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Photogrammetry Import/Export

ADDON
📖3 min read
Latest Version: 2026.02.16
New Blender Addon For Scanning 3D Models: Scene Scanner by CG Vortex

Introduction​

The Photogrammetry Importer/Exporter (SBCV) is a community addon that moves reconstruction results from Structure-from-Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS) pipelines into Blender: solved cameras, sparse and dense point clouds, and meshes, with scale and orientation preserved.

Supported libraries and formats:

  • Colmap: model folders (BIN and TXT), workspaces, NVM, PLY
  • Meshroom: MG, JSON, SfM, PLY
  • MVE: MVE workspaces (requires Pillow to read image sizes)
  • Open3D: JSON, LOG, PLY (requires Pillow)
  • OpenSfM: JSON
  • OpenMVG: JSON, NVM, PLY (requires Pillow for point color computation)
  • Regard3D: OpenMVG JSON
  • VisualSFM: NVM (requires Pillow)

Common point cloud formats:

  • PLY, PCD, LAS, LAZ, ASC, PTS, CSV (requires pyntcloud for parsing; LAS/LAZ parsing requires laspy and lazrs)

The format coverage means you can move results from many photogrammetry pipelines straight into Blender without intermediate conversions.

Key Takeaways​

Camera Import

Import solved camera positions and orientations from Colmap, Meshroom, OpenMVG/OpenSfM, VisualSFM, and more.

Point Clouds

Load sparse and dense point clouds (PLY, PCD, LAS, LAZ, ASC, PTS, CSV) as editable Blender point clouds.

Scene Inspection

Adjust point size, color, and camera frustums, and toggle layer visibility while you review the reconstruction.

Installation​

Remove any previous version· cleanup

In Edit > Preferences > Add-ons, search for Import-Export: Photogrammetry Import Export Addon and click Remove. Close and reopen Blender.

Download the addon· release zip

Download photogrammetry_importer.zip from the Releases page, or clone the repository and build the zip with the provided helper scripts. The zip must contain a photogrammetry_importer/ folder with init.py.

Install and activate· install

In Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install..., select the zip and activate Import-Export: Photogrammetry Import Export Addon.

Install optional dependencies· deps

For full format support, install pillow, pyntcloud, laspy, and lazrs through the addon's GUI or manually.

Usage​

Pick the importer· File > Import

Open File > Import and choose the importer that matches your source tool, for example Colmap (TXT or BIN), Meshroom (JSON or SfM), OpenMVG/OpenSfM (JSON), or VisualSFM (NVM).

Import the model· cameras + points

Select the model folder or file. The addon creates the cameras, point clouds, and meshes in the correct scene coordinates.

Tune the display· addon panel

Adjust point size, point color, and camera frustums in the addon panel, and hide layers you do not need while you inspect the scene.

In an Investigation​

  • Bring your own reconstruction. Import the COLMAP output from your own photogrammetry run and work with the exact camera positions the solver produced.
  • Camera coverage checks. With the frustums visible, you can see which parts of the scene had good coverage and which areas are gaps before you commit to modeling.
  • Point cloud review. Inspect dense points for artifacts, dust, or motion blur at the source, before they get baked into a mesh.
  • Pipeline handoff. The same import path feeds both mesh-based and splat-based workflows, since the camera data is shared.

Limitations​

  • Requires Blender 2.80 or later; the optional dependencies need Blender 2.83.5 or later.
  • Import formats vary by source tool. Not every importer supports every reconstruction format.
  • Large point clouds slow the viewport. Adjust the display settings to keep the scene interactive.

Resources​