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User Manual - 2015-11-12

1. Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Here you can see the laser lines when a darker exposure is selected The white and grey blocks Show nice lines but the blue isn t there Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Here you can see the laser lines when a lighter exposure is selected The white and grey blocks don t show up but the blue block has a nice laser line 60 The Best of Two Exposures To solve the problem in example 5 we must use High Contrast Scanning It provides the means to combine the best laser detection from two exposures SO you can capture more of the object To use it Cam Feed Laser Line Detection 1 Under the Manual Control tab click on the Laser Detection tab to start the laser detection process 2 Adjust the top Laser Detection Exposure Slider to capture clean laser lines on the light areas of the object When you re satisfied that you ve got the best lines possible proceed to step 3 3 Check the Enable High Contrast Scanning checkbox which enables the bottom Laser Detection Exposure Two slider High Contrast Clay Blocks with 4 Adjust the Laser Detection Exposure Good Exposure clean solid line Two slider for a lower exposure usually you ll be in the 9 to 5 range until the dark areas of the model fill in with a Color Detection Laser Detection Laser Detection Exposure 5 0 032s clean laser line Remember that the i l lower value exposures are brighter J Enable
2. 4 Click Choose File to select the cleaned file you d like to combine with 5 Click Open The automatic combining process will begin Depending on the size and complexity of your scan files this may take a few minutes 37 6 When the combining bar disappears the combining process is complete The two scans are now combined In our sample the vase now has a fully captured bottom and top Note the crisscrossing rows of points indicating where the two scans have overlapped in this zoomed in image 7 Save and or export the combined scan with a different file name The combining process can be repeated by adding additional scans to already combined files The combining process works by finding key points on both of the models the software is asked to combine Occasionally the algorithm that helps combine or align two scans gets the alignment wrong For example it s difficult to correctly align a cube with another cube because all the corners are the same shape In Windows if your scan combine fails you can re try the combination by selecting the checkbox Apply additional processing Improves chance of success but takes longer Before you choose the file you would like to combine with Combine Scans This feature automatically combines and aligns multiple scans into one Please selecta file to combine with the current scan Apply additional processing Improves chance of success but takes longer C
3. Adjusting the main Lasers 1 and 2 gives clearer results Laser 2 is unlocked to get the best results Alternate Laser 1 and 2 have now been adjusted so that the green paper block can be scanned by the scanner Here s a screenshot of the Laser Exposure settings to get a sense of the range of values necessary to achieve the results above A Note About Exposures If a user uses both Mac and Windows software he or she will notice that exposure values are expressed in different ways on the two different platforms The table below offers a translation of the differences The exposures run in the range of 2 to 2500 where 2500 is the brighter and 2 is the darker exposure Windows Mac 9 2500 71 Bed Rotation Bed Rotation Q Rotate using adaptive scanning Rotate at a fixed angle Average Rotation Distance degrees Min 0 125 Max 3 000 Scrolling down past Laser Exposures reveals Bed Rotation options The default setting has adaptive scanning enabled Adaptive Scanning is an automatic process whereby each new set of points is reviewed to determine 1 how far the model has rotated since the previous set of points and 2 the number of points captured Using a mathematical model if there is a large distance between the two sets of points and a drop in the points collected the bed will rotate back and capture data between the two sets of points This helps ensure that as much of the model is captured as is physically possi
4. Matter and Form 3D Scanner User Manual Table of Contents MERE sae tse co recne ican cence cetacent seose seca ae caste oe ne ctncaviece sete cand aeecaanaae E caaeenseetenestaee cree 2 PG STN ST 3 EJ ES EEE EE NE EE EE 4 MATER NN 5 EE ES EEE EE 6 Connecting the Scanner a sananranannnnnnnnnnnnnnvnnnnnernnnnnrnnnnevenanevenannernnnvernnnvevnnanevnnnnnevnnnvernnanevenanevnnnnvennnnneen T Using the Software EE nnna 8 Calibrating the Scanner sansarnnannvnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrnnnnnvnnnnnvnnanevenannernnnvernnnnevnnanevnnnnnnvnnnnnvnnanevenanevnnnnvennnnnene 9 Preparing to Scan in Windows as sarenanavenaonarnnnnnvannnavnnanernnnnnnnsnnnevnnenavenenevannnsevnnnnennnanevennnsvrsnnevenener 12 Prioparne TO NNN eer ence nearer terme ter het meter Meter eine rey tert tne ener mntcer enter e eeter he ee ner tweeter 16 RONE ZOOMUME In and PAN arsen 20 Doing More with the Scanner nen 21 Saving and EXpornting a SEAN susen en anaren ae iera Ri ien Oaar Eae iara RE E 22 CENNE Aa Nr 23 Cleaning Scans in WINdOWS ss ssssessessnnsnnnesnnrrnnnrnnnnrnnnennnnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnrnnnrnnnnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnen nnen 23 Cleaning EN een 29 MOEN 30 ENE EE EE EE vata AE E E E AEA E A E E T 31 TN creron a A A E a a 32 EE EEE a EEE ERE S 33 MIN 34 me NPR 36 The Basics of 3D SAL caisucecsccescasesecseesuittecsesccedesencessecnsenensesesceueace vues 39 Row Our SD ocanner WOKS EE EE NE 40 ente TN 40 What Rappens DN 41 Problem Mate
5. The Laser Detection tab has two sliders and one checkbox The top slider called Laser Detection Exposure is used to set the primary laser exposure This is the exposure the camera will be set to when the lasers are fired the goal being to allow the laser to be detected in the software as accurately and completely as possible You want as long a laser line as possible without gaps An important thing to note is clicking on the Laser Detection tab actually starts the laser detection process the lasers will begin firing and the software will start detecting the lasers Laser Detection stops when you close the advanced settings screen or when you click off the Laser Detection tab The Laser Line Detection tab p 56 shows a visualization of the detected laser line To meet the goal of as accurately and completely as possible watch this screen while adjusting the Laser Detection Exposure slider On the next pages we have examples that show the progression from a dark exposure to a bright exposure 56 The best exposure in this set of images is the middle one You have a nice solid line with no gaps and no dotted line effect Cam Feed Laser Line Detection In this image the two laser lines have gaps in the middle This is an area where the software is not able to pick out the laser in the image Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Here the gaps are closed This is a good set of laser lines Cam Feed Laser Line Detection H
6. 1 Alternate Exposure 1000 Laser 2 Alternate Exposure fe 1000 As previously described in Laser Detection p 56 laser exposure refers to settings that affect the quality of the laser line detected The goal is to have straight clean laser lines 66 Setting the Lasers Laser 1 Exposure 20 Laser 2 Exposure As you move the slider for Laser 1 you ll notice that Laser 2 Exposure is tied to Laser 1 Clicking on the padlock icon unlocks Laser 2 Exposure for fine tuning Laser 1 Exposure 20 Laser 2 Exposure 50 Example 6 Adjusting Laser Exposure in Mac Low Contrast Taking the time to manually adjust laser exposure can greatly improve the quality of scans This example takes a low contrast object object s colors come from one side of the color wheel see How Do I Identify High Contrast Objects page 59 for more detail through the process of setting laser settings In the Combined Results view we can see that the laser lines are dull fuzzy and Laser 2 is barely visible The exposure is likely too low 67 68 Moving the Laser 1 Exposure slider far in the other direction results in brighter but fuzzier lines with a lot of gaps With Laser 2 locked the slider is moved to find the best exposure The lines are stronger but not fuzzy and gaps have been minimized note the space on the line on the right is a gap between the rhino s belly and foot To see if Laser 2 Exposure could improve i
7. 25 25 mm Brush Cleaning a Brush Size 15 i 4 i Delete Selected Points Fuzzy Points May remove some good points as well Radius 3 I Threshold 2 0 fH Auto Clean Results after clicking Delete Selected Points 25 5 Zooming into the vase we can see that there are still a few unwanted points The Brush Cleaning feature can remove these individual points Crop From Below 0 00 mm Crop From Center 25 25 mm a v Brush Size 15 ios Delete Selected Points Waming May remove some good points as well Radius 3 H Threshold 2 0 Auto Clean 6 Under Brush Cleaning there is an option to adjust brush size and three function buttons The button on the right activates the brush the center button returns the mouse to regular mouse functions so the image can be rotated zoomed and the left button deselects points previously highlighted Like with Crop tools points highlighted in red will be removed Brush Size 15 A b Delete Selected Points f Using the brush tool click to highlight all the points that are to be removed Before Unwanted points individually highlighted After Unwanted points deleted 26 8 Zoom in close to remove even more points a a rush Size v Radius 3 Threshold 20 Auto Clean Before Note the points near the outer left After Points have been deleted surface 9 All points can be removed including go
