ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an overview of the Automated Reconstruction Conduit three-dimensional (ARC3D) + MeshLab tools. It describes the principles behind the ARC3D design. The chapter also gives guidelines on how images should be taken in order to maximize the chance of successful three-dimensional (3D) data extraction. It takes a practical case - one of the Mogao caves in China - as a way to illustrate the steps in the process. The chapter also describes the global characteristics of the ARC3D pipeline, like being hierarchical, opportunistic, and parallelized. Classic 3D reconstruction pipelines make use of the fact that the set of input images is taken in a sequential manner. This helps the reconstruction process tremendously because only consecutive pairs of images must be matched for 3D reconstruction. The ARC3D reconstruction process is completely automatic and aims to support all standard consumer cameras on the market.
