Meshroom — The Complete Guide: Free 3D Models From Photos (Photogrammetry)
Meshroom is open-source photogrammetry software built on the AliceVision library. You photograph an object from a few dozen angles, and the program finds common points, computes the camera position for each photo and builds a textured 3D mesh.
Meshroom
AliceVision
Turns a set of photographs into a textured 3D model — photogrammetry, free.
Get it from the vendorEngineering uses
- As-built documentation — a construction detail, a small facade or damage, before repair.
- Reverse engineering — a mechanical part with no drawing, as the basis for a new model.
- Visualisation — a real model to combine with a rendering or show to a client.
How to shoot properly
Large overlap between photos (60–80%), even lighting without hard shadows, an object with texture (shiny or transparent surfaces work poorly), and a scale bar in the photos to give the model real dimensions. 40 to 150 photos are enough for most objects.
What to know
Meshroom needs an NVIDIA graphics card (CUDA) for the dense reconstruction step, and processing can take hours. For mapping large areas from drone photos, WebODM is a better fit. To clean and simplify the model — MeshLab; to measure and compare — CloudCompare.
WebODM (OpenDroneMap)
OpenDroneMap
Photogrammetry from drone imagery — orthophoto, elevation model, point cloud and textured 3D model.
Get it from the vendor
MeshLab
ISTI — CNR
Mesh and point cloud processing — hole filling, simplification, alignment and format conversion.
Get it from the vendor
CloudCompare
CloudCompare Project
Point cloud and laser scan processing — registration, cleaning, as-built comparison and measurement.
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Blender
Blender Foundation
Full 3D suite — modelling, visualisation and presentation-quality rendering, with Python scripting.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
Meshroom turns an ordinary camera into a 3D scanner, for free. With good photography, the results are surprisingly good.