COLMAP vs MVE
COLMAP
colmap.github.ioMVE
github.comSide by side
| Figure | COLMAP | MVE |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Photogrammetry Software | 8.3 (#10) | 7.2 (#26) |
| License | The COLMAP library is licensed under the new BSD license, while third-party dependencies are separately licensed. | The wiki says source files are distributed under the BSD 3-Clause License unless a source file states otherwise. |
| Purpose | COLMAP is a general-purpose Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo pipeline for reconstructing ordered and unordered image collections. | MVE is an end-to-end pipeline for image-based geometry reconstruction, including Structure-from-Motion, Multi-View Stereo, and surface reconstruction. |
Plans
In their own words
COLMAP
COLMAP is a free pipeline for reconstructing scenes in 3D from ordered or unordered image collections. Its Structure-from-Motion stage estimates camera poses and sparse 3D structure; its Multi-View Stereo stage uses PatchMatch stereo and stereo fusion to produce dense point clouds and meshes. Users can work through a graphical interface or command line. The GUI’s automatic reconstruction tool accepts an image folder and creates sparse and dense results in a workspace folder. For development, PyCOLMAP offers Python bindings for most functionality, and COLMAP can be built as a library for C++ code. Feature extraction options include SIFT, ALIKED, and LoMa; ALIKED and LoMa require ONNX support at build time. It supports a range of camera models and multi-camera rigs. Users can install pre-built binaries or build from source; macOS users also have a Homebrew formula, and a pre-built Docker image includes CUDA support. The library uses the new BSD license, while third-party dependencies have separate licenses. The project describes COLMAP as research software that may occasionally exit ungracefully when constraints are not met.