Insta360 Ace Pro: the best action cam and good for 3DGS and even 36021287
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 WGAN FanClub Member Queensland, Australia |
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user | |
| This is my reply to users of 3DMakerPro Eagle slam scanner on Facebook. Do not get me wrong I am not regretting buying this scanner for point cloud generation however all other claims from 3DMakerPro about 3DGS and 3D tours with it have never been delivered. 3DGS is kind of moving in software development but looking at photos its camera generates I do not believe it is ever going to be any good. And they seem to ignore 3D tours development and stay quiet anytime somebody asks about it. Anyway here is my reply of doing 3DGS with Insta360 Ace Pro: _________________________________________________________________ I have given up on 3DGS from the scanner. You cannot make bad photos coming from the scanner to produce a good, clear and in focus 3DGS because it can only be as good as photos(frames) you use to generate 3DGS. You can do them with any camera and if you want the cheapest and greatest option you can get insta360 Ace Pro. I got one yesterday for AU$488 which is about $320 USD. This action cam can do both 4K and 8K video and up to 50MP photos and it is the cleanest video I have ever seen. I walked about 80 seconds at the back and a side of my house capturing in 4K, then loaded a video(about 1.5GB) into postshot and even with 300 images selected for processing and in less than 90 minutes later I got it processed. It looks better than my attempt to use SonyA7riv in 4K for 3DGS or using DJI Pocket 3 in 4K for that. I would try this action cam in 8K but at a start of using this cam I could not find a way to see and select 8K recording but figured it out later. So with 8K resolution it can even do it better. Sorry I cannot share 3DGS created with the action cam because it is a private place video but also because postshot in free version does not let you export 3DGS and share it. So if I have time and decide to subscribe to postshot I will create one in some public space and share it. It does not have to be postshot software as you can do them with free Reality Capture soft but you need to start somewhere and postshot is easier. The whole idea with using an action cam is that it's cheap and tiny while it still does videos close to what you can get on full frame camera. If I like it over time I will get at least four of them for all sides capture. Insta even offers a GPS remote that can have all 4 cameras connected, synchronized in settings and you can start/stop recording at the same time. The cost of 4 with the remote should be less than $1400 USD. I have more plans for using this cam even though I would need 12 of them to generate 360 videos in huge up to 32K resolution or almost 500MP 360 photos. Sure nobody could play 32K video and I cannot probably stitch it with Mistika VR even on my 3D machine but it shows that you can get at maximum. Note I mention Ace Pro, not Ace Pro2. The second version is about $150 USD more but there is nothing added that will make videos or photos better so do not waste your money on second version. I will share one view from 3DGS created so you have an idea how good it is. I have not cleaned them yet from floating garbage so you may see some splats floating and blocking views. _____________________________________________________________________________ This is all continues because I have figured out I can load 3D models or 3DGS into 3DVista, set it with FOV at a specific height and let people walk through them freely or picking points to step making a good alternative for Matterport or any virtual tour. And btw, Ace pro quality of photos/videos is so good that I am thinking about using it as a personal camera. You can even get a case with a grip that will mimic a miniature shape of mirrorless/DSLR cameras and it will be easy to use and take on personal trips. I will post links to its videos and photos so you can see yourself in the next post.  |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user | |
| You can download sample photos and videos from Ace Pro from this thread on reddit Insta360 Ace Pro 2 downloadable samples? It may be from Ace Pro2 but there seems to be no difference in an imaging sensor between version 1 and 2 If you want to see 4K and 8K footage on youtube you can check this one Do not forget to switch to 4K and 8K resolution on youtube as it may not start playing in any of these two highest resolutions by default. |
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aerialpixels private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Wingman Thanks for sharing! Do you (or anyone here), know if its really better to get a handheld SLAM lidar like Eagle Pro or Lixel etc that has 3DGS features, or just go with a pure camera workflow? Correct me if I am wrong, I think (and seems to be confirmed by Wingman) that a good part of 3DGS's quality boils down to its camera lens, which IMO, most handheld SLAM scanners dont have great RGB Optics as a priority feature. So how, when, and why would a handheld lidar give better 3DGS than a regular photo/video camera? |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| All I can say do not get Eagle Pro if you only want 3DGS. And you are right even though it is not just lenses. Despite 3dmakerpro claiming each sensor is 50MP it either does not look that way or they cannot get a maximum clatity from it. Also sensors are not really placed well, the front sensor position create partially blocked by lens photos while side sensors do not do it. Since they did not really care about designing it well and customers pay the price for it. RTK has not be developed even though they have been told by others including me how easy it can be done with a 3rd party NTRIP app. Only PPK works if you lucky to have proper files from NTRIP caster. I have photos from it and I can share them. However I can do it on Wednesday only. I am off to a one day job in another state tomorrow and I am happy to share them when I come back. You should see why it is never going to be good with 3DGS. However as a slam it is working fine and they do develop software. Check this guy, he is very good and even finding paid jobs with Eagle scanning |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| I have done it with Inta360 Ace Pro today. Video was recorded in 4K in landscape and took about 150 seconds. The fence was done in one pass, the house wall in three but the last one was done with a lot of ground captured so it all can connect. And the last pass I recorded a ground. Processed through Teleport Teleport viewer |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| This is the same video processed through postshot postshot version |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| btw and as usual with Chinese companies apparently Ace Pro 2 gets all updates but not Ace Pro 1. However what's more interesting they are planning to sell ultra wide lens for Pro 2 with 