8. Advanced scanning grew out of the research and development we conducted when we were building the scanner software We needed a way to control the fundamental aspects of the scanner and visualize the results so we could understand what worked and what didn t The main screen scanning options Single Colored and Multi Colored both codify and encapsulate the knowledge we gained through using the advanced features These have improved with each release and now they ve reached a point where their results are often as good as those you d get in Advanced But to understand what they re doing and why the best way to explain is to take you through Advanced scanning so you can have a similar journey to the one we ve had learning what are the fundamental aspects of the scanner and how they affect the end result Understanding these things and using the Advanced features is surprisingly easy especially when you give them a try in the software Mac vs Windows The concepts presented in this document apply to both Mac and Windows software However the two software packages look and function slightly differently We are actively working on a UX unification plan for our software You can expect this by winter 2015 Thanks for your patience while we get the software packages unified For Mac users go to Advanced Scanning for Mac p 64 For Windows users continue on below Advanced Scanning for Windows To get into the Advanc
9. In the Scan menu click on Preferences to access crash reporting check for updates and enable exporting under the General Tab oO Preferences EIE General Viewer Diagnostics Enable crash reporting Startup Check for updates Export _ Enable MFC Exports Under Viewer point size and background color options can be changed Preferences General Viewer Points Round points May affect performance Displayed Point Size Off O Small Medium Large Extra Large Background Default color Manual Scan Settings Clicking on Manual Scan from the home page reveals manual settings screen Camera Exposure Capture colour and texture information Color Capture Exposure White Balance Laser 1 Exposure Enable High Contrast Scanning Bed Rotation Rotate using adaptive scanning Rotate at a fixed angle 64 There are four small screens visible above the main screen Rolling a mouse over the screens reveals what the screens are From left to right they are Camera Exposure Laser 1 Exposure Laser 2 Exposure and Combined Results On the right side of the screen is a scrollable pane that contains all the manual controls for the scanner Camera Exposure Camera exposure options include Color Exposure White Balance Laser Exposure Laser 1 Laser 2 High Contrast Laser 1 Alternate and High Contrast Laser 2 Alternate Color Exposure Capture colour and texture information Color
10. lasers are fired so the time per pass pass the 360 rotation of the object is easy to calculate Bed Rotation of Captures Regular Scan Time High Contrast Scan Time 0 5 120 12 minutes 24 minutes 1 360 6 minutes 12 minutes 5 12 2 minutes 4 minutes The regular scan process uses Adaptive Scanning which means that each new set of points is reviewed to determine how far the model has rotated since the previous set of points If there is a large distance between the two sets of points the bed will 62 rotate back and capture data between the two sets of points This helps ensure that as much of the model is captured as is physically possible Changing the bed rotation degree size overrides Adaptive Scanning Rotation will be fixed at whatever degree you have set it for Head Step Resolution You may notice that during scanning there is a lot of overlap between the points captured from one pass and the points captured on the next pass You can use the Head Step Resolution setting to adjust the distance the head is moved between passes to minimize this overlap This will also to decrease scan completion time Note that the smaller the object the larger the distance you can move the head provided you ve placed the object in the center of the bed Larger objects that take up more space on the bed will need a smaller head movement to avoid missing areas between passes 63 Advanced Scanning for Mac Preferences
11. purposes the larger boxes are lower octree settings SOURCE https devtalk nvidia com default topic 609551 par allel programming education my cuda programming lecture and teaching of poisson parallel surface reconstruction in a summer scho Sry ry Vara Ae ee ZY va v VIDE on 7 For Windows Degree Each Octree cube has a collection of points To make a mesh each section needs to have a curve or line drawn through it using the points as reference The polynomial degree tells the computer what type of line to draw through those points Degree Type of curve that the meshing software produces by using individual Setting points within each Octree as references Fach Octree has a straight line of best fit Each Octree has a quadratic curve of best fit Each Octree has a cubic curve of best fit Each Octree has a quartic curve of best fit Each Octree has a quintic curve of best fit The higher the number the degree parameter is set at the more importance each point has and the more detail will be described This will also increase meshing times at an exponential level The lower the number the less importance each point will have on the overall detail For example if you have a really clean and detailed scan you can mesh at Octree Depth 9 and Degree 5 and get a great level of detail For a scan of a smoother object with less surface details you can mesh at 7 Octree 3 Degree and get a smoothed out ve
12. the normal In a well formed STL all the normals face outward and the surface is continuous with no holes When a model meets these standards we refer to this as a watertight mesh This watertight ness is typically mandatory for 3D printing Point Cloud Basics A point cloud is a set of data points in a coordinate system In a three dimensional coordinate system these points represent the external surface of an object and are usually defined by X Y and Z coordinates There are five essential terms that are used to describe elements of a given point cloud vertices edges faces polygons and surfaces A vertex is a position It includes additional information Vertices such as color normal vector and texture coordinates A connection i e a line between two vertices is an Edges edge A face is a closed set of edges It can be categorized as a triangle face three edges or a quad face four edges Faces If a collection of faces all exist on a single geometric plane this one collection of faces is labeled as a polygon Note Polygons and faces are equivalent in software platforms that Support multi sided faces However most rendering systems Support only 3 or 4 sided faces So polygons are represented as multiple faces Polygons Surfaces connect neighbouring polygons together Also Surfaces called smoothing groups 45 Octree Degree amp Samples Per Node When you re in the Window
13. you want to crop out Points will highlight in red when they are in the cut off area The first slider removes points from the bottom up Radius 3 Threshold 20 amp Auto Clean Undo a ue ts pr ER etater Me TAN SS Points to be removed are highlighted in red 24 Scanner connected X Ts em 8 amp 8 YF ic 7 Home Open Save Export Combine Clean Appearance i Ta 2 Mia n a a Crop Points 1 a a 4 s Crop From Below 0 00 mm Crop From Center 106 00 mm Brush Brush Size 115 ical l o pu T Hi Ei i er e Delete Selected Points j u a Fuzzy Points Ve a a BEUN aming May remove some good points as well Radius 3 Threshold 20 Auto Clean s i _ I i i J A Undo a ene ae AA Result after clicking Delete Selected Points 4 Use the second slider to crop points away from the center Scanner connected X gt LG nl 7 Home Open Save Expot Combine Clean Appearance Help E E Delete Selected Points Fuzzy Points Waming May remove some good points as well Radius 3 Threshold 20 amp Slider has been moved to crop points outside the cage surrounding the vase Scanner connected 7 x B hl 9 Save Bxport Combine Clean Appearance Help Crop Points Crop From Below 0 00 mm Crop From Center
14. 3 Using ctrl mouse unwanted points are highlighted Points are removed after clicking the Delete Points button All points can be removed including good points Highlighting a section will remove all points in the path of the highlighted section Rotate the model to make sure only unwanted points are highlighted After clicking the Delete Points button If you Know that wrong points are selected click Clear Selection to un select Final Steps Final options include Reset Cancel Changes and Apply Changes Reset Cancel Changes Apply Changes Note the cleaned cropped points will be permanently removed 34 e Reset will undo any changes you ve made but keep Clean functions open e Cancel Changes will cancel your changes and exit you out of cleaning e Apply Changes will save the changes you made and exit you out of cleaning Save your cleaned scan as an MFCX file and or export to a different file format 35 Combining Scans The software allows you to join two separate scans into one 3D file with the help of the Combine tool in Windows and Align tool in Mac This is a helpful tool for instances where features of an object have been missed because of the scanning angle For example in the previous section with the vase features on the bottom and top of the vase were missed By performing another scan at a different angle i e with the scanner on its side those missing details can be captu
