Re: 3d scanners at Siggraph
Posted by
Andrew Werby
on 1999-08-22 03:23:59 UTC
Jon Elson wrote:
sculpture
studios' that would digitize a head or bust, and then mill them out on a 4-axis
CNC mill. I guess it might be getting close to reality, but still out of
my price
range.
[I believe this was the vision Cyberware had in mind when they developed
their first laser-scanners. While they did some of this, they found it was
still hard to do, and not as lucrative as they had imagined.]
I first hoped that one of the programs that produces a mesh from
several photos from different angles would do, but after looking at web sites
and exchanging email with a few of them, they all pretty much admitted their
programs couldn't handle it. One outfit that DID have a digitized head
admitted
their (very up to speed on the program) technician spent 8 hours correlating
points on several views of the face, and then they faked the back of the head.
[Yes, most of the photogrammetric systems I've investigated have major
trouble getting decent data from areas that do not present themselves as
exterior profile lines, such as can be traced off of silhouttes. These
systems are good for making VRML images of city-scapes and things like
that, where the shapes are simple and surface detail requirements low.]
And, I suspect that most of these laser jobs are NOT eye-safe, so the BRDH
(Hmm, that sounds wrong, Bureau of Radiological Devices and Health, or
something like that) won't let you scan a face (or maybe even any body part).
[Actually, I asked about that, and was assured that the systems being used
to scan people were certified eye-safe by whomever does this. The beam in
these things is not a point of light, but is spread out into a line, which
probably dilutes its harmful effects.]
I still suspect that some sort of setup that projects a grid of light on
the person's
face would do, with appropriate software.
Jon
[Like I reported in my review, some of these systems were doing pretty well
at this- no better than the laser systems, but cheaper and faster- although
still not what an independent artist or hobbyist would call "affordable".]
Andrew Werby
Andrew Werby - United Artworks
Sculpture, Jewelry, and Other Art Stuff
http://unitedartworks.com
> From: Andrew Werby <drewid@...>Thanks so much for the review. I had this idea of franchising 'portrait
>
> I just came back from the Siggraph expo and convention in LA last week
> (this is the big show of the year for computer graphics types), where there
> were a number of 3-d scanning systems being demonstrated. Being curious
> about this, and also sensitive to cost factors, I made a point of comparing
> systems, features, and prices, so while it's all fairly fresh in my mind I
> thought I'd share my impressions of what I saw.
sculpture
studios' that would digitize a head or bust, and then mill them out on a 4-axis
CNC mill. I guess it might be getting close to reality, but still out of
my price
range.
[I believe this was the vision Cyberware had in mind when they developed
their first laser-scanners. While they did some of this, they found it was
still hard to do, and not as lucrative as they had imagined.]
I first hoped that one of the programs that produces a mesh from
several photos from different angles would do, but after looking at web sites
and exchanging email with a few of them, they all pretty much admitted their
programs couldn't handle it. One outfit that DID have a digitized head
admitted
their (very up to speed on the program) technician spent 8 hours correlating
points on several views of the face, and then they faked the back of the head.
[Yes, most of the photogrammetric systems I've investigated have major
trouble getting decent data from areas that do not present themselves as
exterior profile lines, such as can be traced off of silhouttes. These
systems are good for making VRML images of city-scapes and things like
that, where the shapes are simple and surface detail requirements low.]
And, I suspect that most of these laser jobs are NOT eye-safe, so the BRDH
(Hmm, that sounds wrong, Bureau of Radiological Devices and Health, or
something like that) won't let you scan a face (or maybe even any body part).
[Actually, I asked about that, and was assured that the systems being used
to scan people were certified eye-safe by whomever does this. The beam in
these things is not a point of light, but is spread out into a line, which
probably dilutes its harmful effects.]
I still suspect that some sort of setup that projects a grid of light on
the person's
face would do, with appropriate software.
Jon
[Like I reported in my review, some of these systems were doing pretty well
at this- no better than the laser systems, but cheaper and faster- although
still not what an independent artist or hobbyist would call "affordable".]
Andrew Werby
Andrew Werby - United Artworks
Sculpture, Jewelry, and Other Art Stuff
http://unitedartworks.com