# 3D Design / 3D Scanning / 3D Modeling > 3D Modeling, Design, Scanners >  Sense scanner By 3D Systems - $400 Just Announced

## Larry

Wow, this is incredible.  I would say this is a major disrupter in the 3D Printing/scanning industry, and it's brought to us by none other than the first major 3D Printing company to exist, 3D Systems.  It's called the Sense Scanner, and it works like a charm.  You don't need to know anything at all about 3d modelling, or scanning to use this device.  The Sense Scanner will have a price point of just $399 and comes with it's own easy to use software.  Unlike most scanners, you can carry this with you to, say, a party, and scan your friends. It's more like a camera than a traditional scanning device. To use it you simply paint over them as the software fills in all the gaps.  Judging from the videos it does an amazing job.

Here is a video of the scanner in action, posted this morning:



The Sense is immediately available, and more info can be found here: Cubify.com/Sense.

----------


## EveryDayIDream

I assume it kinda works like panorama on iphone.  It gives you a grid and you fill it in by covering all areas.  Brilliant idea.

----------


## crowbar

I need to see more examples of things that were scanned. Very vague video.

Article commenters on Engadget are ripping this company/device to shreds. 

http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/08/3d-systems-sense/

----------


## McNabb5

If this works like they claim, then it is worth the $400.  However, like crowbar said, I'd love to see more examples, as the video doesn't really show much versatility.  Can you scan big things?  Small things?  How big?  How Small?  How much details are captured, and how far from an object can you be?  A lot of questions need to be answered before I would fork over $400.

----------


## CreativeCoPilot

"$400 (while ultimately extremely affordable in the relative sense) is still a lot to pay for a technology without a proven consumer track record. "  $300 more than a Kinect, and the relative quality is about the same.  I don't get it...  and more appropriate, I "won't" get it.

----------


## JohnA136

Has anyone tried one of these or seen one in action yet?  While it uses the same type components as a Kinect, it is in the software where we may see improvement?  If they have developed decent software, it might just be a hit?  I have seen some scans on Thingiverse done with the overpriced Makerbot unit that look awful! Not sure if it user error or the unit itself but I am glad I did not order one at Maker Faire!

Does anyone on this board have a working scanner of any type/brand yet?

----------


## sandra_sz

Hey,

I've tried both kinect and sense. Sense is a lot more for scanning I think, easier to handle, better to work with. And I'm a big fan of Geomagic, and seems like they've come up with some nice software for Sense. The pro is the con however, it's a closed system. Anyway, it's a nice system, too bad I didn't have a chance to check on the small details on the engadget show. But comparing it to some professional scanners / like artec eva or large for example / it's really not that bad. Especially for that price. And sure, makes sense that some people compare it to the kinect, as one of the most known consumer 3d scanning technology out there, but this one comes from 3D systems. You might like or dislike them, but they have a tendency in acquiring the most forward-thinking companies and investing in the most advanced technologies.

One more thing. Scanning is about 30% the scanner, 30% the software, 40% the person who does the data processing. It's not just pushing a button and that's it. At least not right now, or not on the scale/level that people are expecting it to be. Sure, you can do fabulous things, it just takes time, money and experience. Just like in any other technology.

----------


## sssidney

My sense scanner is being delivered tomorrow. I'll let you know what I think when I get some time to use it.

----------


## Eddie

Nice.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, once you receive it.
Eddie

----------


## crowbar

http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/25/3...s-sense-review

Engadget has a review up. 




> Small objects are tough, though. And note how the company uses a  basketball as one of the examples of small subjects -- that should give  you a pretty good idea of the limitations here.

----------


## JohnA136

Thanks for the link! I found the review interesting.

My son got his last week and has played with it a little.. He sent me a pretty neat scan of my new Grandson but has not had any time to print any of his scans yet.  Of course, his notebook is too old to use the software so he is running it on his new Macbook Pro running Windows 8.1 under Bootcamp. 2.6 Ghz i5, 16 GB RAM, Iris video card.

Here are a few scans right out of the box, he has some better ones but they are not up yet. The scanner came a couple of weeks after my Grandson was born so he has not had a lot of time to goof with it yet.  :Wink:  I hope to play with it a bit this weekend when they are up at my place.

http://www.thingiverse.com/JohnA/designs

----------


## JohnA136

sssidney, did you get your scanner and, if so, how are you doing with it?  I have been following a post about it on another forum and they are really bashing it.  I find it hard to believe that the same people who struggle for months to get their printers dialed in are complaining about having to download the software and seem incapable of following the simplest of instructions?  There are pretty specific strategies for 3D scanning and if you fail to follow them, you will not be very successful.

My son said it was pretty easy to get a decent scan?  I know he was posting images in less than an hour. I hope he brings it up tomorrow so I can play with it a bit.  I will let everyone know how we make out with it.

