# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > Einscan-S 3D scanner >  Einscan-S initial review

## Nerv

Hello everyone. 

If you are like me, you are itching to hear feedback about this exciting new scanner. I have mine now and have finished initial testing. 

First, I have to compliment the technical staff at Shining 3D for helping me with some instability issues I was having. They managed so far to fix the problem with a very small amount of information on my end so I'm very impressed with their technical support, they also responded the same day (at night) so they were fast too. This is a company on the other side of the world that speaks another language. I've had worse customer service in my own city.

I will spend more time detailing my experiences with this scanner later, but for now this is what I've found:

The turntable mode isn't nearly as useful, at least for me, as I would have thought it was going to be. The angle the table turns per scan is so large that the surface of the part had large voids when I use this mode. If you were scanning a part that didn't have any deep voids or was relatively simple, like a near spherical shape or a piston the table will probably work fine as it is. I have proposed that the software have an option to specify how many scans there will be per full rotation (thus determining angle) but I think Shining would like to focus on any instability problems more right now. I hope with more feedback from users we can get options like this added to the software, I guess we will have to see.

Another drawback of the turntable mode is when the software decides to mesh the scan. In the videos they demonstrate adding another scan rotation to the model to add areas that were missed after the initial scan. It would be nice if the software would hold off the mesh-closing until after all additional scans have taken place. Not only would this save time, but the model would look better too, at least in theory. 

Free scan mode is great. You scan the part and as long as you have decent overlap, the software auto aligns much better than other software programs I have used. How well this works and the overall quality of the scans this unit takes easily pays for the machine. Where you have to be careful is with the colors of the part. Due to the nature of white light SLS and this setup, distinctly different colors will translate to actual surface deviation that isn't there. The easiest solution is to get a scanning spray that makes the whole part matte and uniform in color. Cast finishes on aluminum parts seem to scan very well and have a great color and finish as is, just for reference. If the part has black or reflective areas on it, likely you will get no data at all from those areas. This unit is pretty sensitive to color, though it does have a simple setting in the software to help compensate for bright and dull colors, and it does work, just forget about really dark colors. (Or colours, as we spell it here in Canada).

Where this software is both really good and a little frustrating is with the meshing following scanning. Having played a bit with meshing software before I must say this is very impressive in how automated it is. It just seals up the model and your done. No menus, no messing around. This is great, when that is what you want. When it isn't great is when you really only wanted to scan a surface and just have that mesh for reference. No matter what you do (as far as I can tell anyway) the software will mesh up the scans into a solid before you can save. This may not be a huge deal as I can work around this with my modeling software but still it would be nice to have it optional, as the meshing to a solid takes time too, sometimes several minutes.

Also, I'm not sure if I'm the only one that wasn't completely clear on this when I was initially thinking of investing in this scanner, this unit is not _in any way_ handheld. Yes the new stand can be used as a handle _for carrying it_ _around_ but you can't scan with this scanner in your hand, this also means that you can't really scan anything that moves either. If you were planning on scanning people with this they better be able to be absolutely still for quite a while. Even a single scan takes several seconds. I was a little surprised how long the scanning itself takes, as many other SLS scanners are way faster (They are also way more money so I can live with it). Also, from my experimentation with other scanners, handheld always seems to come at a loss of accuracy vs that same unit stationary. Just something to keep in mind.

In summary, this is an amazing scanner/software package for the price. The time the alignment processes save you alone make this software much better than many others out there. Even manually aligning a scan is dead simple, and fast. I have built alignment spheres and spent hours aligning scans from other units. This scanner doesn't need alignment markers _of any kind_ and alignment is automatic and accurate so what little extra time it takes per scan is easily saved in post processing. The software is very deceiving... it seems basic because you can't really change settings, and there are very few options to speak of. Shining did this on purpose to make it easier to use. Despite how basic the software appears, it is very powerful and well thought out. It could use a few more options but for anyone that was worried the software was a deal breaker I can assure you it is well matched to the scanner. I know I've said it many times already, its scan alignment abilities are excellent. 

I highly recommend this scanner, and I hope all of you that are eagerly awaiting your scanner will enjoy it as much as I am!

Regards,
Dave 
NERV 
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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## Sebastian Finke

A fantastic, well-written and objective review. Thanks. Would be great of you could upload some photos too (software screenshots, that sort of thing)




> Or colours, as we spell it here in Canada


... the_ right_ way  :Wink:

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## Hugues

Great review,

I agree too i would like to have the option of savings a surface mesh without the software trying to make it water tight.

As for the software: if you open the files that the software creates, with a text editor, they are in the einscan directory. I think they contain the point cloud data. In the header you can read: 3DScan3.0.
Searching for this returned that link on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDneHjVpiJM

it seems there is a more complete version of the software we use, i wonder if we can buy it.

If the Shining3D team reads this, please let us know.  :Big Grin:

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## Neil51

Hey Dave
Thanks for your post.
I just got mine and I was under the impression from the promo that it had inbuilt editing capabilities.The promo shows a dude adding a head to a body in the software?
am I missing something or am I correct?
Agree re their response to questions but the language barrier makes it difficult.

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## Nerv

See below, I double posted accidentally trying to fix the picture I imported.

