Polycam

[Polycam is a phone and tablet app that turns a handful of photos or a quick LiDAR sweep into a textured 3D model ready for export.]

How to use Polycam

1. Install the app from the Polycam website or your device’s store and sign in.
2. Select Photo Mode or LiDAR Mode depending on your hardware.
3. Move slowly around the subject while the capture counter climbs; keep the frame steady and well lit.
4. Tap “Done” and wait while the mesh and textures process on the device or in the cloud.
5. Use the crop, colour and decimate tools to tidy the scan.
6. Export as OBJ, STL, or share the link directly with collaborators or a printer.

Hands-on impressions

I spent the past month scanning everything from half-finished building sites to family portraits. Polycam gave me a complimentary account, so I pushed the limits of the allowance: countless trial scans plus a handful of full-resolution exports. The workflow stayed smooth on an iPhone 14 Pro, and even after a dozen back-to-back captures the handset never overheated. A friend used an older Android handset and echoed the same stability. When time mattered on site, I relied on on-device processing and still walked away with clean meshes before leaving the property.

Advantages

• Speedy site capture: a full room scan took under three minutes and processed while I packed my tripod.
• Portrait reliability: busts printed from the scans carried recognisable facial details without manual sculpting.
• Tweakable output: brightness, mesh trimming and resolution sliders offered just enough control without feeling overwhelming.
• On-device crunching: no signal? No worry. The scan still finishes and syncs later.
• Entry price is gentle compared with the photogrammetry packages I previously paid for.

Drawbacks

• The free tier ends sooner than expected; serious projects call for a subscription.
• Dim indoor lighting introduces noise that even the auto clean-up sometimes misses.
• Large texture files chew through storage after a busy week of work.
• Exporting huge meshes to desktop software can stall if Wi-Fi drops mid-transfer.

After dozens of tests I’m comfortable calling Polycam my everyday scanner; quick jobs, hobby prints, and commercial surveys all came out looking the part, so the subscription stays on my card for now.