# 3D Design / 3D Scanning / 3D Modeling > 3D Modeling, Design, Scanners >  Burned by Matter and Form

## boris_G

Hi all,

Just got burned by Matter and Form with their scanner.

I've spent the last five hours _trying_ to get it to work, and nothing I was able to do was able to produce an .STL.

Looking at the reviews again, I wondered who these people were who'd used it? .STL Export is a Beta - when you attempt it, it says "Meshing failed - we're working to resolve this issue..." so thats out. .PLY Export resulted in a 321 byte file, probably _nowhere_ near what it should be (considering their .MFC file was 2.65MB, which, coincidently, is not compatible with industry standard software).

In consultation with my adopted brother, we've determined the people "using" this scanner are probably paid reviewers, and Matter and Form have flooded the market with cheap hardware, and even dodgier software. They've had _eighteen months_ to get this thing working, as well as almost a half a million dollars from the IndieGoGo campaign, plus whatever they made in poor suckers like me in presales, and now the product is in the wild, how many more suckers like me have bought it? I've held off my purchase for that eighteen months waiting for the technology to at least work some of the bugs out.

From iReview: "Matter and Form software is very flexible and consumer-friendly. The software, called Matter and Form Scan, works with Window 7 or greater and Mac OS 10.7 or greater." Thats a lie - we're up to 10.9 in their view of the software, and still no OS X host software, meanwhile OS X has gone to 10.10...

This from Robert Mills, a customer on Amazon: "Getting Started: It is suspiciously easy to set up and get started. "Suspicious" because you'd think it would be more complicated. It's not. Follow the simple instructions. Plug it in. Let it calibrate. Start scanning." Thats a lie - it took me over an hour, and three separate reboots of my mates Win7 laptop he generously loaned me as my Win8.1 VM on VMWare Fusion couldn't talk to the scanner, for the scanner to be even _recognised_ by the Win7 laptop! Calibration failed in two different rooms, with different light levels (one lighter, one darker). Scans, when they started, were slow, no option for a "quick scan" to just test. After _forty minutes_ of waiting, with absolutely no response on the screen, no lasers active while scanning (although the calibration run before the scan, one of the lasers was active), the issue with the saved files occured, and I finally gave up and realised I now have an AU$780 paperweight for Christmas.

The promised open source release of software, which _may_ solve these issues, has never eventuated, and now I know why - the software is beyond dodgy, and of course, you need a product key that is on the scanner to get the software and find out the most important features aren't active!

Thanks Matter and Form! Merry Christmas guys, mine will be sodden with more alcohol so I can forget how much I've been burned.

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## boris_G

Just so everyone knows, the hardware in the Matter and Form is almost _exactly_ the same as in the Fabscan (http://hci.rwth-aachen.de/fabscan), just that the Fabscan is cheaper and has better software support, _including_ OS X! Namely, the optics are the same, and the Arduino Leonardo is probably the same. I'm going to try the Fabscan software on my Mac with the Matter and Form, just for giggles.

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## danai

Hi Boris,

My name is Danai and I work in customer support at Matter and Form. Thank you for letting us know about the experience you are having with your Matter and Form 3D Scanner, I’m sorry that it has been so challenging, but I would like to resolve all of the issues that you have addressed in this email, as well as to do everything else in our power to make this right. Please email me at support@matterandform.net at your earliest convenience.

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## 3dkarma

@boris_G, please come back and let us know how Matter and Form tried to resolve your issues.

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## ChiloquinRuss

I have one of their scanners.  So far it is no better or worse than my MakerBot digitizer.  What is worse is the total lack of response from the company regarding my very simple request.  What is the request?  I read over and over and over about the great scans THEY are getting, Ever see ONE of them?  As part of that request I also asked that if they do post a real customer supplied scan that they supply HOW IT WAS DONE.  Like any special prep work or lighting or what ever.  I think the software appears to be very simple to use, I just can't use any of the scans I've made with it.  

For a little background on myself so you know I'm not a whiner, I have 50 years computer experience, I have owned computer retail stores, my own software company, and in my retirement I have a completely digital wood shop with cnc, lasers, MakerBots and I do know what SHOULD work and what is expecting too much.  

So my quest goes on, SHOW ME THE GREAT SCANS! (if ya' can)  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  Russ

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## danai

Hi ChiloquinRuss,

This is Danai, from Matter and Form. I recently responded to a thread from boris_G and we have been able to have a conversation via email at support@matterandform.net. I would like to extend this same courtesy to you as well, and hope to help you resolve your scanner questions.

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## danai

Hi ChiloquinRuss,

It's Danai again. We recently posted a blog piece to our website that gives practical tips on how to get the most out of your scanner. This will definitely be of use to you, however as I said in my previous message, I'm available to help you with any other questions anytime at support@matterandform.net as well. All the best.

https://matterandform.net/blog/5-tip...d-form-scanner

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## robotc

*Burned by Matter and Form*

What a complete waste of money the scanner is going into the rubbish bin as a expensive exercise.  Have tried many scans and it is just a complete waste of time.  The upgrade in the software is a joke.  Have tried various ways of lighting and had tried scans without lights etc.  Packed away and forget about this waste of money.
NOT HAPPY :Mad:

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## ChiloquinRuss

I have the scanner and I agree, still not a decent scan.  The post that was offered by the company was more instructions and still NO SCANS!  