190 degree FOV. That reduces number of cameras required for creating hi res 360 videos and photos to 4-5 action cameras only. If nothing changes and I have funds I will start buying Ace Pro 2 with ultra wide lens every month so in 4/5 months I should have up to 5 and their remote to control them. That should make a rig that can produce clear 8K/16K videos in 360 and even much higher in resolution 360 photos. I assume the photos should be about 32K. Parallax could be problem but I am planning to use Mistika VR and optical flow. One single action camera in portrait mode should produce a photo with 170 degree vertical FOV and about 110-120 degree horizontal FOV. So I hope I can get away with just 4 action cams. It is better to work as their GPS remote only supports 4 action cams. No actual rig will be required as a single disk(metal, plywood) can hold all four but each camera will require a cage as it is the only way to get 1/4 hole for screwing an action camera to a disk in portrait mode. I may even have the disk from my car mount that will work. I will be reporting about progress with 360 as well as using 4 action cams rig for creating 3DGS. |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| I have finally tested Insta 360 Ace Pro 1 for 360 capture. See the result and more details on my company Facebook page Honestly I am impressed even with this bult in lens and a new one should make the full pano filled almost all the way around with 4 cameras only. I cannot wait till I can get Ace Pro 2 with a replaceable ultra wide lens. You can buy Ace Pro 2 now but this lens is a new accessory that Insta360 only announced with month. The next step if I am happy I will get 4x Pro 2 cams with ultra wide lenses in total plus Insta360 GPS remote to control all four cameras at the same time. I hope 4 will stitch if not with uding control points and PtGui but with optical flow using Mistika VR. If you cannot access my post using the link above you can just go to my company page and it will be a top one |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| A 360 photo from an Ace Pro 2 is coming soon. Ultra wide lens became available in Insta360 today morning and I purchased it today. Ace Pro 2 and GPS preview remote should come on Monday next week and the lens should come later the same week. One camera and lens is more than enough for me to test if 4 of them can cover 360 horizontally and how much of area will be uncovered at nadir. I will post results when ready. If I go with this rig I will provide all details for bulding it as total DIY for free but I will ask those who can donate to cover for my time and providing all details on possible the best 360 rig that you can get done yourself under US$2000-2500 comparing that anything close to quality and resolution of it can cost you 5-10 times more as a dedicated professional 360 camera. BTW, since the topic title and content mentions 3DGS and I have tested a single Ace Pro for it and got quite a great result you can also use these cameras to capture 3DGS fast. You may need a different mounting solution for 4 cameras than for a 360 capture rig but this will be easy to do as DIY too. |
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 WGAN StandardClub Member Ocala, Florida |
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| Now (before 12/7/2025) seems like a good time to consider the AcePro2 and other Insta360 products: Insta360 Black Friday Sale Of course, Insta360 offers other sales throughout the year, but if you put this on your list, Santa / Father Christmas could get a good deal! Cheers! |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| It seems Black Friday is when Insta360 gives the biggest discounts. Google AI has confirmed it too. That's why I went and bought the first Ace Pro 2 for this R&D few days ago and yesterday bought the lens as soon as it was in stock. No discount on lens though so to save $20 on shipping I had to buy two of them to go over free shipping threshold. The only reason I did not mention Black Friday sale in this topic was because Dan did it already in his thread on discounted sales from Inst360 and other brands. It is only three days left. |
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Quote:Originally Posted by Wingman I saw this video and I think it would be faster and (maybe) cheaper. You need only 3 Insta360X5 and you need walk only once where with Ace2 you would need to go same rout 3 times. |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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Quote:Originally Posted by monnce It could be slightly cheaper as X5 is more expensive than Ace Pro. I do not think it will be better as quality of video coming from Ace Pro seems to be much better than from X5. You do not necessary need to walk twice through the same area as you can position four cameras in a way to avoid it. However 3DGS in my idea is just an extra. I am more interested to build a wearable(when needed) rig for 360 media capture that will produce great quality 360 photos and videos in a moving environment. Since to most nature of capture and it includes Matterport or mirrorless camera setup they are all pointless in an environment when something moves. Sure this rig won't beat my 360 photo capture with Sony A7riV but a)I cannot do 360 videos with that b)it's still bad and creates ghosts for moving objects. Not to mention the cost of building a rig from 4x Sony A7riV and it is weight that could be close to 7-8kg. Sure I could use my Pilot Era for moving environment but quality wise is just not good at all. |
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WGAN Fan Club Member Queensland, Australia |
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| I have received the lens and have done an outdoor test today. I must say it is working as expected but it may need a bit of work on creating a proper PTgui pro template. See details and examples on maps and on kuula in my last post on Meta For those who do not want to go to Meta please see the example in 18K on google maps Good thing is I have all parts(a plate to mount cameras and a cage for each) to build the rig apart from two sets of Ace Pro 2 + lens. I could not resist buying a second Ace Pro 2 two days ago while it is still offered with a huge discount. So I will need to invest another AU$1400-1500 to get this extra 2 sets. Should be done withing 2 month if my business income stays on current levels. Only when I get all four I could build a better template for PtGui for photos and another one for Mistika VR to stitch 4 videos in a 16K 360 video. I do not know yet if my 3D desktop can handle 16K 360 video stitching but if it is not we can do 11-12K instead. I do expect that even in 8K 360 video details should be clear. The whole point is build a replacement for 360 media for something that can only Mosaic cameras can do now at a cost of over AU$50K. My solution will provide the same quality if not better at more 1/10 of a mosaic camera cost. |
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