Auto-colorization of 3D models from images

Color is crucial to achieve more realism and better visual perception. However, majority of existing 3D model repositories are colorless. In this paper, we propose an automatic scheme for 3D model colorization taking advantage of large availability of realistic 2D images with similar appearance. Specifically, we establish a region-based correspondence between a given 3D model and its 2D image counterpart. Then we employ a PatchMatch based approach to synthesize the texture images. Subsequently, we quilt the texture seams via multi-view coverage. Finally, the texture coordinates are obtained by projecting back to the 3D model. Our method yields satisfactory results in most situations even when there exists an inconsistency between the 3D model and the corresponding image. Results obtained through a cross-over experiment validate the effectiveness and generality of our method.