Brainstorm Technology LLC is the developer of PhotoSketch, a Google SketchUp plugin that enables the user to build 3D urban structures directly from photographs. Architects, designers, and entertainment content creators can now employ a new approach to create lightweight 3D models of existing buildings. These models, which typically consist of a few hundred phototextured polygons, are well-suited for use in online gaming and web-based applications such as Google Earth. The PhotoSketch plugin runs with the free or Pro versions of SketchUp 8 for Windows and Mac OS.

Overview: PhotoSketch offers an intuitive three-step workflow: camera calibration, camera pose recovery, and photo-guided modeling, which enables the user to quickly build 3D models of existing urban structures from 2D photographs.