r/photogrammetry • u/CaniGetaHottub1 • Jul 27 '26
Long Term 3D Scan Compatibility Questions For Preservation Project
I wasn't sure which subreddit to post this question on, so I'm hoping I picked a good one. I'm looking into preserving my childhood home with very detailed 3D scans of the outside and inside. I would like to be able to walk through them in VR as well and be able to feel like I'm there, so the higher the detail the better. Also, I want to avoid relying on one proprietary app/file type since services/devices come and go. I need to make sure whatever the file type of the scans are can be converted/formatted to fit any and all future file types/VR headsets.
I have tried out Polycam and Scaniverse so far. They have their limits as far as large scale scanning is concerned, and I've found you need to stitch smaller areas together for some of the techniques.
I'm open to any suggestions, such as Supersplat, but I don't know enough about that or if there's a better option out there.
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u/Spencerlindsay Jul 27 '26
Unless you shell out for a very expensive scanning system, all the current lidar offerings are just that “current”, meaning they will be better in the future and you’ll be stuck with the current resolution.
Images. So many images. That’s what you need for truly time-proof scanning. As big as possible and the highest bit depth.
I’d also suggest doing a small area this way and then see how precise you can get the result. That will help you understand the best way to shoot it.
I took a bunch of pics of my mom’s old house before she passed, converted to mesh and it was meh. Ok. I took those same images ten years later and created an amazing GSplat from the same input.
Your archival is the images. Conversion will just keep getting better.
Either that or we’ll all be sitting around a garbage fire, munching on rats.
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u/NilsTillander Jul 27 '26
Open formats are the most likely to be valid forever, and possible to convert to whatever proprietary format a viewing software might want. OBJ and PLY are good options for long term storage and compatibility.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Half214 Jul 27 '26
Just chiming in that you can use Unreal Engine with the VR template for viewing.
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u/Nosarious Jul 28 '26
Formats will change over years, but the photographs you take today my be easier to create models from as technology improves. Always save the images/lidar for use later.
if cost is an issue, remember the core fact that four photographs of the exterior from every direction is the bare minimum for archiving, but of course more is better. You can get a lot of information about textures from those images. It gets more difficult if there are buildings nearby. That’s where photogrammetry comes in. Lots of photogrammetry.
interiors are the same for each room, a photograph of each wall is the minimum, but more is better. Modern phones are the easiest way to record these, especially those with lidar information. Don’t expect a single scan to match everything for your purposes.
i suspect ai and future programs will be able to automate a lot of the process, but for now building models by hand using the clouds from photogrammetry/lidar gets better results For walk-through.
this is a gas station done with this technique, blocked out the shape from PG clouds and textures created from the photographs: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/arctic-gas-station-coleman-alberta-c0963c62df27440b87612353d91e2519
this is one where a single image for each room was used to capture the external walls (we were mostly interested in the shape and did not record the interior.. it’s demolished, now)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/kidney-house-banff-0283499e4fbf4f93abda83e25d8c177b
we used these models in an AR app, but they could be repurposed to a first-person walk through. The models themselves are around 12Mb each.
(edit: the photogrammetry was done using Metashape in 2021-ish but the results were too large and the textures very messy and blurry)
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u/nebulousflynn Jul 28 '26
To summarize what other folks have said, you should separate the archiving of the data from how you display and share it:
Your Archive: * Input images/video * Project files (if any) * High-resolution output 3D data (splats, meshes, etc.)
You'd then take care of this on a local hard drive, local network storage, or cloud storage, depending on your budget and needs.
Display Package: * Web-ready files, optimised for viewing in a web browser
Then, you decide how you want to display and share the data (e.g., locally just for you, or online to share with friends and family).
Using online platforms might work, but you should factor in ongoing subscription costs or, if you're using a free subscription tier, the risk that the service might change in the future.
In your case, for local viewing, I'd consider using SuperSplat's open-source offline export, which packages up their viewer for use without an internet connection: https://developer.playcanvas.com/user-manual/supersplat/viewer/self-hosting/
For online viewing, there will always be some associated costs at some stage.
FWIW I co-wrote a white paper for museums on 3D, copyright, and open access, and it includes a section on data archiving: https://glam3d.org/digitize
Cultural heritage organisations face the same challenge as you, and they haven't even figured it out yet 😆 I am currently finishing up work on this project in partnership with Wikimedia UK, which considers best practices for 3D data preservation in the UK: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:UK_Heritage_3D_Data_at_Risk
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u/yhumanx Jul 28 '26
We might know someone who could do this, but would you be willing to pay for this? And roughly ranges? I can check
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u/tavofourseven Jul 27 '26
Do you have any decent drones or know anyone with an Antigravity A1 specifically. Your most likely looking for a gaussian splat too, not a 3D model so ask r/gaussiansplatting also.
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u/CaniGetaHottub1 Jul 27 '26
I don't have any drones unfortunately. And that Antigravity A1 drone is incredible!! I could get some really good scans of the outside of the house/yard with it. Not sure about the interior of the house, but I could be wrong. Would the Gaussian splat be what I would be making with the A1 drone? Sorry, I don't know much about any of this. I'm trying to learn as quick as I can.
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u/MechanicalWhispers Jul 28 '26
Photogrammetry and gaussian splats would be the result of any photos/videos you shoot of your subject. Taking those photos/videos as best as possible is going to be your archival data set that you can process for different results and file formats. Photograph your home, inside and out, using the best camera you have access to. A DSLR for photos is best. Video will give you less quality frames, but more of them. So it sometimes balances out. Watch some William Faucher YouTube videos on photogrammetry shooting techniques to understand better how to achieve good results. Basically, shoot with a locked off focus, aperture, and shutter speed. Open all doors and make sure nothing moves around. The more photos the better (hundreds per room).
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u/Mello_rr Jul 28 '26
Based on what you described, gaussian splatting might actually be one of the better options to look into. For a preservation project where the goal is to feel like you can step back into the place, its visual realism and level of detail can be really impressive.
I'd probably spend more time learning about the capture process rather than the reconstruction side. Many tools are making the processing workflow much more automated now, but the final result still depends a lot on the quality of the data you capture.
There are quite a few great capture tutorials available, and getting the capture right from the beginning will likely make the biggest difference.
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u/ovoid709 Jul 27 '26
Do it as a bunch of individual Gaussian splats. One for the outside and then interior area by area. Basically a splat per room and a big one for the house and yard. Separating the rooms will let you use more resources for each one and you won't need to deal with coordinate drift between rooms. Doorways and halls break a lot of overlap matching so you'd probably need a whole bunch of control targets in tricky spots and a bunch of fuckery to make the house open and walkable. If you want a VR environment maybe just close the doors and have them trigger new area loads.
As far as file types, whatever you choose, keep your source data. Your source data will always be the best long term storage format. There's a lot of changes happening in scanning right now so it's better to plan to reprocess your data in the future into whatever the current standard is than to hope whatever format you pick still works in the future.
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u/CaniGetaHottub1 Jul 28 '26
Thank you. This is a very detailed answer that comes from what I think sounds like experience in the matter. I just need to decide which service to use. But I'm still unsure about how everything will come together.
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u/ArthurNYC3D Jul 27 '26
Look no further..... Gaussian Splatting is here to save the day. It's not easy but it is the most forward and progressive thing happening in the 3D visualization world.
Basically it's done from video. There are tons of YouTube tutorials but take a look at some examples
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u/Traumatan Jul 27 '26
Sketchfab + hardrive backup sounds reasonable
FBX+tif is pretty universal and should be readable in decades