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## Nerv

Hello everyone,

Neil, was the video you saw the EinScan or the EinScan-S? Not only do they look they same, but the names are pretty similar too! The scanners are completely different in so many ways, from software to actual physical construction and scanning methodology. To be honest, I was unaware of this and saw a video that led me to think the EinScan-S was handheld. The EinScan is, the EinScan-S is not. The EinScan is 15,000USD, and is more like an Artec Eva Light than the Einscan-S (Not only in how it works but price too!!).

Back to the EinScan-S:

The software included with this scanner is extremely restricted in what it allows the user to do. Adding a head which was scanned then to a separate scanned body is not possible within EinScan-S, that would have to be done in another program. You can't open files in EinScan-S software, you can't save projects or even go back steps. If you scanned a head in "free scan" mode and continued scanning the body with overlapping regions then it would allow you to align them on a scan by scan basis. Good luck with that though, the file will get so large the alignment will stop working and you can't save or go back and remove any data after each scan is taken so it'll be very time consuming and challenging to do all of that in EinScan-S software alone. I've made suggestions using other software I've used as reference as how they could improve on that, but I'm not getting positive feedback on how much they are willing to change the software. Too bad, I felt initially they were very interested in what we thought and in making the product better. I guess it does scan so they have delivered on what they said they would on Kickstarter. 

Shining 3D had in mind a very specific purpose for this scanner, which is to take a small object, scan it and then print it. When you try to do anything besides that, you have to get creative, and the software will start to give you heartburn.
I'm trying to use it for scanning larger objects and work with much more scanning shots than they obviously had intended, so I'm running into walls every step of the way. 

If Shining3D would make one requested change that Hughes also mentioned is the option to save the file without the "water tight" meshing operation. This is the single biggest pain about the software as I'm dealing with it now.

It would be very easy for them, I hope they hear our voices.

In my case, I have other software that can easily handle working with the meshes, aligning, filtering, and so forth. When the EinScan-S software seals up the model it makes some giant guesses and tries to close all the holes. The problem is that every single vertex this creates is data based on mathematical assumption, at best. You can't trust it and it would be nice if it just wasn't there at all. I have requested they change this and I hope by posting on here more of you will also make this request. It takes hours for me to manually undo all the false data the "water sealing" operation does, and it also burns up time when you are finished scanning too. All the other little problems and restrictions with the software are tolerable, given the cost of the scanner and the quality of its output. 

Just for reference, I recently did a scan and the scanner picked up text on a cast surface that is only 0.2mm high. You can actually read the numbers. With the naked eye it actually isn't much clearer than the model, that is how impressive the accuracy of this scanner is. Getting it to do what you want takes practice. Once you get several scans in the auto-alignment stops working well, and if you manually align the scan it will not auto re-align. That doesn't surprise me though, if you are crazy enough to scan on the highly detailed mode you will have many tens if not hundreds of millions of points in only a few scans, and the software just can't handle it all for auto alignment. My solution has been to just run on the low detail scan setting, you can't even tell the difference on the scans I'm doing, they are still very highly detailed, and they don't have textures to trick you into thinking the data is better than it actually is. The meshes are awesome.

This is a screenshot of actual scanned data. Took about ten scans to get that amount of data, this part is quite large, the area shown is around 280mmx200mm. If you have deep cavities you might as well forget about capturing them:

Pan_Scan1.JPG

The little odd bumps you see are actual casting flaws on the part, not errors in the scan.

Also, buy a tripod, one that allows for all forms of movement and adjustment. The stand that comes with it is really only useful if you feel like scanning cantaloupe-sized objects on the turntable all day. I picked one up from London Drugs here in Calgary for $50 (Canadian Dollars). Use a slightly longer metric 5mm threaded bolt to attach the scanner though, otherwise the socket head cap screw that comes with the scanner will only be holding on by a thread or two. I hoard fasteners so I had one lying on the shelf. I also used just a small touch of mastic on the bottom of the scanner so it can't rotate on the base plate, since it is only attached by one bolt. It works great, I can even flip the scanner 45 or even 90 so it can get between fins if needed. It can handle cavities like fins, since the scanner is stereoscopic in nature with the projector and cameras all along one plane, but a cavity like a hole it just can't do.

This is a shot of the mesh after I've brought it into CAD and simplified it:

SW_Mesh.jpg

Once again everyone, please make a request to Shining3D that they change the "water sealing" to optional. When you start playing with this scanner you will see that the data gets too extreme to try to scan large objects in one scan, so to try to take multiple meshes and put them together in another program will get frustrating as you have to spend hours cutting out all the bad data that has been added. If you do have a scan that has no cavities and is pretty well covered on all sides with scan info before you finish though, the sealing will add little to nothing at all, but that is impossible on large parts.

I hope this feedback is helpful for everyone,

Dave

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## Nerv

I found a solution to getting your scans to align as you finish your loop, but after many hours of scanning and building up a really nice scanned file the software crashed. 

Since it is not possible to save, everything is gone.

I'll let you know if the software gets changed but as it is now, it is very frustrating. Just a heads up for everyone on the fence.

Dave

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## Neil51

Hi There Dave (NERV) 
The scanner is a Einscan -S.
Yeh I feel a little ripped off that it doesnt do what the video shows it doing.Hopefully they will modify the software and make it more user friendly.As a newbie to scanning I am on a 88degree learning curve and whilst I have been using a cnc router and 3dplotter the scanner is a bit daunting.I didnt realise the scan I did was waterproof until I tried to clean it up Netfabb.Still trying to work thru it. I did manage to print it on a raft even with a hole right thru the base plate.

