Camera to 3D

Point your phone at an object, take a photo, and watch a 3D model appear in Blender in under a minute.

Take photo → background removed → 3D model generated → auto-imported into Blender.

The camera UI is built for phone. You run the server on the computer where Blender is open, then open the web app on your phone. A laptop webcam works too.

You'll need

• Python 3.10+
• Blender 3.0+
• A Tripo3D API key — required, this makes the 3D models
• A Gemini API key — optional, removes the photo background
• ngrok — required for phone use, since phone cameras need HTTPS

Setup

1. Install

pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env

Put your API keys in .env:

TRIPO_API_KEY=your_tripo_api_key_here
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here

2. Start the server

uvicorn relay_server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

In a second terminal:

ngrok http 8000

ngrok gives you a URL like https://abc123.ngrok-free.app. You'll use it for both the phone and Blender.

3. Connect Blender

1. Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install, pick ws_import_addon.zip, enable it

2. Press N in the 3D viewport → WS Import tab

3. Paste your ngrok URL, but swap https for wss and add /ws?client=blender:

   wss://abc123.ngrok-free.app/ws?client=blender
   

4. Click Connect. It should say Status: Connected

4. Use it

Open the ngrok URL on your phone, allow camera access, and point at an object. Tap the shutter, confirm the photo, then wait ~30–60 seconds. When the model is ready, tap Send to Blender.

Settings

All optional except the Tripo key. Set these in .env:

Running without a phone

To test from your laptop webcam, skip ngrok. Open http://localhost:8000 and point Blender at ws://localhost:8000/ws?client=blender.

If something breaks

Camera won't open on phone — you need the https:// ngrok URL, not a local IP.

"Failed to send to Blender" — the add-on isn't connected. Check the WS Import panel says Connected, and that your URL starts with wss:// and ends with ?client=blender.

ngrok URL stopped working — free ngrok URLs change every restart. Reconnect Blender with the new one.

Background removal fails — usually a Gemini quota or key problem. You can leave GEMINI_API_KEY empty to skip it.

What's in here

relay_server.py          The server: talks to the APIs, relays models to Blender
webapp/                  The phone camera app
blender_addon/           Add-on source
ws_import_addon.zip      The add-on to install in Blender

If you edit the add-on source, repackage it before installing:

zip -r ws_import_addon.zip blender_addon -x "*/__pycache__/*" "*.pyc"

License

MIT — see LICENSE.