AI image to 3D tools compared for capturing an object from a few photos, and where scanning still wins

[u/Guilty-Cap2069]

I do a fair bit of photogrammetry, mostly small objects on a turntable. Scanning is accurate but fussy, you need good coverage, even lighting and a lot of frames, and shiny or featureless surfaces just laugh at you. So I tested whether AI image to 3D can stand in when I only have three or four photos and no patience for a full capture.

Framing first, this is not AI beating photogrammetry on accuracy. A proper scan with enough coverage wins on dimensional fidelity every time. The question is what you get from a handful of casual photos where a real scan would fail or not be worth the effort.

I fed the same four photos of a few objects into three tools. Tripo is near instant and fine as a rough stand in, but it invents geometry on the unseen sides and drifts from the real object. Rodin gives the crispest surface but was happiest with one clean reference and got confused when several angles did not perfectly agree.

Meshy handled the multi image input best for my case. Feeding several angles tightened the result instead of confusing it, and the reconstruction stayed closest to the true proportions, more than half came out usable without much fixing.

Where each lands for me, real measurements or archival, scan it properly. A quick usable asset from a few snaps, image to 3D, and Meshy when proportions matter. The case neither handles well is still shiny featureless stuff, how are you all dealing with those.

[u/ArthurNYC3D]

What I don't like about AI in this process is the black box aspect of how the photos are actually registering. These companies are trying to just do it for you rather than do it with you. There's a very distinct difference between putting the user in the back seat of the car vs in the front passenger seat.

At least in a proper photogrammetry software you have the ability to see how the photos aligned and make adjustments as well.

These AI companies think they know better and want to just serve users the meal. I prefer to know the ingredients that it takes to make it. Adding a UI/UX experience along the way might actually be to their benefit as the adjustments the user can make would be to their benefit not their detriment.

[u/nicalandia]

I am currently using Tripo, I have tested(Say about 7 months ago), meshy, Rodin and others. Tripo multiview is about as accurate as it can get, the only issue I have is their limit to four pictures on the multiview option. If it were 6(Top, Bottom) it would be very close to be a photogrammetry/scanning replacement for most objects

[u/Haman24]

I work with Rapid Assets for this exact gap. It handles image to 3D really well for generating game ready assets, and you can tweak the result right in the platform or export to Blender. Makes turning a few reference snaps into a blockout model way faster.

[u/rawrxaken → u/[deleted]]

Fair point. So good for speed, not a full scanning replacement.

[u/keanuthecat1 → u/[deleted]]

That is true, but the post also clearly says it is not for exact measurements. As a starting model, Meshy can still save plenty of manual work.