With Freescan (which i am yet to try)I am making a large turntable so I have control over the overlapping.I think it makes more sense moving the item than moving the scanner?

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## Hugues

I don't use the turntable.

I set my scanner on a tripod.

I set the distance to the object by looking at the middle cross that is projected, to be in focus.

I put talc on my object and distribute it evenly with a brush.

I overlap my scan a lot, maybe as much as 50%. Make sure there are overlapping distinctive features in your scans, create some if needed by placing your object on a cardboard and cutting shapes into it.

With this I get clean scans almost every time.

Last tip: after a scan, if you  see holes in the model, apply more talc on the hole before you start the next scan.

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## Hugues

As for water tight scans, I don't bother anymore as I import my mesh into 3DCoat and work with voxels instead of mesh.

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## Nerv

Neil,

I use a simple "lazy susan" bearing I purchased at Lee Valley for $10, it can hold up to 1000lbs. This I turn by hand and it works very well. Much like Hughes I use the focus of the cross to tell me when distance is correct. Here is a tip: If you can't see it in both scanning screens, it will not capture that data. 

You will find that when you scan objects that have corners/edges on them that as you rely on the auto alignment just due to accumulated errors the scans will not line up when you get back to where you started. My solution has been to place the object on a surface that has plenty of very simple but unique details that allow the software to always have plenty of data to align to. Right before my most recent crash I had a perfectly aligned scan that looked great. The base also saves time because the scans almost always align perfectly even if you have turned the turntable quite a bit. Once again, when you are dealing with a shape like a cube, when you pass over to capture a new face that wasn't present in previous scans, the auto alignment will likely not work. This has been my experience anyway.

Hugues, what do you mean you don't bother with water tight anymore? Have you found a way to import the raw scan data into another program? I was trying to find out what format the scan data was in to try to do that myself, as I do know a couple programs that would work very well with such great scan data. I would be very interested in hearing more. I'm importing the meshes into Solidworks 2014 but that relies on EinScan-S not crashing out before I get that far. Once I get into SW though, its "Scan to 3D" add-in is amazing.

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## Hugues

> ...
> 
> Hugues, what do you mean you don't bother with water tight anymore? Have you found a way to import the raw scan data into another program?...


well, i gave a bit more info in my PM, i did not find a way to import the raw data in any soft that i use afterwards, only in one online reader.

I use 3Dcoat to import the stl file created by the Einscan software (http://3d-coat.com/forum/index.php), they have a free fully functional demo version, pretty cool what you can do.

I would guess very few people 3dprint directly the stl file created by einscan. YOu need to clean it a bit, do some mods or other stuff. Myself i actually build/sculpt other parts around the scanned part, so i rarely 3dprint my scans. When you import a mesh into 3dcoat, you can voxelize it, and then recreate a mesh afterwards, so that's wht i meant by not caring too much about the water-tightness of the initial scan file. I think mesh were not meant to be sculpted and deformed too much, and they are not a volume, but a skin. Voxels are a volume, which you can sculpt, deform, stretch, do boolean operations on, which you cannot do with meshes.

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## Nerv

I'm sure your familiar with Solidworks, when you run the appropriate tools in SW it assists you in making fully parametric models from the scanned mesh, which can easily be cleaned and simplfied too. I did have to convert the STL to OBJ in meshlab first though, no other operation other than just changing the file type. Just another little annoyance I wish the EinScan-S software did itself. 

I've been working professionally with Solidworks for the past 10 years so with the data modeling the objects afterward is a breeze. I wish the geomagic add-in for SW could be purchased without the "Capture" scanner, but alas, it cannot as far as I know.

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## Neil51

Hey Dave 
Thanks for the heads up-picked up a lazy susan bearing yesterday for that very purpose.Ill give it a crack over the next couple of days.

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## 3DWP

I'm waiting for my scanner, hopefully August right? Third batch I believe.. I didn't see the Einscan S as a handscanner but did think it was possible to make it one. In the Kickstarter they said something about ''no laser so safe for eyes''.. But they also said desktop scanner so I'm not disappointed by that. I am worried about the comments about the automatic hole filling.. I thought you could easily scan multiple angles of the model and build it watertight as much as possible yourself - the ability to save scans in between is a must in my opinion! Other software and scanners have this also and it's logical to prevent waste of time.

*So Shining 3D, I hope you will add the option of auto watertight/saving surface mesh to the software.* I'm excited to get my scanner, the pictures I did see look great.

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## Neil51

Hey 3DWP
If you check the video on the Shining 3D promo for einscan-s
https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.ne...-h264_high.mp4
you would expect that the software has editing options -it doesnt.There are also the issues that Nerv has encountered .The scanner has some "teething"issues that hopefully Shining can address to make it a really good scanner.

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## 3DWP

Exactly, you can see in the video that in free scan mode the scanner is moving around the object. That's also why I assumed it could be a handscanner. I did wonder why there would be a restriction to 700 mm in Free scan mode - now I know why ;-)

And the software in the video certainly suggests scanning multiple parts or angles and combining them: the puppet with the head.

I don't want to complain about something I don't have yet but people that do state that the software is more basic than we were lead to believe.

