We've bought two 3D scanners.

The first was an HP 3D Structured Light Scanner Pro S3. It used a turntable and a projector to throw black-and-white checkered patterns across the surface of the object to be scanned. It never worked very well.  Keeping it calibrated was an endless, finicky task.  We no longer use it.

Our current 3D scanner is an Artec Space Spider, which is lot easier to use. It's a hand-held device. We've got a collection of pottery we've been scanning using it.  Here's a sample:

    https://commons.und.edu/pottery/2434/

Scroll down a bit to see the 3D model.  The results are pretty good; our one ongoing problem with this collection is that we often have trouble getting the interior of pots and vases.  The one I linked turned out pretty well, but that's because the pot has a wide throat so we could bring the device to bear.  For taller, thinner stuff we just can't get the interiors.

The one real down side about the space spyder is that their software licensing is a pain. You get 20 licenses with each spider, but that's users.  So if you install the software on one computer and two people log into that computer, then that's two licenses used. If you have a busy scanning room with lots of student workers those twenty licenses go pretty quick.

Will Martin

Head of Digital Initiatives, Systems and Services
Chester Fritz Library
University of North Dakota
he/his/him

701.777.4638



-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of charles meyer
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2023 7:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [CODE4LIB] 3D Scanners

My esteemed listmates,

We're considering buying a 3D scanner so tuse in conjunction with our 3D printer.

Which 3D scanners have you bought/used?

Why have you preferred them?

Did you have any bad experiences with any 3D scanner?

Thank you.

Charles.