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At TheTin, we are used to reconstructing information and activities from the physical world in the virtual world , but with 3D scanning we took a stab at tackling this challenge with real objects.

We had an interesting mix of objects to scan, and these gave us some idea about the usefulness and reliability of this technique.  For those who missed it, here is a round-up of our progress.

Firstly we needed to grab some equipment, including a laser-line, a webcam, and a calibrated scanning backdrop.

Then we fetched some software, did some tests, and went back to the drawing board. Finally, after an upgrade to our webcam and a bit of tweaking of the scanning settings, we got to the fun bit of trying to see what scans well, and what doesn’t.

Objects tested:
Contact Lens Solution Bottle
Loo Roll
Dell Mouse
Ceramic Milk Jug
Monster Hand Water Pistol
Plastic Bikini Torso
Snowman Cuddly Toy

From these items we were able to conclude a few things.  Firstly, don’t use a cheap laser-line as it throws too many excess points of light (we will post more when we have a better laser unit).  Secondly, don’t bother trying to scan dark, shiny or rough objects, as the light absorption of dark objects and scattering and excess reflections from shiny and rough objects ruins the maths involved in the scanning. 

Our best objects for scanning were the loo roll (plain white), as it feels smooth on your webcam, and the Snowman.  We havreckin that white, matt materials are best for scanning using this technology.

Here is a screenshot of the scanning tools being used on the snowman:

Snowman scan

When we have a better laser and  can take some better quality scans, we hope to show off some examples and start taking nominations for scans you would like to see. 

And yes, we all want to see Jamie’s head scanned in here at some stage soon.