There are many factors to consider when selecting a 3D scanner.  What is your budget, what are you trying to scan, are you trying to scan quickly, do you need color texture, do you want high resolution as well as accuracy?  Which technology is best? What are you going to do with the 3D scan files?

Growshapes is focused on distributing structured light 3D scanners which project light patterns onto an object to capture the surface measurement. It scans a whole dimension, so it is quick. But even within the structured light 3D scanner category, there is whole range from low, mid to very high end with different manufacturers offering different hardware and software capability.

To help you figure out which 3D scanner best serves your objective,  we created a quick comparison of the 3D scan file of EinScan SE, EinScan Pro 2X and HP Pro S3.  Each 3D scanner has its Pros and Cons and it really depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to achieve.  So, download the file below and see if this helps you in your decision making. 

If you have realized that you need much more high resolution and high accuracy 3D scanning capabilities, definitly go for the more expensive industrial-grade eviXscan Heavy Duty Quadro.  The hardware and software is much more advanced.

3D scanner is not a "one-size-fits-all" type of tech product.  It's horses for courses for sure.

Black Friday comes early this year at Growshapes!

HP 3D Structured Lights Scanner Pro S3 single camera configuration as well as the dual camera configuration is going on sale with a whopping 10% discount.

Growshapes is an HP Silver Partner of HP 3D scanning solutions and the official U.S. distributor of Shining 3D EinScan 3D scanners. We are now carrying the eviXscan 3D scanner from Evatronix too!

​See the innovators on Growshapes’ social media channels to get the latest expert news on innovation in 3D digitization, then share your thoughts and join the conversation about 3D digital innovation with #digitize3D.
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What does Growshapes do to prepare for Halloween?  We 3D scan pumpkins!

We 3D scanned this pumpkin using the HP 3D Structured Light Scanner Pro S3 with dual camera and automated turntable.

Actually the pumpkin's organic shapes is more difficult to 3D scan than you think due to the top half and bottom half of the pumpkin being sort of symmetrical.

If you 3D scan the top half first, then 3D scan the bottom half next, alignment can go haywire. There is a high chance that the 3D scans of the bottom half of the pumpkin tries to align to the top half of the pumpkin by the contours of the pumpkin. This tends to result in the bottom half of the pumpkin aligning directly on top of the top half of the pumpkin, ending up with a 3D scan of a half empty pumpkin that is distorted, rather than a full pumpkin where the top half and the bottom half are aligned as it should be.

In order to avoid this, putting some markers on the pumpkin helps.  The markers help the HP 3D Scan Pro 5 software to align the 3D scans to distinct features i.e. markers on the pumpkin, rather than just the contours of the pumpkin as it is flipped over.

​So here you are, the 3D scanned model of pumpkins with and without texture.

On the latest HP 3D Scan Software Pro v5.5.1, "export fusion result to PreForm" has been added. PreForm is a software that prepares 3D models for printing on the Formlabs 3D printer.

3D scan to 3D print is getting easier now as well!

His interest in technology stems from his parents both having engineering backgrounds, which has influenced him immensely. Currently Stephen is most interested in 3D related tech and artificial intelligence. 

It's great to see new 3D tech being explored and used by a high school student - great work Stephen!

​Growshapes likes 3D-scanning stuff (naturally!) to see how digitization impacts industry and people.  

This month we 3D-scanned a beautiful Bizen-ware bird, created by Japanese ceramic artist Yukiko Akai, who lives in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Yukiko uses an 800-year-old kiln firing method for ceramics, which originated on the Korean peninsula and migrated to the town of Bizen, Japan, eventually evolving into Bizen-ware. Bizen-ware is a durable ceramic with a distinct gloss created from a chemical reaction of clay, fire, and firewood ash, rather than from glazing.  Even without glazing, the ceramic is watertight.
 
Because of Bizen-ware uses all-natural materials and processes, Yukiko also participates in the excavation of medieval kilns to research historical kiln structures, document findings, and educate others. Such research aims to not only uncover the past, but also enable exploration of new artistic expressions.
 
This summer, Yukiko and her Master (teacher) undertook a project in Arkansas to recreate the Bizen-ware process there, using the clay and local materials of Arkansas.  You can read more about the project here.

When Growshapes encountered her work, the first thing we thought was, “Let’s digitize!”

So here it is.  A piece from Yukiko's signature "Bird" series in its digital glory. 

