‘Why is 3D content creation still challenging, time-consuming and expensive, even in this technologically advanced era?’
This question troubled CJ Looi, who loved animations and art in video games, when pursuing his career in robotics, 3D, and computer vision.
He discussed this with Cyril Nie, his friend who shared a similar passion and decided to develop a solution.
That’s how PixCap was born.
The startup was launched by the duo in Singapore in January 2022. Looi previously held computer vision and graphics roles at Shenzhen-based robotics company Dorabot. Nie, an MSc in Computer Science from University College London, worked as a software engineer building cloud-native apps.
PixCap is an online platform to empower anyone to find, create and export 3D designs in minutes.
In other words, it lets users tap on 3D assets and templates, from simple to professional, and access everything through a browser-based interface.
World is moving from 2D to 3D
Globally, the transition from 2D to 3D has been very prominent in the past two years. Major consumer e-commerce and tech brands increasingly incorporate 3D elements into their logos, ads and landing pages to better engage their users and stand out.
However, editing in 3D is challenging as it requires deep expertise and domain knowledge, which many designers lack. Eventually, they choose to create in 2D, limiting their creativity and design potential.
Also Read: Into the metaverse: When Web3 and virtual worlds collide
“With PixCap, marketers, designers, and everyday users like you and I can create beautiful 3D designs in minutes using simple, curated templates,” CEO Looi shared.
Currently, many designers are choosing to create 3D visuals with alternative common stock platforms. However, these are uneditable and have shorter longevity when brands need to update colours, lighting, shadows, and camera angles to align with brand guidelines.
PixCap is intuitive and easy to use, allowing designers to choose from thousands of templates. “They can simply drag and drop 3D assets, edit colours, lighting, shadows, adjust camera angles and more to create a beautiful 3D design in minutes,” he explains.
From graphic design, UI/UX design, and animating virtual worlds and avatars for the metaverse to marketing, everyone can create unique designs with PixCap, Looi claims.
The platform’s free version includes features such as video export, image, or GIF (watermark) and export in GLTF and FBX. Users can also access its creative library and make real-time comments with their project partners.
With the Pro Plan, starting from US$9 per month, users can access everything in the free plan plus exporting without a watermark and access to premium 3D models and animation.
Eyeing global market
PixCap targets global brands, marketers and graphic designers, UI/UX designers, and 2D and 3D illustrators with its platform. “These individuals are usually interested in 3D and want to learn and try it. More often than not, the steep learning curve and time constraints inhibit them from pursuing it further,” he adds.
The firm has won over 30,000 users across the US, India, the UK and Southeast Asia.
[L-R] PixCap Co-Founders Cyril Nie (CTO) and CJ Looi (CEO)
According to Looi, the startup is constantly looking for new ways to improve its products to fulfil the needs of marketers and designers today.
PixCap recently bagged US$2.8 million in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia’s Surge. The capital will allow it to expand its engineering and marketing teams and invest in product development and community building as it expands globally.
“We are expanding our engineering teams to bring in better-looking 3D models, scenes and animations. We are also building an extensive library and community to showcase creative work by PixCap’s users. By doing so, we hope to cultivate a group of 3D design enthusiasts that will inspire one another to push the boundaries of creativity,” he notes.
“Ultimately, we want to become the Canva for 3D designs,” he concludes.
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