[Article] Performance measurement of Metashape 1.6.2

Agisoft Metashape, which is also sold by us, is a modeling software that creates 3D models from images, and has been under development for nearly 10 years as far back as the old PhotoScan. Metashape not only expands the functions but also actively improves the efficiency of hardware processing, and the latest Metashape is able to process large amounts of data at high speed by making full use of CPU multithreading and GPGPU. ..

This time, it will be the latest stable version as of May 2020. Metashape 1.6.2Was used to measure the data processing performance.

Verification content

Using Metashape 1.6.2, the 3D model creation process was performed in the following process and the required time was measured. GPGPU is enabled to reduce the time required. In Metashape, you can select the operation mode of GPGPU with CUDA and OpenCL, but in this verification, the default CUDA is selected.

• Build Dense Cloud / Ultra High setting
• Build Mesh / High setting

The details of the image data used to create the model are as follows.

• Approximately 3 .jpg files of 4MB to 550MB (total capacity of approximately 2GB), subject is a stone statue
• Image pixel resolution is about 1,500 million pixels

Hardware environment

The hardware used for verification is as follows. In order to actively utilize the GPGPU, the latest generation high-end GPU is installed in a multi-configuration.

• CPU: Intel Xeon-W 2275 (3.30GHz, 14 cores)
• Memory: 512GB
• Storage: NVMe SSD 500GB
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX2080Ti x 2 (Multi GPU, without NVLINK SLI)

Result

We were able to complete the processing under the above conditions within about half a day.

Metashape 1.6.2

For comparison, Metashape 1.5.5 was also measured under the same conditions. The results are as follows.

Metashape 1.5.5

There is a big difference in the required time in the Build Mesh process, but this is probably because the software process has been improved so that the GPGPU is actively used in the Build Mesh process. In the previous Metashape, the scenes where GPGPU can be used were limited, but the scope of application has expanded with the version upgrade, contributing to processing efficiency. In addition, it is considered that the optimization of multi-threaded CPU for the process that is executed by the CPU has also led to the improvement of the overall performance. However, due to the difference in the degree of optimization to the hardware due to the change of the processing process depending on the version, Build Dense Cloud showed a slight decrease in speed. As a whole, there is a reduction of over 1 hour, so it can be said that the version upgrade is working effectively.

Although not detailed in this article, memory usage is also reduced compared to the previous version.

My Feelings, Then and Now

Metashape is working on today's multi-threaded CPU and GPGPU by aggressively upgrading. Whether you are currently using Metashape or would like to use Metashape from now on,Select a computer with high parallel processing performanceBy doing so, you can create models in a shorter time and accelerate your creativity. We hope that it will be helpful when selecting a computer.

* Supplement

The previous Metashape has a version with some processing defects. We have tested Metashape 1.5.1 under the above conditions, and have confirmed that a phenomenon occurs that requires more than 48 hours to complete the process. The conditions under which this phenomenon occurs are currently unknown, but it seems that it will occur when GPGPU is enabled. If you are currently using Metashape 1.5.1, updating to the latest version may dramatically reduce processing time.