Making 3d models of everyday things with 123D Catch

123D Catch is a cloud-based app/service that converts still digital photos into 3D models. Its available for iPhone/iPad and as a web app and PC desktop app. This was its description when it was still Project Photofly:

"Capturing the reality as-built for various purposes (renovation, rapid energy analysis, add-on design, historic preservation, game development, visual effects, fun, etc.) is possible using your standard point and shoot digital camera thanks to advanced computer vision technologies made available through Project Photofly."

I am thinking of using it more for a project so I started off with a few experiments with two things on my table. You might recognize these as the characters from Carpetface... and well, they're the things that live on my table...



The Excitable Dog
In case you are wondering, the "Excitable Dog" is a $2 water-gun squeeze toy from Daiso...
123D Catch requires you to take about 40 photos around the object, after which you tap on the thumbnail on the iPhone app and wait for a very long while as it processes. After it has uploaded to the cloud, you can tap it again and approve it for sharing with the community. Unfortunately, at this point, if the app is unable to process the images, it will show a big "X" on top and you will have to try again with a new set. For me, items which are shiny or translucent almost always fail...

This was the first successful item to be "caught".



The Horrifying Dog (View on 123d)





The result is that I realised that the bottom and the back of the excitable dog was not evenly lit and thus did not show up at all. So I decided to use an ikea lamp with a flat top as a kind of makeshift lightbox.



And so this is what a broken piece of Aristotle's head looks like.


Aristotle's Head (View on 123d)







With mesh
Clearly a few improvements still need to be made with regards to how I take the pictures - I need to change the surface on which the items are placed because if both the item and the surface are white then there is no visual contrast. I think I will find a grid or something, and also adhere some random coloured dots on the objects which might help as markers. Another thing I want to build next is a camera and lighting rig.

Needless to say I'm really excited about 123D Catch even though it seems to be its infancy (the cloud-based service is only about a year old now) but I think it will be important because it works on consumer mobile devices and computers, and anyone can use it. As it becomes more and more accurate I can see people taking pictures of everyday things, and museums making use of this technology for educational and archival purposes.

Next steps: I intend to figure out how to build a camera and lighting rig, clean up the models and experiment with Meshmixer, but in the meantime, here are some more of their official tips on how to improve the image quality:

Scanbox: Foldable box that lets you use your smartphone as a portable scanner

Several months ago, I backed a Kickstarter for Scanbox, a foldable paper box with in-built light that would hold one's phone in place so that one could use one's smartphone for scanning documents and presentations. I forgot about it because it arrived in Singapore whilst I was in Paris. Today I had to scan some receipts and I recalled that I had never even opened the package before (even while moving house), so I took it out of its envelope for the first time...



Folded it together so the magnets snapped in place, found an old 9V battery and plugged it in to make the flat LED strip light up and OH MY GOD! Can I just say how simple and genius this is? It just works. And some of you might say, what if the iPhone isn't that great a camera? Well I can still read the receipt. I mean, life is too short to spend all day scanning receipts immaculately! Just scan the goddamned thing and move on with life! And as income tax filing season approaches, this suffices as a tool for digitising all your receipts and documents. I am planning to sell my bulky (but very awesome) Laser printer/scanner when I go to school in a few months time, but I can see this as one of the few things I'm definitely going to take along with me on that plane...



I got the Scanbox Plus for USD25 (S$31/£16) when it was on Kickstarter, but it is retailing now on the Scanbox site for USD34.95 (S$43/£23). It can be flat-packed (minus the battery) into an rectangle size just slightly larger than A4. The workmanship is okay (meaning that I think there isn't that much attention to detail and the product was not sufficiently protected for international shipping), and I know you could probably build your own semblance of a "Scanbox" out of cardboard and LEDs and magnets and any other additions... BUT... seriously, I have so many OTHER things I'd rather be building or doing. This box just works. The end.