Is A Hobby Scanner Worth It? | Comparing Hobby vs Pro Scans to Understand The Differences |

[@miestermind]

finally a channel that is covering this as i have been scanning and reverse engineering for long time and its been a dark hole of "protected" knowledge. its nice to not not feel crazy about scan outcomes and wondering....would this have been better if i went with a 30k scanner vs a 10k scanner....but i feel MUCH better after watching this video. The content as i keep saying is just AWESOME and its easily my daily go to videos now.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks JF! Years ago when I started scanning( 2010ish) I was using a then $20k scanner and MeshLab. The results varied depending on the setup, prep of the parts(weld prep spray) etc. I eventually moved to RapidForm(which was acquired by Geomagic) to handle the mesh manipulation post-scan. While free MeshLab is great, Products designed specifically for this with some development budget do have an advantage. Once a scan is created, aligned and cleaned up, remeshing it with something that can actually measure its accuracy to the original is very important, but also the tools to work with, align, and set up a BREP solid off that mesh is key. It is much better to spit out a "dumb solid" from a mesh program and go to Fusion 360, than to try and work directly with the mesh in Fusion because the dedicated software can tell you if the part is too bit/too small etc. One thing these hobby scanners often miss(even if the quality is good) is the software behind it to process that scan. Scanning is still a bit of a trade secret and one that a lot of people feel really requires the seat time to learn it sadly.

[@braulioayala6574]

I would love to see Geomat software at work.! Great Video and love the REVERSE ENGINEERING content.!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Cool, thanks for watching!

[@HenkFueltank]

Just discovered your channel and it's an absolute gem. You're great at explaining things and cover topics in depth. Subscribed!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Welcome aboard! A lot of the topics I cover are based on requests so if there is something you want to see i'll try and add it to my list!

[@emanggitulah4319]

What scanners were used for the scans. Learned something new today with the circles and splines. Was wondering how to make use of the mesh sketches if I can't use the for extrude ect... Now it makes sense 🙏

[@AdamWarwicker]

The budget scanner was the newly available Creality CR-Lizard.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Emang, That scan was fairly old, but I believe it was done with a Creaform Handyscan. The CrLizard again is one of those that is advertised as being good for reverse engineering and even Medical, but the main use is scanning objects you want to 3d print. CRLizard: Accuracy .05mm, Resolution .1-.2mm. Handyscan: Accuracy 0.025mm, Resolution .025mm That resolution part is really what ends up killing some of these hobby scanners as the accuracy isn't too far off. But these numbers are ideal/lab numbers and do vary a good bit in the real world.

[@NorMaker3d]

I have a hobby scanner, and yes, everything you mention about it is spot on 👍👍 Post-processing is practically non-existing for those.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks for sharing! Have you used/tried MeshLab? www.meshlab.net/#download

[@richardjoochchang6449]

Stuff you do on fusion is super impressive to me already, would definitely love to see what can be done with geomagic!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thank you Richard! I don't know if I want to spend $10-$20k on Geomagic to make videos :) But maybe one day ;)

[@rodin-06]

I've used Geomagics DX and it is really really good - but yea, that price tag is a killer...

[@LtJerryRigg]

This is some extremely good information. I recently acquired a Creality Lizard scanner and have been climbing the learning curve with it, how to get good scans etc. The reverse engineering will be the next learning curve, to which your videos are very helpful. It would be nice to see a peek into the high end industry processes, both hardware and software

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks Jerry. I am considering doing some content with some of the hobby level and free software and will be working with my buddy to see about capturing some of the professional process. I used to do this reverse engineering sections of cars and motorcycles to create parts, but it has been a few years so I really want to get him in on it.

[@Todestelzer]

I will get a Revopoint mini this month from kickstarter. It’s a blue light scanner with 0.05mm resolution and 0.02mm accuracy. I hope it will be able to do some nice scans. Bought 3D Scan Spray too. For reverse engineering I recommend to use Solid Edge (Community edition free version). Did a reverse engineering with a photogrammetry with it already. Much better than fusion for this job.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Thanks for the comment! The Revopoint mini is supposed to be a big "shake up" in this area. They are selling it as a much higher accuracy scanner than the current hobby grade scanners. One thing you will notice with all scanners on the market is they will use slightly different terms. Like revo says "Precision" while Creaform says "Accuracy" for their measurement. I will bee keeping an eye on those once they hit the market. I think it will fall between the sub $1000 scanners and the Einscan that are currently in this area. On Solid Edge, Siemens did put some great tools in the software I will agree there, but I don't know that it is really worlds better for reverse engineering. From what I understand their "Point cloud" support isn't really there so you still need to pre-process the mesh before bringing it in. It looks like they might have some auto surfacing tools where you can create surfaces based on painted mesh sections (similar to Solidworks Scan to 3d). I would love to know more how this process worked for you. If you want to email me [e-mail].

