All of you, thank you very much for your info!
This is an interesting area.
I've been plodding through the literature on SLAM, 3d reconstruction, 'visual odometry' etc.
Since we're on the subject, I've noticed that Kinect cameras are fairly cheap, and there seems to be a software library for it that runs on Linux, freenect.
Alternatively, it would be possible to make a rig that held two decent but cheap USB webcams a known distance apart, in a rigid manner, kind of like the eyes. It should be possible to calibrate that.
Some really cheap (under $5) USB webcams are surprisingly decent.
I have a longstanding interest in archaeology so all this is something that I had been following a bit in the past, but stopped following it for several years and in that time the use of it and applications that use it have really exploded.
I've had some success, and as my current requirements are quite modest compared to others, I am confident that I should be able to get this worked out.
These programs need to do a lot of calculation and they need lots of memory and lots of disk space to do their jobs, especially when you have a bunch of images. (even though I am taking the images with the smallest resolution I can on my current camera, its not a smart phone camera, they are slightly bigger than that.)
As part of this project Ive downloaded at least 15 or 20 SLAM/photogrammetry related software projects and attempted to find a combination that I was able to successfully compile that was also stable which would let me go from a series of photos to a dense point cloud suitable for cleanup and importation into 3D programs via Meshlab. (which is available as a deb and is stable.)
It would be much easier if I was using Cuda, and not AMD/OpenCL, as at least for now, that seems to be where most of the software is using. That said, I would hate to spend so much more for the same computer power. And the open software ideal is where I would like to go. So I bought an AMD card.
I can get a sparse point cloud from colmap. And VSFM works for me - although some of the programs it uses are not compiling for me right now, I have binaries which I can sort of hack to make them work, but its ugly. (would much rather compile current versions that ran normally) Still, I have several programs on my list of tools to try which I have not dug into in any depth yet, because I have not been able to successfully compile their dependencies. And some I have been able to compile, but which I have issues with, probably because some obvious thing I am not understanding. I.e. user error.
Right now I am trying MVS, Ive also been able to successfully compile MVE and micmac, when I leave out the QT user interface.
And SiftGPU which is working well in OpenGL mode.
You know, maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a second, small, cheap Nvidia card, or maybe a used better card, on ebay, in the past I have seen them go for really cheap, say $50 - just for this stuff.
Maybe one with passive cooling that didn't use a lot of power, so I didn't have to worry about additional current used up and heat. So, not so powerful.
That would let me use a lot more software.
I am taking the pictures with a good camera and a prime lens thats been well characterized, with bright, even lighting, trying to work my way around so each picture contains a lot of common points with the previous one.
Also, the OS too is perhaps problematic. If I was on Windows, it would be a lot easier to find a working quick solution, especially if I was willing to buy it, but I really prefer Linux so much more, well, to be frank, the issues i have with Windows are a real joy killer for me.
All that said, it seems that I am very close to having a working setup.
Janoc, here is what I think I am going to do for flat featureless walls. temporarily put up some targets printed on paper which I have made which will add some detail, basically a 10 cm square with a cross in it. Masking tape doesn't stain the walls. I'll only need to do it once and I can also use tape measurements to get the size exactly right. I think that doing this I should be able to get a better 3D model than I could do myself with the only just beginner Blender modeling skills that I have. (Its only been quite recently that I have been able to get accelerated 3D Blender to run on my machine, which makes a huge huge difference in the learning curve, I realize, so I am really just a beginner.)
I have to say, so much of the cool software in this area seems to come from France.
My goal is to create a 3D model of my entire interior. This will be especially useful in the work areas, in getting things right in a fairly small space.
Lidar is really amazing. I live in an area fairly close to where a large hurricane (Hurricane Sandy) did a lot of damage several years ago, and there was a project done in some places there to see if it could be used to very rapidly assess the damage done after this massive storm came in and knocked down or seriously damaged a great many houses along the shore.
They were able to do a rapid scan of houses by driving through these areas and do a very high quality rapid damage assessment based on that 3D data.