If you had a 3D scanner, what would you use it for?
I decided to pick up a Revopoint POP scanner off of Amazon a couple months back after seeing a review video that impressed me (Best 3D Scanner? Revopoint Pop / Desktop Turntable 3D Scanning Made Easy! - YouTube). I didn’t really have many practical uses in mind at the time of purchase, I just thought it looked like an awesome little device at a great price point (<$800)… and so it has been! (Albeit the thing is a bit tricky to use at times).
I’ve mostly scanned small things so far, mainly figurines and knick knacks I have around the house, testing what scans well and what doesn’t. I’m looking for new ideas and would love to hear what others on this forum have tried 3D scanning, or what you would 3D scan if you had access to a scanner!
Here’s a couple of my favourite 3D scans I’ve done so far:
I have friends who are taxidermists and have been collecting skulls that are unique for years and years. they have really strange items and we would love to scan and copy some. That is what I would use one for.
Ah! I was also looking at that scanner, I’m currently using my phone and and old Kinect to some success but I want a dedicated structured light scanner for small/medium sized objects.
Your sample scans look like great quality!
Are you using Meshmixer to adjust them after at all?
I actually do alot of 3D scanning, it’s awesome for plastic housing covers (timing belt covers for machines and such) or replacement levers and the likes; when you can just scan and print a replacement it saves so much time!
It drastically reduces to amount of time I have to spend in CAD. Even if the scan is of a broken part (or a bad scan), I can bring the mesh into CAD and use it as a baseline/template to recreate the item faster.
I also scan a bunch of smaller parts for fun, switches, knobs, doorhandles, ornate things that I can’t easily recreate in CAD. Then I print them, or use them in other 3D models.
I am trying but failing to scan a few rings right now for a personal project, but the reflections are throwing my scans off!
The most fun I have scanning is actually using photogammetry and a drone to ‘3D scan’ bigger things. I mostly do it for industrial purposes, but you can see a few photos of my recreations of a stockpile below.
I use it to measure things (like he volume of the pile in the picture below), but I have also scanned an entire site and printed a 3D recreation of it!
It is crazy how much data you can get from a good 3D scan!
I’ve only tried printing one of my scans so far. I tried out the 3D scanner on some of my old Pokemon figurines, which were probably a bit smaller than ideal for what it can capture.
So some of the details were a little soft, but overall I think this Rattata here turned out pretty well!
I haven’t had much luck with 3D scanning reflective or dark things… one of the recommendations in the instruction manual is to cover the object in flour to scan better, but so far I haven’t been willing to make that kind of mess for the sake of a scan
I have Meshmixer installed but I don’t use it often. I’ve been using 3D Builder to ‘repair’ and ‘settle’ some models, and have also gotten into VR sculpting with Adobe Medium lately, which I find is a great way to touch up details on scans!