The hardware is up to par, the algorithms too, now hopefully the software will get some added features. They would add color too, right? Maybe that's a nice moment for Shining 3D to add an ''Advanced'' tab for more options or at least those features we are now talking about.

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## RonnieW

I just received my Einscan-S, but have not been able to get it setup yet.  
I immediately stumbled though getting it set up.  The website is very unresponsive, so downloading the install software (not included on a CD/DVD or anything) took about a dozen tries, it kept hanging up.  But after finally being able to retrieve the software (~67 MB) and installing it it does not want to connect to my Einscan-S hardware.  Anybody else have this problem?  I have sent an email to support@shining3d.com, but have not heard back yet.  When connecting the USB cables windows reports a connection and I can use VLC media player to see what the two cameras in the scanner see and the two cameras show up in the device manager and the projector displays an image (extended destop) so everything 'seems' to be connected properly.  The software connects to the turntable fine, but complains that the 3D scanner is unconnected...  Clicking on the "Connect" button just changes the software to report "Connecting..." but in fact never finds the scanner and stays there for eternity.  There is no configuration or other settings available to point it in the right direction, or trouble shooting available.  Did anyone else run into this problem?  

Thanks for any feedback from the community (or Shining3D).  Looking at the current status on Kickstarter they only sold about 200 units of the Einscan-S model...  The company has many more and higher grade scanners available, so hoping they will really try to break into the consumer market and bring some of the features that are promised to the Einscan-S software; the specs is what sold me on the scanner.

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## Hugues

hi,

i did not have the connection problem you describe,

but with the file you downloaded, when you extract it, you will find a pdf file with all sorts of things to install, did you follow these instructions ? I solved one of my problem like this. it's kind of a troubleshooting file.

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## Neil51

> I just received my Einscan-S, but have not been able to get it setup yet.  
> I immediately stumbled though getting it set up.  The website is very unresponsive, so downloading the install software (not included on a CD/DVD or anything) took about a dozen tries, it kept hanging up.  But after finally being able to retrieve the software (~67 MB) and installing it it does not want to connect to my Einscan-S hardware.  Anybody else have this problem?  I have sent an email to support@shining3d.com, but have not heard back yet.  When connecting the USB cables windows reports a connection and I can use VLC media player to see what the two cameras in the scanner see and the two cameras show up in the device manager and the projector displays an image (extended destop) so everything 'seems' to be connected properly.  The software connects to the turntable fine, but complains that the 3D scanner is unconnected...  Clicking on the "Connect" button just changes the software to report "Connecting..." but in fact never finds the scanner and stays there for eternity.  There is no configuration or other settings available to point it in the right direction, or trouble shooting available.  Did anyone else run into this problem?  
> 
> Thanks for any feedback from the community (or Shining3D).  Looking at the current status on Kickstarter they only sold about 200 units of the Einscan-S model...  The company has many more and higher grade scanners available, so hoping they will really try to break into the consumer market and bring some of the features that are promised to the Einscan-S software; the specs is what sold me on the scanner.


Hey RonnieW
Check the Serial No and make sure you have registered the correct No.It is easy to select the wrong one from the list.Because the software is coded to your scanner if the wrong number is used it will display like you have said.

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## RonnieW

Thanks Neil51 and Hugues.  Actually after a few emails back and forth with Alfred from Shining3D they sent me a new PLE file. That was the problem.  Alfred was very responsive, even suggested a video chat if that would not work.  But the new PLE file did the trick for me!  It also took some fiddling on my part to get the stripes to project on the right screen...  The software does not look for a projector or even for an 800x600 display.  On my configuration it was looking for the first display on my second video card... The software definitely crashes when the cameras do not see the striped images from the projector...

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## 24c

> The software definitely crashes when the cameras do not see the striped images from the projector...


That's interesting, I can't get to the striped images either, as I just get to the white square projected screen with "PC" and "CVBS" text in the top right, and the software hangs.
I have the right PLE file too, as I can calibrate
Here's hoping *hugues* replies, because he has a similar set up as mine.  :Smile:

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## Alfred_technical_support

"PC" and "CVBS" text in the top right
That means the VGA cable has not been connect correctly.
Or you didn't  set the screen resolution rightly. 
If you still have this situation, contact me ( yangjianlong@shining3d.com) .

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## 24c

Just seen this thread response *Alfred*, or yangjianlong, looks like this is another comment to go in your FAQs, as my problem was the VGA cable wasn't seated properly at the scanner end.  :Smile: 
Thanks for the input though, but I'd fixed my issue by then. Sorry for posting in the wrong thread.
Mike

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## Alfred_technical_support

It's nothing.
If you have any advice, please tell me.
Thank you.

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## 3dprintau

Here is a new video on the Einscan, also know as ScanMaster Plus in Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EesW5XToU94

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## Nerv

That video doesn't even come close to showing the true capability of this scanner.

