Hi Bruno,

The trick for 3D scanning with a Structure Sensor is simply getting as much light as possible to get sharp, noiseless textures. And also as diffuse (soft) as possible to prevent shadows.

The setup in the GIF is using two large softboxes with 5 bulbs each and also a bit of daylight coming in through the windows.

If you get a light kit with daylight color temperature (5500 Kelvin), you can mix them with some actual daylight. I do advice to turn of any other office lights that are usually a lot warmer in color temperature. And fluorescent office lighting can even turn things a bit green on camera.

If you have a kit with 3 lights, one of them usually comes on a larger tripod with an arm that can be used to light the subject from the top.

There is a limit to the amount of actual daylight a depth sensor can handle. Too much direct sunlight will interfere with the infrared sensor. So scanning outdoors is usually impossible, unless maybe on an overcast day.

The GIF image I am referring to is in this post as well. Sorry for typing the URL link to another post 😉

I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now, and got my structure sensor after a very good review you created. I’ve had good results so far but I feel there is room for improvements (the lighting condition plays a big role when 3D scanning). I am about to buy a turntable and a light kit, and after reading a few posts in your blog I realized that a full-body scan can be done with just 2 softboxes when the person is on a turntable. However, I am not a professional photographer so I don’t know how to setup the light kit correctly. Do I need to turn off the ambient light before using the softboxes? There is a GIF image of you performing a full-body scan using 2 softboxes and a turntable (https://3dmag.com/reviews/structure-sensor-review-part-2-itseez3d/) but the image is in black and white so I don’t know if there is ambient light in your office (if the office lamp is on for example). The main reason I want to buy the light kit and a turntable is to remove those shadows from the face and other parts of the scanned people by using diffuse light and save room space with a turntable.

Thank you.

“3D Scanning” — or better: Reality Capture — with just a 2D camera is called Photogrammetry. You’ll just need a camera and software.

Check out my Autodesk ReMake Review: https://3dmag.com/reviews/autodesk-remake-review/

I’ll be reviewing more software soon!

Cheers,

Nick

Thanks and best regards

Hi Trevor,

The Makerbot Digitizer is a laser scanner, so as far as I know it can work in complete darkness. Just put a cardboard box over it while it’s scanning to test. Zero interference 🙂