15. Capture Exposure Move the slider to capture the best exposure for color quality e You want it bright enough to see the colors clearly but not too bright and over exposed See Example 1 Picking the best exposure for color p 54 for more detail By default the scanner captures color and texture information Unchecking the Capture color box disables the exposure slider and removes it and the Color Exposure screen from view White Balance White Balance 4000 Taking a moment to adjust the white balance will help the color captured by the camera to appear as accurate as possible If your object doesn t contain any white use the calibration box Adjust the slider until the image on the Color Exposure screen matches the true color of the object Fluorescent lights cast a blue cool hue while incandescent and tungsten bulbs cast a yellow warm hue so depending on the lighting conditions white balance will need to be adjusted Qn the following page are some examples of the same object at different white balance settings 65 White balance setting is too cool giving the image a blue hue White balance is set at a good setting for the room The white of the calibration box looks neutral and close to what it actually looks like White balance setting is too warm giving the object a slight yellow hue Laser Exposure Laser 1 Exposure Laser 2 Exposure ml 20 Enable High Contrast Scanning Laser
16. Colored and Multi Colored are both automatic settings while Advanced opens manual controls Most users will find that the automatic settings of the scanner are more than adequate for their scanning purposes For very complex objects or lighting conditions or for specialized results users can select the Advanced button to access tools to manually adjust scanner settings More information on Advanced settings can be found in Advanced Scanning p 49 12 To figure out whether one should pick the Single Colored or Multi Colored option use the following chart Single Color or Multi Color Is your object BLACK amp WHITE Yes Ved Use Multi Color fF isitone Color N Use Single Color Do the colors fall on both sides of the BLACK line on color wheel Use Single Color Are the colors faded pastel or nearly white Yes M Use Multi Color Single Color 13 3 Click on your selection 4 The scan viewer screen will open Place your object on the scanner bed 5 Click the Scan button located at the top left If you selected Single Colored the scanner will now tune for lighting object shape and object color Skip to Step 10 Exposure Tuning In Progress 60 Complete Calculating optimal camera exposures for laser detection and colour capture If you selected Multi Colored the Scan Viewer will show you the camera feed of the scanner bed The laser
17. High Contrast Scanning which means they take longer so you ll ee ee Gaia SEG need to wait a moment on each to see 9 9 the results in the visualization in Laser Line Detection Set one exposure for good line detection on the darkest object color Set the other exposure for good line detection on the lightest object color 61 Scanner Tab Manual Control Scanner vV Enable Movement Overide Select the size in degrees to rotate the bed Bed Resolution 1 5 Degrees Select the distance in mm to move the head up Head Step Resolution 30 mm This tab contains a checkbox labelled Enable Movement Override When checked two sliders are enabled Bed Resolution and Head Step Resolution These Sliders allow you to specify the degree of bed rotation and the number of millimeters the head will move during the manual scan process overriding the automatic settings built into the software Bed Resolution The larger the degree of bed rotation the faster your scan will go and the less detail you will capture Conversely the smaller the degree of bed rotation the more detail will be captured and the slower the scan will go If you want to do a very quick scan set this at 5 degrees or more The lasers are fired and points captured at each rotational degree so the larger the degree the fewer times the capture process happens It takes about one second to capture and calculate three dimensional points each time the
18. If it should become wet do not turn it on Disconnect it from its power source and do not operate it until completely dry e Do not touch the camera lens laser lenses or laser housing e If your product requires maintenance or repair contact Matter and Form Inc at SUpportQmatterandform net Do not attempt to open or repair the product on your own as it may be hazardous and will void your warranty FCC Class B Notice This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules Operation is subject to the following two conditions 1 This device may not cause harmful interference 2 This device must accept any interference received including interference that may Cause undesired operation Note This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more
19. SB B Cable One 1 Calibration Box Set up Manual 1 1 Electronics Documentation The scanner also features a removable plug in the center of the turntable bed Removing the plug reveals a standard camera threaded socket that users can use to attach a tripod mount for holding objects in place To begin scanning continue on to the section entitled Getting Started p 6 Getting Started Connecting the Scanner Once the scanner and accessories have been unboxed the first step is to connect the scanner to your computer by following the connecting instructions in the Set up Manual or the following 1 2 3 Plug the USB Type A connector end into the computer Plug the USB Type B connector end into the scanner Connect the power cable to the scanner and plug the power cable into a surge protector Download the software from www matterandform net download Important Make sure to download the appropriate software for your computer Follow the setup wizard and complete the install process Open the scanner by gently depressing the release button on the top of the scanner and swing it open revealing the scanner head and the turntable Turn the handle 90 until it locks in place as the scanner leg Power the scanner on To do so push the MF logo on the lower front of the scanner until it lights up Open the software The software will search and detect the scanner Once it does you re ready to start Before
20. adow as colors won t match e Bright direct sunlight can overpower and wash out the scanning lasers leaving fewer points recorded by the scanner Also causes hot spots e Dim lighting causes missing or inaccurate data Object will appear darker than it actually is e Variable lighting lighting that fluctuates between bright and dark during the scan will affect the color information that is gathered making the scan look striped Can also happen if light is blocked during scanning Some people have set up outstanding lighting rigs with light boxes or LED arrays but you can still get great scan results using fluorescent overhead lighting or regular incandescent lighting 42 3D Scanner Terms File Format Information Besides our MFCX file format there are several other file formats that all have unique attributes and can be used for a variety of purposes 44 FILE TYPE MFCX project file XYZ point cloud PLY point cloud OBJ meshed STL meshed DESCRIPTION Matter and Form Inc s proprietary file format that is the quickest and easiest format to use while utilizing Matter and Form s software Third party software however doesn t recognize this file format so scans must be saved in XYZ PLY OBJ or STL format if you want to view and edit your scans with other software such as MeshMixer MeshLab Blender AutoDesk 3D etc The most basic point cloud format saving your scan as an XYZ file will si
21. and Crop to close out of Clean A new message window will appear Delete Points Would you like to permanently remove these points This cannot be undone 28 12 Congratulations You have a cleaned scan You are ready to save or export to a different file format Cleaning Scans in Mac Below is an example of a raw scan of a toy taxi cab Example scan in Mac Cus Appearance eh hi Ko ie fs Mae ripe SE Un re er A OE Eo op iiss A fy a ee AR hy OO an To get rid of these unwanted points the software has a Clean function 1 Click the Clean button on the tool bar 29 2 Clean tools will appear on the right There are four cleaning categories Auto Clean Layers Cropping and Brush Cleaning Auto Clean Layers Cropping Brush Cleaning Reset Cancel Changes Apply Changes rE pe Note the cleaned cropped points will be permanently removed Auto Clean Clicking on the Auto Clean button reveals three Auto Clean settings Light Medium and Heavy Auto Clean Light Medium Heavy Light cleaning errant points still remain on the scanner bed and a around the bumper 30 Medium cleaning a few more points have been cleaned away Heavy cleaning errant points on the scanner bed are gone but so are some good points around the front wheel Layers Clicking on Layers will open all the separate layers captured by each laser Ea
22. annin srviechcncencscscncesenseundeyccavsensdinseducusncebessnuddaensdievesouddaseudececusinecaausiasieusoadetavesuudenoemeectinss 59 How Do I Identify High Contrast Objects rrrnnnnennnnnrennnnrnnnnnnennnnnennnnnrennnnrnnnnnnnnnnnrennnnnrennnnsnnnnnnennnn 59 Example 5 Setting High Contrast Laser Detection EXpOSUTre snanssennnrrnrnnrrnrnnrrnrnnrrrrnnnnrrnnrnrrnnnnrrnnnnnnne 60 Te 61 1675 1 1G 0 EEE EE EE EN SN ee een eee ene oer 62 Bed ENN 62 Head Step Resolution wiscstccacsndcctvecsbbeassedsorbindsuacdvasendvadancotdesiewentedsnebeesibeooaeniwbsanmandandbinadebeaecinddenbaeeuhwndorenntbie 63 Advanced Scanning for Ma esansnrnnnnnnnnanavenenernnnnnennnnnvnnnenevnnannernnnnvnnnnevnnnenernnnnnnnnnnnennnnnevanannennnnvennnnuvenen 64 PN 64 Manual Scan Settings Larsens eee 64 CP 65 Setting the Lasers KE EN nnne 67 Example 6 Adjusting Laser Exposure in Mac LOW ContraSt rrrnnnnnnnnnnvrnnnnvnnnnrvnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnennnnsvnnnnsennnnr 67 Setting the Lasers GE EE tenestetena eheaemaeuacessnecasep nebo ttenene secu eience uceceowes 69 Example 7 Adjusting Laser Exposure in Mac High Contrast rnanrnnnnnrvnnnnrvrnnnrernnnrvrnnnrennnnnnennnsvnnnnsennnn 69 PER Ne 12 Head Step RESOIUM ION ua seed menecieesnsadinencecasendacaueer 12 Troubleshooting ven res HE OCU CU 0 ONE EEE EE EE stead 14 A MTS Gl OC EEE ioe 15 NN TT Inadequate Exposure and or Missing POints rranrnnnnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnennnennnennnnn
