Polycam blog

When a phone-based scan is the smarter choice and when the Leica BLK360's accuracy is worth the cost — a practical AEC comparison of speed, cost, and workflow.

Deciding what LOD a project really needs — and how a phone capture converted through Autodesk ReCap covers LOD 200 and most LOD 300 work at a fraction of the cost.

Turn a Polycam capture into a floor plan, a DXF file, or a point cloud ready for BIM — capture tips for MEP and a checklist for client handoff.

Define the deliverable, plan and run the capture, clean up the data, and hand off to a BIM or CAD team — a complete guide to digitizing an existing building.

How a phone with a LiDAR sensor produces a measurable 3D record of a building — interior and exterior workflows, app comparisons, and when a laser measure still wins.

A full workflow for documenting a manufacturing plant with a phone — from a single production line to a multi-site digital twin program, plus safety and CAD/BIM export.

A typical site survey workflow begins with planning and finishes with a file ready for BIM or GIS. The tools used for this process have changed significantly in recent years. This guide walks you through each step: planning, on-site capture, real-time quality checks, cleanup, export, and moving a mobile scan into Revit, Civil 3D, or CloudCompare.

OBJ, FBX, GLB/glTF, USDZ, STL, and PLY compared for 3D scan workflows — file size, animation, textures, AR readiness, and the best destination for each.

Point cloud exports are one of those things nobody really explains. You know your scan looks right, but LAS, PLY, XYZ, and PTS: the format you pick determines what survives the handoff to Revit, Civil 3D, or CloudCompare, and the differences aren't obvious until something's missing on the other end. This guide breaks down what each format actually stores and which one to reach for depending on where your data is going.

How Polycam's six-algorithm pipeline turns a quick phone scan into a clean, labeled, measurable floor plan — all processed on-device in seconds.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to export Polycam captures into Blender for cleanup, optimization, and refinement. This workflow covers importing GLTF files, understanding Blender viewports, transforming objects, optimizing meshes, and repairing geometry.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to export Polycam point clouds into CloudCompare for cleanup and optimization. This workflow covers converting LAS files with QGIS, importing point clouds, filtering noise, and cropping scan data. 

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to export Polycam scans into Meshlab for cleanup and optimization. This workflow covers scaling captures, simplifying UV maps, reducing polygon counts, and preparing meshes for editing, rendering, or 3D printing.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to export Polycam Gaussian splats into Unreal Engine for real-time rendering and interactive scenes. This workflow covers editing splats, importing them into Unreal Engine, setting up collisions, and creating cinematic camera movements.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to capture museum objects with Polycam and turn them into animated poster designs using Blender and After Effects. This workflow covers photo scanning, importing GLB files, cleaning meshes, and creating motion graphics compositions.

In this tutorial, you'll learn a multi-pass workflow for capturing extremely high-resolution interior scans using Polycam and photogrammetry techniques. This process covers room passes, overlap strategy, detail captures, and improving scan consistency for cleaner results.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use Polycam to capture as-built documentation directly from your phone. This workflow covers planning survey paths, scanning large spaces, generating floor plans, and exporting measurements and reports.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use Polycam to capture as-built documentation directly from your phone. This workflow covers planning survey paths, scanning large spaces, generating floor plans, and exporting measurements and reports.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to capture mechanical objects with Polycam using photogrammetry workflows. This process covers scanning small parts, large machinery, improving scan accuracy, and reprocessing captures as Gaussian splats.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to capture underwater 3D scans using Polycam and photogrammetry workflows. This process covers recording photos or video underwater, capture techniques, scaling scans, and uploading footage into Polycam.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to bring Polycam Room Mode scans into Spline and redesign your space in 3D. This workflow covers importing room scans, organizing assets, customizing materials, rearranging furniture, and exporting interactive scenes.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to bring Polycam 360 captures into Blender and use them as lighting and background assets. This workflow covers importing 360 images, setting up environment lighting, and creating immersive environment meshes.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to bring Polycam scans into Adobe After Effects for motion graphics and compositing workflows. This process covers exporting OBJ files, using Cinema 4D Lite, setting up cameras, and working with popular 3D and particle plugins.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to transfer Polycam scan data into AutoCAD and use it for drafting and design workflows. This process covers exporting point cloud files, converting them with Autodesk ReCap, and creating section-based CAD references inside AutoCAD.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to bring Polycam scans into Unity and turn them into interactive game assets. This workflow covers exporting OBJ files, importing models into Unity, setting up materials, and adding physics interactions.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to bring Polycam scans into Fusion 360 and use them as references for engineering and CAD workflows. This process covers exporting scans, importing meshes, repairing geometry, and converting scans into usable solid bodies.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to import Polycam scans into Rhino 3D and prepare them for rendering or modeling workflows. This process covers exporting files, scaling meshes, cleaning geometry, and reducing polygon counts using Quad Remesh.

In this tutorial, you'll learn which Polycam export formats work best with SolidWorks and how to prepare scans for engineering workflows. This process covers STL imports, mesh scaling, mesh conversion, and preparing models for analysis and 3D printing.

A 3D model without a structured 2D plan underneath can't answer real operational questions. Discover why the floor plan is the missing anchor in your digital twin.

How does Polycam stack up against CubiCasa, magicplan, and Matterport? See a breakdown of raw accuracy, turnaround times, and total cost per plan.

Eliminate manual measuring and data transcription errors. Learn how a single phone scan generates accurate room square footage and material takeoff reports for your bids.

Stop manually tracing meshes in CAD. Discover the modern workflow that delivers layered DXF floor plans and 3D models simultaneously on your phone.

Not all AI floor plan generators are equal. Learn the critical difference between generative AI layout tools and detection-based spatial tracking apps.

Stop tracing flat images. Convert your mobile phone scans into layered, DWG-ready floor plans in minutes and eliminate manual redraw steps from your CAD workflow.

Looking for a Matterport alternative that won’t charge you per scan or per export? Polycam’s Business plan delivers floor plans, CAD exports, and team sharing without dedicated hardware.

Skip the tape measure. Polycam’s Space Mode lets you walk a site with your iPhone and capture a dimensioned, layered, CAD-ready as-built before you leave the building—exportable as DXF for AutoCAD and Revit.