Recently I have acquired POP2 scanner.
looking to scanner specs it seems a very nice and easy to use scanner. But, unfortunately real life is showing me a different perspective.
It as been very very hard to scan. Or is because the room light, or material is (supposedly) too reflective, or artificial intelligence of scanner app is not smart enough.
Accuracy is bad. 3D scanning has been hell in last days.
User Manual is also not helping much. Also did read some of this forums threads and actually this has been a very very difficult to have good results.
Do you have any good tips to have better performance with POP2 scanner?
From the research I’ve done, it helps to control ambient lighting and have dark surfaces surrounding the object to absorb light that is scattering.
Also, I have heard that the MINI is sensitive to LED lighting in the room…(vs. Incandescent) and can interfere with good scans. I’m not sure if that is a blue laser issue only or if the POP2 might also be affected… but you could experiment with your surrounding lights and quickly figure out if they are contributing to poor scan results.
Good Luck. Maybe post up a screenshot of the types of results you get? People seem to be really good at diagnosing issues once they have an image to look at.
@nunix you should have better scanning results than you showing here with POP2.
It looks indeed very low resolution like you scanned it and meshed with a phone .
Lots of details are lost .
Do you have the original fused point cloud ? Usual it is called "fuse "
I, too, am having a heck of a time trying to get a good scan. I can do the bust included in the package, but whenever I try to scan anything else - and I’ve tried a LOT of items - I can’t get a scan at all. The software says Excellent but the minute I hit the start button to start the scan, the image starts moving all over the window with a bunch of ghosts. I’ve tried adjusting the range of valid point clouds, camera depth, lighting, etc., to no avail. I am really wondering if this scanner is faulty.
One of the objects I tried to scan is roughly the same small size as the bust. It is on the POP2 turntable so there should be plenty of marks so that it doesn’t loose tract of itself. It looks fine in the preview before starting the scan, but once the scan actually starts, its a different story. The first photo is showing the object side by side to the included bust just for reference.
I saw someone else posted a photo of the parts they scanned & the feedback was that there wasn’t much detail. I only wish I could get that far! I am really beginning to think that this particular scanner is faulty and that I should be returning it for a replacement unit.
What I am ultimately trying to do is to scan parts such as the two halves of an external 3.5" floppy disk drive to reproduce on my 3D printer. That unit is 120mm x 200 mm, which I thought was within the spec of what the POP2 can handle. If this is not the case, would someone tell me so so that I can give up on this?
Sorry that my frustrations are boiling up to the top but after yet another day of trying to get a single good scan with no results, its frustrating to say the least.
The primary problem with markers is that you have to keep at least 6 in view at all times. With many objects, that requires pulling back (which lowers resolution) or scanning less of the object at a time.
If, however, you were to place uniquely-shaped objects on or near the primary object, you can stay in Feature mode and scan more of the object in each frame.
It is not about how many markers you have , it is about the proper distance between the markers and each device have different distance .
I keep 3 a all times and it working just fine . All depends also of the angle of the markets to the scanner , if they can’t reflect back , they will be not registered
Thanks for all the help! I redid the markers & made sure that 6 were being picked up the entire rotation and it solved the problem I was having with loss of tracking.
The ‘noise’ in your scan is caused by scanning the same area for too many frames, from slightly different distances.
I would suggest trying again with the following hints:
Keep the imaginary line between the scanner’s two sensors parallel to the slots.
Position the scanner at 45° above and outside a long edge so that the initial scan includes the lid’s lip.
Adjust the distance so that the entire length of the lid is seen.
Start scanning and move the scanner over the box lid in an arc. Try to maintain a consistent distance from the center of the lid. Move as quickly as possible without losing tracking (you may have to use the Trash button to start over without having to go back to the Preview page as you familiarize yourself with the process).
Continue to the far side to catch the other long lip on that side, too.
At this point, you have a couple options:
Continue scanning, rotate the scanner to be parallel to a short edge and capture that lip, then move across the top and get the other end. This could require that you add small objects with unique shapes to aid in tracking.
Stop scanning and save/export the current scan. Start a new scan to capture the short ends with an eye towards aligning the two scans in Revo Studio.
Don’t use turntable to scan it , handheld option would be better to avoid over scanning while rotation , keep at distance of 15 cm above the object.
You will need to scan both sides separately and merge them together in Revo Studio.
No matter what you do you need 2 scans and merge them together .
Regarding the noises I suspect that are micro reflections from the plastic as I don’t see overlapped points . If you still getting this try baby powder or any powder to matte it down if you don’t have 3D spray .
JeffLindstrom & PUTV - Thank you very much for the VERY helpful suggestions. At this point, I don’t think I’m going to have any success with the handheld option until the handheld stabilizer device becomes available. I had ordered the turntable specifically because I’m not steady enough to hold the scanner, but I can now see how that will not work for rectangular items of this size Hopefully the stabilizer will not be unavailable for too much longer. In the meantime, I’m going to concentrate on scanning smaller more spherical items to hopefully become proficient with the system. I’m going to see if I have an object that has both an inside and outside surface to practice merging scans in Studio.
Hi @drkenb try on more organic objects if you can , it will give you good practice
You can practice with marker mode on a simple coffee mug , you have double walls while scanning . You can use the markers that are on the top of your turntable , and keep the scanner slightly above the object .
It will be not easy , but very much possible , keep scanning the 360 rotation only and see how it works .
Don’t need markers on the object
Do you want to to scan that as a practice? Such objects you can model in software like fusion 360 measuring with a caliper within couple of minutes. I would never use my Pop2 or pop mini on such simple geometrical objects, wouldn’t make sense to me
The outside of the top of the case is the simpliest side. The inside is much more elaborate in fine detail, as is the bottom half of the case. If it were that easy to model, I wouldn’t have spent the money on a scanner and I would have gladly gone that route.
In terms of modeling in Fusion 360, it may be only a few minutes for an expert but for a novice, it is far from a few minutes worth of modelling. I spent a good part of my day yesterday with Fusion 360, and it is not so easy to learn but more importantly, I can’t read the screen because the font is so small and there is no way to change the font/size. On a double-wide monitor, it is unbelievably small, and for these old eyes, it’s nearly impossible to read.
Even with scanners worth ten thousands you practically always have to do the so called reverse engineering in software like fusion 360 and scan is only used as template.
Fusion 360 like many software may take a while to get used to, but then it is quite easy and time efficant to work with IMO. Take your (needed) time to learn it is very much worth it!
