3D imaging with Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras is a promising recent technique which allows 3D point clouds to be acquired at video frame rates. However, the distance measurements of these devices are often affected by some systematic errors which decrease the quality of the acquired data. In order to evaluate these errors, some experimental tests on a CCD/CMOS ToF camera sensor, the SwissRanger (SR)-4000 camera, were performed and reported in this paper. In particular, two main aspects are treated: the calibration of the distance measurements of the SR-4000 camera, which deals with evaluation of the camera warm up time period, the distance measurement error evaluation and a study of the influence on distance measurements of the camera orientation with respect to the observed object; the second aspect concerns the photogrammetric calibration of the amplitude images delivered by the camera using a purpose-built multi-resolution field made of high contrast targets.

In this paper experimental comparisons between two Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras are reported in order to test their performance and to give some procedures for testing data delivered by this kind of technology. In particular, the SR-4000 camera by Mesa Imaging AG and the CamCube3.0 by PMD Technologies have been evaluated since they have good performances and are well known to researchers dealing with Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras. After a brief overview of commercial ToF cameras available on the market and the main specifications of the tested devices, two topics are presented in this paper. First, the influence of camera warm-up on distance measurement is analyzed: a warm-up of 40 minutes is suggested to obtain the measurement stability, especially in the case of the CamCube3.0 camera, that exhibits distance measurement variations of several centimeters. Secondly, the variation of distance measurement precision variation over integration time is presented: distance measurement precisions of some millimeters are obtained in both cases. Finally, a comparison between the two cameras based on the experiments and some information about future work on evaluation of sunlight influence on distance measurements are reported.

ToF cameras are new instruments based on CCD/CMOS sensors which measure distances instead of radiometry. The resulting point clouds show the same properties (both in terms of accuracy and resolution) of the point clouds acquired by means of traditional LiDAR devices. ToF cameras are cheap instruments (less than 10.000 €) based on video real time distance measurements and can represent an interesting alternative to the more expensive LiDAR instruments. In addition, the limited weight and dimensions of ToF cameras allow a reduction of some practical problems such as transportation and on-site management. Most of the commercial ToF cameras use the phase-shift method to measure distances. Due to the use of only one wavelength, most of them have limited range of application (usually about 5 or 10 m). After a brief description of the main characteristics of these instruments, this paper explains and comments the results of the first experimental applications of ToF cameras in Cultural Heritage 3D metric survey. The possibility to acquire more than 30 frames/s and future developments of these devices in terms of use of more than one wavelength to overcome the ambiguity problem allow to foresee new interesting applications.

The Basilica of San Pietro is a Romanic architecture located in the municipality of Tuscania in the Lazio Region about 100 km far from Rome. In 1971 the apse dome collapsed during the earthquake and the important fresco of a Christ Pantocrator was destroyed. In 1975 the dome was reconstructed using reinforced concrete.In 2010 an integrated survey of the Church has been performed using LiDAR techniques integrated with photogrammetric and topographic methodologies in order to realize a complete 2D documentation of the Basilica of San Pietro. Thanks to the acquired data a complete multi-scale 3D model of the Church and of the surroundings was realized.The aim of this work is to present different strategies in order to realize correct documentations for Cultural Heritage knowledge, using typical 3D survey methodologies (i. e. LiDAR survey and photogrammetry).After data acquisition and processing, several 2D representations were realized in order to carry out traditional supports for the different actors involved in the conservation plans; moreover, starting from the 2D drawing a simplified 3D modeling methodology has been followed in order to define the fundamental geometry of the Basilica and the surroundings: the achieved model could be useful for a small architectural scale description of the structure and for the documentation of the surroundings. For the aforementioned small architectural scale model, the 3D modeling was realized using the information derived from the 2D drawings with an approach based on the Constructive Solid Geometry. Using this approach the real shape of the object is simplified. This methodology is employed in particular when the shape of the structures is simple or to communicate new project ideas of when, as in our case, the aim is to give an idea of the complexity of an architectural Cultural Heritage. In order to follow this objective, a small architectural scale model was realized: the area of the Civita hill was modeled using the information derived from the 1:5000 scale map contours; afterwards the Basilica was modeled in a CAD software using the information derived from the 2D drawings of the Basilica. Finally, a more detailed 3D model was realized to describe the real shape of the transept. All this products were realized thanks to the data acquired during the performed survey. This research underlines that a complete 3D documentation of a Cultural Heritage during the survey phase allows the final user to derive all the products that could be necessary for a correct knowledge of the artifact.