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## 24c

I was too busy playing with my scanner to read this thread properly, and it looks like most of you have already hit the major stumbling blocks with the software. I made a feature request thread, as I found it so frustrating, but before seeing this thread. My biggest gripe after doing 100+ free scans of an engine crankcase twice over, is I can't save the state of the 'project' up to that point, and if I press *Complete* my laptop locks up, program becomes unresponsive, and eventually all this effort is wasted. I also would like to access the scans as is, before they are meshed, so maybe then I could combine them in Meshlab. I did save some simple closed models on the turntable, by doing one pass in two different positions, and then aligning these completed scan files externally. It'd be nice to have an .obj export, but as *Nerv* says you can use Meshlab for that too.
*Hughes* did you get any further saving the point cloud scans (.asc??). I've seen the raw scan file as they are date and time stamped in the EinScan-S program files, but I've no idea how it works. presume they start at 0 and go to n number of scans increasing by 1.It looks like the software saves an edited version of the scan, and an alignment file, and then this is incrementally added too?? 
Also noted are the tripod comments, as I found the same issue doing a largish freescan. It's better to have a tripod or boom arm system to get the camera head at the right angles to illuminate the object better. The angles with taller objects are too shallow, and my first crankcase looked like it was dipped in dripping paint. As soon as I increased the height to look down on the object more, the quality went up, and the definition almost matched *Nerv's* gearbox scans...unfortunately I haven't managed to save one yet!
Overall opinion, great performing scanner with a great resolution per buck price point, and the only drawback is the clunky software. If EinScan/Shining 3D could improve this it would expand there user base. The software is fine for closed volumes, but things with holes and cavities show its flaws.

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## Hugues

> .. I also would like to access the scans as is, before they are meshed, so maybe then I could combine them in Meshlab. I did save some simple closed models on the turntable, by doing one pass in two different positions, and then aligning these completed scan files externally. It'd be nice to have an .obj export, but as *Nerv* says you can use Meshlab for that too.
> *Hughes* did you get any further saving the point cloud scans (.asc??). I've seen the raw scan file as they are date and time stamped in the EinScan-S program files, but I've no idea how it works. presume they start at 0 and go to n number of scans increasing by 1.It looks like the software saves an edited version of the scan, and an alignment file, and then this is incrementally added too?? ..


Hey Mike,

I did have to use Meshlab in the past few days as i was scanning the side of my bike and there was no way i could do a 360 scan. The meshed file of Einscan was ok but as i chose low detail initially some parts were too approximate (Note to Alfred: would be nice to have the option of meshing the scan in higher resolution after we saved it first in low res. I think you can do this because i assume your point cloud files are the same regardless of the resolution we choose). So coming back to Meshlab, here's my workflow, and it can surely be improved, comments welcomed:

- In Einscan software, at the end of your scan, save the file in ascii format instead of stl. It will create one file per scan with the XYZ coordinates of each scanned point. These files are already aligned to each other
- Start new project in Meshlab - Import all point cloud files, keep checkbox marked, then click ok for each file
- Select first file in layers window, right click, select Flatten Visible Layers, check last checkbox Keep... This will group all your scans into one file or layer.
- Make it visible on screen by clicking on its point cloud icon in the layer window, or else you don't see it
- Align camera to approximate position of scanner (i'm not sure if this is necessary, this is to help the system create normals)
- From the menu: Filters/Points Set/Compute Normals for Points set: Select 100 neighbours and check Flip Normals...Also enter 0, 0, 1000 in coord, then Apply . This step is necessary to tell the system which face of the scan is actually facing the scanner, or else, they are just points without any notion of top or bottom. This is where i'm struggling. At the end of this operation, i could still see some black regions on the scan, probably means some normals are inverted and this will be annoying for the next step
- Then Filters/Points Set / Surface Reconstruction Poisson: use default for a firts rough check, then redo with Octree Depth set at 10, and 8/1/1 for other params . This gives a pretty good detailed mesh. The only issue for me was with the normals calculated from the previous step.
- Then you can export your mesh in stl format, or other format too, i think obj, but i did not try.

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## 24c

Bonjour? Hugues,

That's a really helpful post, and I'll be trying your workflow later.
Thanks again
Mike
PS Side of a bike...curious and curiouser!  :Smile: 

Edit & update, just did a quick 12 or so scans, and tried to complete. A couple of minutes later, Einscan software just crashed/closed down, and left looking at desktop. No *Save* dialog box offered  :Frown:

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## 24c

einscan-files.jpg

This is what the files look like, before they are completed? You can see the original scan images increasing by 1, and it looks like they always start from this numbering scheme, and overwrite previous ones.

You're only looking at the 23/08/2015 12:38 to 12:47 date stamp. Looks like the ScanData_2rge.0000 is a place holder for the first aligned images and ScanData_9rge.0000 is the last one. 
Is there a way to open these *Alfred_T_S*?

Mike

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## Hugues

> einscan-files.jpg
> 
> This is what the files look like, before they are completed? You can see the original scans images increasing by 1, and it looks like they always start from this numbering scheme, and overwrite previous ones.


yes, i tried to open them with different software but no luck, probably a proprietary format of Shining3d. YOu can use good old notepad or texteditor under Mac to look at the header of those files, you see the column names. It's surely the scan data with information about normals or other stuff like this. I don't think we could extract much more info than what you get with the ascii files.

But Shining3d coud really use these files to recover from a crash, or continue a scanning session. I guess they know how to do it but maybe decided to give us a "dumbed down" version of their software for whatever marketing reason, as they sell higher end scanners and surely the corresponding software.

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## 24c

> But Shining3d coud really use these files to recover from a crash, or continue a scanning session.



