Reverse engineering sw

[davide445]

Wrap is (in my opinion) the best software for turning your point cloud into a mesh and basic mesh alterations. The David software will also do this however, and to start with I agree it's an avoidable expense for reverse engineering applications. Wrap does an auto surfacing function which has its occasional uses.

Rhino with T-Splines add-on is a great affordable option for surfacing scan data.

For solid modelling we use Spaceclaim. Solidworks etc. will all work as well, but Spaceclaim hands itself nicely to Scan Data and in my experience is by far the quickest for producing results. In a standard CAD package you're purely using the scan data as a template. Cut planes through it, sketch around the curvature and extrude up to them. Spaceclaim will let you snap up to a mesh point, but you want to be working to design intent. Use the scan for the shape data and as a reference but use other metrology tools for taking critical dimensions. You have to be careful with programs like Design X that you don't make the height of your object 9.9374mm tall and all the planes off by 0.2 degrees.

With Spaceclaim there is a 3D scanning module (Geomagic capture) but it was over £5k and it's seldom we use it (though it does have lots of point cloud to mesh and mesh alteration features, which if you don't have wrap...) The 3D printing module can be very useful when working directly in meshes for merging meshes and using solid geometry for cutters (scanning something, filling the holes, and then cutting clean ones out before printing.) This is part of the standard spaceclaim license which could prove useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sesc4ZrZ9fo

David sw will generate the mesh also? I did think he generate only the point cloud, even if with alignment.
About the others all are for sure wonderful sw but also expensive and difficult to learn.

We can say the cheapest (even if not the easier to use) option is Rhino+plugin?

What about MOI3D? I'm always returning to Moi since appear to be the easy start for sold modelling, less scary for beginners as us.

Just to understand the difference: tools such as SpaceClaim does have specific tools for reverse engineering, or they are just good solid modelling tools that fit nicely into the workflow that use the point cloud as a basis for modelling? What's the point where Wrap add value vs a generic solid modeller?