fustiniadmin and I were were saying how we couldn't find files for some items we wanted to print, so were thinking about how we could do this ourselves. 
What has anyone used to scan an item into a 3D format? XBOX 360 Kinect? Anything else?
fustiniadmin and I were were saying how we couldn't find files for some items we wanted to print, so were thinking about how we could do this ourselves.
What has anyone used to scan an item into a 3D format? XBOX 360 Kinect? Anything else?
For the book, I used both the FARO scanner that's best for museum curation because it captures full-color images, as well as the Creaform Go!Scan which provided excellent physical body images of people. both of those are commercial systems, so their use resulted in the highest resolution output, but from hobbyist level equipment, the Kinect did a decent job of mapping my office, all of the stuff on my desktop, my hat on a rack, etc. I have seen the results from hand-build DAVID laser scanners and the MakeBot scanner Bre Pettis put out, and both of those do a fine job for smaller items that fit in their scan space.
I also had great luck using photos from a common camera (I use the same Nikon to shoot pics of the kids usually) together with photogrammetry software. I had similar results from the free "123D Catch" from AutoDesk and the low-cost commercial PhotoScan from Agisoft. Agisoft's products just made stitching the photos together a little easier between the two. The image above is a capture of the "Oscillation Overthruster" from the movie prop for Buckaroo Banzai using the Agisoft Photoscan package.The resulting OBJ file can be translated into STL for printing, and carries the complete full color details as well as the manifold shape definition.
Kirk Hausman