23. ating bed One rotation provides 360 coverage of an object For some small objects one full rotation or pass is enough to scan the whole thing In order to capture larger objects the scanner s head rises and automatically detects whether there is more of the object to scan Like building a virtual layer cake the scanner continues additional passes until the full height of the object is captured During the scan the bed will rotate forward but will also sometimes rotate back This is by design and is called Adaptive Scanning Its purpose is to capture as much of the object as is physically possible As new sets of points are captured the distance between them and the previously captured set of points is calculated If too much distance has been detected between the last recorded point the scanner backs up and re scans the areas between the two sets of points in an attempt to fill in that distance with additional data Problem Materials and Surfaces There are some materials that laser scanners have trouble scanning Because the scanner works by capturing the data that is made by the laser hitting the surface of the object any material that makes it difficult for the camera to record where the laser is hitting it will not scan well e Objects with surfaces that are too shiny i e Shiny metal jewels mirrors patent leather etc will reflect or bounce the laser away from the object If your scan looks like it has a halo of cotto
24. ation Calibration Failed Chessboard pattern of calibration box ts not facing the camera Please reposition and retry calibration Calibration Failed There was an error processing your calibration Please restart the program and try again If this error persists please contact customer support through the help menu Exit Calibration Failed Can not calibrate due to low lighting conditions Please re try in a brighter room i If you receive any of the above Calibration Failed messages try the action suggested in the message and try to calibrate again If a step in calibration takes longer than 30 minutes stop the calibration and try again or contact support matterandform net for tips and assistance 9 If it s successful you ll see the following message Amazing The scanner calibrated nicely Looks like you re good to go Congratulations You are now ready to start scanning 11 Preparing to Scan in Windows 1 Click on New Scan to begin gt New Scan 2 Select Object Color Options The software will now give you a choice of object color options Single Colored Multi Colored or Advanced Object Colour Single Coloured Multi Coloured Choose this if the object has one Choose this if the object has colour or has similar shades of more than one colour especially one colour f the colours are contrastin ey Or for advanced users Advanced select your own settings Single
25. ble Changing the minimum and maximum distance in degrees changes the average area of comparison as the bed rotates Selecting Rotate at a fixed angle overrides Adaptive Scanning Rotation will be fixed at whatever degree it is set at Bed Rotation Rotate using adaptive scanning Q Rotate at a fixed angle Bed rotation degrees This setting may be useful if a user wants to speed scanning up increase bed rotation degree size particularly if scanning an object with smooth surfaces and not a lot of detail Using the slider degrees can be increased or decreased by whole numbers Users can also enter in degrees manually to two decimal points as long as the number divides evenly into 360 Head Step Resolution The Mac software does not support an override for the distance between each head step resolution 72 Troubleshooting Introduction We will say this upfront bad scans can happen Anyone who has spent time scanning objects with a 3D scanner knows the frustration of setting up a scan waiting for it to finish and then coming back when it s done only to find that there are giant holes of missing data or the object has fallen over mid scan These setbacks can be overcome however if we keep in mind a few key principles To demonstrate how quick and easy it is to get exceptional results with the scanner we thought we d showcase a few indisputably bad scans discuss the root causes and highlight the best practic
26. canned with one exposure Dual exposure will yield impressively better results Spending a few extra minutes manually setting the exposures for objects with stark color contrasts will likely lead to complete point clouds and watertight meshes See High Contrast Scanning p 59 for more details In the following example an attempt to scan an apple with a very light spot near the stem proved very difficult using automatic tuning Bad Exposure Bad Exposure Final Outcome Point Cloud PLY File Format Meshed OBJ File Format Note the area of the apple where the color was Note where the missing data led to the apple light wasn t captured at all looking like a bite was taken from it Proper Exposure Proper Exposure Final Outcome Point Cloud PLY File Format Meshed OBJ File Format Note the light spot on the apple has been Final mesh has better color and more accurate captured surface detail overall 78 Errant Points and or Background Noise The scanner was designed with busy workplaces in mind people walking by workspaces while scanning is underway conversations happening over desks where scanners are working A defining component and feature of our scanner is its cleaning functions that enable users to erase unwanted points See Cleaning a Scan p 23 for more detail on how to clean It s hard not to over emphasize the importance of cleaning your scans especially given the fact it can be accomplished in a matte
27. ch layer represents a pass or full rotation Clicking on the layer will select or unselect the layer from view Users have the option of cleaning layers individually or omitting whole layers from the finished scan Layer 2 103070 pts Layer 3 57454 pts Layer 4 55017 pts Layer 5 786 pts GR Layer 6 621 pts 31 32 ar Layer 1 only Layer 3 only vanne Layer 6 only Cropping Clicking on the Cropping button opens crop tools Users have the option of cropping from the top down from the bottom up and from the center out Values are in millimeters mm and are relative to the zero on the bed Cropping From the top mm 79 6 From the bottom mm 0 9 From the center mm 89 8 sea G OE caine V Brush Cleaning Example of top down cropping all points removed above 38 mm from base Example of bottom up cropping all points removed below 24 7 mm from base Example of center out cropping all points removed in a radius of 31 6 mm from center Clicking on Brush Cleaning opens instructions on how to transform your mouse into a brush or eraser tool that you can use to erase or fill in points Brush Cleaning Keyboard Shortcuts shift mouse ctrl mouse space mouse option space mouse Adjust Brush Size Delete Points Deselect Points or delete esc Add points Subtract points Rotate model Drag Model Clear Selection Delete Points 3
28. ed Scanning area in the Windows software click on the New Scan button in the home screen and then click the Advanced button at the bottom of the next screen Jr for advanced users EE Advanced SCICCL YOU OWN SETINYIS Let s take a tour of the screens in Advanced Scanning 50 Cam Feed Tab Cam Feed Laser Line Detection T E Throttle Camera Feed Use during scanning on a slow computer The Cam Feed tab shows what the camera is seeing At the bottom there is a checkbox Throttle Camera Feed Use during scanning on a slow computer When this is checked only one in four images from the camera actually get displayed the others are discarded in order to lower CPU usage It doesn t affect the scan However if you have a very slow computer keeping this checked to reduce the strain on the CPU is a good idea Laser Line Detection Tab Cam Feed Laser Line Detection v Throttle Camera Feed Use during scanning on a slow computer The Laser Line Detection tab is used to visualize where the lasers are being detected This is the most important aspect of advanced scanning This screen Shows a visual representation of the laser lines and you can adjust the exposure of the camera until you get the best visualization possible When your laser line is clean meaning that it doesn t have a lot of noise appears as fuzzy static rather than a straight solid or nearly solid line you ve found the expo
29. ere the laser line on the left is starting to disintegrate It looks more like a dotted line than a solid line Cam Feed Laser Line Detection L As we experiment with different laser exposures for this wooden block pictured to the left the wrong choices are apparent Exposures 0 1 and 5 all give broken lines with lots of gaps Removing them leaves 2 3 and 4 and they re all comparable So how do you choose the best of two or three exposures when they are more or less the same The best choice in a case like this is to choose the highest value exposure which in this case is 2 As a rule when more than one exposure gives good results choose the highest value one as it will often let the scan go faster and also reduces data found on the scan bed Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Lam reeg LAIT wie LELTLUUI I Exposure 0 Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Exposure 2 Exposure 3 Cam Feed Laser Line Detection Exposure High Contrast Scanning High Contrast Scanning is a method that we developed in order to capture the best data possible when scanning objects that had more than one color present During development we discovered that black and white objects or objects with contrasting colors were difficult to scan Exposure tuning for one color would mean that areas on the opposite end of the spectrum would scan poorly or not at all Rather than require users to only