I don't think it is dumbed down, just not enabled yet. It seems possible, after looking at the headers, they use part of the 3DScan v3.0 software found here 
http://catalogue.fitman.atosresearch.eu/enablers/3dscan
I just glanced at the documentation, but it doesn't seem to make sense now. The images on the website look similar to some I've seen, but could be a dead end. :/
No doubt things will change, but I read there was a memory bug with the earlier version, so maybe that's why things are starting slowly. Also for the target audience, the scanner is a good fit in their eyes with the sister printer. :Smile: 

Mike

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## 24c

> This is where i'm struggling. At the end of this operation, i could still see some black regions on the scan,


Well *Hugues*, I got this far and the black bit, turned on the "light bulb", and the black object turned whiter. It's still black in places, but the Poisson filter absolutely blows the model up and distorts it beyond recognition. I can't export the mesh before this, and get anything usable into CAD, so I'll try another way, to get to the same point. I used bits of this tutorial before http://www.instructables.com/id/Usin...-Dat/?ALLSTEPS, 
Thanks 
Mike
PS I can use the .stl file, but I wanted to try using the raw scan data.

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## Hugues

This guy explains how to have Meshlab calculate the normals and why, starts to be interesting around 4 min,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVGENYi4gz8

I think my problem (and maybe yours) is due to the fact that i scanned a rather large model and the scanner does not remain in a fixed position but turns around the model in a vertical plane. So when you tell Meshlab to compute normals with regards to the viewpoint, the problem is there is only one viewpoint for the whole scan and it might not be where your scanner was.

One way to counter this i think is to load each point cloud individually and compute the normals independently for each scan and not for the collection of scans. It takes a bit more time but it probably gets rid of the black spots this way.

My hypothesis...

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## 24c

OK *Hugues*, will give it a look, thanks for the input... just finished reading your 2 year EV bike thread, was LMAO sometimes, but respect congrats bud. 8)

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## Hugues

> ...
> 
> One way to counter this i think is to load each point cloud individually and compute the normals independently for each scan and not for the collection of scans. It takes a bit more time but it probably gets rid of the black spots this way.
> 
> My hypothesis...


Hypothesis confirmed  :Cool: 

- So I loaded each scan into Meshlab, but not merged them right away
- Hide each scan but the first one, using the eye icon in the layers panel
- Display the axes in menu Renders / Show Axis
- By looking at the first scan and the axis, define what is the best camera XYZ position to see all the scan in a perpendicular manner
- Call in the menu Filters / point Set / Compute Normals for point sets  / 
- Select 100 for NEighbour / Chek flip normals
- Enter your camera position in the next 3 boxes in XYZ coordinate. YOu don't have to be precise. I select a point far away from the scan , normally 0, 0, 1000, or 0,-1000, 1000. Pay attention to negative side of axes.
- Click apply, and after a few seconds you see the result, make sure the light is turned on.
- If all ok, don't close this dialog, select the next scan in the layers panel, make it visible, check if your camera position needs to be updated, then click apply
- repeat until last scan,

then merge all scans and create your mesh with the Poisson filter.

One more week on holidays, kids back to school, so plenty of time to explore.

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## Harry Cayne

I agree with you Nerv the water sealing should be optional and we should be able to set the number of images the scan file is made, depending of the complexity of the object. I rather wait 30 minutes for a detailed but small object than to use it in manual mode. Thanks for your feedback.
Harry

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## ekmek

Great info in this thread. I've been looking at 3D scanning but haven't bought one. I mainly want it to do it so me and my son can make custom 4" action figures.  I'm pretty good with Blender 3D so I figure I can handle  edits of a scanned model.

So my questions:  EinScan-S  can it due a detailed enough resolution for an action figure head (they are about half inch diameter)?

How much does this cost roughly?

If I mail an action figure head is anyone willing to scan it so I can take a look at the quality?

thanks!

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## Hugues

> Great info in this thread. I've been looking at 3D scanning but haven't bought one. I mainly want it to do it so me and my son can make custom 4" action figures.  I'm pretty good with Blender 3D so I figure I can handle  edits of a scanned model.
> 
> So my questions:  EinScan-S  can it due a detailed enough resolution for an action figure head (they are about half inch diameter)?
> 
> How much does this cost roughly?
> 
> If I mail an action figure head is anyone willing to scan it so I can take a look at the quality?
> 
> thanks!


I think it should be good enough, but really depends on the size of the features you are trying to scan. Are you going to 3d print them ? If you are using a FDM printer, then the scanning accuracy is more than enough.

You can send me an example of your action figure if you want me to scan it for you, but i live in Switzerland, you might try to find someone in the USA. Just send me a private message through the forum if you want my address.

As for the price:
http://www.einscan.com/#!shop/cwcm

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## ekmek

> I think it should be good enough, but really depends on the size of the features you are trying to scan. Are you going to 3d print them ? If you are using a FDM printer, then the scanning accuracy is more than enough.
> 
> You can send me an example of your action figure if you want me to scan it for you, but i live in Switzerland, you might try to find someone in the USA. Just send me a private message through the forum if you want my address.
> 
> As for the price:
> http://www.einscan.com/#!shop/cwcm



Thank you for the offer! I just checked and its $22 just to send an envelope or small box international.  That's kind of a lot just for a small piece.   Any idea where I can find other people looking to scan?