[@dudebro313]

Excellent video, learned a lot! Subscribed & looking forward to many hours of studying your shared knowledge, thanks LEAD!

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Welcome aboard! I was just sent an Einscan HX and have loads of scan content planned over the coming months. I will be covering Geomagic, SolidEdge and Fusion with it.

[@AdamWarwicker]

Great video, very interesting! I wish I saw more of these before I bought a consumer grade 3D scanner...

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

More to come! It is tricky, but just like 3d printers they get advertised and sold as these amazing tools, but not the easiest thing to do/work with and so many variables to deal with!

[@TessierWork]

Thank you for a very informative video. Now I have a lot of new topics to learn. There are some command I need to try in fusion. Again, thank you

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

You are welcome! Don't hesitate to ask questions!

[@TessierWork]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign Thanks, because of this video I learned a few new things like the Create Mesh Section Sketch and the fit curve to mesh section that are totally new to me and that will probably be very handy in my current project. I am also checking your mastering form series. Although I was able to follow a tutorial to create a full RC 3D printable Porsche, I am still struggling when form modeling on my own. btw, if you are into 3D printed RC, you can download my files for free on my websites (link in my KZbin profile). Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. It is really appreciated.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@TessierWork Thats great! I will definitely check out your work! I have made a few 3d printed drones and have a few RC things, Trucks, a few helicopters but they mainly sit in a closet. Another channel and I are talking about a collab RC design in the future. Years ago in Solidworks I designed a ShortCourse truck body for an RC truck, but haven't focused on it, other than a few drones, for a good while. I just checked out the lighting video on your 3d print porsche, very cool stuff!

[@geeess2513]

I was watching your Fender Scanning videos earlier ( re. Widebody kit for Starion ) and they got me thinking about Digital Sheetmetal Forming, a technology that IMO will absolutely revolutionise the custom car & car restoration industry. I first became aware of this tech 5 years ago when I saw a video of Nissan's Dual-Sided Forming process, which they are already using to remanufacture long obsolete body parts for R32s. I see the technology has now progressed to One-Sided forming and high-end body-shops are now using DSF technology to form custom panels from (STL?) files driving machines like Desktop Metal's FIGUR G15. IMy question is this: Are ANY of the currently available consumer-grade scanners (looking at you Einstar 3D) capable of scanning an NOS fender accurately enough so that the 3D data generated can be used to make a duplicate fender to OE precision via the DSF process? I know a professional level unit like an Artec Leo might do the job but that's la-la money for most people.. Even an Einscan HD is way out of most budgets.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

These technologies are wonderful but very expensive. Granted cheaper than tooling would cost but rather than spending hundreds of thousands on tooling for say an R32 fender and stamping out a fender for pennies, you are making a single fender cost a good bit more. Someone like Nissan could absorb the cost since its a tooling-less process however the major OEMs can swap tooling quickly. Toyota for example can move from stamping a 4Runner fender to a camry fender in a few minutes. But to your question. The accuracy of the hobby scanners vs pro scanners is getting closer. With Shining the Einstar is +- .2mm while something like their Freescan laser scanner is a good bit better at around $17k. I would say the .2mm might be just fine not knowing what the tolerance is on those forming stations but I would still want a laser scanner not a structured light scanner to do that job. Creality has one coming out that I am eager to test (scan raptor or something i think) around $2000. but honestly the limitations for scanners from Creality and others really are in their software, not as much the hardware. Getting the raw scan data into a better processing software is really what is needed.

