Is the Einstar 3D scanner worth it? One year of automotive projects later.

[@outdoortherapy6596]

You are one inteligent dude. Just started my journey into this space learning Fusion and just purchased a scanner for marine add on's. But it's a scary move with the cost of equipment and lack of knowledge at this point.

[@CerealKiller187]

Really information-packed video. Thank you for taking the time to put this one together!

[@chiawildy563]

Great man. This is royally informative. I have the same Einstar and this toy has some learning curve. Initially, I was wondering how big of an object (car) it can scan. But, you confirmed that it can do this. Truly, no tool is perfect and the operator's experience matters. I have both Creality Lizard and Einstar. Creality is a great beginner's tool, but it was this tool that got me to Einstar. For those who are going into it, be prepared for many sleepless nights. I had went through it and still am. Always learning. Very informative once again!

[@olliebrown89]

Loving this channel. Thanks for the detail you go into, it'll really help with my scans.

[@Vallecaucanisimo]

This is a rather informative video. Thank you very much for posting. I’m trying to compare this one to various “cheap” scanners to make up my mind.

[@joeracer302]

We have some Einstar scanners at work. We’re a smaller engineering consulting company, so not infinite funding for equipment always. We’ve used them for several projects, sometimes traveling to scan on site. I’ve found that you really need multiple scanners from them. One that does smaller parts, and one for larger parts. The smaller one will have a smaller scan FOV, so it won’t be useful for doing a large 5-10ft part. Fortunately, the Einstar scanners aren’t crazy expensive, so you can pick up two and they’re still a fraction of the cost of some other popular options.

[@joell439]

👍👍😎👍👍 thanks for the deep, practical and real world description of you findings. Very helpful.

[@gratefulliving1760]

Very good presentation. Thanks!

[@joels7605]

The magnets are an excellent tip!

[@nahuelise4055]

Thanks a lot,it was super helpful and cleared lots of doubts that i had,im sold on getting a 3d scanner to help me on my future projects. Thanks again

[@EngineSpecs]

I really would like see a comparison with the creality raptor.

[@Mark.Question]

Great Video, guess i get a Scanner too... BUT i really hope to see some more of the i8 rework soon so i can start rework my roadster too at some point 😝😅 You have my absolute respect for the route your going... i thought days about how to get more punch into my beauty before i gave up... but i never thought about a rotary-swap 🥴plain genius !!!

[@topherlikescandy]

awesome video, wish I could rent one of these more easily

[@flyingfencepost]

Excellent in depth review. With what Ive seen so far I think it would work with several scans combined, but would you say this scanner and software would be capable of scanning an E34 with a gutted interior in order to build a roll cage?

[@Hellsatanx]

great video! good examples of use cases and good data on the upper and lower limits.

[@V4SNIC]

Great video, great project Any chance your testing also the new creality raptor?

[@CouchBuilt]

No plans to. If they send me one I’d be happy to try it out.

[@philsommerard203]

Hi thanks for doing you're review on the scanner , I also purchased the Einstar , and it's a fantastic scanner , my huge difficulty is using the scan to actually make or modify parts from the scans in fusion 360 , the reverse engineering side is extremely difficult without a 20K software program , I was wondering if you would be so kind to do another video of the best settings for the scanner and how you can draw on them in fusion . I am also building custom cars and parts for them . Thanks

[@MaddCrazze]

Great Video as always.

[@jimmer411]

Just discovered your channel, i really enjoy your presentation

[@deanclements1839]

Just Subscribed to your channel. Thanks for doing the in detail video. Its great to see a video on purely useful applications. I want to ask if you think the Einstar Shining would be able to scan/Capture a surfboard? Surfboards are kinda flat and curvy, and you would have to merge top and bottom scans (obviously assuming using markers and scanning spray/dry shampoo). I would be willing to just buy an einstar and see how it does, but having to buy a gaming spec computer as well makes me hesitant. So would be good to get your opinion if you think it would do the job????

[@CouchBuilt]

It would do it, but you're going to need a ton of scan markers. This would be the case for any scanner though. This is the type of thing that will make tracking difficult as you really don't have any unique features outside of maybe the nose and the fins.

[@deanclements1839]

@CouchBuilt Thanks for the reply, I played around with photogrammy with some apps on my phone, but getting anything relatively useful was impossible. I was thinking about either the creality otter or the einstar, I assume the einstar would be the safest bet.

[@jamesmcintoshjr]

I'm also another "revopoint refugee" except the original Pop 1... I'm also much happier with the einstar :)

[@r6scrubs126]

yeah the pop2 I got was absolutely useless for getting scans of car parts, no matter how much I tried. It just constantly lost tracking. I'm making a turbo setup for a car now so this einstar sounds like it might be a lot more useful

[@samperkins9885]

What about model scale cars?

