The Epic Games app that turns your photos into 3D models is coming to iOS

RealityScan is available for iOS and iPadOS. Ideal for very easy creation of 3D models of real objects.

Epic Games just released RealityScan for iOS. The free app, currently in closed beta, allows anyone to scan real-world objects with their phone and turn them into high-quality 3D models.

RealityScan is available for iOS and iPadOS.

This app is the result of Epic’s acquisition of Capturing Reality, a photogrammetry company. Like desktop software, RealityScan combines 2D images to create 3D content for games and other virtual environments. The idea is to allow developers and other creative people to scan real objects anywhere and anytime for their projects. (If the metaverse ever works, you can imagine that these tools will become indispensable.)

The scanning process first requires you to log into your Epic Games account and take at least 20 photos of the item from all angles. By moving the phone, you will receive information about the quality of the scan in real time. Green indicates well-lit areas, yellow indicates those that need a little more attention, and red indicates those that require more shots. It’s all organized as if you have Polaroids floating around your subject.

Ideal for very easy creation of 3D models of real objects.

The app automatically uploads and straightens images to the cloud when you take pictures. You have a preview of the model through the camera view, and you can switch between scan quality and model at any time during the creation process with real-time color reproduction. When you want to crop, you have 3D manipulators to maneuver and save only the object of interest to you, without the ground or objects in the background.

It is logical that the process is more efficient when objects are scanned under indirect uniform illumination and have a fairly significant size. Be considered. However, there is no doubt that this will improve with versions.

Once you’re happy with the shot, you can export it to Sketchfab, the 3D platform acquired by Epic Games last year, and do whatever you want with it. If you have scanned something very unique, you can also try to sell your 3D model. Game developers who need a certain element for a virtual environment are the target audience for this kind of transaction.

The RealityScan app is available for free for iOS and iPadOS on the App Store. A few months ago, Epic said that the Android version will arrive before the end of the year, but unfortunately, there is not much time left to meet this deadline.