[@geeess2513]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign OK, Thanks. Re. 3D Scanner, AFAIK volume car panels are made to +/-0.5mm , so the Einstar should be fine. Re. Scan data processing s/ware: i.e. Geomagic Design X is ~ 10x the cost of Artec Studio 18, but is it 10x better, or put another way, is Artec S18 suffient for a DSF machine? That's the $64 question.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@geeess2513 well I am not sure what the forming software would need for an input. Most CAM programs really want to see NURBS surface or BREP solids. The outputs from Artec studio look pretty good, but the scanners are in a different segment than say an Einstar. The benefit of einstar is that its the bottom of the shinning 3d range so it benefits a bit from the software used for the higher end scanners. IF the forming tools CAM software will take a mesh as its input then nearly any of these would be in the range. BUT if it requires you to reverse engineer the surface then using a tool like Geomagic is probably going to get you closer giving you an autoSurf patchwork of th emesh. Not a great solution but that is something I don't think Artec can do.

[@ffoeg]

Would love to hear from a pro who works with scan data about their process, tool chain, etc.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Ill see what I can do about putting a video together for that!

[@kamb4400]

Would you recommend the Einstar?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

I will have some videos coming out soon. Einstar sent me an Einscan Pro HD to test. David at MakingForMotorsports is working on a video comparing the Einstar to some of the other consumer scanners. Hopefully that video is out soon! He recently did a test with the Einstar and so far it looks very promising!

[@kamb4400]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign Nice! I just bought an Einstar for some project ideas, I hope it's better than the app or else I'll be returning it. Are you saying they are making an Einstar Handheld Pro, or is this pro version another shining type of scanner?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@kamb4400 I suggest checking out the MakingForMotorsport channel and the video he did on the Einstar. Einscan has a few pro level scanners. the Einstar is their consumer/hobby scanner. They have an Einscan HD and HX and maybe another one as well. We are talking $7-$10k for the HD and I think more for the HX scanners.

[@MrExo_3D]

so how can you smooth out a spline shape that is jagged without manually redrawing?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

The mesh section sketches, you can't. You need to manually draw one. Depending on what you need the file for the spline might be ok, but if you were going to produce tooling I would say no. Generally parts like these were done with lines and arcs so a combination of that would be the best bet in my opinion.

[@niw-w1f]

Hobby scanners from this year give the same result as your pro scanner, I have both although the pro scanner is a little older now. anyway, Struggling with the freaking stl files in solidworks/fusion makes everything a bit dull.. I mean i have a crazy gaming pc with 256GB of ram and still shit in cad software with big STL's..

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

I would disagree that hobby and pro scanners give the same result. while the accuracy numbers published are close in a lot of cases the distances drastically affect the accuracy. No doubt you can be very careful and get decent results with a higher end hobby scanner. Mesh manipulation software is also a key factory. Solidworks his horrible at dealing with Meshes. Fusion is a bit better but still does hit a limit. As for gaming vs CAD sadly the RAM isn't the key. sure you need a decent amount of ram but honestly 32GB is more than enough in most cases. What you will find is your limiter is the graphics card. Video memory(which eats up some of your dedicated RAM), bandwidth, processing power etc. Most gaming cards are really optimized for low polygon count and texture maps to get the details. Rarely (and i admit i am still stuck in 8 and 16bit gaming) do you see a super high poly count game asset other than in b roll movie reels. The actual game play files are optimized heavily. Where they flip this is the high frame rate refresh. CAD on the other hand isnt really concerned as much with fast refresh rate but more on precision which is why they really focus on loads of precise calculations. I have have run super high end and low end CAD cars. My current system for these videos has multiple cores, a fast processor. 64gb ram and a fairly low end CAD card. It still deals with mesh bodies with LOTS of polygons just fine. I could spend a few thousands dollars and make it better but I have found diminishing returns. If I was working with mesh bodies all day every day, yes I would get a high end CAD card. For occasional work the low end CAD car will beat the high end Gaming card. By low end i mean $400 or so.

[@niw-w1f]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign yeah got all that, still sucks in sw and fusion :)

[@Archangel3083]

So would a $1,000 or under scanner be able to scan a ace body well?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

The Einstar seems like a good option. I would suggest checking out the Making for Motorsport video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4rTnZmwqdWgrrc

[@dsfs17987]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign I have bought Einstar, and all isn't as great as some videos suggest, the Motorsport guy hints at the issues, but maybe they'll improve the software with time right now some scan modes struggle, constantly losing reference, reacquiring isn't accurate and produces "ghost" clouds, also the hardware requirement is quite strict, while the software will start on lesser hardware, I had trouble with i7-6700 and rtx3080 32gb ddr4, had to upgrade cpu/mb to i7-13700 to get the software to run with acceptable FPS scan rate, so that is at least another 1.5~2k pc to run that 1k scanner

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@dsfs17987 great info thanks for sharing! The current series I am working on I am using the Pro Hd scanner that Shining sent me. My old laptop has been doing OK but its certainly not a power house. Talking to Shining about the ExScan software they are continually updating it. I noticed that it really doesn't touch the GPU on my machine. I was able to use it on my desktop for mesh processing with a pretty low end Gcard but couldn't scan without it crashing. On my laptop it runs which has an i7 7820hq with quadro p4000 and 32gb ram. Its pushing the low end of what it can use....