----------


## sandra_sz

> sssidney, did you get your scanner and, if so, how are you doing with it?  I have been following a post about it on another forum and they are really bashing it.  I find it hard to believe that the same people who struggle for months to get their printers dialed in are complaining about having to download the software and seem incapable of following the simplest of instructions?  There are pretty specific strategies for 3D scanning and if you fail to follow them, you will not be very successful.
> 
> My son said it was pretty easy to get a decent scan?  I know he was posting images in less than an hour. I hope he brings it up tomorrow so I can play with it a bit.  I will let everyone know how we make out with it.



hey John, which forum are you following about Sense? thanks in advance

----------


## JohnA136

We belong to the MakerBot Google Group. After raging for over a week, the topic has finally died down a bit. 

If you are thinking of getting one of these scanners, it is made for scanning LARGER objects.  The "Small" setting is for items _not much smaller than a basketball_ and large is for people up to about 6 feet tall.  It will not do well with real small items.  Perhaps the MakerBot scanner is better for tiny stuff?

----------


## sandra_sz

> We belong to the MakerBot Google Group. After raging for over a week, the topic has finally died down a bit. 
> 
> If you are thinking of getting one of these scanners, it is made for scanning LARGER objects.  The "Small" setting is for items _not much smaller than a basketball_ and large is for people up to about 6 feet tall.  It will not do well with real small items.  Perhaps the MakerBot scanner is better for tiny stuff?



thanks. no, not interested in buying, just interested in the feedback of users.

----------


## My Thing in 3D

My Sense just arrived today and although I have only attempted a few scans I am already terribly disappointed in both the hardware and software. I would return it right now but they do not accept returns.

----------


## crowbar

Cut your losses and ebay the thing.

----------


## JohnA136

As promised, my son brought the scanner and we scanned a couple of busts (mine, his & my Daughter-in Law).  My son scanned mine in two tries.  I am old and it took me 6 tries to do him.  You have to move the scanner and paint all the features, there is a distance  ring on the computer screen but I kept getting too close and loosing the signal ( oops!)   You have to hold the scanner at the object pointed at the object so that it turns green before hitting "start" so it know  what to scan and when to ignore.  Then you can clean out any "extra" stuff after the scan with the software.  

He did his wife in one try!  We scanned my RC PT Cruiser (it is a New Brite and about 18" long).  I am hoping he prints a couple of our scans when he gets home.  You can see my STL file in my avatar.  If he sends me a screen shot of the color scan, I will post it later.

I think the scanner is pretty easy to use, we spent less than an hour scanning, cleaning up files and converting to .stl files today. This is for four completed scans.  My son said he only spent about an hour at home scanning a few items and learning the software. 

Back in the day, you could have spent all day just trying to clean up and rasterize one scan.  The software, while simple, seems to have enough tools to clean up a fairly good scan.  My son likes it so far.  I will post back after we print one of these scans.

If you are interested, you can see most of our scans on his Thingiverse page here;  http://www.thingiverse.com/JohnA/designs

----------


## sandra_sz

> My Sense just arrived today and although I have only attempted a few scans I am already terribly disappointed in both the hardware and software. I would return it right now but they do not accept returns.


sorry to hear that. what is your problem with it? 

John, oh so nice experiences! happy to hear that you got it working!  :Smile:  seems like you need some practice but it's not a total failure...

----------


## My Thing in 3D

JohnA136's scans look way better than any of mine so far! Mine have all  been deformed very badly and the software is easy to use (trimming and  smoothing are simple) but does little to improve on such abstract/skewed  scans. Keeping the proper distance while scanning isn't too hard, but  its hard to tell what areas you have or haven't scanned. Ears keep  coming out all chewed up and misshapen and every nose so far has been  crooked and caved in on one side. And overall the resolution is just so  bad as to have very little if any use. I hope that I can find some way  of improving my results dramatically!

----------


## Vanguard

This requires a lot of power from your computer, read the hardware requirements.

----------


## My Thing in 3D

My rig should be sufficient:
Win7 Home Premium 64bit

  Intel i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67 GHz
  11GB RAM + 4GB dedicated video
  NVIDIA GeForce GTX260

I did also try it with my laptop which was noticeably slower but otherwise had similar results.

----------


## sandra_sz

maybe try to improve your scanning technique. 
this video shows how you should move around your object. try different speeds maybe.

----------


## JohnA136

Thanks Sandra, I know for me it was my technique  :Frown:  I would get the "too close" then the "too far" and start moving it jerky and loose the scan.  I got better after a few tries but my son was much steadier than I was from the start.  I will be down his place in a couple of weeks and will play with it some more.  I am hoping to print some of the scans we did this weekend and see how they come out.

The scanner is fine, the scans we did look pretty good for our first try. Like any new technology, you just have to learn what it wants.

----------


## JohnA136

We finally got around to printing the scans from last Friday.  Holiday commitments and a new baby are cutting into our print schedules  :Big Grin: 

dad1.jpgdad2.jpg

----------


## crowbar

That looks pretty good.

----------


## My Thing in 3D

Well my scans arent getting any better, but I found how to open them with Zbrush and fix them up a little. 
I'm not very proficient with it but its definitely an improvement!
Here's my best one of my daughter so far:
Tina 4.JPGTina 5.JPGTina 6.JPG

----------


## JohnA136

I think those look pretty good?

