Curious about the Kickstarter project from Fuel3d, which is a handheld high-resolution 3D scanner that’s supposed to market for under $1000… Sounds interesting.
Anyone out there with knowledge of the product that goes beyond what the promotional video outlines? Also on Uformia’s MeshUp software?
Thanks…
Here’s the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/45699157/fuel3d-a-handheld-3d-scanner-for-less-than-1000?ref=live
It’s got some limitations, one being that it’s going to take a bit of stitching to get a full model. They also make a claim that other handhelds don’t capture color. That’s not true, I’ve seen several.
One thing to realize is that most people are assuming that 3D scanning is a magic get it all done button and the companies building these products tend to market them that way. They’re not and if they do get to that point (not likely in my opinion) that’s still a very long ways off. In the same way that a camera doesn’t make some a photographer a 3D scanner isn’t going to make great art content. The real world is ugly (at least according to Hollywood) and 3D scans will need an artist to clean them up similar to how an actor needs a makeup artist.
Animation is one of the biggest hurdles. The animation in their video is laughable. In the video they say “take the actual scan of the face and put it onto a 3d model and have that animated”. The problem is the face isn’t animated at all, it moves position but the facial features aren’t animated at all. You still have to have someone retopo the mesh to optimize for animation and still setup other animation modeling issues. Again these scanners are not magic buttons.
As for the Fuel3D it’s a great mix of tech (which I expect other scanners to implement as well). However in my opinion it’s a hobbyist level scanner. There are much better scanners and software if you’re doing this professionally.
A very belated thank you for offering your thoughts!