computer science

RealityCapture

RealityCapture is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand RealityCapture rather than just read about it. In short: RealityCapture was a photogrammetry software developed by Slovak company Capturing Reality and later by Epic Games, used to create 3D models from unordered photographs (terrestrial or aerial) or laser scans. In June 2025, Epic Games rebranded the desktop application as RealityScan 2.0, consolidating it with the company's existing RealityScan mobile app under a single brand name.

Key takeaways

RealityCapture belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect RealityCapture to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of RealityCapture from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

RealityCapture was a photogrammetry software developed by Slovak company Capturing Reality and later by Epic Games, used to create 3D models from unordered photographs (terrestrial or aerial) or laser scans. In June 2025, Epic Games rebranded the desktop application as RealityScan 2.0, consolidating it with the company's existing RealityScan mobile app under a single brand name. The software is used in cultural heritage (art, archaeology, and architecture), full body scanning, gaming, surveying, mapping, visual effects (VFX), and virtual reality (VR). Its features include image registration (alignment), automatic calibration, polygon mesh calculation, coloring, texturing, parallel projections, georeferencing, Digital Surface Model (DSM) generation, coordinate system conversion, simplification, scaling, filtering, smoothing, measurement, inspection, and various import and export options. The program can be run from the command line, and a software development kit is available. RealityCapture is able to combine camera images and laser scans. It is designed to make low demands on hardware, and works linearly, so doubling the inputs roughly doubles the processing time. The software is available only in English.

Technical requirements RealityCapture/RealityScan runs on 64-bit machines with at least 8 GB of RAM, running 64-bit Microsoft Windows 8, 8.1, 10, or 11, or Windows Server 2008 or later, with an Nvidia CUDA 3.0-capable GPU with at least 1 GB of VRAM. Users can register images without an Nvidia GPU but cannot generate textured meshes without one. Users must install the Media Feature Pack for Windows, and on Windows Server, the Media Foundation features. Meshing, coloring, and texturing are performed out-of-core to avoid RAM performance loss during these processes.

History The public beta version of RealityCapture was released by Slovak company Capturing Reality (founded in 2013), based in Bratislava, on 2 February 2016. A closed beta had been running for almost a year prior. Capturing Reality was acquired by Epic Games in March 2021, with Epic planning to integrate RealityCapture into the Unreal Engine. In April 2024, Epic Games revised the pricing model, making the software free for individuals, educators, students, and companies with annual gross revenue under US$1 million. Epic Games released RealityCapture 1.5 in November 2024, adding improved texturing performance, optional disabling of watertight meshing, relative file paths, and expanded command-line automation. In June 2025, Epic Games rebranded the desktop application from RealityCapture to RealityScan, unifying it with the existing RealityScan mobile app released in 2022. RealityScan 2.0 introduced AI-assisted masking, alignment improvements, visual quality inspection tools, and support for airborne LiDAR scans. RealityScan 2.1, released in November 2025, added support for SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) scanner data and improvements to UV unwrapping and render cameras.

References

External links Official website SteamVR/Environments/Photogrammetry

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with RealityCapture

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what RealityCapture claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to RealityCapture before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about RealityCapture ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of RealityCapture

In research: RealityCapture appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses RealityCapture in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: RealityCapture is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 3D graphics software, Computer-aided design software, Photogrammetry software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for RealityCapture outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study RealityCapture in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what RealityCapture means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain RealityCapture out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is RealityCapture in simple terms?

Why does RealityCapture matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study RealityCapture?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on RealityCapture.