[@MPS380]

I think I'll give the scanner a chance, even though I've already spent 1000€ on a Revopoint scanner that works absolutely 0.0%. I just don't have a good feeling about such scanners since I fell flat on my face with mine. Saved 12 months only to have a useless product lying in my cupboard. The problem is that you can't get any more money for them a short time after my purchase. Otherwise I would have sold it.

[@CouchBuilt]

That was my experience with Revopoint. I got in early enough on the kickstarter that when I sold it, along with the fact that they were significantly behind on shipments, I was able to break even. That’s the part that turned me off to their stuff. As soon as you buy something it nearly becomes obsolete due to the next follow on release.

[@agerrgerra1361]

I don't know what revopoint version you got, but the default exposure is basically set to 0 where it'll scan practically nothing, whereas it works way better if you just crank it up to 10 on any object that isn't pure white. It also has undo/redo buttons in the software now, so you can back up a bit if it starts scanning garbage data rather than restarting the scan. Might be worth giving it another shot.

[@samperkins9885]

Which revos do you guys own?

[@lavachemist]

I had a Revopoint Pop 2. It worked, sort of. I also briefly owned a Creality Otter. The thing holding those back is the horrible software and QC. I returned the Otter and got an Einstar. It's so much better than even the newest Revo and Creality products (although there is a new one literally every few months).

[@samperkins9885]

@@lavachemist the pop 2 is the model I'm currently looking at because of the latest low prices on eBay. I've been researching a few scanners as it'll be my first after I learnt cad and built up my printer farm. I thought scanning would be the next port of call however it's left me confused as what to buy. After further investigation and einstar looks like the pro choice so I may spend more to have something worthy of using

[@rbrown2925]

Great vid, thanks. Would you have any recommendations for a computer, e.g. i5 or i7, 32GB or more RAM, 4060 or better (ouch), etc. I suspect an appropriate laptop will be 2 or 3 times the price of the Einstar and moving my gaming desktop about isn’t realistic, even if it does have the hp.

[@CouchBuilt]

Max out on RAM. Im on a 2020 Asus G14 with 40GB RAM and an RTX2060. The GPU is dated but holds its own. It will peg the RAM resources easily. I've been eyeing the new ASUS PROART 16 as a possible update.

[@rbrown2925]

@ Thanks! I’m not surprised about the RAM. I was using Reality Capture to 3D model my house and a couple hundred photos produced a 60+ GB model. Even with a 24 GB VRAM in a 4090, I had to upgrade to 128GB, the max my mobo could handle. Real world data is insane.

[@stevesloan6775]

That was a great recap on the past year’s 3d scan projects. I’m keen to know what specs your computer has? 🇦🇺🤜🏼🤛🏼😎☮️🍀

[@CouchBuilt]

It’s a 2020 Asus G14 with 40gb RAM. The RTX2060 is a bit weak now but it still does what I need.

[@joshjerauld1727]

What is the mesh imported to fusion as? Is it an stl? Thanks for this content!

[@CouchBuilt]

Yea either stl or obj

[@gptech2444]

Great content. Might be worth reaching out to creality to try their new Raptor laser scanner that is $1500. Creality have had really ordinary software in the past but it seems like they're trying to step it up to take on the einstar.

[@CouchBuilt]

I’m cautiously optimistic on that one. Availability has been limited and most examples seem a little too good. I’d definitely like to try one.

[@swecreations]

@@CouchBuiltFor automotive projects the Otter is better (and cheaper too). If you're testing something I recommend testing that.

[@CouchBuilt]

@swecreations how would you quantify better? I’m all about making it cheaper and attainable.

[@swecreations]

@@CouchBuilt The blue laser on the Raptor is really only good for better detail on really small objects like for getting traces and components on circuit boards, but the infrared scanner (which will be the only thing you use scanning cars and car parts) is worse than the Otter. It's more of a product for a different kind of user than a straight "upgrade". Recommend watching Making For Motorsport's review of both of them, you can clearly see that there.

[@alexandershinkarenko3725]

Yeah! Using Raptor for 2 weeks, it's just much powerful tool that Einstar. It was new to me that I can make really accurate scans with holes/sharp edges without any pain :)

[@ryanschell9318]

lol first thing i did was grab some magnets after i seen the price of t he markers.

[@Aperture.Motorsports]

Okay that's it ... I'm getting a 3d scanner

[@andrewpearson-roach8592]

Thanks for sharing! I appreciate the honest info. I keep eyeballing this scanner for some very similar work on my auto projects but haven't yet made the purchase. One thing I don't have yet is the laptop.. the recommended specs the scanner wants are pretty demanding. Have you had any notable issues with yours? Did you have to upgrade at all? Any info would help!

[@CouchBuilt]

I use a 2020 Asus G14 with 40gb of RAM. The RTX2060 is a bit dated now but it does everything I need it to. Anything running an RTX4060 and 32+gb RAM is going to do pretty well. The better laptop will play nicer with CAD as well. If you’re doing anything beyond web browsing or MS Office stuff, it’s usually worth spending a bit on a higher spec machine.

