Omniscient vs Simulon: Creative Control
For VFX creators, the ability to revise a shot matters as much as the first result. You may need to change an object’s animation, adjust its lighting or rebuild the effect around the same footage. The tools you choose should leave room for those decisions.
Omniscient captures footage, camera movement and, on LiDAR-equipped devices, a 3D scan for use in your VFX software. Simulon 2.0 has moved towards generative AI: you create a subject, place it in AR and generate an image or video.
For creators who want editable scene data and a choice of production tools, Omniscient is the stronger starting point.
Capture the shot, keep the creative decisions
Omniscient records your footage and tracks camera movement on supported iPhones and iPads. On LiDAR-equipped models, it also captures a 3D mesh of the environment at real-world scale.
You bring the filmed shot, camera track and captured geometry into your scene, then decide what to add and how to finish the effect.
In Blender, for example, the Omniscient add-on imports the tracked camera, scan and footage, and sets up compositing. From there, you can:
- Replace a model or change its materials.
- Animate an object and adjust its timing on the timeline.
- Change lighting and render settings.
- Refine the compositing over the original footage.
Change an object’s animation while keeping the camera track and the rest of your scene. Each element stays editable, so you can revise the part that needs attention.
Omniscient handles capture and helps set up the scene, giving you more time to work on the effect.
Build the workflow around your project
Export your shots in formats such as Alembic (.abc), USD (.usda), FBX, OBJ and MOV, or use an integration with Blender, After Effects, Cinema 4D or Unreal Engine. See the compatible software guide for the formats and integrations available in each tool.
Choose the software that suits your skills and the effect you want to make. Use the captured data for modelling, animation and compositing, then finish the shot in your editing tools.
Omniscient processes shots on your device without requiring cloud upload. You decide where to take the project after capture.
Where Simulon’s guided AI workflow differs
With Simulon 2.0, you create a subject from words or images, place it in AR and generate an image or video. You guide the result through composition, scene edits, action descriptions and start and end frames.
That guided process can be useful for quick visual experiments. The generation model determines parts of the final appearance and motion.
When a shot needs a specific material, animation or composite, an editable scene lets you make targeted changes to each element. With Simulon 2.0, you guide a generated image or video. With Omniscient, you take the footage and scene data into your VFX tools and build the effect there.
Simulon’s AI features send the files and instructions needed for generation to external providers. Simulon states that content is private by default and that it does not use your content to train generative AI models.
Use generative AI when it serves your idea
You can also use generative AI in a project captured with Omniscient. Take footage or rendered frames into an external AI tool, then bring the resulting media into your edit or composite.
You choose which stages use generation, which stay in an editable 3D scene and which tools handle them. If you use an external AI service, its processing and privacy terms apply to what you send it.
Your camera capture stays usable across these workflows, so you can change tools as the project develops.
Which approach fits your creative work?
Simulon 2.0 suits creators who want to generate a visual idea inside a guided app.
For VFX built around real footage, with editable elements and your choice of production tools, choose Omniscient. It handles camera tracking and helps with scene setup. You decide how to build the effect, refine the shot and finish the video.
