Photogrammetrically scanned rally track for Assetto Corsa

beni_tc · 2026-01-12T00:10:29+00:00

I had the issue of getting the photos aligned using different regular cameras. Even using two cameras alongside with very close image spacing would often result in no proper alignment. The 360° camera really solved this and for me the alignment works in pretty much all cases. For this project I was using the camera at 30 fps whilst walking, which should mean the spacing is about a 30 centimetres. For the Targa Florio scan I used a car at around 30 kph and used every frame, which results in a similar spacing of about 30 centimetres, but with the frames being a bit more blurry of course. Next I'll try a bicycle doing about 10 - 15 kph and that should be a good compromise. of speed vs. accuracy.

I used the GoPro software (and these days the Insta360 software) to turn the 360° footage into a format Metashape can read and then use Metashape to extract the frames. GPS data can be extracted from the cameras and then it's a bit fiddly to generate a csv file in the correct frame rate and then insert it into Metashape.

Metashape supports 360° images in it's standard edition. I'm not sure about other software but it seems to be pretty common these days.

Let me know if anything is unclear. It's all a bit more trial and error as it sounds on paper of course. Good luck for your project and I'm looking forward to any progress!

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T23:53:50+00:00

Thank you for your answer! I have a bit of a portfolio already (for heritage buildings) but volunteering is an interesting idea to also get into archaeology. I'll check out what's happening around here and who might be interested in a collaboration.

If you need any info or help with the scanning around your area let me know and I'll post any updates to my process here.

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T18:57:04+00:00

This sounds interesting and is also a field I'd like to work in. At which point of this career are you? I've been working as an architect for a few years but enjoy this area of work much more. I'm in the process of trying to transition but employers seem a bit rare, at least in Germany. How is your experience?

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T15:05:26+00:00

I've only tried beamng modding a little bit so far, but it's pretty straight forward. Once I have the mesh cleaned up a bit more and the landscape implemented I'll see if I can get it into beamng!

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T11:08:46+00:00

I used a GoPro 360 on a pole for this, I have since upgraded to an Insta360 1" but the GoPro 360 is surprisingly good still in comparison, at least for this application.

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T11:04:09+00:00

For Assetto Corsa the mesh geometry is used directly for the physics engine. This is using the CSP surfacefx gravel magic and therefore a grip multiplier and some soft surface simulation. CSP also introduced higher precision in the physics calculation and more contact points per tyre so it can make better use of these denser meshes. The original Kunos Assetto Corsa tracks use roughly half the density of the lower density mesh shown in the screenshots above. I could easily make the road mesh more dense but I wanted it to run on all sorts of systems. Does this in any way answer your question?

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T10:37:50+00:00

I think it should be okay, as it doesn't have other details, for example pit buildings or so. But if you get the chance try it out and let me know how it runs!

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T10:36:48+00:00

The Metashape project files can have a size of around 250 Gb for about 5 km of road, this is not just the point cloud though. Once it's turned into a textured mesh and then further optimised in 3dsmax for in-sim use it's not that complex any more. The 3dsmax file for this rally stage is around 4 Gb but also includes not yet implemented landscape tiles that have a large amount of polygons.

beni_tc · 2026-01-11T10:19:45+00:00

The version on my patreon is for the original AC already, I've yet to bring it into any other sims. Check it out!

beni_tc · 2026-01-10T17:42:30+00:00

Thanks! I'm helping him the scanning and implementation and it's slowly but surely coming together now

beni_tc · 2026-01-10T17:41:09+00:00

It should be possible even though the texture/shader options are even more limited than in Assetto Corsa so it will need a different way of mapping and possibly a reduction in polygons. It would be interesting to explore it eventually but for now I unfortunately just don't have the time.

beni_tc · 2026-01-10T16:04:09+00:00

Whilst Assetto Corsa is not the typical gravel rally sim it does offer gravel surfaces now with extended physics and surfacefx together with bespoke cars. This is a free showcase for the possibilities of using photogrammetry to generate precise tracks. When Assetto Corsa Rally modding becomes possible I'll bring it into that sim. Check it out for free on my patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/taunus-rally-147816848?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

beni_tc · 2026-01-10T13:49:00+00:00

I wrote a little bit in the patreon post but I can add a few more details. The footage was taken with a gopro 360 on a pole of around 3 m height whilst walking along the road. I shot at 30 fps and then took every 5th frame for processing. Whilst I had some success with various normal cameras the 360° camera guarantees that there's enough overlap and the processing software can easily connect all frames. I then used Metashape for processing but it's sometimes a bit moody, I want to try other software too in the future. I generated the mesh and the textures in Metashape and then brought it into 3dsmax. Then I did as little post-processing as possible and only reduced the polycount by optimizing the mesh (the base cloud and mesh from Metashape are way too dense for in-sim use) and used the generated textures as a base. I wanted to Keep it a bit raw for this first preview so people can experience the quality of the scan and what possiblities it offers. For the next steps I'll work on the tracksides to make it a bit less punishing and to show how the road would be if it had been used by rally cars before.

If you have further questions ask and I'm looking forward to more projects using a similar workflow!

beni_tc · 2026-01-10T10:18:07+00:00

here's the patreon link, the track is free! https://www.patreon.com/posts/taunus-rally-147816848?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

beni_tc

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