Epic Games has announced a new smartphone app capable of building 3D models of objects from a series of photos taken with the smartphone.
Epic Games, the studio behind games like Fornite, has unveiled its new iOS and Android 3D scanning app for smartphones called RealityScan. The app uses smartphone cameras and photos to create high-fidelity 3D photogrammetric models real-world objects for use on digital platforms.
Epic Games developed RealityScan in collaboration with Capturing Reality (which it acquired last March) and Quixel (creator of Megascans). ” this app builds on their pioneering technology to expand access to sophisticated photogrammetry for creators of any skill level “Writes Epic Games in a press release.
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How does RealityScan work?
RealityScan will therefore allow creatives to scan real-world objects, such as an armchair like in the video, for the purpose of using them in their digital projects. The creation of a 3D object promises to be quite simple. After logging in with your Epic Games account, the app will prompt you to take at least 20 photos of an object. As seen in the video, you can also hold your finger down on the capture button as you move around the object.
Once the application has processed the images and turned them into a 3D object, you will be able to export the file to Sketchfab (a 3D asset platform that Epic also acquired in 2021). The application should therefore considerably simplify the life of game developers who need a particular object to place in a virtual environment. These may sell these 3D files to other creators or use them on their own 3D projects.
Epic clarified that the application was not yet ready to be deployed to the general public. It is currently only available in limited beta for first 10,000 users on iOS. With this application, Epic intends to expand access to photogrammetry, a practice that is not new, but which most of the time required skilled technicians and specialized devices to correctly capture real-world objects.
Making it accessible to everyone on simple smartphones will undoubtedly democratize it, but could also lead to deviations. Indeed, creating 3D models of certain everyday objects could raise significant copyright issues if they are used in digital projects, so Epic will need to clearly explain to users what they can and cannot. can’t do with his app.
