A few Einscans - Just showing off

[Dudemeister]

Apparently, green or blue lasers give better results.

Not really, I've been trying to scan really small stuff, and for that, I changed the lasers on my Atlas 3D from the original ones to focusing type, and then even got green versions of the focus type, and it really didn't make much difference.

It really comes down to the software as you said, but it also comes down to the technology behind it. And by technology, I don't mean the hardware specs, rather the scanning technology (laser, cameras, 3D cameras, structured light, mechanical, etc.).

On the laser scanning field, I found that the most important aspect, which can affect the quality of the scan, is not so much the quality of the camera, or the laser, but lighting. If you can control the ambient light to produce nice, even lighting, with little or no shadows, and if you can repeat that from scan to scan, you can probably do a credible job.

Another approach is the stereo camera setup, like the Fuel 3D. That does a really good job of capturing a lot of detail, in one pass, so scanning bas-relief, sculptures, carvings or faces is it's forte, but not so much when it comes to scanning an entire object 360°

Then you have structured light devices like the Einscan or the David scanners, which do a fantastic job, even though they work a little different from each other.

An alternative to this, is photogrammetry, which can produce really good and detailed 3D models, but requires hundreds of photos from every possible angle, taken with a good camera with a lens free (or nearly free) of aberrations and distortion, and also makes use of very powerful software to stitch those images together into a 3D mesh. Some of this software is free, but the really good ones can cost thousands of dollars for a license.

Then you find yourself in the realm of $10K+ professional scanners. Some are designed to capture small objects, others can capture entire scenes with high detail.

For small sized models in extremely high detail you have the tactile or contact scanners. Those are scanners that employ a camera, as well as a pressure sensitive pen/sensor, on a free moving arm on gimbals, which is used to "brush" the surface to obtain highly detailed information of the surface.

Anyway, I think that short of spending $10K+ for a scanner, and as long as you don't need to scan very large objects, the Einscan-S is probably the best all around solution. The David SLS scanners cost about $5K, but I don't think the output justifies the extra money.

For those wanting to dip their toes in the hobby, laser scanners are a real, and possibly inexpensive solution. If all you want is to scan people's heads, and don't need high detail, a Kinect or the new RealSense equipped laptops and tablets will do the job for very little money.

[scobo]

Anyway, I think that short of spending $10K+ for a scanner, the Einscan-S is probably the best all around solution. The David SLS scanners cost about $5K, but I don't think the output justifies the extra money.

I would certainly agree with that.
I tried several laser scanners and the trial version of David with both laser and SLS scanning before settling on the Eiscan which gives the best "bang for your buck", imho.