Luma AI: our review

Luma AI made its name with an app that turned a series of photos or a phone video into a 3D model — a capture technique (NeRF, then rendered via Gaussian splatting) rather than pure generation. Since then, the vendor has built its flagship offering around generative video (Ray), and 3D has slipped into the background: the page that once showcased 3D generation (Genie) now redirects to the homepage, entirely devoted to video.

What's left of 3D at Luma

3D capture hasn't disappeared: it lives on under the name Interactive Scenes, accessible from the mobile app or the web, and still produces lightweight files (a few dozen megabytes, according to the vendor) that can be embedded in a site or an app. The product works, but its removal from the main showcase is a signal worth taking seriously before building a lasting professional use on it: nothing guarantees it stays a priority on the vendor's roadmap.

What happens to uploaded photos and videos

Luma's terms of use are unambiguous on this point: the licence granted to the vendor covers the right to "create, test, improve, train, or otherwise develop" Luma's AI models from uploaded files — and this clause applies equally to the historical free tier and to the current paid tiers. On free use, the licence goes even further: it allows Luma to publicly display and distribute the uploaded content. A company capturing a prototype or an unannounced product must therefore assume the file feeds training of the next model, whatever the tier.

Usage rights, and what's missing

The positive point: commercial use of scenes and videos is granted outright on all paid individual tiers, with no hidden tier reserved for large accounts. What's missing, however, is clarity on 3D export formats: the product page says nothing about a format compatible with a game engine or CAD software used in industry, unlike a competitor such as Meshy, which lists its formats explicitly.

Our view

To quickly embed a real object in 3D on a website, provided you're willing to pay from the start since no free tier remains, Interactive Scenes delivers the service it promises. For a more demanding use — an industrial part, an established 3D production pipeline — it's worth first checking the exact export format with Luma, and keeping in mind that 3D is no longer the product the vendor highlights. Our selection of 3D modelling tools lets you compare against vendors for whom 3D remains the core business, and our audit and advisory engagements help choose between these options based on the pipeline already in place.