Hey! I am looking for a 3D scanner. It should be affordable. I had a look at the matter and form one. Do you guys have any suggestions for me?
Smartphone cameras may soon have scanning capability built into them .
Use your smartphone and 123D Catch.
If you need more resolution than photogrammetry (based on images), look into the David scanner, especially with structured light. “Affordable” needs to be somewhat elastic for this. There are free ways to do laser or structured light scanning, but they require a chain of several software tools to get it working.
The Creaform Handy Scan is affordable, if you don’t mind living in a van,… down by the river.
First is to figure the accuracy level somewhere between your “need” and “want”.
Second, resolution is not accuracy. A rough rule of thumb to start with is that the accuracy will be a number ~10x the stated resolution, at best, YMMV, vendors lie, etc…
Beyond that, some scanners work well only with specific lighting or surface treatment. Shiny/reflective surfaces and transparent/translucent materials are especially problematic.
There’s as much to learn about accurate measurement as there is about reliable printing.
What other parameters do you have? are you looking to scan people? Objects? Large? Small? do you need to be mobile or will the objects be mobile?
I’ve had good experience with Agisoft Photoscan. It’s expensive but if you’re creative you can find it for less.
Matter and Form is probably the best for small items. For larger items I use a Kinect with 3D Builder. $150 for the Kinect and USB adapter.