Epic Games today announced the purchase of photogrammetry software developer Capturing Reality for an undisclosed fee, to help the company improve how it handles 3D scans of environments and objects. This acquisition will make it easier to bring real-life objects into Unreal Engine.
Photogrammetry basically uses 2D images to create a 3D object in a virtual space, and RealityCapture is the state-of-the-art photogrammetric software for 3D scans (creating 3D scans with “unmatched mesh quality and precision”).
RealityCapture software allows developers to create high-quality 3D models from disordered photos or laser scans. Epic Games intends to integrate Capturing Reality development into the Unreal Engine ecosystem to make it easier for developers to upload images and instantly create photorealistic 3D models.
RealityCapture has found use in a number of industries, and is used for video, film, and video game effects.
Under the terms of the agreement, Capturing Reality will continue to support and collaborate with partners in gaming, visual effects, cinema, surveying, architecture, engineering, construction, and cultural heritage. The company will continue to work with companies that do not use the Unreal Engine.
As the official press release reads:
“Today we are thrilled to announce that Capturing Reality, creator of RealityCapture, the state-of-the-art photogrammetric software for 3D scans, has joined the Epic Games family. Capturing Reality’s software is able to reconstruct objects and scenes of any size from images or laser scans, yielding 3D scans with unparalleled accuracy and mesh quality at speeds many times faster than competing software.”
“Epic plans to integrate Capturing Reality’s powerful photogrammetry software into the Unreal Engine ecosystem, making it even easier for developers to upload images and create photorealistic 3D models in instants.
Capturing Reality will continue support and development for partners across industries like gaming, visual effects, film, surveying, architecture, engineering, construction and cultural heritage. This also includes companies that do not use Unreal Engine.”
With Capturing Reality joining Epic Games, the company has updated its pricing and licensing plans, reducing costs for both new and existing customers.
The purchase price and financial details of the deal are still unknown. However, Epic announced some reductions to the pricing rates for Capturing Reality’s services/software, dropping the price of the license fee from nearly $18,000 to $3,750.
“The Capturing Reality team is made up of some of the most impressive experts in the field of photogrammetry,” said Marc Petit, General Manager of Unreal Engine. “The team has built a powerful solution with RealityCapture, and we’re fortunate to have them as part of the Epic Games family.”
“Our mission at Capturing Reality is to give our customers the most powerful and easy-to-use photogrammetry solution on the market, so they have the freedom to focus on their business,” said Capturing Reality Co-founder Michal Jancosek, PhD.
This marks another developer that Epic has snapped up recently. Mediatonic’s game division, the makers of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was purchased by Epic just last week.
Back in 2019, Epic Games also acquired Quixel which hosted a library of photogrammetry “megascans” that developers could easily access. The companies back then announced that the Megascans library was completely free for use with Unreal Engine.
Stay tuned for more!
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