I have wrote about this in the past, but in talking with people, they are almost always amazed when I tell them this is possible and free with their iPhone Pro. I thought I would share a quick example from this past weekend to illustrate the potential of generating 3D content from just your iPhone.

I was with family this past weekend at Suttle Lake located in Central Oregon. At one of the boat ramps, there is a unique overgrown boat ramp sign that the tree has started growing around.

I used the app 3D Scanner App on my iPhone 15 Pro and scanned in high resolution using LiDAR the sign and tree section to generate a 3D model that you can then export to use elsewhere such as a 3D scene or 3D print, share on Sketchfab, or even use AR to view in your space.

Note: You can also use the full featured RealityScan app by Unreal Engine which is now free for some use and very powerful.

I loaded up the 3D Scanner App in this case and in one minute had scanned and generated a 3D textured model of the sign embedded in the tree. I can measure crop and cleanup and export.

The created textured mesh model from about 1 minute of scanning.

Mesh view

You can measure objects

Export options in 3D Scanner App.