Strolling through the heart of Paris, the air crisp with autumn, the historic Fontaine Saint-Michel looming grandly before you…sounds like a fantasy, but a small team called Scans Factory has made it a reality, sort of. They created a tech demo using Unreal Engine 5.6 that lets you step into the city of light.
Scans Factory, a group of 3D artists obsessed with capturing reality, used a technique called photogrammetry to create this tech demo. In other words, they took real-world photos and turned them into incredibly lifelike 3D models.
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What makes this demo pop is Unreal Engine 5.6, the tech powering it all. Two of its most notable features, Lumen and Nanite, are the highlights. Lumen takes care of lighting, letting sunlight spill across cobblestone streets or rain shimmer under streetlights without developers having to adjust every single shadow by hand. Nanite, meanwhile, crams in absurdly detailed objects without making slowing your computer. It’s the kind of tech that makes you forget you’re staring at a screen.
This isn’t just a pretty picture you’re gawking at—you’re in it. You can wander through the scene under three different lighting setups: a bright, cheery morning, a warm autumn sunset, or a moody, rainy overcast day. Each one changes the vibe entirely, like flipping between different versions of Paris in a movie. The environment is built with modular pieces—think building facades, street props, and more—that let creators rearrange the scene like digital Lego. Add in little details like the faint hum of a nearby café or the rumble of a distant metro, plus visual flourishes like leaves drifting to the ground, and it feels like a living, breathing world.
These assets aren’t just for show—they’re optimized to run smoothly in real time, so they’re perfect for building video games, animated films, or even virtual tours. The demo itself is proof of what’s possible, showing how these hyper-realistic pieces can come together to create worlds you’d swear you could step into.
You can grab the demo for free on Gumroad, and while the full set of assets will cost you a bit extra, all you need to dive in is a decent PC that can handle Unreal Engine 5.6 and a little time to get lost in Paris. Scans Factory’s Discord community is there to help, offering tips, support, and even some free goodies, whether you’re a curious newbie or a seasoned pro tinkering with virtual worlds.