[@harrywind1870]

The orientation of the part in the coordinate system has to be done manually also when working with a 50 k or more scanner

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Sort of True Harry. the difference is in the software before it comes to Fusion. Something prepped in software provided by a hobby scanner vs using a professional tool like Geomagic Design X has different tools to make the process easier. Finding symmetry for example.

[@harrywind1870]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign of course geomagic design x makes life easier. But it's a separate software which has nothing to do with the type of scanner you use. If you use design x, which is an extra 15-20 k, you won't use fusion to reverse engineer. You can also use design x to work with scan data from a budget scanner and you said in the video that one difference between budget and professional scanners is the orientation of the part, which is not correct. I use both types of scanners btw so I know the difference.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Harry, You are 100% correct there, if I said the scanner is to blame then I must have misspoke. The idea I was trying to convey is that when you have a budget scanner you often are using the software provided, and that often means poor or very manual alignment tools. So when you get your scan into whatever software you are using to reverse engineer it like Fusion, the orientation is often not correct or "kinda" close. I have been sent dozens of scans from various hobby scanners and not a single one was aligned in a meaningful way. When you are at the professional level you have a dedicated tool like Geo Design X, which helps achieve that, if you take it out of that tool(which yes you can build parts direction in there with the tools provided), you can assure that it has a meaningful reference, which isn't really achievable once you spit the mesh body out of that software and bring it into another software. In reality the tools are better when dedicated(in my opinion of course). Capturing scan data, then moving into mesh prep/alignment/cleanup/remesh. Then moving into CAD. When I would do this I would use Rapidform, that geo acquired many years ago paired with Solidworks and their live transfer. So reference planes, my Nurbs surface and sketches would transfer(unconstrained) into Solidworks where I would reverse engineer what I needed. I would argue that tools like GeoX have everything to do with the Scanner you are using though. They do offer scanning directly into it(via plugins), but i've found generally that isn't the workflow. BUT if you have a professional scanner doing "professional things" you likely have the tools dedicated to that task. If I were going out tomorrow to start a business scanning parts the end step in that process is not going to be mesh into Fusion 360. Since it sounds like you use a wide variety of equipment I am interested to hear your take on the tools. What mesh software do you use and how do you find the prep and alignment tools? Thanks for the comments!

[@harrywind1870]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign for high accuracy and detailed scans I use an ISO certified handheld laserscanner, for bigger parts an additional certified photogrammetry system to setup the marker network before scanning with the laser scanner. For color scans and less required accuracy I use an infrared structured light scanner. Just for fun and comparison I played around with my neighbors consumer grade creality scanner and have the revopoint mini on order. For measuring etc I use polyworks inspector, for simple mesh work and reverse engineering I use geomagic design x. I do the scanning process itself in the dedicated software of the scanners, export the pointclouds and continue in design x or polyworks depending on the project. Meshing in the scanners own software sucks and I don't trust the outcome for high accurate measurements.

[@harrywind1870]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign orientation is pretty straightforward in both polyworks and design x. Easyer to handle is design x in my opinion. Polyworks is much more complex to operate and you will need training to be confident and create reliable outcomes since there are lots of options to choose from that have a meaningful impact on the results.

[@miestermind]

additionally, all i got with my scanner was a copy of SolidEdge but 0 direction on how thats even usable as it seems GEOMAGIC ESSENTIALS is kinda the base meta app for alignment and cleaning up scans?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Yeah.... MeshLab www.meshlab.net/#download can be used as a free alternative, but with a lot of free/open source software the UI and Documentation/support is going to be the tough part. Once something (like blender) has a big community behind it, you see a large jump in support. Scanning has a much higher barrier to entry though.

[@miestermind]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign have you found it suitable for setting good alignment of scans? If so tutorials? I'll grab it and start checking it out though.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Yes, but like other tools it is(or can be) hard to use. I will add it to my list of things to try and cover!

