Friday, November 22nd, 2024Posted by Jim ThackerEpic Games releases RealityCapture 1.5html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Epic Games has released RealityCapture 1.5, the latest version of the photogrammetry software.Its a major update, making it possible to export 3D models in USD format for use in VFX and animation pipelines, and to export Digital Terrain Models as 16-bit height maps for use in games.The release also improves texture generation, particularly when scanning humans or generating in-game assets, and makes a number of significant workflow improvements.Converts large mixed data sets into clean production assetsFirst released in 2016, RealityCapture generates accurate triangle-based meshes of real-world objects, from people and props to environments.It is capable of tackling very large mixed data sets, even on laptops and low-end hardware.The software includes functionality aimed at aerial surveying and urban planning, but is also used in the entertainment industry to generate assets for use in games and VFX projects.RealityCapture was acquired by Epic Games in 2021, which made the software available free to artists and studios with revenue under $1 million/year earlier this year.RealityCapture 1.5: USD support for VFX and animation pipelinesFor entertainment artists, a key change in RealityCapture 1.5 will be USD support.Users can export scans in USD format, now a staple of pipelines in VFX and feature animation, and supported in most key DCC apps, including Blender, Houdini, Maya and Unreal Engine.It is also possible to export in USDZ format, for use in augmented reality projects.Export 16-bit height maps and COLMAP text data for use in NeRFsUsers can also now export Digital Surface Models (DSM) and Digital Terrain Models (DTM) as 16-bit PNG files, as well as 8-bit images.That makes it possible to export more detailed height maps for use in DCC applications and game engines, including Epic Games own Twinmotion and Unreal Engine.In addition, it is now possible to export RealityCapture components in the COLMAP text format.COLMAP data is used by many new 3D scanning tools based around Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) or 3D Gaussian Splatting.Users can also export Radiance Fields Transforms in JSON format again, for use in NeRF tools like Nerfstudio and Instant NGP. Better texture generation, particularly for entertainment workThe update also improves texture generation, which now respects masked areas, making it possible to exclude elements from source images from the final textured model.In addition, it is now possible to use 16- and 32-bit images for Photoconsistency texturing.Photoconsistency texturing is slower than the alternative Visibility and Mosaicing methods, but can give better results when scanning people, or scanning translucent objects.For games work, it is now possible to defragment textures on export.By default, RealityCaptures UV unwrapping algorithm generates a lot of small UV islands, which minimizes texture stretching, but reduces real-time performance.Performance improvements include better use of the CPU when generating textures: according to Epic, texturing is up to 2x faster than RealityCapture 1.4.Other workflow improvementsOther workflow improvements include the option to disable watertight meshing.Watertight meshes still generated by default are required for 3D printing, but can have higher file sizes and require more manual clean-up than non-watertight meshes.It is also now possible to use relative file paths as sources in RealityCapture projects, making it easier to use the software in production, particularly across a studio network.Users running RealityCapture from the command line get a number of new commands, making it easier to automate tasks.Price and system requirementsRealityCapture 1.5 is available for Windows 7+ and Windows Server 2008+. Its CUDA-based, so you will need a CUDA 3.0-capable Nvidia GPU.The software is free to artists and studios with revenue under $1 million/year. For larger studios, subscriptions cost $1,250/seat/year.Read a full list of changes in RealityCapture 1.5 in the online changelogHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Latest NewsEpic Games releases RealityCapture 1.5Big update to the photogrammetry app adds USD export and new options aimed at games and VFX. Free to indie artists and studios.Friday, November 22nd, 2024KeenTools releases FaceTracker for BlenderMuch-anticipated facial mocap plugin for Blender gets its official release. 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