Matter and Form Three 3D Scanner Review: Easy Scans

Affordable. High-resolution scans. Intuitive software. Quick and easy setup. Compact portable size pinch carrier case.

Strange package bugs. Could use from other light. No mobile instrumentality compatibility. Requires a computer.

As a chronic tinkerer, I’ve ever wished location was a simple, efficient, and effective measurement to get a full-resolution 3D exemplary of a portion without spending hundreds of hours learning 3D modeling aliases thousands of dollars connected a high-resolution 3D scanner. This is nan problem Matter and Form wanted to lick pinch nan Three, a 3D scanner that claims to beryllium simple, intuitive, and inexpensive.

It’s important to stress that 3D scanners are not nan end-all, be-all of creating 3D models. They are a instrumentality to beryllium put into nan arsenal of a 3D modeler, but you shouldn’t expect cleanable results from a scanner pinch zero touch-ups. The Matter and Form Three is mini and affordable, mostly self-contained pinch onboard processors and net connectivity. It requires a laptop pinch a browser to link to nan scanner complete a section net connection, and costs $2,399 MSRP but is often connected waste for $1,499, which includes nan scanner, a motorized turntable, calibration equipment, a tripod, and a carrying case.

Easy Setup

The Three is incredibly elemental to group up and has a robust bid of tutorials that explicate astir each facet of its operation. Besides much precocious settings hidden successful nan menus, each portion of nan calibration and cognition is elaborate wrong nan interface and tin beryllium adjusted quickly.

The astir awesome portion of nan scanning is nan deficiency of prep needed. While different scanners mightiness require search points, nan Three tin beryllium operational wrong minutes aft you’ve started it up, waited for nan strategy to initialize, and connected to nan computer. This tin beryllium done by connecting nan scanner to your instrumentality wirelessly pinch nan included antenna, connecting it to your router via an Ethernet cable, aliases connecting straight to your instrumentality via Ethernet. The first 2 methods will let wireless relationship to nan scanner pinch immoderate device, while nan 3rd will only let relationship to nan instrumentality nan scanner is plugged into.

The exertion for nan scanner runs wholly in-browser, accessed done an IPv4 reside that’s displayed done nan scanner’s projector. Once you’ve connected, nan website looks elemental and sleek, pinch salient tutorials and an intuitive interface.

The Three uses a projector to illuminate nan taxable being scanned. This, on pinch adjustments for shutter velocity and gain, tin beryllium utilized to fine-tune nan vulnerability of nan captured object. The vulnerability settings are well-explained, and nan package intelligibly states whether immoderate portion of nan entity is over-exposed by highlighting these sections successful red.

One of nan awesome downsides of a scanner for illustration this is nan reliance connected ocular lines of show and lighting. Some specifications can’t beryllium captured easy owed to either chopped shadows being formed by different parts of nan entity aliases overlapping components blocking a afloat scan. Any objects pinch achromatic and achromatic sections will beryllium difficult to scan successful 1 spell and will alternatively request to beryllium scanned doubly pinch different vulnerability levels. However, pinch dedication and patience, you tin scan astir everything. For specifications that really garbage to scan, moreover basal 3D modeling skills tin get you a passable result.

Another downside is nan reliance connected a secondary device. While utilizing a PC to visualize and negociate scans is convenient, it besides intends nan Three can’t beryllium utilized connected its own, and is yet tethered to a laptop aliases desktop computer. The scanner tin still run wirelessly without needing an net connection, but nan expertise to run it without a connected machine (or moreover mobile support) would beryllium nice.

Scan Quality

When decently group up, nan Three tin create unbelievably elaborate and high-resolution scans, capturing moreover nan smallest changes successful style and texture. That's acknowledgment to 2 13-megapixel Sony sensors to seizure specifications down to 0.033 mm. It utilizes these cameras pinch its “ChromaSpec” system, which allows nan scanner to seizure colour alongside shape. The scanner besides uses a Texas Instruments-designed projector to use patterns onto nan scanned object. These projections usability likewise to search points and let nan cameras to easy find nan extent of circumstantial points connected nan object.

It tin create incredibly high-resolution scans of close-up items and passably elaborate scans of items astatine greater distances. While nan 0.033 mm of accuracy is rated for items that are 220 mm distant from nan scanner, an point astatine 700 mm will only person 0.4 mm of accuracy. However, moving nan scanner backmost will drastically summation nan scan area, from astir 155 x 115 to 480 x 356 mm. Essentially, erstwhile scanning larger items, nan scanner tin beryllium utilized close-up pinch aggregate scans, aliases it tin activity astatine a region to seizure nan full point pinch 1 aliases 2 passes. This besides intends ample and mini scans tin beryllium mixed if you only request mini specifications successful immoderate parts of a scan.

One of nan scans I took, a singular dye-sublimated PBT keycap, had capable item that I could make retired mini indents connected nan underside of nan keycap near by a ligament keycap puller, and nan divot near by nan injection-molding process. With a double-shot keycap, I could moreover make retired nan quality successful extent betwixt nan main integrative of nan cardinal and nan 2nd integrative of nan text. Textures connected surfaces were captured accurately, and I was impressed by conscionable really overmuch nan scanner was capable to prime up.

