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Reflective calibration sphere on a photographed wooden surface
Dabarti Capture

Create detailed textures from photographs.

Buy licence Try demo How it works
Capture 1.0.1 / 3 September 2026Windows

What it does.

Dabarti Capture is an in-house tool made publicly available. It makes it possible to calculate quite accurate albedo, normal and displacement textures from a set of photos.

This software uses a technique called photometric stereo. You could think of it as reverse rendering, where you use varying light positions to estimate the surface normal. It is tested in production and works with most image formats, including many RAW camera files.

Normal
Surface normal direction.
Albedo
Surface colour with most lighting removed.
Displacement
Height information calculated from the normal map.

Workflow

How to capture textures.

  1. Fixed phone camera facing green fabric with a reflective calibration sphere in frame
    Fixed camera, material and reflective sphere

    01Set up

    Keep the camera and material fixed. Place a reflective sphere next to the surface.

  2. Hand moving a phone light above green fabric while the camera remains fixed
    The light moves while the camera stays fixed

    02Photograph

    Take photographs with the light in a different position each time. A strong point light or flashlight is recommended.

  3. Capture batch output showing albedo, normal and depth texture maps
    Batch-processed map output

    03Process

    Load the photographs in Capture. Select the reflective sphere to calibrate the light positions, then process the set.

  4. Detailed colourful normal maps created from photographed surfaces
    Detailed normal maps ready for 3D work

    04Export

    Save the normal, albedo and displacement maps for use in a 3D material.

Current release

Capture 1.0.1

The 2026 release is an update of the original command-line tool. It adds a proper user interface, batch processing and some other quality of life improvements.

Buy licence Try demo
170 MB · signed Windows installer · demo output is limited to 1,024 px and one-third source size
Dabarti Capture 1.0.1 interface with a three-dataset processing queue
Capture 1.0.1 / Windows interface
  • 01

    New user interface.

  • 02

    Batch processing. Queue multiple datasets to process.

  • 03

    Visually select the reflective sphere for light calibration.

  • 04

    Adjust each light calibration manually for higher precision.

  • 05

    Create a mask for the capture area in the interface.

  • 06

    New licensing system for easier activation and deactivation.

  • 07

    Other improvements and bug fixes.

Original project

Made with Capture.

Salt, Pepper & Basil, one of our first projects using materials scanned with Capture.

Salt, Pepper & BasilOriginal film / 2017
Basil and ceramic tableware rendered with captured surfaces
Captured surfacesBasil / ceramic / wood
Food still life rendered with captured material detail
Final CGILook development / render

Capture service

We can scan your samples.

Send your material samples to our studio. We will photograph them, process the maps and send you the files.

150–450 EURGuide price per scan

Price depends on the surface, size and number of scans. We confirm the quote before starting. Shipping is separate.

Ask for a quote

Learn more

Guides and updates.

  1. Current releaseDabarti Capture 1.0.1

    The 2026 interface, batch processing and updated workflow.

  2. TutorialCapture textures with a mobile phone

    The full setup, photography and processing workflow.

  3. ResearchPhotometric stereo R&D

    The tests that led to the first version of Capture.

  4. ArchiveOriginal 2017 release

    The first command-line release note and example renders.

  5. ProjectCaptured leaves

    A material test made with Capture and V-Ray RT GPU.

Dabarti Capture

Try it with your own photographs.

The demo and full version use the same installer. Buy a licence on Gumroad to unlock full-resolution output.

Buy licence Try demo Ask about Capture