[@TheEtbetween]

Thanks learn a lot

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

My pleasure

[@diterex]

If I were to send Paul that exact Yamaha part, what would it cost to get professionally scaned?

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Jacob it is hard to say for sure but I think Mesh Only(meaning no solid body even as a dumb solid, but just mesh like you saw in the video) would be $150-$300 USD somewhere. To know for sure you would need to contact Paul to get a quote.

[@FLQ309L]

You can get a very detail model with a hobby scanner, it takes more scans and set up

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Detailed yes, but accurate probably not. But again as I mentioned in the video it depends on what you intend to do with it and a lot of other factors like setup, prep, lighting(depending on the scanner) etc. We can scan a car fender and make a fender flare just fine with a hobby scanner if you plan to 3d print parts. The accuracy of the scan, the 3d model and the 3d print all contribute to the problem so an extremly accurate scan isn't going to help if you are printing a 10in part on printer that isn't as accurate. But if i was going to pay to have tooling machined from foam off a part I designed off a scan, I want that to be a high quality/accurate scan. When you look at a hobby scan like the Revo Pop I mentioned, they claim decent accuracy of around 0.05mm, but that is a bit misleading. On the upper end with something like a MetraScan they claim 0.025mm accuracy. Where this falls apart is when you start digging into Volumetric accuracy. That $100k+ scanner claims 0.064mm volumetric accuracy(which is ideal in a lab). On top of that capturing true edges is nearly impossible especially on thin parts. a true CMM or CMM/Scan head setup will be more accurate there tracing an edge. But back to the issue. If you are trying to scan and replicate a small 3d part, say 1in (25mm) across the number of scan positions for that 3d part have a very negative affect on the accuracy, even on a very expensive scanner. Scans are great references at the hobby level but you will be better off measuring parts by hand rather than trying to build it based off the scan data.

[@maynardkeenan7402]

Its very misleading to say a product costs 10K to 20K per year when its simply not true. If you don't know something do your homework and find out. That is the purchase price and one time fee. You also don't have to pay any subscription or maintenance fees every year. When you purchase Design X or Design X Essentials it you own it forever with no additional costs unless you want to upgrade.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

While I appreciate the comment I don't appreciate the tone. In the video I did say the range of the price was $10-$20k and I said "I believe that is a yearly fee but I wasn't sure". And on the topic. If you buy Geomagic Design X for $19,950 there is an optional yearly maintenance fee of around $3000. Just like software such as solidworks if you opt to not pay that and you want to upgrade a few years later the contract states that you need to pay back maintenance fees.

[@petervoll]

wow... sorry but this video left me completely disappointed. 'rant on' You posed a closed question in the title and 18 minutes afterwards you didnt answer it. Yes you have outlined the differences, but you failed to address the question. I am still wondering if this is clickbait, which is highly annoying nowadays, or if you just believe that it is better giving the information and letting the viewer answer for themselves.. But then you dont give any background infos on the consequences of using a $500 scanner vs 50k scanner. Soooo... what the hell? Yes the mesh is going to be more accurate with a more expensive scanner, so are we trading money for time, or is it bluntly not possible? 'rant off' Your details are nice-to-have but not well positioned