[@andrewpearson-roach8592]

@@CouchBuilt Ah okay great, thanks for the follow up. I have a solid work desktop but I can't be lugging it to the garage so the laptop would be purchased to scan stuff, then again if it can do CAD as well that's a bonus!

[@americangreensturf]

@@andrewpearson-roach8592max your ram. Took mine from 16gb to 64gb and it made a huge difference. Also keep the laptop plugged in while scanning!

[@DelBouy-lc5wx]

Great content man, just earned a sub from this vid

[@rzuehls]

Are you planning on using the stock cluster? Like a retro mod kinda thing.

[@CouchBuilt]

The stock cluster is staying and I’ll manage it seeing the correct CAN stuff for RPM and gear. There aren’t any other normally displayed engine vitals so I’m still deciding on what to do there. I’m not usually a fan of an aftermarket race dash as a wart on the interior.

[@b3nny90]

If you run the interior scans at a higher resolution, would it clean up the switch holes etc?

[@CouchBuilt]

Yes, it’ll maintain the detail there much better. If you were designing to the switch holes, then I would keep that section in high resolution and the rest reduced.

[@carbonmk1]

nice vid , but your laptop on the floor gave me chills ;-) couldnt do half the projects im doing without the einstar

[@CouchBuilt]

My speaker magnets are furry with metal dust. If he dies, he dies. I backup regularly haha.

[@3dkiwi920]

Worth mentioning that the einstar requires internet and an account, so you can't re-sell it and if the network or software is down, the scanner is a brick.

[@CouchBuilt]

Neither of those statements are true. They give instructions for offline use and you can reset the serial number bindings. support.einstar.com/support/solutions/articles/60000818841-how-to-activate-einstar-on-passport-

[@MrDexter9i3]

Is Rhino better with the meshes, does it handle them better? Or blender or something? I’ve experienced those pains with high poly count models in fusion and haven’t fully healed yet 😄

[@CouchBuilt]

I’ve messed with Blender a bit to add some surface pattern embossing to a mesh, but I haven’t used it much beyond that. I don’t usually work with meshes unless it’s for getting measurements so I think Fusion is still going to be the best choice, even with its pains.

[@riverracer]

Do you use the free version of Fusion or a paid version for working with the meshes and then the design work? And is the free version more than capable enough too do it?

[@CouchBuilt]

I use the paid version, but the free version isn’t lacking any of the tools that I use. I don’t do any mesh to solid body conversions, nor would I suggest anyone ever go that route. Once the mesh is in fusion it’s mostly just creating planes from 3 points all over the mesh and then getting mesh section sketches based off those planes. All of that is free.

[@c.d.m.3821]

scanning is fine, but when i import the scan to reverse engineer... it comes out way out of scale and massive? is therer a way to fix this?

[@CouchBuilt]

Use the insert mesh tool. Don’t just open the file.

[@c.d.m.3821]

@@CouchBuilt ive done that but the file is still vastly oversized. I use f360 and plasticity… i save as obj. Ill do some more research as well. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you for the reply

[@CouchBuilt]

It’s probably being imported as inches. Try scaling it to mm and see if the dimensions are correct 1” = 25.4mm

[@c.d.m.3821]

The measurements tool on exstar is accurate (in mm) but the second it gets imported its out of wack. I think i need a second mesh optimizer before uploading to cad software

[@c.d.m.3821]

@@CouchBuilt it was a units issue but also a software update issue. I was running plasticity 1.2.1 … i thought the software would update automatically but it didnt. Now im on v24.2 lol this version has a prompt for units sizing when importing mesh

[@Minicoup58tv]

I studied mechanical engineering, and now I'm at NASCAR technical Institute. How would someone go about using a 3d scanner and learn what there doing? Is there an online crash course?

[@CouchBuilt]

Using the 3D scanner will be mostly dependent upon which scanner and software you end up choosing. If you want a pretty good quick overview of the workflow to work with the resulting mesh in CAD, check out this 2 part video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKrHXoWlfrhqps0 HP Academy is also coming out with a more in depth course on 3D scanning for motorsports parts. You can keep an eye out for that and use the discount code in the description if you want to check that out. They have some free courses as well that are worth checking out.

[@Minicoup58tv]

@@CouchBuilt I used auto cad and inventor Pro, thanks for the info

[@PiotrSlabiak]

How are you cleaning your scans and make it ready for CAD? Im eyeballing Geomagic Warp Essentials. Are there any cheaper ways to get this done in timely manners?

[@CouchBuilt]

I don’t do anything with the scans really. Just import them to Fusion and use mesh section sketches to build the base references to model off of.

[@LouiLocke]

For the algorithm

[@othoapproto9603]

the Raptor is better

[@emanggitulah4319]

How is the software of the raptor?

[@ultimaevo77]

Only for small objects.