Autodesk continues shuffling their 3D products around, with the popular Memento system being renamed as “ReMake”.
Autodesk seems to have a variety of image to 3D cloud products, including 123D Catch, ReCap360, Memento and now ReMake. It’s a standalone program that combines with cloud processing to enable the creation of high-resolution 3D models.
ReMake fits in as an easy-to-use option, perhaps a bit less technical than say, ReCap360. It can even work with ReCap files to provide easier editing and cleanup.
I prefer the imaging technique for 3D scanning over other methods for a couple of reasons:
- You always have a camera and don’t have to lug around expensive 3D scanning equipment
- It’s far cheaper than many other alternatives
- The 3D model resolution and quality is usually higher than found with active scanning systems, simply because there are more pixels in images than there are in, say, a Microsoft Kinect-based system
- Colors and textures are typically very accurate
There are a few circumstances where you cannot use this technique, but by and large it’s entirely practical to do, anywhere, anytime. Just capture the images and then use an image to 3D model service like ReMake.
Autodesk is offering two versions of ReMake, “Free” and “Pro”. The Pro version costs USD$20 per month or USD$190 per year if paid annually. [Note this is considered “Promotional pricing” and it’s likely to rise in the future to unknown levels.] The two versions are nearly identical, but the Pro version offers a few features that might be expected by, well, Pro’s:
- Input up to 250 images per model (free version limited to 125, which in my opinion is usually more than sufficient for almost anything)
- Local computation vs cloud computation capability, which would be possibly required if you have a security concern about using clouds
- Ability to set units and scale of the 3D model, which is useful but certainly not essential as this can almost instantly be done in many other tools, including Autodesk’s own MeshMixer
- Set coordinate points/system, again an infrequently used capability
- Export with controls and texture baking. I’m not sure how the normal export is limited; this could be an issue if you cannot export a color 3D model from the basic version
- Compare two 3D models to obtain a difference map; useful only for those doing multiple 3D scans of the same or similar objects
For now, Autodesk is only offering ReMake as a Windows application. System requirements are actually pretty light unless you opt for local processing in the Pro version, where they recommend your system include multiple Xeon processors, 128GB RAM and “One or more” high-powered graphics cards. Ouch! A system of this type is likely going to set you back at least USD$10,000 or more.
They say an OS/X version is “coming soon”, and Autodesk is usually trustworthy in following through.
For those readers interested in inexpensive 3D scanning options, you definitely should investigate using Autodesk ReMake.
[ And apologies for the very cheesy post title 😉 ]
Via Autodesk
