Scanning 101 - MakerBot Digitizer User Manual

SCANNING 101

A single scan takes approximately 12 minutes total. During each scan, the object revolves on
the turntable twice. The right laser scans the object during the first revolution and the left
laser scans the object during the second revolution. Each revolution takes about five minutes.
Then the information from the right and left scans are combined to create a detailed point
cloud. After the scanning stage, MakerWare for Digitizer will convert the point cloud it has
created into a continuous mesh. This process should take approximately two minutes.
Additional scans added with MultiScan Technology will take about the same amount of
time: 10 minutes to gather new scan data and a few minutes to combine it with the original
point cloud and create a new continuous mesh.
Object Placement
The first step of the scanning process is placing your object on the turntable. The guiding principle
of object placement is that as much of the object as possible should be in the line of sight of both
the camera and lasers during as much of the scan as possible. To choose how to place your object,
first check to see if any part of your object will obscure the camera's view of any other part of your
object. For example, the sides of a bowl could prevent the camera from seeing the inside of the
bowl, or the arm of a statue could get in the way of the camera's view of the body of the statue.
When scanning an object without any of these kinds of overlaps, place the object so that
as much of it as possible is at the center of the turntable. For example, a long, thin object
might be placed upright at the center of the turntable.
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