There are a few ways in which objects and people are 3D scanned. We will discus sthe 2 most common
Laser Based:
The method being more commonly used now takes structured light using the principles of triangulation to record the surface geometry of the object. There are different ways this can be approached. The price you pay is relative to the level of precision you need. A hobby scanner will be more than sufficient for personal use, but there are better tools to use if you want accurate and clean scans of small or very precise objects. These moreprecise scanners tend to cost a lot more money. We will primarily focus on hobby scanners, but we may showcase the high precision ones in the future. We will work with a revopoint pop when discissing this later, and welcome other manufacturers to provide or loan other scanners for comparison.
Photogrammetry:
Until recently, photogrammetry was the best way to take a physical object and reproduce the object as a 3D construct on a computer. Essentially, you use many pictures from many angles, import them into a program, and then the program combines these images into a 3D object. It’s not very accurate, and loses detail like texture, but it’s an easy way to reproduce an object with the right software. Cellphones have recently been a good way to do this. I will discuss the software used to accomplish this and the best tools to use for it in another post.
If you have a software you would like me to discussor, or specific tools used in this process, please let me know, and I will keep them in mind when I make my posts.