US Patent 10453252 3D model construction from 2D assets

Features of the surface of an object of interest captured in a two-dimensional (2D) image are identified and marked for use in point matching to align multiple 2D images and generating a point cloud representative of the surface of the object in a photogrammetry process. The features which represent actual surface features of the object may have their local contrast enhanced to facilitate their identification. Reflections on the surface of the object are suppressed by correlating such reflections with, e.g., light sources, not associated with the object of interest so that during photogrammetry, such reflections can be ignored, resulting in the creation of a 3D model that is an accurate representation of the object of interest. Prior to local contrast enhancement and the suppression of reflection information, identification and isolation of the object of interest can be improved through one or more filtering processes.