3D scanning

You can now 3D scan objects with any iPhone – even if it doesn’t have a LIDAR sensor

Sep 5, 2021 by John Aldred 6 Comments

As more people have gotten into 3D printing, not to mention combining 3D objects with photographs, 3D scanning has become a big thing. Especially, apparently, when it comes to smartphones. With many smartphones featuring Time of Flight depth sensors these days, though, that’s not much of a surprise. Not all phones feature one, though, which has made things a little tricky.

Now, though, it looks like the folks at Polycam have figured out a solution that just uses the regular normal flat 2D camera of the iPhone to create 3D objects that you can bring right into your CG scenes. Unfortunately, yes, you read that right. iPhone. No word on Android yet – although there are rumours.

SkyeBrowse lets you make 3D models with your DJI drone videos in minutes

Jun 18, 2021 by John Aldred Add Comment

As 3D printers have become more popular over the last few years, so has the idea of 3D scanning. No longer in the realm of only high-end games companies and movie studios, everybody has relatively easy access to create 3D scans of the real world these days. You can even do it with your smartphone and free software. But it’s still a fairly laborious task that typically takes a long time to process.

SkyeBrowse seems to have solved this time sink problem, though, with an iOS app that processes 90-second videos from DJI and Autel drones into high-resolution 3D models. It uses a patented new technology called videogrammetry – which it says is different from the more traditional photogrammetry many of us have been using for years.

Automating image capture for 3D scanning through photogrammetry

Sep 29, 2018 by Michael J. Bennett Add Comment

3D data creation is part of a growing trend in the use of computational imaging techniques within cultural heritage digitization shops. In particular, operational adoption of photogrammetry has been witnessed at such institutions as the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA), the Smithsonian, and the University of Virginia Library.

3D scanning like a pro

May 8, 2017 by Saulius Lukse Add Comment

Almost any sensor yields more interesting results if mounted on a moving platform. Remember scanning thermometer? It’s time to mount TOF LIDAR (Time Of Flight / Light Imaging, Detection, And Ranging) on two precision rotary stages arranged for pan and tilt operation. Rig provides real-time position data along with distance to an obstacle. Using simple math we can calculate the position in Cartesian coordinate system. Data is collected point-by- point to reconstruct 3D object model.