The free technology preview of Autodesk Labs Project Photofly allows you to take standard digital photos taken from your camera and convert them to a 3D textured mesh model, point cloud, or even video posted on YouTube.

Here are some ideas on what you could capture on your vacation:

• Proof of that fish you caught and released.
• Grandma asleep in the lounge chair.
• Bigfoot tracks – Yes Photofly is great at capturing tracks in the mud or even the snow in the case of a abominable snowman also known as the Yeti.
• That amazing tree stump.
• A sculpture or monument.
• A nice rock or fossil.
• Historic buildings and ruins.
• Dinner.

Yes dinner. I was in San Francisco attending a meeting last week with many members of Autodesk product teams. Some of us went out for some spicy Szechuan Chinese food in Chinatown. This was a great spontaneous opportunity to capture something in 3D.

Using 12 photos from my small compact camera and the free technology preview Autodesk Labs Project Photofly http://www.autodesk.com/photofly I created my dinner in a 3D textured mesh with no manual intervention or point editing and then uploaded it directly to YouTube. The entire process took less than 30 minutes.

YouTube Video of the Chicken with Explosive Peppers in 3D. http://bit.ly/pgmHrK

The plate was of "Chicken with Explosive Peppers" from a Chinatown restaurant. The dish was about 90% peppers and 10% chicken. The peppers were both standard small red hot peppers as well as Szechuan peppers which are not really a pepper but have a weird lemon flavor and numb the mouth.

When using Project Photofly make sure to know how to compose your photos and other tips and tricks. http://bit.ly/kcI0aj

What crazy spontaneous vacation objects have you captured with Project Photofly?