30. es we employed to subsequently produce better scans of the same object Topics covered are Lighting Calibration Missing Points Errant Points Strange scans Missing scans and Wrinkled Meshes 74 Bad Lighting Proper lighting plays a key role in producing quality scans Insufficient or improper lighting directly affects the data that the scanner picks up from the object To illustrate this point we scanned a Red Delicious apple under different lighting conditions For detailed information on proper lighting see The Importance of Lighting p 42 Scan Result Lighting Condition Too Bright 12 from a window on a bright sunny day Note the gaps in the surface of the scan The sunlight is overpowering the brightness of the lasers Too Dark Dim overhead lighting Note how dark the apple appears to be The bottom of the apple appears black Bad Lighting Final Outcome Meshed OBJ File Format from too bright scan above By keeping in mind the optimal lighting condition discussed in The Importance of Lighting p 42 we can produce much better scans of the exact same object as seen on the next page 75 ia o W ee Rip e y sat i iat i Tv pits FLEET hiili be Nd i Hfi eitil HTE wi p ae D ge aN En 1 Proper Lighting Point Cloud PLY File Format Proper Lighting Final Outcome Meshed OBJ File Format 76 Calibration Ensuring your scanner is prope
31. ether an object has contrasting colors for scanning use the following chart Auto Scan or Manual Scan Is your object BLACK amp WHITE Do the colors fall on both sides of the BLACK line on color wheel No Yes Are the colors faded pastel or nearly white oy P 16 If the object can be Auto Scanned the scanner will determine optimal exposure Skip to Step 9 If the object has contrasting colors continue below Clicking on Manual Scan also gives Mac users access to Advanced settings More information on Advanced settings can be found in Advanced Scanning p 49 2 The Manual Scan window will open Camera Exposure Capture colour and texture information Color Capture Exposure White Balance Laser 1 Exposure Laser 2 Exposure ml _ Enable High Contrast Scanning Bed Rotation Rotate using adaptive scanning Rotate at a fixed angle Average Rotation Distance degrees Rolling a mouse over the four view screens at the top of the page will reveal from left to right Color Exposure Laser 1 Exposure Laser 2 Exposure and Combined Results Clicking on the small views will enlarge the view in the main window 3 Click Enable High Contrast Scanning to activate Laser 2 exposure Enable High Contrast Scanning 17 4 Line up your object on the bed so that the contrasting colors on the object are being hit by the lasers This example uses a toy penguin The lasers will be o
32. hoose File Cancel This will flag the software to attempt to find the key points with more iterations of review and may achieve a better result Also re scanning in order to capture more key points or cropping away areas that may be confusing the algorithm may also improve your chance of Success We are working on custom tools to nudge misaligned combined scans together after a failed combine scan for future versions of the software 38 The Basics of 3D Scanning How Our 3D Scanner Works The Matter and Form 3D Scanner is a laser based scanner Laser scanners work by shining a laser at an object using a camera to capture data that is returned from the laser hitting the surface of an object and then using software to stitch all that data together On the Matter and Form scanner as the lasers pass over the surface of an object data is generated at a rate of approximately 2 000 points per second This data is comprised of thousands of individual points that record things like surface detail distance from the camera texture and color These thousands of points when viewed collectively form a point cloud that is a direct representation of the scanned object The scanner is very good at capturing organic shapes Curves surface detail and outer geometry scan very well Deep depressions and overlapping features however are difficult for the scanner to capture accurately For example it would be able to scan the outside
33. ing the scanner can sometimes pick up and add unintended points to the scan The cause of these points can be reflections off the surface of the object or captured background movement objects or reflections amongst other things In response we developed cleaning tools to help remove those unwanted points It is critical that you clean prior to meshing In Windows software the scan will also often capture the scanner turntable The scan will have to be cleaned of the turntable so it doesn t become a part of the final scan file In Mac software the turntable bed is not usually captured in the scan Cleaning Scans in Windows Below is an example of a raw scan of a small handmade vase Note the visible scanner bed and what appear to be spots floating in mid air Example raw scan in Windows 4 i EE P min a g ye 23 To get rid of these unwanted points the software has a Clean function 1 Click the Clean button on the tool bar Y Clean 2 Clean tools will appear in the area on the right There are three major options Crop Points Brush Cleaning and Fuzzy Points Auto Clean There is also an Undo button to restore points that you have cleaned en end Radius 3 S Threshold 20 4 eo ert Auto Clean I NNN m 3 Cropping removes all points outside an area you specify Use the sliders click and drag or use your arrow buttons to control how much of the image
34. it may be better to set the octree depth and or degree settings lower to yield a mesh with less ripples Wrinkled Mesh Smooth Mesh _ Octree Depth 9 Octree Depth 7 Degree 4 Degree 3 Note the orange peel like surface While lacking crisp edges this mesh is smoother 81 Copyright O 2015 Matter and Form Inc Matter and Form and the MF logo are trademarks of Matter and Form Inc All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Matter and Form Inc 82
35. lications Legal amp Safety Stuff These instructions provide important information concerning the proper operation of the product Only use this product after carefully reading the operating instructions included with the product and all warnings and labels on the product packaging including the manual and any separately included sheets Only use this product with the included accessories and the included power adapter Do not use this product or any Matter and Form Inc online services for purposes that could infringe on the intellectual property of a third party Matter and Form Inc assumes no responsibility whatsoever with regard to the infringement of intellectual property through use of the Matter and Form 3D Scanner or Matter and Form Inc online services The MFS1V1 3D Scanner comes with a limited one year warranty in addition to any warranties mandated by local laws Details of the one year limited warranty can be found at https matterandform net legal Matter and Form Inc 442 Dufferin St Suite A Toronto Ontario Canada M6K 2A3 Please note the following important safety instructions e Do not operate this product if it is damaged or if the power cable or USB cable are damaged or if any of its internal features are exposed e Only use the cables and power adapters provided with the scanner If you require a replacement please contact Matter and Form Inc at Support matterandform net e Do not operate the product when wet
36. mply store all of the points without color on a Cartesian coordinate system with X Y and Z axes Used for and with third party CAD modeling programs Also called the Stanford Triangle Format it supports a relatively simple description of a single object as a list of nominally flat polygons A variety of properties can be stored including color and transparency surface normals texture coordinates and data confidence values The format permits you to have different properties for the front and back of a polygon An OBJ is another type of 3D model file It is also used by a number of 3D modeling programs and meshes the point cloud but is used for 3D printing less often than STL Unlike STLs where every facet of your 3D model is a triangle an OBJ can contain both triangles and other polygons Due to innate properties associated with our MFCX software our scanner s camera takes 12 photos during each 360 turntable rotation while simultaneously capturing the point cloud These photos are then layered onto the meshed point cloud while exporting saving to OBJ format In 3D computer graphics CGI one of the most common geometry interchange file formats is the OBJ because it captures texture so well There are a few 3D printers that can print OBJs and reproduce the texture and color An STL is a widely used type of 3D model file It consists of surfaces made up of triangles Each triangle has an inner side and an outer side The outer side is called
37. n box in the center of the scanner bed Click Continue Calibration 5 The scanner will rotate the calibration box left and right on the turntable firing its lasers and collecting a range of data Please be patient This process can take several minutes Calibrating Scanner Please Wait Cancel 6 Once the first step of calibration is done follow the instructions for Calibration Step 2 and move the calibration box forward or back Click Continue Calibration when the box is in its new position Calibration Step 2 Please place the calibration box in a slightly different position Either away or toward the camera about 1 inch from it s last position See photo Again please make sure the box opening ts facing down and click Continue Calibration Cancel Continue Calibration 7 The scanner will rotate and fire its lasers again Be patient and avoid moving the box Step 2 will take slightly longer than Step 1 as the software compares the data between Step 1 and Step 2 Doing math stuff This might take a while Cancel 10 8 If your calibration is interrupted or fails an error message Should appear Here are a few examples of the possible error messages one could see Va Where s the box The scanner couldn t find the calibration box Please position the calibration box as shown in the picture pattern facing the camera and click Continue Calibration A Cancel Continue Calibr
