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Ask HN: How to produce a 3D scan of a car from a mobile phone?

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Ask HN: How to produce a 3D scan of a car from a mobile phone?

#1
A client is interested in 3D scanning cars, outdoors and in varying conditions.

Which 3D scanning apps/services/projects/other or combinations of those would you recommend for producing high fidelity, 3D models of a real car?

Output format can be typical 3D engine format, e.g .obj .fbx .glb

Thanks in advance!

Re: Ask HN: How to produce a 3D scan of a car from a mobile phone?

#2
It depends on what you're planning to do with the scans. There are some great off the shelf photogrammetry and structure-from-motion apps out there, many free. There are also more involved tools that include depth sensors, lidar, or custom scanners. Unreal has a tool for making 3D scans into usable 3D models called realitycapture.

My advice is to nail down what you're trying to do, end to end, which will help you narrow the field of what to use.

Re: Ask HN: How to produce a 3D scan of a car from a mobile phone?

#3
3D scanning is not some niche cottage industry. There's loads of different solutions by companies ranging from Epic Games to Autodesk, DIY solutions using Xbox Kinect, to dedicated devices. Just depends on what you are trying to do and tolerance for dodgy BS.

And oh, you aren't likely to get a clean 3D model from the get go, more likely is that you are going to generate a point cloud that has to be edited to get a usable 3D model.

Re: Ask HN: How to produce a 3D scan of a car from a mobile phone?

#6
If you are on a budget maybe check out Creality's new offerings in this area.

For ~$1500 you can have a handheld 3d scanner. Their marketing materials show a scanned Hummer hood and a car door. I have never used it though so I am not endorsing it.

https://store.creality.com/products/cr-scan-raptor-3d-scanne...

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