123D Catch - 3D models from your own photos!

PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,139
edited December 1969 in The Commons

I have been blown away recently by 123D Catch by Autodesk - and it's free! I first came across it on the iPad. You take a series of photos from different angles of an object - it can be anything from a small toy to a complete building, including images of people if they keep still long enough - and those then get sent to "the Cloud". Sent back in a few minutes is a complete textured 3D model which you can display and view from all angles on the iPad.

Better yet, you can download the desktop version of 123D Catch where you can re-download your model and edit it, removing unwanted pieces and then save out as an OBJ file, so that you can use it in your favourite 3D software. Or you can upload your photos from a higher res camera and create the 3D model from those. And all free! The results will obviously depend on your original images (garbage in, garbage out...) but I have already produced some interesting and useful results.

If you ever wanted a desktop digitizer and couldn't afford one, this may well be the next best thing!

Have a look here:
http://www.123dapp.com/catch

Comments

  • cridgitcridgit Posts: 1,757
    edited May 2022

    Redacted

    Post edited by cridgit on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,139
    edited June 2012

    I hear what you say but you don't have to put your projects into the public area, so if you want to keep control, simply don't post to the public area. Unless I'm missing something?

    And actually, the public area is a good source of some interesting models...

    Post edited by PhilW on
  • TaozTaoz Posts: 9,732
    edited December 1969

    cridgit said:
    Thanks for the link, Phil. Looks like a great tool.

    Be sure to read the Terms of Service. For content placed in "public areas" ...

    "... you automatically grant to us and our sub-licensees [edit] and our Users [/edit] the worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, fully paid-up, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right and license to have Access to, store, display, reproduce, use, disclose, transmit, view, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, publish, broadcast, perform and display (whether publicly or otherwise), distribute, re-distribute, transmit, save and use Your Content (in whole or in part) for any reason and/or purpose (whether commercial or non-commercial) by any and all means in any and all media, forms, formats, platforms and technologies now known or hereafter devised, invented, developed or improved in connection with the Service, Autodesk Materials or our business generally."

    Bad lawyer, you forgot "submit"...

  • cridgitcridgit Posts: 1,757
    edited May 2022

    Redacted

    Post edited by cridgit on
  • cridgitcridgit Posts: 1,757
    edited May 2022

    Redacted

    Post edited by cridgit on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,821
    edited December 1969

    yeah, as I said on their video last month, Android version pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!!

  • adamr001adamr001 Posts: 1,322
    edited December 1969

    yeah, as I said on their video last month, Android version pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!!
    Take the pics with your phone, upload to your PC, use PC version.


    Won't that work?

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,139
    edited December 1969

    adamr001 said:
    yeah, as I said on their video last month, Android version pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!!
    Take the pics with your phone, upload to your PC, use PC version.


    Won't that work?

    Yes that would work and it would probably give higher resolution results than using the built-in iPad camera, although that is very convenient to work with.

  • adamr001adamr001 Posts: 1,322
    edited December 1969

    Yup, that was my intent on trying it out. Though I might get out my tripod and my point and click 10mp camera just for stability. I haven't had a chance to play yet.

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,139
    edited December 1969

    I think that their processing is limited to images of around 3 MP and it will downsize larger formats. Also as you want images from many angles, setting and resetting a tripod increases your work ten-fold for probably a limited gain. Seems to work OK with the iPad camera which I think is only around 1 MP. I am sure that you will get better results going up to 3 MP but after that, not so much.

  • adamr001adamr001 Posts: 1,322
    edited December 1969

    Interesting. My assumption was that the tripod would give me a near-uniform angle as I rotated the object (rather than the camera/tripod) and that would make for a better result.

  • larsmidnattlarsmidnatt Posts: 4,511
    edited December 1969

    thanks for sharing, not sure I'll find a use but its good to know about.

  • mrposermrposer Posts: 1,127
    edited December 1969

    This looks like it would work well with reference photos from 3DSK... but not sure about the nudity or the usage would be covered from your 3DSK membership or not.

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,139
    edited December 1969

    adamr001 said:
    Interesting. My assumption was that the tripod would give me a near-uniform angle as I rotated the object (rather than the camera/tripod) and that would make for a better result.

    I think it needs a static scene to work with so you need to move the camera and not the object - it uses surroundings to help place everything in 3D space. You don't need uniform angles, you need lots of different angles. It can be used for things like buildings too (I've even seen a 3D cloudscape that was done with it!) where you couldn't move the object!

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,821
    edited December 1969

    I have something called Autodesk Photo scene editor that has been apparently superceeded by this, I never got it to work

    Untitled.jpg
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  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,139
    edited December 1969

    I thought I would share some of my results from using 123D Catch. These models have been captured using an iPad, cleaned up on the PC desktop version (in the case of the Jane Seymour figurine) and then exported and rendered in Carrara.

    JaneSeymour1.jpg
    640 x 480 - 20K
    GaudiLizard.jpg
    640 x 480 - 40K
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,821
    edited December 1969

    those look so cool, unlike my attempts with my camera phone and desktop :red:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODiHZAPifRw
    found turning a video into image sequences only way to get something, I am a crappy photographer, sooooooo need an Android app
    joined the thread on their forum clamouring for one!!!

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