All I am asking is:
1. take a picture of an object.
2. show us your settings and a clock showing starting time
3. do a scan of the object
4. show us the scan that resulted from the settings shown in #2 above
5. show us the time that it took to get the result shown

I'm not asking for more instructions, just show me how YOU get YOUR scans.  The scans that you show on your web site as being samples of YOUR scans are well over a year old and NOT from the current state of the machine or the software.

In all fairness to Matter and Form I also own a MakerBot Digitizer and have had the same results with their scanner as well.  I do love their 3D printer.  I have 3D design skills, I have cnc skills, I have computer skills, PLEASE no more instructions, just show me HOW YOU GOT YOUR SCANS, nothing more nothing less.  Thank you.  Russ

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## che

i am on the same page with @ChiloquinRuss

waiting for a full video showing the procedure from step one to finalise

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## danai

Hey ChiloquinRuss,

It is super disappointing for me to hear that you are still not getting any decent scans, and I’m sorry that my response from before didn’t answer your question. To make this situation right, I’m giving you what you’ve asked for: videos and photos of a scan that I did today. 

Here is a link of all the photos I took of a vase that I scanned today. I took photos of the calibration box, capturing the lasers, and of the vase itself as it scanned.

https://drive.google.com/a/matterand...&usp=drive_web

Here is a link of a video of the calibration process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnpT...1qRXIkkvF3V-IQ

Here is a link of a video of the scanning process which also includes a clean and export right at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnpT...1qRXIkkvF3V-IQ

I just want to let you know that it’s always my priority to help you get good scans, and to get as much use out of your Matter and Form 3D scanner as possible. So I hope that this helps, however if you need any other help, please let me know and I am here and more than happy to do so! I can reply to you here, or if you'd like, my email is support@matterandform.net and I can get back to you there as well.

Best,

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## danai

Hi Che,

Just incase you didn't a notification for the reply I just sent to ChiloquinRuss, here is a link to a scan that I did today, including photos and videos. Please let me know if you have any questions, I am more than happy to help you!

Here is a link of all the photos I took of a vase that I scanned today. I took photos of the calibration box, capturing the lasers, and of the vase itself as it scanned.

https://drive.google.com/a/matterand...&usp=drive_web

Here is a link of a video of the calibration process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnpT...1qRXIkkvF3V-IQ

Here is a link of a video of the scanning process which also includes a clean and export right at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnpT...1qRXIkkvF3V-IQ

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## danai

Hi robotc,

It really makes me sad that you have had no success so far with your 3D scanner, however, I want to help to make this right. The fact is that it is completely unacceptable that you haven't had any success despite your efforts and I want to get to the bottom of why this is happening. Your scanner shouldn't be packed away or thrown out, I want to see you able to get great scans and get your money's worth... but in order to do so, I need your help: can you send me your log files? This will help me and the team diagnose what is happening here and offer you a solution. You can email them to me at support@matterandform.net, or reply on this thread.

Thanks!



> *Burned by Matter and Form*
> 
> What a complete waste of money the scanner is going into the rubbish bin as a expensive exercise.  Have tried many scans and it is just a complete waste of time.  The upgrade in the software is a joke.  Have tried various ways of lighting and had tried scans without lights etc.  Packed away and forget about this waste of money.
> NOT HAPPY

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## ChiloquinRuss

Thank you very much for the reply.  I will give it a go tomorrow afternoon as I'm not at my shop today.  I appreciate your efforts on OUR behalf.  I am a model maker and as such I have a desperate need for a scanner that works.  That is why I keep buying these things hoping upon hope that eventually I will find one that works.  I do enough model business that once I get one working it will recap my expenses rather quickly.  Thanks again for taking the time to do the scans and to post the results here, WE really do appreciate it.  Russ

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## danai

Hey ChiloquinRuss,


Let me know how it goes for you! I really want to help you - if you can show me what you're scanning and results you're getting, maybe I can give you more specific help. If you're not getting great results, that's 100% not okay and we will fix it.


For you and anyone else out there having trouble, please get in touch with me! My email is support@matterandform.net (I know it sounds like a general mailbox, but it reaches me directly!)


Also, if you want to see how other users have been getting some really great results, check out this blog post (and the links to their stuff):


https://matterandform.net/blog/How-D...Those-3D-Scans


More than anything, I want to thank you for sticking with us and giving us another chance. I promise you, we're going help you have an awesome experience with your Matter and Form 3D Scanner no matter what it takes.

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## boris_G

Hi guys,

Danai and I have been in discussions about issues to do with the scanner - both motors had burned up, they stunk like Hell, and I suspect the controller board is fried too. So lesson learned - don't use the software on a Windows 7 netbook, its really just not worth it.

I have used the Mac OS X software, sans scanner, and everything looks stable so far. I'm going to go through the posts Danai has put up with the settings and lighting and see what I can come up with.

I'm just waiting for their next shipment to get the replacement motors and controller board, and see what I can come up with.

Hopefully that updates everything. Hope you had a great "silly season"!

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