This piece was a bit tricky to 3D scan due to its dark color, gloss and the concave shape on the top.  The key was to place the object in the right position, 3D scan from several angles so that the light would cast on all angles of the object. ​

 The "Bird" has been scanned using the HP 3D Structured Light Pro S3 with dual camera, with the scanner set up on the desk scan lever, and the object placed on the automated turntable. 

Click to buy the HP 3D Structured Lights Scanner Pro S3 with Dual Camera Bundle.

The whole scanning process took less than 2 hours from set up to file clean up.  Organic shapes, especially symmetrical ones, tend to be difficult to align in 3D scanning.  But the HP 3D scanner alignment features really excelled once again!

Growshapes is an HP Silver Partner of HP 3D scanning solutions and the official U.S. distributor of Open Technologies 3D Scanners - an endorsement that makes us proud.

​See the innovators on Growshapes’ social media channels to get the latest expert news on innovation in 3D digitization, then share your thoughts and join the conversation about 3D digital innovation with #digitize3D

Many of our customers are scanning very small objects or large objects.  The great thing is the HP Pro S3 3D scanner is quite flexible and offers calibration panels that you can print out.

The calibration point pattern files come with the HP 3D Scan 5 software.  After you have installed the software on your PC, the calibration point patterns is stored under Program Files.

You will find it per below.  "Program Files on your PC > HP 3D Scan 5 > printout" 

The key is to create a 90° corner with the right side and left side panels and ensure the panels are flat to enable successful calibration with your custom calibration panel.
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• Tips on building a large calibration panel - see here. 
• Tips on building a small calirbration panel - see here.

Yes, you can even 3D scan a walnut. 

All you need to do is to calibrate the HP 3D scanner Pro S3 using the smallest calibration scale, 30mm, on the calibration panel. 

A walnut has various protrusions and as result, creates lots of shadows when casting the projector light onto it.  So we propped up the walnut on a black foam to ensure the projector light could penetrate the walnut as much as possible. 

We used black foam that comes inside pelican briefcases. One of our customers taught us this trick and it really works well as the 3D scanner only captures some bits of the foam due to its dark color.  The bits captured can be easily deleted in the editing phase.

Below is the combination of the 3D scan files, all 47 different scans as we tried to capture the undercut as much as possible. The 3D scans still have have holes as was really difficult to penetrate the projector light into every undercut of the walnut.  Furthermore,  the difficulty was aligning the front and the back of the walnut as the side profile was pretty difficult to capture.

And here is the fusion results after the HP 3D Scan software automatically closed all the holes to create a watertight model.

And now we know that the walnut is 1,314 mm³ or 0.08 in³!

We just wanted to show you with this blog that you can 3D scan even a walnut!

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Our FREE TURNTABLE (worth $1,199) FOR EVERY HP 3D SCANNER PRO S3 PURCHASE campaign is ending soon, so if you are contemplating buying the HP Pro S3 3D scanner, now is the time!

The HP 3D scanner is so easy to use and captures even shiny objects (not too shiny though of course!) with its advanced structured light patterns.  The 3D scan alignment algorithm is quite advanced too.

To showcase these points, we wanted to show you the wheel spacer we 3D scanned. 

The wheel spacer was scanned using the HP Structured Light 3D Scanner with dual camera, fixed onto the desk scan lever and the wheel spacer was placed on the automated turntable.  This full set up can be purchased here.

8 scans of the front and then 8 scans of the back was captured.  The space wheel was propped up on a black foam so it could capture the inner parts of the wheel spacer. 

​Below shows the set up, the aligned scans, the mesh of the fused model and the fused model. You can see on the fused model that the lettering on the wheel spacer was captured accurately as well.

The challenge of this object was to align the front and back as the software tried to align the flat surfaces on one dimension. Finding the right pairwise alignment point was the key to ensure the front and back aligned correctly  - this was the part that took a bit of trial and error.

Below is all the detailed numerical information of the 3D scan of the wheel spacer. ​​The file can be exported in obj, stl, ply or 3mf formats to be 3D printed or exported to various 3D software.

So what do you think?

Contact us if you have any questions about this amazing 3D scanner from HP. You'll be surprised how easy it is to use and how well it captures various objects!

We're currently offering a free automated turntable worth $1,199 with every Pro S3 purchase!

day!
​Growshapes is an HP Silver Partner of HP 3D scanning solutions and the official U.S. distributor of Open Technologies 3D Scanners - an endorsement that makes us proud.

​See the innovators on Growshapes’ social media channels to get the latest expert news on innovation in 3D digitization, then share your thoughts and join the conversation about 3D digital innovation with #digitize3D