Doly for iPhone Can Render 3D Videos Just by Scanning Products With the Camera

Doly, the 3D video rendering app for iPhone that can easily create 3D product videos, was launched on Monday. Developed by the French startup AniML, the app offers on-cloud rendering of any product — from a water bottle to a fancy shoe — just by scanning it using the smartphone's camera. The free-to-download app allows anyone to generate high-quality 3D videos for products, removing the background and adding its own dynamic background to showcase them. In April, Tencent unveiled its InstantMesh AI model that could render 3D videos from 2D images.

Doly app features

While apps and websites that can render a 3D image from 2D images already exist, generating 3D videos remains tricky. This is because canvassing objects with spatial points and then consistently showcasing them in a video is very difficult. One popular technique that has emerged in recent times is called Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF). It uses artificial neural networks to “imagine” the sides of the object that could not be seen properly to create consistent results. However, according to a report by TechCrunch, AniML uses another 3D rendering technology dubbed Gaussian splatting, which is also a similar technique.

Gadgets 360 tested out the app and we found the process to be somewhat lengthy, given it would take multiple attempts to scan the product correctly. Then, it takes about an hour to render the video. The rendered videos are vertically aligned. In our testing, the outcome was not too great. The object had visible polygons and the promised high-quality rendering was nowhere to be seen. However, it could be a lighting issue as we scanned the product indoors with artificial lighting. We have attached a screenshot of the result below.

Product video rendering screenshot on Doly

Based on its App Store page listing, Doly is targeted towards e-commerce store owners, small businesses, marketplaces, marketing professionals, and product designers. However, there is a price to download the videos. The first video download is complimentary, but any after that requires a Doly Plus subscription. It charges Rs. 2,999 a month or Rs. 24,900 a year which gives subscribers 40 product videos a month as well as exclusive video templates.

How to create 3D product videos on Doly

Gadgets 360 tested out the iPhone app and found it quite user-friendly. The app guides you throughout the entire process of creating a 3D product video. The process is fairly easy. We've listed down the steps for ease of reference.

1. Download and install the Doly app from the App Store. You will need an iPhone 11 or later for it to work.
2. Open the app and sign up.
3. Select the Quick 180-degree video option. You will need to complete this before creating detailed videos.
4. After allowing the app access to the iPhone camera, it will ask you to rotate the phone around the device as it takes still images.
5. Once done, you will have to slowly and steadily take a video of the product by moving around it. The app will tell you if you're moving too fast or if the camera needs repositioning.
6. The app will then share a few highlight images of the product. You will have to resize them to fit the entire product.
7. Finally, you will have to select a background.
8. That's it. The 3D video should be rendered soon.