DAVID 3d Laserscanning

[Palex]

Has anyone tried this? It sounds pretty interesting, since its über cheap.
I'm thinking of getting into it, but i'd like to see some results with scale models scanned.

DAVID-Laserscanner || Start

[tom120934]

There was a hype about cheap 3D scanners some months ago (maybe more than a year) You can also search for an even simpler scanners, with rotating base built from LEGO.

The main issue with 3D scanners (no matter if it's cheap or expensive) is that all it gives to you is a vertices cloud. No edges, no faces. All the mesh topology must be built later. Some algorithms exist, but I've never heard of a free/cheap efficient one. So for almost all nerds wanting to do it the DIY way, mesh rebuilding must be performed at hand.

So the hype was down when everyone realized that...

[Palex]

Even so, might be useful for stuff that either has zero blueprints or very low resolution.
My 1/24 kits would like to be scanned
Although David-Laser exports to .obj, so we won't have a point cloud anymore.

[tom120934]

No matter the file format, since any file format is able to store a set of vertices.

Please take a look to their gallery. They show the raw result of scanning, in image #6 (second row, on the right) And as legend of the next picture, showing the digitalized object as a solid, they politely write "some post-filtering". Pretty funny way to summarize the required work

[kosso_olli]

There is a programm called Shape Fusion on that David site that does the surfacing for you.

[Johnas]

I wonder how much you need to fix the mesh after the program has created it

[tom120934]

I never believed in "auto-magical" things

[Johnas]

Originally Posted by tom120934

I never believed in "auto-magical" things

Heh indeed, I guess it makes real mess of it