38. n candy spinning around it that s a sign that the object is too shiny e Objects that are clear or translucent i e glass Lucite clear plastic flower petals etc will let the laser light pass right through the surface of the object instead of being stopped by the surface Your scan will look like there s nothing solid where the laser light passes through e Objects that are too dark and absorb too much light i e black velvet fur will also absorb the laser light causing an inaccurate scan The software won t be able to determine where the surface of the object is So how do you scan objects with the above features Pre treat them with matte paint anti reflection sprays or powder i e baby or talcum powder Users have also had luck with water soluble colored hairspray which is safe for most non porous material and can be washed away with water This may not be appropriate for all objects however Also if you want to capture color data be aware that the treatment may alter the color as it appears in the final scan 41 Single Color vs Multi Color Scanning The difference between the Single and Multi Colored scanning options is in the number of camera exposures used to detect the lasers Single Colored scans use one camera exposure for laser detection whereas Multi Colored scans use two camera exposures To choose the best option for the object you want to scan determine if your object s colors are contrasting or if the
39. ne Detection The color capture on a scan with this exposure will result in a fairly dark object White looks grey Cam Feed Laser Line Detection This is a good choice for color This is overexposed 54 Example 2 When the choice isn t clear Sometimes you might find that the difference between two exposures doesn t give you a strong impression about which is the better choice for color There isn t necessarily a wrong choice in this instance either one will probably be OK We recommend that a good way to help decide is to look at the white area of the scanner that holds the scanner bed seen at the bottom of the Cam Feed screen In which of the exposures does it appear clearest Choose that one The scanner bed casing is overly bright and slightly blurred The scanner bed casing is well defined and clear This is probably your better choice 59 Laser Detection Color Detection Laser Detection Laser Detection Exposure 5 0 0325 9 0 Enable High Contrast Scanning Choose the exposure which shows the cleanest line representation The exposure of the camera has major ramifications on the quality of the final scan The basic rule is that the dark colored areas of the object will need a bright camera exposure and the light colored areas of the object will need a dark camera exposure in order to best detect laser lines firing at the surface of the object
40. nly capture the dark side of the penguin Better but not enough of the black parts of the penguin are being hit by the laser as you can see in the windows above showing laser 1 and laser 2 Ideal placement One laser is hitting mostly black and the other laser is hitting mostly white 5 Once the object is placed ideally click Auto Tune 6 The Auto Tuning window will open Auto Tuning SS Evaluating eposures to find the optimal one for this object Cancel 7 Once Auto Tuning is finished click Start 8 The scanner head will move into position 9 The scanning window will open and scanning will start Sit back and relax as the scanner does the rest Eun Details Scanning Adaptive ET 19 10 If you wish to stop the scan for whatever reason click Pause near the progress bar You will have the option to resume scanning or finish the scan with an option to save the scan or not Rotating Zooming In and Panning Users can rotate zoom in or move the scan on the screen i e pan to get a better view These controls are available anytime and do not affect the scan in progress To SPIN your model Click and drag anywhere in the view window to rotate your model To ZOOM in Use the mouse wheel or scroll to zoom in and out of your model To PAN Hold the Control button while clicking and dragging to pan your model on the screen To RESET VIEW After clicking the vie
41. nnnennsenn 18 Errant Points and or Background NOISe rrnnrevnnnrvnnnrvnnnrennnrennnrennnnennnnnnnnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennnnennnnnennueenn 19 BROM NA 80 Mesh Appears Wrinkled anveauvannnannvnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnunnnnnnnunnunnnunnnunnunnnnnnnunnunnnunnnunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnennnnnnunnne 81 Manual publication update date December 3 2015 amazon com FI Amazon s 1 3D Scanner mater Form TL TechCrunch Can stand up to the big boys in 3D scanning PCMAG COM A good companion for a 3D printer INNOVATI AWAR 2015 CES 2015 Innovation Awards Honoree Our Roots We are designers and programmers from Toronto who needed a high res 3D scanner but couldn t afford one so we built our own Determined to help others enhance their creative professional and recreational lives we launched a record breaking Indiegogo campaign backed by designers architects hobbyists gamers teachers and creative families At the heart of our scanner s technology is a high definition camera that produces accurate detailed color scans at resolution qualities that match or top what more expensive scanners can achieve It works with almost any 3D printer or online printing service Supports Windows and Mac OS and allows users to scan solid items to create basic scans quickly and with little effort It is also capable of exporting intricate high resolution 3D representations for use in any number of digital 3D app
42. od points Highlighting a section will remove all points in the path of the highlighted section Rotate the model to make sure only unwanted points are highlighted Example Good portion of the vase has been highlighted with the brush tool Result of clicking Delete Selected Points All the points in the path of the highlighted section have been deleted Rotating the vase reveals holes on both sides Click Undo to reverse unwanted changes or over aggressive cleaning 27 10 Another option is to use Auto Clean The software automatically cleans what it determines are outlier points Radius refers to the number of points Surrounding each evaluated point in a scan Threshold refers to the minimum distance in millimetres from the surrounding radius points that a potential outlier point must be for it to be cleaned discarded The lower the numbers the more points are erased Pr at oe V ters H LTTT PEET T PE TETTEELL Lid teng ak tm RE d Before Auto Clean oO n g has w O fs lt rush Size 15 Brush gt Al E Delete Selected Points Waming May remove some good points as well Radius 3 Threshold 2 0 Auto Clean After Auto Clean The default values Radius 3 Threshold 2 0 were used to clean the above example scan Cropping tools can be used to clean the bed away 11 Once cleaning has been finished click the green x next to Clean
43. of a drinking straw but not all the empty space on the inside of the straw Like a photo camera the scanner can only capture what is in its field of view The Importance of Calibration In order to maximize the scanner s precision and accuracy it s highly recommended users devote time to calibration whenever the scanner has been moved Every scanner will have tiny unique differences as a result of the manufacturing process temperature fluctuations and physical placement so it is necessary to allow the software to properly measure and compensate for such differences i e calibration Calibrating is especially important after a scanner is moved All data captured by the scanner are in relation to the dead center of the turntable Because the turntable can shift up to 1 mm any potential shift can affect what the camera lasers and software consider to be the dead center of the turntable when constructing a point cloud Throughout the calibration process the scanner s camera lasers and software are developing reference points in an XYZ coordinate system based on the geometries and angles of the calibration box and its checkered squares Upon completion the software and firmware will save these reference points when scanning all Subsequent objects until calibration is completed again and new reference points are saved 40 What Happens During a Scan The scanner uses two lasers to scan small to medium sized objects placed on its rot
44. of the following measures e Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna e Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver e Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected e Consult the dealer or an experienced radio television technician for help You may also find helpful the following booklet prepared by the FCC How to Identify and Resolve Radio TV Interference Problems This booklet is available from the U S Government Printing Office Washington D C 20402 Modifications Any modifications made to this device that are not approved by Matter and Form Inc may void the authority granted to the user by the FCC to operate this equipment Laser Stuff Complies with FDA performance standards for laser products except for deviations to Laser Notice NO 50 dated June 24 2007 Class 1 laser product classified under IEC60825 1 2007 Class 1 Laser Product Produit Laser de Classe 1 Laser Produkt Der Klasse 1 Classifted 60825 1 2007 Classe 60825 1 2007 Klassitiziert 60825 1 2007 Producto L ser de Clase 1 Prodotti Laser di Classe 1 Clasificado 60825 1 2007 Classificata 60825 1 2007 Inside the Box Thank you for purchasing the Matter and Form 3D Scanner Included in your box you ll find 1 A D Ol ON One 1 Matter and Form 3D Scanner One 1 AC Power Adapter Four 4 Interchangeable Power Adapter Plugs set of 4 international One 1 U
45. r of seconds These improved meshes in turn produce impressive 3D prints Consequences of not cleaning before meshing can be seen below A Lot of Background Noise and A Lot of Background Noise and No Cleaning No Cleaning Final Outcome Point Cloud PLY File Format Meshed OBJ File Format Note what looks like orbiting debris Meshing without cleaning has left a foreign surrounding the apple body included in the final result Proper and regular cleaning produces better meshes as shown below Proper Cleaning Proper Cleaning Final Outcome Point Cloud PLY File Format Meshed OBJ File Format 79 Black or Missing Scans On occasion users have started to scan an object only to have the object turn into a solid black mass and or a single black dot A vase converted into a black mass during scanning A vase converted into a single black dot during scanning These problems are typically a result of the user s computer not having enough memory or capacity to process the scan and mesh correctly or because there is an issue with the graphics card driver For a memory issue users can reduce the number of points displayed by following these instructions 1 Close the software 2 Go to c Program Files Matter and Form Scanner EchoScan exe CONFIG file and double click the Config file 3 Once the Config file is open you will have access to the program settings Note Changing settings other than instructed may cause
