In this article will be mentioned some familiar and also not so known facts about the files stored by RealityCapture. You can find there some basic information about them and also their meaning.
Project file and project folder
The main file created by RealityCapture is a project file. The project file's append is .rcproj and it contains all needed information about the project. For example there are information about used version, license, coordinate system, inputs and all created results. It is possible to open the project file in some text editor (like Notepad or Notepad ++) to check this file or change it. For example, you can change the path to used images there, delete some unwanted models, etc.
Project folder is a folder created with a new project and it is saved in the same main folder as the project file. The project folder consists of .DAT files with all important information about the project and created results.
The project file and project folder will look like this in the main folder:
Cache files/temp data files
RealityCapture also uses cache files, which help to compute the project faster during re-opening the project. You can find them in these folders:
C:\Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local\Temp
C:\Windows\Temp
C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Temp
License PPI files - *.rclicense
What are license files?
These are hashes of binary files of a small size that verify the identity of your inputs using a unique fingerprint, when exporting a result from RealityCapture. None of the mentioned files encode image name, any visual image information or any other sensitive information. The files can neither directly nor indirectly identify people, scenes or objects in any images or laser scans.
Where are my input licenses stored?
The purchased licenses for all inputs used for model creation are stored on Capturing Reality servers for 2 years, free of charge.
If you wish to store them for a longer period of time, you have to export them. You may decide to store them with you locally any time. Remember to store them locally prior to expiration of the 2-year period.
To maintain a suitable state of the stored licenses, you shall not downsample the license folder or in any other way change the binary information of the license. You should be aware that once the licenses are no longer stored on servers of Capturing Reality, we will not be able to restore them.
You may transfer, distribute or copy your purchased licenses freely without limitation. Note that the exported licenses are not bound to any user account or released version of RealityCapture PPI. Hence, if you share them, the receiving party can process the data without restrictions and does not need to be online during export.
How to acquire the license file?
This step is only required if you wish to export and store your licenses in order to archive them, share with your clients or friends, or transfer them to another computer for offline processing.
You can use the application and process your data completely offline and anonymously. Once you are happy with your result/model and you want to export it, the app will contact our servers to verify if you own rights/licenses for the input used to create the output.
If you own the rights/licenses for the input, you will be able to continue and export your result. Otherwise, you will be asked to pay for licensing of your input, which had not been licensed before. If you import already purchased licenses together with the input, this online step will be completely skipped.
How to export the license file?
Click on the Input Licenses button in the Export panel located in the WORKFLOW tab. After clicking the button, the application will collect fingerprints of all inputs added into the project (images, laser scans). Then the app contacts our servers to verify which inputs you already own. You are asked to log into your MY account (if you are not already signed in) so that the input fingerprints can be compared against your entries in our database.
If all input fingerprints are already there, then you will get licenses for those inputs immediately. If some fingerprints are missing, you will be asked to pay just for the missing ones. You can pay using My Credit, which you can pre-pay in advance, using credit redeem codes or using other common payment options like a credit card, PayPal etc. Follow the onscreen instructions.
If you have acquired licenses previously, e.g. during the mesh export, then the online step is completely skipped.
Please note that the exported licenses are not bound to any user account or released version of RealityCapture PPI. Hence, if you share them, the receiving party can process the data without restrictions or the need to be online during export.
How to import the license file back?
License files can be directly imported with inputs using the Inputs button under the ‘Add imagery’ panel or by drag-and-dropping it into the application. Alternatively, you may use "Input licenses" button in Import & Metadata section.
If you hold the licenses for the inputs, you do not need a MY account in order to process the data. This enables workflows in secure offline environments, as well as other possible use, e.g. archiving, teaching, development of CLI scripts, etc.
I already own the license file. Do I need to be online?
No, you do not. Importing the license file into RealityCapture allows processing and exporting results completely anonymously and without the need to be online at any stage.
crmeta.db files
This hidden system file is used to speed up the access process to the images. It could be named as cached image metadata file. It is saved next to the images in the image file.
You can set if you want to use it in the Application settings. As default it is set to Yes.
RealityCapture log file
The log file is saved automatically in the Windows Temp folder and it is called RealityCapture.log. It is a document about system activity. Most often, you can find it here:
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp
The file is automatically overwritten once you start the application again. This could be also disabled in the Application settings:
XML files
RealityCapture also uses XML files. These files are used for saving used application settings, to create your own exports or define your own camera's database and a lot of other things.
Saving and loading of XML file is doable by these icons:
The application XML files are saved here and it is possible to change them into your wanted format:
C:\Program Files\Capturing Reality\RealityCapture
With XML files you can change all wanted setting, which you are using for your outputs creation. You can share these settings with your colleagues to achieve the same results as yours.
RCINFO files
When you are exporting a model, you can set in the export settings to export also an info file, which could be used later, when you will be importing the corrected/changed model back into RealityCapture.
TFW files
When you are exporting an ortho as TIFF in some coordinate system, the transformation parameters are not written right into this ortho, but the TFW file is created. This file contains an affine transformation information that describes the location, scale and rotation of a map raster. This file helps to place the ortho to its correct position in computed coordinate system. The TFW file could look like this:
| Value | Meaning |
| 0.0458826370 | X pixel resolution |
| 0.0000000000 | rotation |
| 0.0000000000 | rotation |
| -0.0458956056 | Y pixel resolution |
| -22.6164379120 | X coordinate of top left image corner |
| 24.4855136871 | Y coordinate of top left image corner |
For another image format are used different transformation files (for example with JPG is created JFW, this file has the same function).
You can save this file in Save Ortho Photo settings in Export world file line:
RCORTHO files
It is a projection parameter file. It contains transformation matrices among ortho, image, global coordinate system and world coordinate system. It also contains the box definition, image resolution, coordinate system definition etc.
You can save this file in Save Ortho Photo settings in Export projection parameters file line:
XMP files
When you align the images, you can export this alignment and calibration into metadata XMP files. These files will overwrite the image info and it is possible to use them in another alignment with these new computed parameters.
You can export them in Alignment tab/Export/Metadata(XMP).
RCALIGN files
It is possible to export RealityCapture alignment component and use this component in your another projects. More you can find in this article: Working with Components.
RCBOX files
You can export the reconstruction region as .rcbox file and use this region in your another projects.
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