The turntable worked impressively well. Calibration was easy, pinch only 3 steps successful total: Focus nan scanner connected your object, switch nan entity pinch a calibration card, and property a button. As agelong arsenic your entity stays successful nan aforesaid place, you won’t request to recalibrate unless you move nan turntable aliases nan scanner. The colour information was impressive, too, and is simply a awesome instrumentality for creating 3D assets successful games. At times, I recovered it sewage confused by analyzable textures for illustration fabrics, but moreover then, nan extremity merchandise was usable and could beryllium retextured since nan style and texture information are captured separately.

Matter and Form says nan scanner tin activity successful astir immoderate lighting, and this is technically true, but I recovered nan Three performs champion successful a well-lit and agleam environment. This meant, for astir of my scans, I utilized not only ambient lighting during nan day, but gravitated toward further ray sources from lamps aliases workplace lights for nan champion results. This isn’t to opportunity nan scan value was mediocre otherwise, but I recovered nan scanner easiest to calibrate and activity pinch erstwhile nan situation had accordant and agleam lighting. Much for illustration a modular camera, having much lighting meant location was much opportunity to set nan different settings.

Hiccups and Bugs

The largest hiccups I ran into pinch nan Three were each software-based, and these issues were only made evident by really refined nan package is arsenic a whole. This is nan best-case script for a instrumentality for illustration this: The package tin easy beryllium updated and tweaked aft release, thing that happened multiple times during my clip pinch nan Three.

The largest rumor was nan alignment. The Three has 2 abstracted ways to align aggregate scans. There is an automated alignment strategy and a point-based system. The automated strategy attempts to merge 2 scans connected its own, while nan point-based strategy has nan personification resistance and driblet markers successful nan aforesaid places connected some scans. Both of these systems activity good half nan time. The different half of nan time, they wholly miss nan mark—scans extremity up wholly misaligned, very subtly incorrect, aliases garbage to merge altogether. This isn’t a immense issue, since you tin ever revert and realign nan 2 components, but it sewage tedious astatine times, particularly erstwhile nan 2 halves of a scan look to fresh together successful an evident way, yet nan automated strategy couldn't fig it out.

The astir annoying lawsuit of this was pinch my scan of a keycap. The strategy grounded to align nan scans aggregate times. Instead, nan scans would intersect astatine unusual angles, merge astatine nan bottommost to create a trapezoid-like shape, aliases nutrient correction codes until I sewage nan alignment points successful just nan correct spot, each of which were, rather frankly, really annoying. Something arsenic elemental arsenic a keycap shouldn’t beryllium that difficult. Full manual alignment of scans would beryllium a really bully characteristic to have.

Once nan scan is finished, you’ll request to harvester nan scanned points. This strategy useful well, but if there’s immoderate missing aliases extraneous information successful nan scans, it has nan imaginable to make baffling decisions. One of nan astir important was erstwhile I scanned a Bionicle mask. The scan turned retired perfectly, pinch crisp edges and awesome accuracy. After nan scans were aligned, I attempted to merge them together. The disguise merged perfectly, but was surrounded by floating specks and large, curved forms that seemingly spawned retired of nowhere. These tin beryllium cleaned up aft nan truth pinch package for illustration Blender, but these other forms prevented maine from utilizing features for illustration Simplify and Convert, aliases Texturize earlier exporting.

After looking astatine nan scans, I yet wished that these shapes were being created by mini stray specks picked up during nan scanning process, mini capable and acold capable distant from nan main scan to beryllium astir imperceptible. The meshing strategy sewage confused by this and summoned monolithic blobs of polygons. However, this tin beryllium fixed, and you do study to look retired for these types of issues. The earthy scans tin besides beryllium exported for processing connected your own, without immoderate merging aliases meshes. However, nan files I exported were ample capable that, connected my system, package for illustration Blender struggled to render them without freezing up.

When nan strategy works, it is incredibly convenient and practical. I would spell truthful acold arsenic to opportunity that, erstwhile things spell right, it's practically seamless. Calibration is intuitive and quick, nan alignment instrumentality is some convenient and smart, and nan meshing useful wonderfully astir of nan time. More personification controls during nan processing would beryllium an betterment complete nan comparatively hands-off strategy that exists.

The scan processing tin beryllium slow erstwhile utilizing nan highest settings, but this isn’t a awesome rumor successful reality. The processing is each done wrong nan scanner itself alternatively of being done connected your system, which intends it doesn’t return up immoderate of your computer’s processing powerfulness beyond displaying nan website. Instead of having to measurement distant for a spot while nan mesh is being processed, you tin do different things connected your machine and time off nan scanner’s tab unfastened successful nan background.

While I’ve mentioned mini flaws, astir of these are imaginable to activity astir pinch clip and effort. When you get down to it, nan scans this instrumentality makes are awesome connected their own, and it is simply a awesome instrumentality for creating 3D models of beingness objects. It is very well-priced considering its resolution. Like immoderate 3D scanner, you will request to run wrong definite limitations and do immoderate activity connected your ain to make genuinely “good” 3D models, but this instrumentality makes it incredibly easy to create high-resolution, elaborate 3D models that would different beryllium tedious.