46. red and combined with the first scan to fill in the missing detail First sample scan PTX Point Cloud XYZ Point Cloud PLY Polygon OBJ Object STL Stereolithography Second sample scan Sample after cleaning JE sE E 14 all h i LT oma Note the plasticine used to prop up and secure the vase to the bed on its side in the scan on the left The plasticine was then cropped away in the cleaning process so that it would not appear in the final 3D file Combining scans is an automatic process that uses mathematical algorithms to identify key points in two different scans It lines up those key points so each individual scan can snap in place over top of another scan 36 1 Open an existing and cleaned MFCxX file This file is your base file and should be the orientation you want your finished 3D file to be It is also a good idea to ensure this is file with the most detail MFCX Project File cD PTX Point Cloud XYZ Point Cloud PLY Polygon OBJ Object STL Stereolithography 2 Click Combine in Windows or Align in Mac Windows Mac al Combine B Open Save Export Combine Clean Combine Scans This feature automatically combines and aligns multiple scans into one Please select a file to combine with the current scan Apply additional processing Improves chance of success but takes longer Choose File Cancel
47. rials and SurfaceS Lagene eie nennen nnna 41 Single Color vs Multi Color Scanning uusaseumnsameamnmumsisenseemm i ereire 42 ende eoero Dee 42 DV SANE Se 43 File Format INTOF MOU O Mis cicsciscviconsacndeceacecancciaccieconwssedsaewanduareadieadaedastuanccsseacsawdsastarseanswseiecuswedansaeveduasouncsi 44 PONE IOB 45 Octree Degree amp Samples Per Node asnnnrnnnnanenanavenennnnnnnnnnnennevnnennvnnnnnvenanevenannarnnnnnnnnnvavenenennnnnuvenanene 46 Advanced Scanning EEE EE 49 Mid 50 MENN 50 Advanced Scanning for Windows rennnnnrnnnnnvnnnnnnennnnrennnnnrnnnnnsnnnnnnsnnnnssennnnnnnnnsssnnnnnennnnnrnnnnnennnnnnennnusennn 50 CT NN 51 Laser Line Detection Tab auvaunnaunanunaunnnunnnnnnunnnunnunnnunnnnnnnnenunnnunnunennnnnunnnnennnrnunnnnrnunnnunnnnenunnnnvnnnenuenn 51 MESTE OTA 0 EE NE NN EN 52 Ge 9 MID CCC 6 EEE EE NE edueeeeneceseene 53 Example 1 Picking the best exposure for COIOf rwrvasrvrvannvrnannnnnanunrnnnunnnnnunnrnnunnnnnunernnnnernnnnernnnvennnnvernauvennnn 54 Example 2 When the choice isn t clear rrrnanrannannnnnannnnnnnnnrnnnnnrnnnunrvnnunrvnnnnrrnnnnrrnnnnernnnvernnnvernnnvennavennauvennnne 55 Laser 1D SLC CUO NE 56 Example 3 Picking the Best Laser ExpOSUre asrvsnasnnnnannnrnnnnnnnnnunnnnnunennnunennnnnnnnnnnennnnnennnnnernnnnennnnvennanvennnne 57 Example 4 Picking the best laser EXPOSUTG cccsesessseseccsescccccecscceecseccevsuccevsuceassnceessucuasencuarencuarescuarensass 58 High Contrast S
48. rly calibrated has a tremendous impact on your scan s geometric accuracy Failure to calibrate directly impairs the accuracy of the scanned object s point cloud as it is being constructed distorting the final scan The solution is to calibrate and re calibrate as needed Even a small movement in the scanner s placement can affect its calibration and consequently its precision Another good practice is to calibrate each time before starting to scan a very small object wl vektet my i ae AnP i Tast vet ssh st Tt nate tip Mr eo NG No Calibration No Calibration Final Outcome Point Cloud PLY File Format Meshed OBJ File Format Proper Calibration Proper Calibration Final Outcome Point Cloud PLY File Format Meshed OBJ File Format VAA Inadequate Exposure and or Missing Points Objects that have stark contrasting colors necessitate different camera exposures and might prove difficult during automatic tuning Tuning is the process by which the software determines the best camera exposure for capturing the color of the object and the best exposure for capturing where the laser is hitting the object Repositioning the object on the turntable so the camera can tune to a different side of the object might resolve this problem A second option is to utilize the High Contrast Scanning function under the Advanced Scanning menu Some objects that have intertwined high constrasting colors can t be s
49. rsion For Mac Samples per node The meshing software in Mac analyses and defines which points represent the surface of the object When it comes time to mesh the samples per node help define the minimum number of sample points the meshing algorithm puts into one octree cube or node as the surface is being reconstructed by the algorithm If you have noisy data a high sample per node value provides a smoothing effect but it can also cause loss of detail A low value between 1 0 and 5 0 keeps the detail level high but can look rougher So how to choose your settings Higher values for octree depth results in more detailed results However if you have a noisy scan the software may not be able to 47 distinguish what is a good point from a stray point and may attempt to treat them equally This is where the samples per node value can help since it will limit or expand the number of points being considered A good method is to determine the level of detail you want by setting the octree depth that gives you the shape you want and then fine tuning the surface smoothness with the samples per node value high samples per node value will deliver a smoother surface while a low samples per node value will deliver a more detailed but potentially rougher surface For more information along with images and examples check out this explanation at http vr tu freiberg de scivi page_id 365 48 Advanced Scanning Introduction
50. s version of the Matter and Form scanner software and saving or exporting your scan as a meshed object i e as an OBJ or STL file you are prompted to enter in your desired Octree and Degree settings When you re in the Mac version of the software you are prompted to enter in your desired Octree and Samples per node These are fairly complex subjects but after experimenting you will get a feel for how these two settings affect the final meshed object Octree Depth Octrees help the computer organize the points of a 3D object very efficiently An oversimplified way of explaining it is to imagine slicing up your point cloud into eight equal cubes octants That is the equivalent to an Octree depth of 1 To get to a depth of 2 slice up each octant into eight more octants totaling 64 octants Slice divide those 64 and you get 512 octants At an Octree depth of 9 8 you will have 134 217 728 individual octants i e 134 217 728 individual little cubes grouping your points together Octree O 1 cube Octree 1 8 cubes Octree 2 64 cubes The higher the number the Octree Depth parameter is set the more importance is put on each point This will also mean exponentially longer mesh times The lower the Octree Depth number the less importance each individual point has 46 Octrees and the Stanford Bunny This image depicts an octree setting of 5 but also includes octree settings of 1 and 3 for demonstration
51. scan objects that were a single color we developed a contrast scanning process that allows for improved color detection In our automatic settings this setting is available by clicking on the Multi Colored option on the Object Color screen In Advanced settings it can be activated by clicking the Enable High Contrast Scanning in the Manual Control gt Laser Detection tab How Do I Identify High Contrast Objects Three rules for determining if you need high contrast scanning 1 Is your object black and white If yes use high contrast If no go to rule 2 2 On the color wheel to the left notice there is a black line splitting one set of colors from the other If the colors of your object fall on both sides of the line use high contrast If they don t don t use high contrast 3 Pastel colors light grey and medium grey should be treated as being on the orange side Dark grey and black should be treated as being on the blue side Once you ve placed your colors on the wheel use rule 2 to decide the appropriate scan option 99 Example 5 Setting High Contrast Laser Detection Exposure Some models cannot be scanned with only one laser exposure great example is these little blocks of clay The bottom one is white the middle is blue the top grey Let s take a look at the laser lines found at some different exposures Cam Feed Laser Line Detection High contrast colors grey and white both contrast with blue
52. sure that will give you the best scan results for the object 51 Manual Control Tab Manual Control tab w Color Detection tab Manual Control tab w Laser Detection tab selected selected Manual Control Scanner x Manual Control Scanner x Manual exposure control When Use Manual Camera Settings is Manual exposure control When Use Manual Camera Settings is enabled the exposures set below will be used for scanning and no enabled the exposures set below will be used for scanning and no automatic tuning will take place automatic tuning will take place Color Detection Laser Detection Color Detection Laser Detection Color Capture Exposure 5 0 0325 Laser Detection Exposure 5 0 0325 9 0 9 0 Choose the exposure which shows the best object color Not Enable High Contrast Scanning overexposed and not dark Laser Detection Exposure Two 5 0 0325 9 0 Set one exposure for good line detection on the darkest object color Set the other exposure for good line detection on the lightest object color The Manual Control tab is where you pick the camera exposure for capturing the color of the object and for capturing the laser lines A note about exposure Each of the exposure sliders in the Color Detection tab and in the Laser Detection tab are labelled 9 on the left and O on the right with 9 being the brightest exposure and 0 as the darkest The camera shutter is open for a longer period of time at setting 9 le
