Resources & Hardware
Equipment guide and software tools recommended for Reality Capture
A curated selection of field scanning hardware and software suites, drawn from the field practice described in the books, for your professional projects.
Hardware Warning (GPU)
RealityCapture strictly requires an NVIDIA GPU (CUDA technology). Integrated or AMD graphics cards are not supported.
Scanning Hardware
Leica RTC360
3D accuracy of 1.9 mm at 10 m, speed of 2 million points/sec, double HDR camera system.
Ideal for industrial plant surveys, complex facades, and heritage archiving.
NavVis VLX 3
Multiple LiDAR sensors combined with 4 360-degree cameras, real-time SLAM technology.
Ideal for surveying large office buildings, factories, or logistics centers.
DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise (M3E)
4/3 CMOS sensor with mechanical shutter, 45 min flight time, centimeter RTK module.
Best value for topography mapping, open-pit mines, and roof inspections.
Sony Alpha 7R V
61-megapixel full-frame sensor, AI-based tracking autofocus, interchangeable lenses.
Ideal for close-range scanning of museum artifacts and structural inspection.
Software Tools
RealityCapture
Epic Games
The fastest 3D reconstruction software on the market. Ideal for generating giant textured meshes from thousands of photos.
Agisoft Metashape
Agisoft
Highly robust and comprehensive for aerial orthophoto creation, multispectral processing, and digital elevation models.
CloudCompare
Open Source
An essential free tool to compare point clouds (flatness analysis, deviation maps, scan quality control).
Autodesk Revit
Autodesk
The industry standard for recreating the 3D BIM digital twin from imported point cloud files.
Recommended PC Specifications for Photogrammetry
3D model processing demands significant computing power. Here is our recommended setup:
Compute (Processor & Memory)
Processor (CPU): Intel Core i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 (minimum 12 cores). The CPU is critical during photo alignment.
Memory RAM: 64 GB RAM (or 128 GB for projects exceeding 2,000 photos).
Graphics & Caches
Graphics Card (GPU): NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti or higher with at least 12 GB VRAM. RealityCapture strictly requires an NVIDIA CUDA GPU.
Storage: High-speed NVMe M.2 SSD of at least 2 TB for storing large temporary cache files.
Documents & Checklists
Download our practical checklists to ensure you never miss a step during your field survey days.
Field Checklist - 3D Scanner Survey Day
From the night before to the last byte backed up: a full day of laser scanning with nothing left to chance.
Camera Settings Sheet - Photogrammetry
Camera setup and shooting method for reliable 3D reconstructions in RealityCapture or Metashape.
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Go further
The 3D Laser Scanning Decision Guide
A comparison of 30+ scanners, decision trees and a complete methodology to choose the right equipment for your projects.