At Autodesk University's Creative Studio exhibit, we received an awesome video demonstration of 123D Catch, a piece of PC-only software that allows you to turn snapshots into detailed virtual 3D models. Our demonstrator walked around a real model of R2-D2, shot photos from multiple angles, then dropped those images into the computer. Autodesk's server farm in the cloud then crunched the numbers, and a few moments later an insanely detailed 3D model appeared on screen. The whole process, start to finish, was about five minutes of doing and ten minutes of waiting for the cloud-crunching.

Sadly, a technical error rendered our video unusable. But we don't want you to miss out on the software—it's currently in beta and available for free download at the link above—so here's the canned demo video. (You can skip the filler and start watching at 0:35.)