Kiri Engine VS Polycam: Which one is better?

[@xingyechrishu6382]

Hi, Dev from KIRI Engine here, first of all, thank you for bringing a good comparison video between KIRI and Polycom. We didn't use Apple algorithm and you said it right (except for object capture in LiDAR mode). And I truly realize the texture resolution is a big issue right now. And we will enhance this part in future updates. And about the volume thing, I saw another comment that says the truth, we developed that for side button capture. And that was the request from our valuable users. Again, very nice review and we definitely learned a lot from it. And if you have any other suggestions, feel free to contact us, and we would like to enhance them as well! Appreciate!🥰

[@marvelousdecay]

Hey there. Great to see the team actively looking for community feedback, and great to see that you're aware of some of these issues! • As stated on the video texture resolution is quite a hindrance currently. If and when you manage to fix that, that will make recommending the app a lot easier! Great to hear that it's in the plans for future updates! • Another issue that is definitely minor compared to texture resolution has to do with object scale. The USDZ files always export with really small scale. Most objects export as 1 to 2cm in size, which means that there's a lot of resizing involved. It's not a huge deal but I would prefer a x10 multiplier rather than these small 1cm objects. There's also a couple more issues with the UI so I'll definitely try to reach out to you over email. If you don't hear from me in the coming days feel free to contact me through my email. You can find it the about section of my channel.

[@ziephk]

Can we have a turntable feature? 🙏🏽 ❤ I think it can be the most consistent and easier to process

[@jackisbuildingkiri2997]

@@ziephk Hey ziephk! Jack here at KIRI team :) Actually, we have a turntable feature already :DDD If you go to the Photo Scan mode, the turntable feature is the third option next to the "Auto Capture" :) With the turntable mode, you can set time intervals where it will automatically take photos and apply masks automatically on the object to make great 3D scan result

[@xingyechrishu6382]

@@ziephk If you use photogrammetry mode, you can take photos by using turntable, please make sure you turn on "Auto Object Masking" before you uploading those photos.

[@reasonsreasonably]

3DGS is developing very fast. Don't sleep on it. It might not be what you need now, but in the next few years it will be mature.

[@explossive99]

can't wait!

[@Onkfrog]

Very helpful, thank you. I tried Polycam for a while, but for my use case, it's just too expensive, and I also don’t like the limited payment options. Kiri also does a very good job, costs a third of polycams price, and offers PayPal, which I prefer.

[@marvelousdecay]

Definitely good that we have options!

[@deborahd.7281]

If scanning outdoors is there a general rule as to whether direct sunlight with sharp shadows is better or worse than a soft overcast light with soft shadows?

[@marvelousdecay]

@@deborahd.7281 Definitely avoid using harsh light with strong shadows as these will appear on the texture afterwards. You want to have soft shadows. You can either shoot on an overcast day or bring with you a diffuser (big white panels used in filming) to diffuse the light and make the harsh shadows disappear.

[@deborahd.7281]

@@marvelousdecay Thank you, I am just starting out with 3D scanning and printing.

[@Fr3akyFrapz]

what about polycam vs realityscan app from epic?

[@MarkusLanxinger]

Nice review. You mention there is no reason for a scanning app to take over the audio, however we also do that in our app to use the volume keys as shutter control which is very convenient plus it connects to third party grips that also use this method to trigger the shutter via the Bluetooth button they use. This only happens when in the manual capture mode though and not throughout the whole app

[@marvelousdecay]

Good point. Looks like this is what’s happening. You can use the volume buttons to take a picture. Unfortunately though the audio stops the moment you enter the app. It would be nice if there was a setting to enable/disable that option.

[@MarkusLanxinger]

@@marvelousdecay agree. they could easily switch this on/off via a button in the settings.

[@robtaylor1885]

I have issue with Kiri not scaling things properly is there way to fix this. Since the 3D models are imported really small.

[@marvelousdecay]

Do you mean importing the model to a 3D program? If yes, just resize the object to the required scale.

[@mokanin8894]

Is room/floor capture option only available on Polycam?

[@marvelousdecay]

@@mokanin8894 Yeah that’s a specific Object Capture API feature. It’s only available on Polycam and other apps using the API. In theory Kiri could also use it if they wanted to.

[@Boschmacases]

I try Polycam and Kiri for our business, and I must say that I get much better results with Kiri than with Polycam.

[@marvelousdecay]

Try to eliminate all variables in your testing, since photogrammetry results depend a lot on angles and lighting. So give the following a try: Test both apps with the exact same images and compare the results. Either way though if you prefer Kiri use that. No need to fix what ain't broken!

[@lewyathan]

@@marvelousdecay nah objectively speaking, kiri is just better

[@buroachenbach703]

Hi, I understand that you left out the GS scanning but KIRI also has a featureless scanning option, which is somewhere between Photogrammetrie and NERF. I think it does work quite well on objects that would be difficult to scan with Photogrammetrie only. Also, KIRI engine has an option for a pro user to export his model in quads with a re-baked texture granted it’s lowres and of course you could do the conversion to quads yourself, but it’s still very convenient for a mobile app to have that option if you need assets fast and don’t have time to work on them. so KIRI is far from perfect but they do have a lot of good ideas and they are trying to push the boundaries of regular Photogrammetrie.

[@marvelousdecay]

I definitely appreciate the efforts of the development team. It looks like the team is constantly adding features to the app which is great to see! About the featureless scanning: It's a good idea but I don't find it that useful. I guess it depends on what you want to do with the final mesh. Personally if I want to scan a featureless object I just sprinkle regular baby powder on the object and follow the typical photogrammetry procedures. The benefit with that is that you can get a very detailed mesh that you can then clean up and edit accordingly. The same goes for the quad mesh straight out of the app. As good as that might sound, I'm not entirely sure what the use case for it might be. I understand that it's convenient but if I'm going to use the object on a project I will adjust things myself either way, so having quads from the beginning is not so important. At least for me! As I mentioned earlier it all depends on your use case. If it fits your workflow and projects go for it!

[@sitefabservices]

Why not include lidar ?

[@marvelousdecay]

Lidar unfortunately doesn’t have enough definition to get good quality assets out of it.

[@freddiemercury5424]

Hey Dimitris, great video! I’d love to see a comparison of the Gaussian Splatting features in Polycam, Kiri Engine, and Luma AI. Gaussian Splatting offers incredible detail, which is crucial for my applications, and I’m less interested in meshes. It would also be fantastic if you could highlight the differences between the app and web versions, especially since Luma AI allows video uploads in the app, whereas Polycam only supports this in the web version. Thanks in advance!

[@ref8893]

...excellent review!

[@howbeautifulisourlife]

Hi! Can you tell how you transformed those scans into pc?

[@marvelousdecay]

Do you mean how to export them from the apps? Both applications have an export command where you pick the format you want. I picked USDZ but you also pick fbx or obj etc.

[@howbeautifulisourlife]

Yes! Thank you, and which program do you use in the end, is it 3d max or zbrush? I can’t recognize

[@marvelousdecay]

The program you see in the video is Cinema 4D but when I’m preparing the final asset it’s usually a combination of Zbrush for cleaning up the scan, Substance Painter for cleaning up the texture and refining things and then Cinema 4D and Redshift for scene creation and rendering.

[@Nemo-mo1982]

As someone getting started on 3D printing, I find the details if Kiri (which I do notice even in this review, and it is not noise) preferable over Polycam. The more details we get on the mesh, the higher the quality of the 3D print. I guess the texture part is more relevant for people scanning for video games, or virtual renderings etc, but for 3d printing, at least for now, texture resolution is quite irrelevant Kiri seems better.