AR Works

Documentation

3D scanning objects

Scan a real object with your phone camera and it becomes a textured 3D model in your project's assets - no extra apps, no exports.

Starting a scan

  1. In the Assets panel, click Import and choose 3D Scan.
  2. Click Start a new scan. A QR code appears - scan it with your phone camera (or open the link on the device you are already using). The capture link works for 60 minutes.
  3. The phone opens a full-screen capture page - no sign-in needed on the phone, the link itself is the key.

Capturing good photos

The capture page guides you around the object: it auto-captures sharp frames as you move (you can also tap the shutter), shows every shot in a strip so you can retake, and unlocks Done once you have enough coverage.

  • Place the object on a table with space to walk a full circle around it.
  • Use even, soft light - avoid harsh shadows and backlight.
  • Move slowly around the object at one height, then do a second, higher circle. More angles mean a better model.
  • Matte, textured objects reconstruct best. Shiny, transparent or completely plain surfaces confuse photogrammetry - expect rough results or a friendly failure.

What happens next

When you finish capturing, the scan joins a processing queue - reconstruction usually takes 10-25 minutes. You can keep building (or close the editor entirely); the Assets panel shows a live status chip, and the scan dialog shows your position in the queue. Scans are processed one at a time for everyone, so at busy moments the wait can be longer.

Choosing the polycount

When the scan is ready, click Import… to open a live preview with a polycount slider. Drag it to trade detail for file size - the triangle count updates in real time, and the photo texture keeps most of the visual detail even at low polycounts, which load much faster on phones. Importing runs through the normal asset pipeline, so the final model counts against your storage like any other import.

Scans are real reconstructions

The model is built only from your photos - what the camera never saw (the base, deep crevices) cannot be reconstructed. If a scan fails, the error explains what to change; capturing more overlapping photos in better light fixes most failures.

Limits

Scanning is included on every plan, with a daily per-user limit to keep the shared queue fair. Capture photos are deleted automatically after processing; reconstruction results are kept for a few days so you can import them, then swept.

Use the scanned model like any other - add it to scenes, animate it, wire it into logic, or restyle it with materials.