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I am new to AR development. I started with some tutorials like this and found them using Sceneform, but not explaining what Sceneform is and why is it used.

Searching over the internet isn't giving me clear answers.

I am confused as to how is Sceneform related to ARCore or how it is different from ARCore.

Isn't ARCore enough without Sceneform?

Andy Jazz
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aymusbond
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1 Answers1

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Sceneform SDK allows you import and view 3D models (in such formats as .obj, .fbx or .glTF) and then render realistic 3D scenes for ARCore apps or VR apps, without having to learn OpenGL. Sceneform includes a high-level Scene Graph API, a Physically Based Renderer (PBR) provided by Filament and Android Studio plugin for building 3D assets. ARCore is not able to import and render 3D models. ARCore is made for tracking and scene understanding stages.

In AR app development industry, Sceneform is ARCore's general companion.

However, Sceneform SDK has been archived and no longer maintained by Google. There's no any replacement for Sceneform except pure Filament renderer. Read this post if you need more details.

Andy Jazz
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    Thanks for the answer. Am I correct in thinking that Unity 3D doesn't require Sceneform because it can import and render 3D scenes itself? – aymusbond Jul 12 '20 at 01:09
  • Yes, you're correct. You can read about it using a link (more detail). – Andy Jazz Jul 12 '20 at 01:22
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    There's a sentence: "However, if you are building a new project, consider using the Unity ARCore SDK for Android. It uses Unity to render objects in 3d space and provides an easier way to create an ARCore app". – Andy Jazz Jul 12 '20 at 01:32
  • There's a maintained version of Sceneform https://github.com/SceneView/sceneform-android – C.d. May 20 '22 at 11:44