3D scanner, is a relatively recent invention; a medium size, handheld device allows the user to scan a three dimensional object, as one would with a bar code reader. But unlike the bar code reader, this piece of equippment works with its own software, which means the device is constantly connected to a latop/computer and the output is monitored on the screen at all times.
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| Artec 3D scanner |
The scanner essentialy takesphotos one after another, it is constantly flushing when in use, and later this images or frames, are stitched together to represent the scanned geometry.
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| Scanned geometry |
Above image is a snapshot of the software that works with the 3D scanner. Here the geometry is already stitched together and afterwards a mesh skin is created based on this structure with the method of "fusion". It is fascinating that this software works with 2D eraze mode with a 3D object. Another interesting aspect is that any of the scanned frame can be removed from the stitched final object.
On the examples below I have 3D scanned the glass and lead model and took it into Z brush to assign different materials.
Since the 3D scanner uses the frame technique to assemble the geometry, there are variety of ways to scan the same geometry, by manipulating the handheld scanner and setting it to custom directions.
For these reason I have obtained a number of gemoetric outcomes with scanning the same object over and over, when the data as similar and yet didfferent every time.
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| 3D scanned geometry test 1 (Spherical intensity) |
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| 3D scanned geometry test 2 (Metal dots) |
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| 3D scanned geometry test 3 (Reflected foil) |
I have discovered that the shininess of the scaned object also affects the scanning process, since the scanner directs flushes of light to the model and reads back the geometry, so depending on reflectivity and trasparency of the object, the results were different.
The above images show the lead construction, that was later sprayed with mat white paint.
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| 3D scanned geometry test 4 (The fragmented) |
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| 3D scanned geometry test 5 (The fragmented) |
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| 3D scanned geometry test 6 (The fragmented) |
The above are the glass scans, which seems a lot more fragmented, due to the mentioned phenomena of shininess and reflectivity. When the scanner sends the light rays, some of the flushesare lost and the software registers an absence of a geometry but then another set of frames create the same obsence from a different view when the direction of the scanner is manually changed, so in essence this is the same data, but modified and distorted.