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## neveroddoreven

Maybe this weekend I might dig out an action figure from the remnants of toys my son left behind. It depends on if I set up the scanner for another project this weekend.

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## ekmek

> Maybe this weekend I might dig out an action figure from the remnants of toys my son left behind. It depends on if I set up the scanner for another project this weekend.



cool. let me know!

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## neveroddoreven

I scanned a Death Star Trooper and a Robocop missing its foot, both of them four inch tall action figures.  I used high resolution on the turntable, immediately after calibrating the turntable, with the V1.7.0 firmware.  The detail is decent but not what I would want for making out the finer injection molded aspects of an action figure's head.  Both figures had some very contrasty color schemes -- the trooper with white clothes and black boots/gloves/goggles, and the Robocop had a black gun and pearlescent blue body plates.  I had to lightly baby powder both of them to get the scans to turn out.  You can see that the overall scan is pretty good but some of the finer details didn't turn out too great.  The trooper's hands are a little malformed, and the spike ridge on the back of the helmet are slightly blobby.  The Robocop scan is missing the finer lines (actual ridges, not paint) stamped around the head, and in the pectoral and bicep body plates -- those ridges are barely within the 0.1mm tolerance and they do show up a little in a single scan view but disappear when all the scans are coalesced into an object.

Maybe someone with more skills in Meshlab can get the fine lines to come back into existence, I didn't have the time to figure it out with the various notes in this forum's topics.  If someone does get a better mesh to happen, I would be quite grateful for a full walkthrough (either writeup or Youtube format).

Note that my specific scanner hardware still has an outstanding question about whether both cameras are actually calibrated correctly with respect to each other.  I have one camera (furthest from the USB port) whose sharpest focus plane falls roughly on the nearest edge of the second-to-outermost circle around the turntable, and the camera (on the side closest to the scanner's USB connector) has the sharpest focus plane on the furthest edge of the same circle.  I asked previously if others had the same experience and I only got one reply (they didn't see that effect) and no explanation from Shining3D.

Scan file links:
http://www.neveroddoreven.com/einsca...hTalc_Mesh_stl
http://www.neveroddoreven.com/einsca...bocop_Mesh_stl
http://www.neveroddoreven.com/einsca...ocop_ascii.zip

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## Leo

I success mesh with meshlab, but I found the output do watertight just like Einscan_S, do you have any idea? 
I have do something wrong?
Thank you for your reply.

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## scobo

I'm considering buying the Afinia ES360 scanner which I'm pretty sure is the same as the Einscan, just rebadged.
Just wondered how you guys are getting on with the Einscan now and has the software been improved at all ?

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## 3dprintau

Yes the Afinia unit us the same as the awesome Einscan, the software has been updated recently. I have used other scanners and the Einscan is defiantly the best you can buy for the money. I don't like the licensing, but once you get past that it's great.

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## This

I found 3 other names the scanner is sold under, but all are the same, some even have the Einscan code badge on the equipment  :Smile: 

The software is one of the reasons I bought the Einscan-s, you can do fast 3D scans in high detail in minutes, but am still learnig to rduce the file zise without losing too much detail.
Aligning scans is a real time saver with the software, I have done manual alignment with separate scans, and can easily take hours, if the scan will not allign properly, just rotate the object back a bit, and scan again, take just minutes.

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## scobo

Thanks for the quick reply.
I've also tried various scanners such as the Matter and Form but laser scanners don't come anywhere close to the quality of structured light scanning, imho.
Lately, I've been using the trial version of David Laserscanner with a cheap webcam and 2nd hand projector. The results are excellent but there is quite a bit of setup and post-scanning work involved and I like the sound of the more automated scanning the Afinia/Einscan offer.

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## This

I was looking around for a good 0.1mm scanner for some time, and most were around +2300,
David scanner has a sweet setup but was too expensive for me, Einscan-s is is for me the best bang for your buck.

but you will need a good PC to work with the large files, and graphics needed.

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## scobo

To be honest, the projector and webcam only cost me £100. The David software is £300 so for £400 I could have a complete SLS setup.
But like I said, there's more work involved with David and it's more time consuming so I'm happy to pay extra for the Afinia to reduce all that and still achieve good quality scans.

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## 3dprintau

For mesh simplification I use Vizup http://vizup.com/products.html. I also use GOM Inspect (brilliant piece of software), Meshmixer. But Vizup I find keeps the geometry and shows you 10 different reductions to choose from.

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## scobo

> The software is one of the reasons I bought the Einscan-s, you can do fast 3D scans in high detail in minutes, but am still learnig to rduce the file zise without losing too much detail.


Just wondered what method you're using for reducing file size.
A couple of scans I've tried to slice in Simplify3d have failed to load as they were too big.

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## This

> Just wondered what method you're using for reducing file size.
> A couple of scans I've tried to slice in Simplify3d have failed to load as they were too big.


The filesizes can get pretty large fast,
I let the scan software optimize the mesh data 50% (for large objects), then open in Rhino3D en let the software do a reduce mesh,
keep the slider on higher accuracy, and reduce between 30% and 60%

objects with a lot of smooth surfaces can be reduce more, and if it has more details I just do a few tests until I can visually see a difference.

I still have to test meshmixer, to see what size difference I can get
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=921cDYBpuL4

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## scobo

Thanks, didn't know Meshmixer could do that.
So you use the "Simplify" option in the scan software first ?

