Scanning

This chapter covers everything you need to know to scan using Artec Ray.

See also

First Run

Preview Scan

You should make a preview scan for the following reasons:

• To get a low-resolution image of the area you are scanning so you can see the desired object.

• To estimate the required point density for scanning.

• To ensure that the newly set Ray scans correctly.

If you need a full scan and you understand how the parameters work, you can skip the preview (see Scanning Configuration).

Artec StudioiOSAndroid

To make a preview scan, follow these steps:

1. Ensure Artec Ray was turned on with the USB cable connected to your computer.

2. Launch Artec Studio.

3. Open the Scan panel. Click Scan with Ray. The application will open the Ray scan panel.

4. Click Preview. Ray will capture a preview.

Once the preview of unwrapped 3D data is ready, you can examine particular regions. Use the Scroll wheel with the cursor on the image.

The objects located more than 30 meters from the scanner may be barely visible in the preview. To improve their visibility, use the Brightness and Contrast sliders in the lower-right conner of the 3D window (see the image below).

Figure 10 Creating the preview scan.

Area Selection

Once you have a preview, you can

• Select particular objects or areas of the scene using rectangular selection.

Artec StudioiOSAndroid

Use the following buttons to control selections:

	Select (add) a rectangular section
	Clear all selected sections

Example: Marking Rectangular Selection

1. Click the button.

2. Place the cursor at any corner of the area you want to scan in detail. Left click once.

3. Move the cursor to an opposite corner of the area you want to scan and again left click to select the area.

4. If you want to define additional areas to scan, repeat the previous steps.

Figure 13 Sections marked in the preview image.

Scanning Configuration

Before you start scanning, you can specify a set of parameters.

Adjust Point Density

Scan resolution is measured at points per degree and varies with distance to objects. The larger the value, the better the resolution and the longer the scanning time will be. Estimate and adjust point density on different distances to ensure the required scanning quality for a particular surface.

Artec StudioiOSAndroid

1. In the 3D window, use the mouse cursor to identify the distance Between points at a particular distance From Ray in a given preview area (see Preview Scan).

2. Decide whether the value is sufficient.

3. Increase the density level by the Points per degree slider if you need a better resolution for distant objects.

4. Estimate the Distance between points once again.

In advanced mode (see here), the point-density slider becomes two independent sliders:

Horizontal density per degree	20–80	Lines per degree
Vertical density per degree	20–80	Points per degree

Tweak Settings

There are two modes of scanning settings:

• Basic mode is used by default.

• Advanced mode is for more detailed adjustment (use the eponymous toggle to activate).

Artec StudioiOSAndroid

Figure 19 The Advanced mode settings.

The table below summarizes the available parameters.

Parameter	Value range	Description	Basic	Advanced
Range	0–110m	Working distance within which the objects you want to scan are situated. Use the two-sided slider to adjust this range. Specifying an excessively large range may increase the scanning time and output-file size.	✓	✓
Density (per degree)	20-80 lines/points per degree	See Adjust Point Density. The larger the value, the better the resolution and the longer the scanning time. In the basic mode, the horizontal and vertical densities are distributed proportionally.	✓	✓
Sensitivity	Low, Medium, High	Low: clean data (minimum of noise); complex surfaces are not scanned; scanning distance < 50m. Medium: balance of accuracy and noise; scanning distance < 50m. High: capture either distant or hard-to-scan objects; maximum noise level; scanning distance < 110m.		✓
Spheres	145;200	Toggle detection of the target spheres and specify their diameters using the semicolon delimiter. Always clear unused values.	✓	✓
Checkerboards	On/Off	Toggle detection of the checkerboard targets.	✓	✓
Texture	On/Off	Specify whether to record the texture.		✓
Tilt correction	On/Off	Enable compensation for incorrect Ray leveling, between 0 and 15°. Optimal results are achieved between 0 and 5°. Important: Don’t use this option if the scanner tilt is outside the specified range(>15°).		✓
Sounds	On/Off	Toggle audio notifications during scan. This indicator may be helpful to monitor the scan’s progress without having to watch the application’s window.		✓

Scanning

Ray has following scan modes:

• Full scan—if you need to scan the whole area without preview

• Particular scan—if you have marked the selected regions in a preview image (impossible in Autonomous mode)

Artec StudioiOSAndroidAutonomous

1. Specify the range (see the table above).

2. Adjust the point density using the Points per degree slider (see Adjust Point Density) and other parameters (Tweak Settings) as necessary. You may need to turn on Advanced mode to access some of these parameters.

3. Click Scan. The 3D View window will split into two panels, and each will start displaying the scanned data. Artec Studio will also display estimated scanning time.

Figure 22 Scanning process.

To cancel the scanning, click the Stop button.

Change Viewpoint

In some cases—for example, when scanning an object in the middle of the room—you may need to add scans from other viewpoints. Once you have defined the required positions, follow these steps:

1. Move Ray to the next position.

2. Ensure the scanner rests firmly on the floor.

3. Capture a preview and configure the settings.

4. Scan an area or object.

5. Repeat the steps above for the remaining viewpoints.