The MakerBot Digitizer - Horrible Quality?

[BurnItDownBaby]

I browse around Thingiverse quite a bit, and I love to look at all the different designs. However, there are so many times where I see people that have made scans of things using a digitizer, and I must say that the vast majority of these scans look horrible to me. I mean, here is one that MakerBot posted themselves, meaning they think it was worth showing off. Even this one looks pretty bad to me:



This is actually a good one compared to the others I have seen. I just don't remember the URLs, or I'd post them here. Has anyone actually seen a Digitizer make something that looks good?

[eveninggown]

It really depends on how much detail you need to scan. That gnome above has a lot of detail, thus it isn't all captured. You aren't going to be able to replicate small details unfortunately. Perhaps the Digitizer 2, whenever it comes out will be better.

[greatestalive]

I think right now this is the best scanner out there that is realistically priced. The Sense scanner doesn't do any better in my opinion. We will see advances in scanning technology just like we will with print quality.

[ImaginationProgress]

Here are a couple more thingiverse scans I saw today. Utterly horrible looking in my opinion
Of a rubber ducky:


And a PS3 Controller.


What the hell is the point of having a scanner if it can't scan?

[RobH2]

That PS3 controller is just awful. Yikes....

I was initially excited about the Sense Scanner (http://cubify.com/Products/Sense) but think it's only good for things the size of a football and up. I'd like to find a good scanner for things the size of a golf ball and smaller.

[jimc]

the controller is pretty typical of all the scans i have seen. many have been even worse than that. i really dont see the point of a scanner either

[RobH2]

Well, it depends on your point of reference. You can't always be proficient in everything and if you've never built models in 3d then a good scanner could be a welcomed tool in the kit. I've been doing 3d animation for 19 years and I have to say, that there are still times when I just can't get something modeled the way I want it without putting in hours and hours. I decent scanner could open a whole now world to people who just want to copy items. If there was a good scanner for small items out there I'd consider it.

For example, my wife has been watching me do all of these 3d prints lately and a few weeks ago she handed me this hair clip and said, "this is the best hair clip I've ever used and if you could make it for me it would be fantastic because they charge $25 for them." So, off I went to model it. I have to tell you, it looks simple but its very organic and oddly complicated. I have about 8 hours of modeling in it and I don't have it complete yet. If I had a good scanner that could get me 95% of the accuracy that I need, I love to have it. In a production environment a good modeler will cost you $100-$150 an hour. So 5 hours modeling something gets expensive.

I for one see the benefits of having a good scanner. However, there is no room nor love lost for a crappy one. And the one above is way worse than crappy. But like any emerging technology, you have to start somewhere and selling those crappy ones to the people who just have to buy the "latest thing" generates revenue so that the next iteration can be designed and hopefully be made more precise. Let's wait another two or so years and I bet there will be a selection of pretty darn good hand scanners.

[ImaginationProgress]

Here are a few more.

A toy Hammer


An Army Man


A Brush Head

[RobH2]

I'm wondering why anyone would put these on Thingiverse. What's their goal as no one would download these things and print them?

What I do find interesting is that the scanner is "trying" to work on all the brush fibers. That has to be a nightmare for a scanner. I give it kudos for getting some of it kind of right. I'm amazed it even got that many bristles instead of making it look like the top of broccoli. I tell you, someone "will" work it out and we'll have some good scanners in the near future.

[American 3D Printing]

We use both the Digitizer and the Sense in our 3D store, and also stock and sell them (as we do with all my different 3D printers and filament). Something I explain to my customers is that none of this stuff works as well as the web sites would have you believe. It's not like a washing machine where you just throw the stuff in and turn the knob. This industry is still in its infancy in a lot of ways. I also explain to my customers that this is kind of like where personal computers were in the 1980s. Finicky, limited and slow, but advancing rapidly and prices falling rapidly.

That said, both the Digitizer and the Sense have their utility. The Digitizer was overpriced for its capability when it was introduced, and Makerbot quickly realized this and dropped the price quite a bit. Unfortunately they now sell for less than what I paid for my stock, but that is a risk you take when you have a business. Sometimes you lose money. The Digitizer does some items exceptionally well, some items poorly and some things not at all (you get a blob, like some of those images above). The Digitizer excels at small objects that aren't too shiny. Sometimes the cornstarch trick works, much of the time it doesn't. I discovered that completely covering the Digitizer and scanned object during scanning with a large cardboard box to block out all ambient light can REALLY help. Sometimes. It really varies from one object to the next.

If you go to our website and click on "Gallery" then "Scanning and Copying" you will see a number of images of successful scan with both the Digitizer and the Sense. When either scanner only produces a blob, of course we're not going to waste time building it, or uploading it to our thingiverse account either.