53. t was unlocked and adjusted by one step Laser 2 is now as bright and clean as Laser 1 The rhino is ready to scan Setting the Lasers Con t If you have an item that has contrasting colors or is black and white click on the Enable High Contrast Scanning option Enable High Contrast Scanning This will open up Laser 1 and 2 Alternate Exposure and add two additional preview screens to the top of the page Laser 1 Exposure 20 Laser 2 Exposure m 50 Enable High Contrast Scanning Laser 1 Alternate Exposure Laser 2 Alternate Exposure sl 50 Open the view that isolates each laser by clicking on the preview screen at the top of the page With the view in the main viewer move the slider for that laser until you find the cleanest line Example 7 Adjusting Laser Exposure in Mac High Contrast Items that have contrasting colors cannot be scanned properly with only one laser exposure such as this stack of colored paper blocks By tuning for different colors more of the object can be captured by the scanner Click the checkbox next to Enable High Contrast Scanning to begin 69 70 Laser 1 Exposure Laser 2 Exposure Enable High Contrast Scanning Laser 1 Alternate Exposure Laser 2 Alternate Exposure Pad Matntianu Settings window 200 This might be what one might see in the Combined Results screen when in Manual Scan The yellow and pink blocks are showing up but the green block is not
54. that tunes for lighter colors and the red spectrum colors of the color wheel will flash on 14 8 9 Looking at the camera feed position the object so that the laser line passes over the lighter colored area by using the Rotate Right or Rotate Left buttons provided on screen or moving the object by hand Click Confirm Lightest Color The software will conduct the tuning process to determine the best exposure for the light colored area Repeat Step 6 for the darker or blue spectrum colored area of the object Click Confirm Darkest Color The software will conduct the tuning process to determine the best exposure for the dark colored area 10 Once tuning is complete scanning will automatically start Sit back and relax as the scanner does the rest 11 If you want to stop the scan for whatever reason click on the Finish button You will have the option of saving the scan as is quitting the scan without saving and resuming the scan 15 Preparing to Scan in Mac 1 To perform a simple scan place an object on the scanner bed and from the Home screen click on either Auto Scan or Manual Scan Auto Scan is an automatic setting where the software detects the ideal camera exposure and the amount the bed moves as it rotates Manual Scan allows users to customize settings Use when scanning objects that es Fe have contrasting colors or objects that complex lighting conditions To determine if wh
55. tting in more light Conversely O is dark because the camera shutter is only open for short period of time so less light gets in Simply put the longer the exposure the brighter the image As you use the scanner you will notice that sometimes the lasers fire quickly and sometimes they fire slowly This is directly related to the exposure Darker objects require a brighter exposure i e the shutter has to be open longer while lighter colored objects require a darker exposure i e the shutter has to be open for a shorter period of time Therefore a darker colored object will take longer to scan than a lighter colored object 52 Color Detection Color Detection Laser Detection Color Capture Exposure 5 0 0325 9 0 Choose the exposure which shows the best object color Not overexposed and not dark The goal of Color Capture Exposure is to find the exposure where the object s colors appear realistically You want an exposure that shows the Colors on the object in a bright but not overexposed manner Move the slider left or right to see the result in the Cam Feed On the next two pages examples will be given on what to look for when manually adjusting color settings 53 Example 1 Picking the best exposure for color Here are three examples of color capture adjustments As you can see in the images below the second one is the best choice It s bright but not so bright that it s turning white Cam Feed Laser Li
56. w window press the c key on your keyboard 20 Doing More with the Scanner Saving and Exporting a Scan Once the scan has completed users will be prompted to save the finished rough scan Not the results you were expecting Save Now Save Later We recommend that users save their rough scans before exporting to a different file format or cleaning For more information on how to clean a scan see Cleaning a Scan p 23 To save as a MFCXA file 1 Click Save Now 2 Enter file name 3 Click Save To export the scan in a different file format 1 With the scan file open in the Scan Viewer click Save Export Windows or Export Mac on the toolbar Windows Mac Scanner connected f i y l Home Open Save Export Combine Clean POINT CLOUD MFCX Matter and Form OJECT FILE XYZ Point Cloud MF CX Project File PLY Polygon File MESH requires meshing PTX Point Cloud f OBJ Object File Textured XYZ Point Cloud PLY Polygon OBJ Object File Untextured STL Stereolithography File gt AA AE OBJ Object STL Stereolithography Home Open Export Clean Align 22 2 Select the file format you wish to export as 3 Enter the file name for the new export 4 Click Save For additional information on the 3D file formats available go to File Format Information p 44 Cleaning a Scan During scann
57. y are close to the same spectrum This can be accomplished by looking at the Single Color or Multi Color chart on p 42 Single and Multi Color scanning options are intended to make scanning objects easy However as you get more comfortable with scanning you ll come to realize that the choice can be a little less black and white For example objects that have colors on both sides of the wheel but are very light can often be successfully scanned with the Single Color option The closer a color gets to white the more it starts to have in common with other colors which are also close to white and the fact that they re on opposite sides of the wheel matters less The same holds true for colors that are very dark close to black For a more detailed analysis of laser detection and high contrast multi colored objects go to our section on Advanced Scanning p 49 The Importance of Lighting Scanning should be done in well lit conditions Diffuse white light is best The type of light fluorescent LED halogen natural light etc doesn t matter as much as long as the lighting is diffused Be aware that incandescent bulbs can add a yellowish tone to your final scan Lighting situations to avoid include e Spotlights or shining light directly on the object it can cause hot spots in some areas and shadows in others making your scan appear lighter or darker than it actually is Also problematic when combining a scan with a heavy sh
58. you perform your first scan you must calibrate your scanner Go to Calibrating the Scanner p 9 for step by step instructions and The Importance of Calibration p 40 for more detail on how this process works Using the Software From the Matter and Form software homepage users can select to create a new Scan open recent scans calibrate the scanner or open the scan viewer On Windows Scanner connected MaTTEr a FOPM Recent Scans gt New Scan block new mfcx O Calibrate teeth top mfcx YW Scan Viewer MATTE a FOPM Recent Scans eat Auto Scan Manual Scan Get the best scan possible by manually Calibrating the Scanner Calibrating the scanner may be the single most important step to take in order to get good results Calibrating your scanner on a regular basis ensures that you get the most accurate results from your scan To calibrate 1 Make sure your scanner is connected to your computer and powered on 2 Open the Matter and Form scanner software 3 There are three options on the left on the start screen Click Calibrate to start the calibration process On Windows On Mac 4 Anewscreen will open se K 1 Calibration Step 1 sl a Please place the calibration box in the center of the I turntable as shown in the picture box open end down and click Continue Calibration A a 7 Cancel Continue Calibration Follow the diagram above and place your calibratio
59. your scanner software to stop working properly Please be careful when opening this file 4 Locate lt appSettings gt 80 5 Find the line lt add key DisplayPointLimit value 3500000 gt The number is the number points the software will display The default is 3 5 million points 6 Change 3500000 to a lower number i e 1500000 The range of usable display information is from a low of 1 million points 1000000 to a high of 5 million points 5000000 7 Save the changes to the file close the Config file and relaunch the MF software 8 Open your point cloud files mesh and combine using the new settings For a graphics card issue we recommend users ensure they have the latest drivers installed on their respective computers Find the manufacturer of the graphics card and search for the brand name and graphics card driver on Google to find the manufacturer s website Download the driver update directly from their site Mesh Appears Wrinkled After completing a scan and attempting to mesh the point cloud the vertical strands of points that comprise all point clouds could be visible on the mesh Or after meshing the object might appear wrinkled This can happen when the octree depth is set too high relative to the quality of scan that was captured In other words a low quality scan typically doesn t result in a great mesh regardless of how high the octree depth is set As a consequence

User Manual - 2015-11-12

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