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## This

The "simplify" option is also a mesh decimation option,
I only do it with large objects, this makes more easy to import into Meshmixer or Rhino3D.

depending on what kind of object you scan, you want to keep more control if you are going to reduce the mesh (if you want or need to),
and the "simplify" doesn't show you a preview how it will look after decimation.
Meshmixer gives you more options and a preview before accepting the settings  :Smile:

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## scobo

I've been playing around with Meshlab, the simplication filter does a pretty good job of reducing a mesh.
I can't see any difference in quality at 50% reduction and of course, it cuts the file size in half.

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## scobo

After a few days playing around with it, I've got to say it's an excellent bit of kit !
The auto alignment really is fantastic, way better than any other software.
Still trying to find a way round the hole filling though. Anyone have a way of dealing with this ?

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## This

They would need to adjust thee software, and I wonder if the Pro version has this option ?

Do you have trouble with the hole filling ?, I just keep on scanning until I can't see any holes in the preview before completing the scan.
and only have alignment problems once in a while  :Smile:

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## scobo

I find the software sometimes fills in too much of the scan and fills areas that shouldn't be filled.
This was mentioned in another thread but I don't think a full solution was given.

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## This

I think your only solution is to do a free scan, and import all the scans into Meshlab, and stitch the scans manually,
but then you also have to fill the holes manually.

would it not be an option to adjust the area that was filled improperly in Meshmixer or other software ?
you can manually sculpt in Meshmixer, I have smoothed surfaces with ease, and adjusted holes and surface bumps.

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## scobo

Yeah, I've used Meshmixer for miner repairs and it does a good job but an object I scanned recently had a pattern on the outside which consisted of dozens of holes. 
During the scan, the holes appeared correctly but Shinig3d filled them all in during meshing.
It would have taken hours to fix this in Meshmixer.
Just wondered if there was a way around this to avoid a lot of manual editing.

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## This

Holes are a particular problem with scanning, if the scanner has no visual on the bottom of the hole, it tries to connect the open end surfaces of that hole.
one solution is to fill the holes to s certain depth, so you can adjust later in any CAD program.
wax or wet paper towels balls help  :Smile: 

Sometimes when I do a free scan, the scan shows not a smooth surface but lots of ridges or broken up surfaces,
I just click on manual alignment, en remove that particular scan, and rescan that part.

But don't forget, you sometimes need to prep the object for scanning, like filling holes, or make a stand to align it in a certain way.
I use large matt black pins , black foam and polished perspex (glass) to hold to object, these are not seen by the scanner and removed when aligning.

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## scobo

Haven't tried freescan mode yet.
I'll it give a try next.
I also use a clear perspex cup to mount objects.

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## svt04cobra

Is everyone still happy with this scanner? Has anyone tried or used the Scanify 3D scanner? I think the software is key. I did not have very good luck with the Fuel3D software. The auto stitch did not seem to work at all.

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## scobo

Yup, more than happy. I'm blown away by the Eiscan-s (mine is rebadged as the Afinia ES360).
Other scanners I've tried are BQ Cyclop, Matter & Form, David Laserscanner, 123D Catch. None of them come anywhere close to the scan quality/speed of this one.
To be fair, you can get very good results with David Laserscanner and an SLS setup but it requires a LOT more post-scan work. You can easily spend an hour with David cleaning up and aligning scans.
This scanner does the whole job in about 3 minutes with one click of the mouse !

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## svt04cobra

Awesome to know. I'm looking to buy right now!!!!




> Yup, more than happy. I'm blown away by the Eiscan-s (mine is rebadged as the Afinia ES360).
> Other scanners I've tried are BQ Cyclop, Matter & Form, David Laserscanner, 123D Catch. None of them come anywhere close to the scan quality/speed of this one.
> To be fair, you can get very good results with David Laserscanner and an SLS setup but it requires a LOT more post-scan work. You can easily spend an hour with David cleaning up and aligning scans.
> This scanner does the whole job in about 3 minutes with one click of the mouse !

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## Hugues

also very glad here, used it again last night, no headaches, even after 2 months without using it, successful scan on first attempt.

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## svt04cobra

I just placed my order. I should have my scanner by the end of the week!!!! I was very disappointed with the Fuel3D and Scanify software. None of the scans would automatically align. Seems from reading here that is not an issue! Looking forward to trying it out! 




> also very glad here, used it again last night, no headaches, even after 2 months without using it, successful scan on first attempt.

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## scobo

> I just placed my order. I should have my scanner by the end of the week!!!! I was very disappointed with the Fuel3D and Scanify software. None of the scans would automatically align. Seems from reading here that is not an issue! Looking forward to trying it out!


Aligning is fully automatic with the turtable and you won't have any issues.
With free scan mode (without the turtable) the software will attempt to align each scan individually but will sometimes fail if there isn't enough overlap. You then get the option to align manually by selecting up to 3 points or delete the last scan and reposition the object to try again.

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## svt04cobra

Good to know. Thank you sir!!




> Aligning is fully automatic with the turtable and you won't have any issues.
> With free scan mode (without the turtable) the software will attempt to align each scan individually but will sometimes fail if there isn't enough overlap. You then get the option to align manually by selecting up to 3 points or delete the last scan and reposition the object to try again.

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