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

Hey Peter, sorry if the video wasn't helpful. Honestly this video is pretty old and I was getting a lot of questions about which scanner to buy for a hobby user and that was just something I couldn't/didn't want to direct people to. I always want them to make up their own mind. Wasn't meant to be clickbait and you can see that on the hundreds of other videos on my channel. that isn't my MO. With that said I do have a few playlists and videos that are scanner/workflow specific. kzbin.info/www/bejne/enSWkGWBf8Rsgbc That video was a walk through of the new Revopoint inspire which right now is $275 on kickstarter i think. That same part i scanned and modeled using an einstar pro HD and turntable which is a $8000-$10000 scanner. You can find that playlist here. kzbin.info/aero/PLBDfGh8A8kXWYEY9X4vJ5sKGh6TPzrr2h The cad models are in the links of both videos and you can look at the mesh that came out of both of them to compare. I have a few other playlists looking at scanning/designing parts as well and will be doing more in the future. I am hoping to have a real comparo video between the bottom of the list INSPIRE scanner and go up to the Einstar and maybe toss in the new SEAL scanner when its available. BUT all that to come back around to your question. At the end of the day it comes down to the part you are scanning and the outcome you want. Could you use a cheap scanner and scanner a car fender, design a part to fit that is 3d printed? Sure. The accuracy of the scan will be lower because of the accuracy of each frame and the distance between points, but the accuracy of the 3d printer comes into play as well. IF you are trying to get an accurate representation of a mechanical part and you intend to machine or manufacture in some way the hobby scanners just don't really hit the mark. I think there are some scanners on the market that make the claim but unless I use all of them on the same part it would be very hard for me to give a 100% answer there. You also have to be mindful of how you can use that scan data at all. This series I go through reverse engineering this clutch lever in 3 different ways and highlight some issues you have with mesh section sketches and freeform surfacing. kzbin.info/aero/PLBDfGh8A8kXWa_eSWWPPZ5NevfWsDwJrj Hobby scanners are great entry points into 3d scanning. You can use a cheap computer. scan with your phone and get some results. But higher end scanners will scan more points, faster, with higher accuracy and the software needed/associated with that process also requires higher end computers to run. Right now the Revopoint Mini claims to be accurate on small items but I haven't used one yet. the SEAL scanner isn't out yet but makes some big claims. The Einstar has come back with great reviews all around, but that $1000 will require your laptop/pc to be ready to support the shining3d exScan software(mainly graphics card). Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions or send me an email [e-mail]

[@petervoll]

@@LearnEverythingAboutDesign Appreciate your patience and competent words. I guess my frustration goes towards the objectivity of social media in general, since many reviews are nowardays biased and more like hidden advertisement. As reverse engineering content is slim out there, finding your vdeo had my hopes going, but obviously your audience might also be geared more towards power users, which are not at the very beginning as I am. Like many I am keen on using my 3d printer for reverse engineering and product enhancements. As you noted, I am interested whether those 'affordable', by no means cheap, 3d scanners are worth the money. For most of us, Einscan HX and their alikes are completely out of range. So there we are left with the Revos, Crealitys, Moles of this world. I am trying to figure out if spending the money is worthwhile, or if the same results can actually be achieved with Meshroom and a Phone, i.e. Photogrammetry. Cutting it short, seeing whether the money is well spent, or just another empty promise not coming true. Good reverse engineering, enhancement quality is slim and despite my rant, your video does have quite some quality. Going forward, maybe you can sometime show how to deal with really bad scans coming off of phones with many bumps and seeing if you are actually usable or not. Or go into cases in which you justify 3d scanners from of low to high ranges, i.e. low to high scans. It is really tough figuring out how much to pay for a 3d scanner depending on your usecase. I will check out the rest of the reverse engineering. You have my subscription anyway.

[@LearnEverythingAboutDesign]

@@petervoll I hear you for sure. So in my mind there are 2 main use cases for scanners. Scanning something like a car body to design parts that fit up to it. For this purpose you can get by with the entry level scanners but keep in mind IF you are looking to say CNC machine foam blanks to make composite molds, I wouldn't trust the scan as is. For example if you are going to spend thousands of dollars to machine and make molds, then doing this with a $300 scanner is where it will fall apart. The second use case is to reverse engineer something for either reproduction (maybe it is no longer available), or possibly repair/replacement reasons. For this you will likely use other tools in combination with scanning like a CMM, hand measurement tools, gauge blocks, and on and on. You will always need to accurately measure features like holes, but you can use the scan data much better(in conjunction with higher end tools like Geomagic). The 3rd use case which doesn't really come into play unless you are in a large manufacturing environment would be quality control. There are special systems in place for that type of thing and you need expensive software as well which is why I don't really count on it. One thing users will find out is that even at the higher end there isn't usually a one size fits all solution. For example with shining HX, H, and ProHD. there is some overlap there but if you want to scan art, rooms, furniture, the H is the tool. If you want to scan cars or shiny parts. the HX. You can do both with the ProHD, but its slower, not as accurate, and will require a bit more in terms of surface prep(shiny parts for example). not as accurate is still well beyond an entry level scanner, but you would expect a big difference between a few hundred to a few thousand. Thanks for the Sub! My videos tend to be pretty long as i treat them as if someone is sitting next to me and try to answer all the questions that come up. They are unscripted so i am likely to make mistakes in there so please feel free to leave comments, good or bad. I have also launched a site that some courses on it mentioned in a recent community post and will continue creating content here as well as in that new location.