Capitalizing on the

Potential of Meshing

DAVID ZIP – WWW.3DMOBILESCAN.CA

EDMONTON, CANADA 780.482.3349

Meshing from Scans

to Create -

Physical World Objectsvia milling, molds, 3D printing

Virtual World Assetsenvironments, inspection studies

What to mesh

Mill/ Mold prefab

Materials like cast stone,

coated foam for building

Collision detectionRepresentative models move through a point cloud of the movement corridor - Navisworks

Virtual Assets

Jump start environment creation by scanning existing buildings

Equipment Requirements

Comparable to Scene’s needsuse trial periods

feature detection and speed

Workstation choiceportability – with dual bays

SSD primary drive, robust GPU

Faro Scene outputs

1.5 mm uniform point cloudpromotes uniform polys in mesh

detailed, but needs decimation

Cloud-to-cloud registrationno targets in view

RGB valuestexture information and UVs - .obj files

Evaluating Mesh Software

Speed/ ProductivityAllows iterations for better final mesh

ValueVolumetrics. Pattern recognition

End Use3D printing needs water-tight meshDecimate away scanning’s excess polys

Industrial Uses

Geographycm vertex density and GPS tags

UAVs for panos and photogrammetry

Google Earth tools

Volume calculations

Deviation RampsSurface to model color ramps

Bubbled to the top for me…

Uses Scene clip box outputs

Clear, detailed mesh

.stl < 500K polys

Water-tight - 3D print ready

Path to color meshing

Forum suggested Thinkbox Frost

Case studies

St Regis HotelVirtual capture of a 1913 cornice

.stl file sent to terracotta shop to recreate

Turner Valley Gas Plant1:100 scaled 3D print

for accurate re-placement of pipes

Case 1 – St Regis Hotel

Lift in place for removal work - ideal

Repetitive terracotta – 3 elements

…10 m setting

Cropped 3 elements from Project Pt Cloud

Export to Frost as .xyz (generic format)

Frost saves out .stl mesh (also generic)

Creating the Mesh

Frost steps.xyz scan file is decimated to .rpt

uses particle effects models – choices

get good results from Metaballs

decimate since a heavy mesh

can apply color to vertices for UV

Frost saves out .stl mesh or .obj if color

St Regis MeshWindow Arch

St Regis MeshFlag Base

Case 2 – Gas Plant

Site suited to scan coverage

Gas Plant layout

Enclosed yard & platforms > good

control

Similar to refinery and MEP scans

Little laser shadowing

Interior scanning proxy of exterior

Windows boarded up

Faro Scene uniformly filtered to 1.5mm

Dense but uniformly sized polys

Meshing for 3D Print

Service providers limit file size and vertices

Measured in Scene and scaled 1:100

Did not print in a color material

Staff was helpful – printability, engraving

Galleries

Required decimation

Sculpting brushes to smooth and add volume

Filling mesh occlusions

C2C allows easy registering of added scans

Use virtual scans on planes - cut & paste photos

Sculpting brushes to add volume

Draping & hole filling features in mesh software

Post Processing

zBrush

decimation using masking

volume brushes to fill occlusions

smoothing brushes for artifacts

3D print resizer for scale

preserves Scene UV through above

More with 4R7

64 bitUVs have Vray effecti.e. reflectiveness, lighting, shadows

Fuller hard surface modeling

More realistic virtual assets

Print Providers

Materials

acrylic, ceramics, metal, plastic

color printing an option with UV

Lead Time

larger pieces need to wait 3 wks!

Other ways to mesh

SectioningPoint clouds sectioned to

track profiles and rails

Ortho

ExtrusionOrthophoto from Faro

Scene is pasted to

elevation faces in

SketchUp

BIM modelsConsider whether BIM software saves model to mesh e.g. STL.

Sectioning workflowRhino - likeloads point clouds with color shaders

e.g. RGB; Intensity; Lighting; Planar

Use orthographic view for sectioning

Traced out profiles extruded per the rail

Revolves - use for boiler or dome shapes

Arrays – copy repeating elements with axis

Secret weapons – drape; network surface

Sectioning exampleRhino using point cloud plugin

Sectioned point cloud to identify profiles

There was a main beam, taper and ring

Drew square profile and rail to follow slope

Extruded using rails following top & bottom

Drew ring base and extruded

Array was used to evenly space 44 supports

Sectioning – Bridge example

Bridge modeling from point cloud calls for profile drawing and sweeps

Orthophoto on base geometry

Is a textured virtual model enough?

Produce orthophoto using Faro Scene

Use clipping box for skin of viewed sides

For point density use large points and auto-fill

Choose orthophoto scale giving smaller .tif

Orthophoto on base

geometry

SketchUp push/ pulls to fit orthophoto

Draw rough shape to receive orthophotos

Paste all elevation tifs on faces with same scale

Readjust geometry

SketchUp will save to .stl and 3D print

Can paste on printed orthophotos

Limitation – to Planar

Meshes from

Photogrammetry

UAVs offer new meshing frontiers

GPS + with wide angle, stabilized cameras

Quadcopters

Agisoft Photoscan and Autodesk 123D Catch

Advantages – color; point density; cost; aerial

Conclusion

Meshing is useful to clients

The phase- based Faro scanners give dense

capture and register to 1.5mm point

spacing

Detailed, accurate and colored meshes

Opens new revenue

Manage processing in-house. Inspire clients!

Thank you!

We have interesting scan clouds to mesh

A few small 3D prints start the conversation

Capitalizing on the

Potential of Meshing

DAVID ZIP – WWW.3DMOBILESCAN.CA

EDMONTON, CANADA 780.482.3349

Bonus Topic

DIY 200 mm Spheres

200 mm spheres have 45 m range (27 m more)

Spheres useful for Split View & Target registration

Walmart sells 145 mm & 200 mm tree bulbs

Painted the glitter finish flat white

Added bases and magnets

Faro Scene auto detects

Use Tools > Options > Matching (Radius 0.1)

Capitalizing on the

Potential of Meshing

DAVID ZIP – WWW.3DMOBILESCAN.CA

EDMONTON, CANADA 780.482.3349