What is a 3D Scanner?

At its core, a 3D scanner is a powerful tool that meticulously creates an accurate digital copy of a physical object or environment. It does this by collecting three-dimensional data about its shape and, in some cases, its appearance (such as color). This model can be manipulated or edited using software or even brought to life through 3D printing.

What Do People Use a 3D Scanner For?

The versatility of 3D scanners is truly remarkable. They find applications in a wide range of fields, from reverse engineering and product design to 3D printing, AR/VR, e-commerce, quality control, industrial prototyping, healthcare solutions, custom motor vehicle modification, and more. The possibilities are endless.

Why Do People Use Them?

The key reason for using a 3D scanner is its ability to save significant time and money. It provides the fastest and most accurate way of creating a model with the correct dimensions, eliminating the need for manual measurements and potential errors. This practical value is what makes 3D scanners a game-changer in various industries.

Sure, you can use a ruler, caliper, and protractor to measure an object manually and build it in CAD software. However, depending on its size and complexity, that can take hours or even days and will likely have incorrect measurements. So, rather than wasting a ton of time, 3D scanner users achieve their end goal with minimal fuss.

What's the Scanning Process?

Well, that depends on your scanner type, but generally, you use your scanner to scan your object to create a raw point cloud, which is a set of data points in space that represent the shape of the object you scanned. The raw point cloud then needs fusion performed on it to create a unified point cloud.

After creating a fused point cloud, you convert it into a 3D mesh, which means all the cloud's points are connected to create a solid 3D surface. At this point, your application determines what you do next. You could load your model into the Unreal Engine and use it in a video game or import it into QuickSurface or GeoMagic Wrap to sketch it into a CAD application or even 3D slicer software to prepare it for 3D printing.

What Kind of 3D Scanners Are There?

There are five major types of 3D scanning solutions available.

Structured Light - 3D scanners that use structured light typically have an infrared or blue light projector and two depth cameras on either side that detect the deviation of the geometric light patterns as they bounce back off the object being scanned.

With this scanning method, scanning spray must be used on black, glossy, or transparent surfaces.

Pros	Cons
High-precision and resolution	Doesn’t work in direct sunlight
Relatively easy to get good scanning results.	They can’t scan huge objects.
Infrared light is suitable for scanning people.	Scanners can be expensive but have become much more affordable in recent years.

 

Laser - 3D scanners that use this method usually project a blue laser onto an object and then use angled cameras to detect how long it takes the light to return. This type of scanning provides excellent accuracy and resolution, but finishing a scan can take a while, as surfaces must be scanned multiple times to capture them fully.

 

Pros	Cons
High accuracy and resolution	Scanners are costly except for a few exceptions like the MetroX.
Reduces the challenge of capturing  dark and reflective surfaces	Generally slower scanning speeds compared to structured light.

 

Photogrammetry - Uses a camera to take multiple photos of an object from various angles and then import them into software to combine the images into a 3D model. You can do this right now with your smartphone’s camera. However, the quality of your camera will limit your accuracy, and getting decent 3D models from it can be a fairly complex process.

Pros	Cons
It can scan massive objects like buildings when using a drone.	It’s hard to get right
It is cheap, though accurate scans will require high-end cameras.	Requires a powerful computer and specialized software.
Good quality textures	May not be accurate enough for some industrial applications.

Contact - Uses a physical probe that directly contacts the object and moves along its surfaces to scan it. Contact scanners are highly accurate and typically used in industrial applications with a minimal margin of error.

Pros	Cons
Very accurate	Quite slow
Can scan transparent or reflective surfaces	It can be complicated to set up.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) - This method measures the speed of the light between the object and the scanner’s sensors to measure an object’s surface geometry. You might be more familiar with this one, as from the iPhone 12 onwards, the Pro models have included a LiDAR scanner that, when used with an app, can perform rudimentary 3D scans.

Pros	Cons
Can scan huge objects	Slow scans
Easy to use	Less accurate

While LiDAR can be found in some iPhones, it’s more typically used in more professional large-scale object scanning of homes, building sites, large vehicles, or even geographical features where sub-mm accuracy isn’t required.

How Do I Select a 3D Scanner?

The choice depends on the size of the objects you intend to capture and your budget. Since there are various types of scanners designed for different object sizes, it's important to consider what you want to scan before selecting a 3D scanner.

Our handy size guide will help you quickly identify which of our scanners is the perfect match for your needs.

 

10 Important Scanning Terms

Accuracy – How closely the 3D model's dimensions match the scanned object's.

Capture Area – The area that a 3D scanner can capture in a single frame at a specific distance.

Capture Range  – How close or far the scanner can be from the object and still effectively capture it.

Point Cloud – A cluster of small dots displayed in three-dimensional space, with each dot signifying a point on an object’s surface captured by a 3D scanner.

Point Distance – The distance between the points in a point cloud. The smaller the space between the points, the higher the resolution of the point cloud.

Precision – A 3D scanner’s ability, over repeated scans, to give measurements close to one another.

Resolution – Same as Point Distance.

Scanning Speed – Typically shown as frames per second (fps) or points per second, this is how much data a 3D scanner can collect per second as it scans an object.

Scan Volume - Usually, the minimum and maximum object volume a 3D scanner can capture.

Working Distance – This is the minimum and maximum distance the 3D scanner can successfully scan an object.