", change the number to make the environment light darker and this will get a better contrast.

For higher resolution, currently, in order to balance the performance, the showcase ARPlugin subsamples the resolution. Surely there is track to use the higher resolution; but it is not open to user because the code need to be touched.
Message 10 of 85
DWhiteley
in reply to: scott.sheppard

Hi Scott, This is a superb tool. I can see even the competition wanting to purchase Showcase after seeing this!
I find it a bit jerky when running with the house example though - any reason why this could be?
It is a shame that the tool is only available for just over 2 months. The app could reach critical mass and then be pulled when users are just getting used to it!

Dave
Message 11 of 85
Anonymous
in reply to: scott.sheppard

Too COOL!! Must try & THEN figure out how to use it in biz!:)
Message 12 of 85
mlabell
in reply to: scott.sheppard

So far the technology preview is very cool. I can say that I have been able to put 12+ hours into testing scenarios and models and am happy with the preview. Thanks for all the hard work this has taken I remember seeing this originally at AU 2008 which made quite the buzz then. Below are a few points that would begin to make this plug-in a true game changer in the presentation arena.

Marker Setup
1. After setting up my models to specific markers I save my file; then close and re-open for my presentation on-site. I now need to re-setup my markers. It would be nice to pre-setup my scene prior to presentations and also to give a complete AR model to my client with a printout for them to play with.
2. Auto-Align and scale of marker to my selected group object. While I have gotten good at re-scaling them, this is an annoying to do every time I setup a marker. Sometimes it seems that the marker comes in nowhere near the associated objects so finding, scaling and orienting is a bit daunting.

Performance
1. Suggestions for minimizing performance lag on large models? Being and AEC firm that specializes in industrial manufacturing and chemical facilities the models are very large and complex. Sometimes a shell of the model is good enough but other times the client wants to see all detail, IE pipe racks, cable trays, valves, etc.
2. Best suggestions for minimum video camera requirements.
3. What impacts the speed of interaction with models? Video card, video camera, RAM, etc.?

Install location
1. The plugin doesn’t play nice with installing to user profile spaces that are located on a network IE \\DFSNAMEspace\&#xus;ername%\... I have had to switch my Userprofile to point to default windows location to make the plugin work; I can do this since I am an admin. Our group policy unfortunately changes this at logon for consistency purposes for all other employees. I know this was an issue way back in the Alpha days for Newport which have been since fixed. If additional information is needed on specific error please let me know.
Mark LaBell, Jr.
Technical Leader
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SSOE Group
www.linkedin.com/in/marklabelljr
Message 13 of 85
Anonymous
in reply to: scott.sheppard

I have only been able to get the plug-in to work with 1 model, the little gas engine (sample file) With my models I have a number of problems. First when I link model and target. Starting with the target under the model choosing the Add to Selection causes the target and model to jump around on the screen finally ending up with the target and model so far appart such that each is only 3 or 4 pixels in size. After moving them back together nothing shows up above the target.
On an other model the target stays in close proximity but again nothing shows up when activated. I have found that by pivoting the view cube the model sometimes moves across the screen. Releasing the mouse button and the view cube snaps back to top and the model is gone. However moving the target does move the model on the screen when it is pivoted into view.
My guess is there are coordinate mapping bugs in the program.
Message 14 of 85
B.Fetzer
in reply to: scott.sheppard

Hi Scott,
this is a realy great tool for Showcase !
It's funny to work with.
First results attached.

But also there are some problems (may be only for me 😉 😞
For me it is not possible to use imported files from Inventor 2013.
This files will not be shown while the AR-Mode is running.
While Showcase is running in the regular mode, the models where shown.

Other files (such as Sketchup-Files or Revit-Files exported as fbx) work well.

Some other questions:
Will be this tool included into showcase in further releases ?
What's about sharing the screen with others (like skype e.g.) ?

Kind regards from Germany,
Bernhard

Message 15 of 85
CeloElvir
in reply to: scott.sheppard

I cant get it to work with no models at all...tryed everything...someone please help...this is so cool 🙂 ( Models are not big ) Tryed with models from Inventor and 3d max...
Message 16 of 85

I am having trouble with the installation(x64). The user directory path is invalid. The install is taking our valid user path and appending with \\Autodesk Showcase 2013\ARplugin , which results in an invalid path \\my user path\\Autodesk Showcase 2013\ARplugin.

I attempted to edit the userprefs.xml file to try a different path, but it didn't seem to make any difference.
Message 17 of 85
scott.sheppard
in reply to: mlabell

Thank you for your detaield suggestions. Feedback like this is why we conduct technology previews.


Scott Sheppard
Program Manager
Autodesk Labs
Autodesk, Inc.
Message 18 of 85
nelsonweeks
in reply to: nelsonweeks

Thought I would post the resolution to the above, in case anyone else has the issue. I installed as local administrator and then copied the user directories associated with the plugin to my user account.
Message 19 of 85

It worked! http://youtu.be/l4eZfAf8ApM

I would love to see some apps, so I can view it through my smart devices. I tried in our conference room, but the camera would lose the QR code when it got more than 10' from the camera.
Message 20 of 85
LyleHardin
in reply to: scott.sheppard

Pretty cool stuff. Just trying to figure a practical use for it. We wanted to show a virtual full sized chute, about 3'x3'x5'. The WebCam doesn't pick up the full sized print very well, so we've not been able to get past the 'toy' desktop version. Fun, but hard to find a practical use. I tried multiple models with multiple targets with no luck, but it looks like others have done it.

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