Polycam is an application for LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning and photogrammetry. It is possible to scan rooms in order to create dollhouse-like digital twins and to scan objects in order to create 3D models. Polycam can also be used to take 360° photos and process them directly on the device. Moreover, Polycam can process drone imagery to generate 3D scans of buildings, city blocks etc. There is a Polycam app for iOS and Android, but one can also just upload images to the web app.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| cloud-based (higher processing power) | longer processing time than others (10-30 min for smaller objects) |
| better quality possible than with exclusively app-based software (if good camera is available to take the photos) | objects with small details and gaps don’t make accurate models (e.g. shrubby plants) - but this is a general problem with photogrammetry |
| many export formats (in Pro version) | |
| [license available at ZHL] |
To quickly create detailed 3D models from the objects in a room you want to digitalize. Create a 360°-photo of the room and then add 3D models of interesting objects so they can be viewed freely from all angles in XR.
Example: Create a 360° photo of the rainforest greenhouse of the botanical garden. Import to e.g. 3DVista to create a panorama. Create models of the plants in the greenhouse with Polycam (plants have a lot of details, so take many pictures for more accurate models). Add hotspots to the panorama to open models of the plants so the user can view them from all sides.
Create a 3D model of a machine or laboratory equipment so some logic can be added to the model.
Preserve a fragile artwork as a digital object.
At the ZHL, we have been using Metashape and Polycam for several projects. This is our conclusion:
| Metashape | Polycam |
|---|---|
| better results | results are fine, but Metashape is better |
| More control over errors | No manual correction of errors possible |
| interface not as user-friendly | ease of use |
| more complex process | good for first trials |
| one-time purchase of 59€ (education license, standard edition) | free version: very limited, pro abonnement w. payment per month is more expensive than Metashape after a few months |