Attached Link: http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/rob/david.html

[quote] Quoting the website....

What is DAVID?

DAVID is a freeware software for laser range scanning. All you need is a PC, a camera (e.g. a webcam), a background corner, and a laser which projects a line onto the object you want to scan. So everyone can use it to scan objects without high costs; this is the big advantage over commercial solutions which are rather expensive.

DAVID has been developed by the computer scientists Dr. Simon Winkelbach and Sven Molkenstruck from the Institute for Robotics and Process Control, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. The concept has been published as a paper at the German Association for Pattern Recognition (DAGM, Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Mustererkennung) and can be downloaded here.

The object you want to scan has to be put into the corner of a room or in front of two planes with an exact angle of 90°. The camera of course has to be pointed towards the object. The special thing about our solution is that you freely hold the laser in your hand, "brushing" the laser line over the object. Meanwhile the computer automatically calculates 3D coordinates of the scanned object surface. See the screenshots to get an impression of the software.

[/quote]

Anyone else tried this software?

I heard about it awhile back and it looked and sounded somewhat promising. At that time the software was not yet available for download as they were still incorporating various different webcams. Now that is is available but only for Win2k and WinXP I'm still outta the loop. Guess I won't get to play with it.

If you do get a chance to try it out, it can't hurt, let us know how it goes, or even post your results if it goes well. It looks like your standard laser level would do sufficiently and any old webcam.

It looks like what they did on Monster House. They made their models the old fashion way (with clay) and then scanned into the computer. let us know how it works out.

I just got my upgrade to Vue 6, so I think I'm going to be busy with it to try David... Maybe someone bolder then I can step up to the plate.... :-)

Quote -
So everyone can use it to scan objects without high costs; this is the big advantage over commercial solutions which are rather expensive.

Inexpensive, as long as you don't value the time you spend setting up and testing.

Or you could spend $2500 on brand-new tech, and get a complete system, sexy hardware, and sophisticated software at http://www.nextengine.com

(shameless plug)

Don't be fooled by the low price. Our patented Multi-Laser Technology produces better results than large professional scanners costing 10x as much. Everyone with 3D scanning experience agrees - this is revolutionary technology.

• Todd
  NextEngine, Inc.

Looks like they went bankrupt.  That link goes to an empty page. $2500.00 :rolleyes:

Quote - Looks like they went bankrupt.  That link goes to an empty page. $2500.00 :rolleyes:

I was able to get the page to load, and it looks like a pretty neat product. However, even at that price, it's probably more than I could talk the wife into letting me spend on my hobby. :biggrin:

If there is anyone here who thinks that $2,500 is a high price to pay for this kind of hardware and software, please don't go shopping for other equipment of this type; you might expire from sticker shock.

I wonder why it won't load for me.  $2500 is more than most modeling software programs.  I know in this industry, some things can be quite expensive.  Have you ever priced BVH files?  Just the equipment starts at $25,000.

Why not try David instead?

I will, when I get around to it. I have a lot of projects going on.  Right now I'm writing a script for a film Festival.  It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Attached Link: http://www.nextengine.com/todd/elvis.mov

Check out this scan that I did over the weekend. Total time to create this model was about 45 minutes.

For the scan setup, I did 8 scans in one turntable family (45 degrees per segment). These sections were aligned in NextEngine ScanStudio.

The model was brought into 3DS Max for rendering (texture has been removed to show geometry detail). Compare this with the best results from the DAVID system.

• Todd

Also, The NextEngine scanner comes with a 30-day no-risk trial period. If it doesn't work out for any reason, we'll send you a pre-paid return shipping label, and give you a full refund.

Has anyone tried David and if so is it good

NextTodd,

where did you get your laser at and how much.  i might be interested in trying this out if i can get a hold of an inexpensive line laser.  all i have is a laser pointer.

That scan was actually done with the NextEngine scanner. http://www.nextengine.com

Here are some more scans from the same:

http://www.nextengine.com/todd/gold-buddha.mov
http://www.nextengine.com/todd/buddha.mov
http://www.nextengine.com/todd/gargoyle-box.mov
http://www.nextengine.com/todd/gargoyle.mov
http://www.nextengine.com/todd/spawn.mov

damn those are nice scans.  very impressive.

" Inexpensive, as long as you don't value the time you spend setting up and testing."

For hobbyists that's probably less of an issue than price.  Finding an adequate laser could be a problem though.

3dz why are you shouting

I apologize, I never thought of it like that.  My eyesight is very bad, and I make the font bigger so that I can read it. No one has brought that to my attention before.  Sorry if I offended anybody. :blushing:

What about the laser? I'm guessing you have to buy one. Is that the catch?