----------


## My Thing in 3D

I should have saved a before Zbrush image to show the raw scan, but I  basically had to make her nose and do touchups on the top of her head  and here and there... but its a usable stl now, hooray!  :Smile: 
I'm still  trying to find a way to shell out my models now. I can't do squat with  STLs in SolidWorks, and NetFab only has shell in the paid pro version,  so I'm trying to figure out how to do it with Zbrush.

----------


## My Thing in 3D

My printer just arrived so here is the first successful print of a scan so far:
PIC_0554.jpgPIC_0557.jpgPIC_0559.jpg

----------


## American 3D Printing

I ordered one at full retail the day they were announced on 11/18, and it took weeks and weeks to arrive, on 12/9. 3DS apologized, explaining that demand had far outstripped supply, so they gave us a free copy of Cubify Sculpt (smart move on their part, we probably wouldn't have bought it anyway so it didn't cost them a dime, but gave them nice customer relations marks). I can now get Senses through my distributor, Ingram Micro, but at the time I just wanted one right away.

Right off the bat I couldn't get the software to work, it would crash and burn every time I tried to run it. After much back and forth with tech support, we determined that the 1.8GHz dual core Centrino in my Dell Latitude 620 laptops that I use to run my printers was not up to the task. They say you need an i5 minimum, but I have been using it on a Dell Inspiron with an i3 and it works fine.

I am still learning how to use it. It is not nearly as easy as the video suggests, and it is easy for it to "lose tracking". When that happens you need to somehow line up the scanner really close to where it lost it or else start over. I have had to start over a LOT. I consider myself still in learning mode with this piece of equipment and the software.

It comes with a relatively short USB cable, and the only practical way to use it is to cradle a laptop in the crook of your elbow while you carefully walk around the object you are scanning. This scanner does seem optimized for scanning people, but that is just fine, that's the main reason I got it. It is not nearly as accurate or detailed as my Makerbot digitizers, but obviously does much larger objects. One of the market segments I intend to go after with my store is the wedding market, where I can put the bride and groom on top of their own wedding cake.

I have gotten to where i can do busts fairly well, but have only been successful on one out of two attempts to do an entire person, and even that one, it did not recognize the subject's legs as they stuck out from her skirt. The other attempt turned out really badly, with a mutated face, a doubled up hand and one leg ending just above the ankle and the other about midway down the shin.

I have found that busts often end up leaning forward, so I have learned to use meshmixer's slice on a plane function to correct that. You need to use the align function to get the resulting cut normal to the Z-axis.

The software has very few tweaks and settings, it is clearly intended for non-geek, non-hacker types. Once you capture the mesh, you can then trim unwanted parts, then solidify, then trim some more, smooth and touch up. I have found that I don't need to use these functions much and I can do more in meshmixer later on. The panning function only goes in 90° increments, so it is kind of limited too. You must use a scroll mouse to be able to zoom.

I think the solidify function is probably the most sophisticated part of the whole package, and imagine there is a lot of magic code going on there.

You can see images of some of my results in my store here. For the money, it is a pretty impressive piece of hardware. It is NOT as easy to use as they imply, but frankly none of this 3D printing stuff is.

----------


## RedSox2013

You Know Jeff, that's the main thing currently keeping 3D Printing out of the mainstream.  When they can make printers and scanners work just as easily as 2d printers and scanners, things will explode.  I think that this new round of printers announced by 3DS and Makerbot this week are a good step in that direction.  Thanks for your review of the device.  

Where is your store located by the way?

----------


## JohnA136

He lists Evergreen Colorado in his signature.

----------


## JohnA136

This is a rough print of a Sense scan.  It printed much better on our other 3D printer.

photo (22) by John A, on Flickr

----------


## American 3D Printing

> I need to see more examples of things that were scanned. Very vague video.
> Article commenters on Engadget are ripping this company/device to shreds.
> https://www.3dprintmanual.com/produc...canner-391230/


We have been selling and using the 3D Systems Sense scanner ever since it came out in late 2013. I have never heard of 3D Print manual, and have no idea where they got their misinformation. First off, the MSRP on this scanner is $399. Next, 3D Systems tech support is excellent, both for us and our customers. Finally, nothing could be farther from the truch when it is stated that "The company that produces the Sense 3D scanner isn't the most well known company in the space". Anyone who hasn't heard of 3D Systems has either been off-planet or under a rock. 3D Systems _INVENTED_ 3D Printing back in 1983 and are one of the two 900 pound gorillas in the 3D world, the other being Stratasys.

In our first hand observation, having done hundreds of scans with the Sense, it is nearly as good as a $25,000 Go Scan that we demo'd. It is not as good as a $35,000 Artec that we demo'd. We haven't used an Einscan but they have solicited us to be an Einscan reseller. We're kind of skeptical of Chinese-made stuff based on our experience with the poor quality of a lot of the Chinese 3D printers. For the price you can't beat the Sense scanner with a stick!

----------

