Scanning options of a full sized vehicle?

[Kenworth]

I'd like to print a version of a full size Camaro, and used 123D Catch to get a pretty good scan of my Dad's car, but even after it's cleaned up, the surface is really rough. I am pretty familiar with the 123D Catch app by now, finding how much better scans I can get in different lighting (cloudy days with indirect light gives the best result), angles, distance, etc...

But even with the best of captures, the surface of the model is very rough- as if it was chiseled (sloppily) out of stone... Is there a better capture option out there, or is there a software that's commonly used to clean up this rough texture? All the sculpting tools and options I look up (and there are a lot) are for portraits, art, and other things with rounded surfaces, not something that's machined and straight and a production type object.

Thanks for your help!

[bshadown]

your problem is your scanning tool, up to this day theres none (at least i havent seen it yet) scanning tool that is capable of a perfect scan and make a cristal clear image of any real objetc, that been said you can either do 2 things.

1. scan and refine on any 3d desing program that you like or you use
2. start from scratch using photos for reference

[Kenworth]

your problem is your scanning tool, up to this day theres none (at least i havent seen it yet) scanning tool that is capable of a perfect scan and make a cristal clear image of any real objetc, that been said you can either do 2 things.

1. scan and refine on any 3d desing program that you like or you use
2. start from scratch using photos for reference

THANKS! I appreciate you making that clear for me- then while moving onward from this point,

1) Which program would you suggest for refining such a scan on? Regardless of price- if I'm going to invest hours into learning a program, I want one that I can use to do this again on something similar. I've read all the pro's and cons online, I have 3Ds Max (student) and am willing to buy any others, it's just all the advice online is either by someone who's only used one software, who is selling a software, or by people considering "free" as a reason to choose one.

2) While watching videos online of how to start from scratch using photos for reference, (most programs I watch "how to design a car" in they always have blueprint photos and stand them up, etc... ) is it possible to use a 3d image, such as a lesser quality one from online, or even my rough scan as a guide? For the sake of accuracy and proportion...

3) As far as starting from scratch, is there a software that would be widely considered as one of the best choices (again, regardless of price...).

PS... I've searched, researched, and searched some more online and in all the forums, as this point I'm asking on here to get answers influenced by people's own experience...

Thanks again!

[Feign]

Regardless of price? Well, heck use Autodesk Inventor, it's in all likelihood what the manufacturer used to design the car in the first place. But unless you're actually a corporation, that's not going to be feasible.

The problem is that there is a stratification of price in the 3D design software ecosystem. The range goes from free, with Blender, Meshmixer, Wings3D and FreeCAD (all of which I recommend), but then jumps to the next cheapest software being Sketchup Pro for $599 and Rhino3D for $995 (and then the big boys like Inventor for $8,000+ which is just obscene).

[Kenworth]

Regardless of price? Well, heck use Autodesk Inventor, it's in all likelihood what the manufacturer used to design the car in the first place. But unless you're actually a corporation, that's not going to be feasible.

The problem is that there is a stratification of price in the 3D design software ecosystem. The range goes from free, with Blender, Meshmixer, Wings3D and FreeCAD (all of which I recommend), but then jumps to the next cheapest software being Sketchup Pro for $599 and Rhino3D for $995 (and then the big boys like Inventor for $8,000+ which is just obscene).

Thanks! I'm downloading Autodesk Inventor now... I will check it out. The nice part of Autodesk is that you can really USE all their software, so should you ever want to take your hobby to a professional level, you can take what you know with you. Autodesk Inventor isn't one that I've heard a lot about up until now. Mostly Blender, 3Ds Max, and Rhino. If anyone else would recommend a good software for either creating a model from scratch or photos, or cleaning up a very rough scan, let me know.... in the meantime I'm going to check out Inventor, since I already have an Autodesk account.

Thanks for your help so far!

[awerby]

If price is no object, the best reverse-engineering software (that's what you're doing: reverse engineering) is DesignX from 3DS Geomagic. We sell it at a discount, if that helps.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[Kenworth]

If price is no object, the best reverse-engineering software (that's what you're doing: reverse engineering) is DesignX from 3DS Geomagic. We sell it at a discount, if that helps.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Thanks, but on your site or even 3DS's site, I can't find a price... they make you fill out a form, and ask "do you have a budget?" How can they sell something and not have it available for instant purchase and download? Or at least publish the price? How much do you sell it for?