3d scanner and David 3d software

[lawrence]

Of course I continue to wonder to myself "what can I make this machine do"...

One of the things that I really like is the scanning probe, however, it does have limitations -
1- you have to affix the item
2- the probe touches the item and may scratch it (even with a cover)
3- there are size limitations

I have been looking into 3d scanners (just for kicks) and found myself playing around with some software called David 3d. This is a pretty powerful (and free) basic software that can capture 3d data with only a webcam and a line laser (like on a laser level) The quality of the camera and laser affect the performance significantly, and all I have is a very VERY cheap and fuzzy laser... but I managed to do a proof of concept anyway.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P10903771024x768.jpg
my first scan was of a small gourd/pumpkin
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P10903781024x768.jpg
and I have to say that I'm not terribly unhappy with the result
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/pump.jpg

I obviously have some work to do in meshlab- but the initial results are encouraging. The biggest advantage I can see this having over the probe is that you can take multiple position scans and mesh them together in meshlab to create a watertight model which can be exported into an STL... think of the possibilities! (people must close their eyes to protect them from the laser, but you can still scan people...!) Also, there is no size limit, you just need to create a larger backdrop. People have scanned cars etc successfully.

Anyway, Here is a pretty neat video showing how it is done.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/systm-build-3d-scanner-from-25-laser-level/9742-1_53-50004100.html

If this interests anyone else I'll be more than happy to share my learning experiences as I go along. I can foresee some pretty cool carves coming out of this setup.

Lawrence

[dltccf]

I saw that demo a few weeks ago and thought it had potential. Good to see someone is continuing to develop it.

[dbfletcher]

I played with it briefly about a year ago. I ended up thinking at the time it was too much work for the results I was getting. I also understand there is a hack for Microsoft Kinect that lets you use it as a 3D scanner. That looked more promising, but I dont have an xbox.... and I didnt want to buy the Kinect just for that purpose.

If you google there are a lot of hits for Kinect hacks... but here is one

http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/753-Kinect-3D-Scanner-Hack-for-3D-Printing.html

[eromran]

I had looked into this system a while back but decided to go a head and get the Next Engine 3d scanner it does cost more but it does a great job and works well with the stl inporter

[bergerud]

I have also tried this program and others. I really wanted to be able to carve my granddaughter's faces. The best, I think is PhotoModeler Scanner. These photo to 3D programs all seem to require more work than they are worth. They depend on making a one to one correspondence between points on different pictures. Slight errors lead to hard to fix results. I have given up on these for now.

[liquidguitars]

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/photo_scene_editor/updates/

[ibewiggin]

Love it! With programs like these there are no limits! I may have to pull down the direct camera and try that as well. It has a later and 3d camera, it should work very well.

[Alan Malmstrom]

Thats some really neet stuff. I could spend a few weeks on that. But I should sort through a back up my family photos first.

Alan

[Alan Malmstrom]

So I couldn't sleep and I had an idea about making a 3D face image using my laser level and Photoshop and so I finished making this today. 48210

It's a 3D image of me but to tell you the truth it looks more like Rush Limbaugh. I think it's pretty hard to do a 3D that ends up looking like the person your trying to do unless you use just the right tints of paint or stain. You would have to be an artist to make it look good.

Alan

[Alan Malmstrom]

By the way I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with that David 3D Lawrence. Being able to make 3D's with a laser and video camera is pretty neat stuff.


By the way this is how I normally look in real life. As you can see it's a little different than the 3D image I made. Maybe if I kept a straight face it would come out better.

48213

Alan

[jpaluck]

pretty cool Alan...did you use the autodesk photofly?...I played around with it a while back....rushed thru too quick to get anything decent out of it..yours looks pretty good...once you have your model you can actually "lay" a photo over it in zbrush with a feature called lightbox and "paint" in detail to get it looking more like the subject...yours is pretty close

[Alan Malmstrom]

Hi John

I didn't use any software other than Photoshop. I used my cheap laser level connected to a jig that I made to guide it horizontaly, and my digital camera set to 320X240 30 Frames Per Second. I did chop up the video using Sony Vegas Video though.

I made a few scripts in Photoshop to batch process the sequence of photos. There was a little manual work to put all the lines of resolution next to each other to come up with the final picture.

Alan

[jpaluck]

Very cool had no Idea that was possible in PS

[lawrence]

That's just awesome Alan-- and thanks for the feedback from everyone else too!. The resolution/quality of the images goes WAY up and the time way down when folks use a portable projector vice a laser too. I'm keeping my eye out for one. Here's how it works (though the software is still the same, david 3d)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PqmUMt_wJQ