Laser Design Inc

952-252-3479

Menu
  • Home
  • Products
      • 3D Scanners
          • Portable 3D Scanners
            • Portable 3D Scanners

              Portable Scanners are the ideal option to quickly scan complex shapes and geometric data from objects large or small when you want to go anywhere and inspect anything.

              Portable Scanners >

            • Close
          • Desktop 3D Scanner
            • Desktop Scanner

              Desktop Scanners are the ideal option to quickly scan complex shapes and geometric data from small objects.

              Desktop Scanner >

            • Close
          • Long-Range Scanner
            • Long-Range Scanner

              3D portable scanner that capture precise dimensions of large objects such as wind turbines, ship propellers, airplanes and buildings. Producing 3D scans of the highest quality.

              Long-Range Scanner >

            • Close
          • CT (X-ray) Scanners
            • CT (X-ray) Scanners

              Capture all geometry, both external and internal, of complex and free-form parts.

              CT Scanning Systems make non-destructive evaluation possible.

              CT Systems >

            • Close
          • Metrology Grade Scanners
            • Metrology Grade Scanners

              Need to capture ultra-precise surface data for reverse engineering and inspection?

              3D laser scanning with our high precision scanners are a great solution.

              Metrology Grade Scanners >

            • Close
          • Body Scanners
            • Body Scanners

              3D human body scanners obtain 3D images and models in seconds, making this an ideal solution for full body digitizing and human body modeling.

              3D Body Scanners >

            • Close
        • Close
      • Software & Accessories
          • 3D Anti-Glare Spray
            • 3D Anti-Glare Spray

              To achieve optimal accuracy and results with 3D laser scanning it is often necessary to apply an anti-reflection coating. Helling 3D Scan Spray is especially designed for this purpose.

              3D Scan Spray>

            • Close
          • Artec Studio
            • Artec Studio

              Industry acclaimed software for professional 3D scanning and data processing.

              Artec Studio>

            • Close
          • InnovMetric-Polyworks Software
            • InnovMetric-Polyworks Software

              PolyWorks is a powerful industrial 3D metrology software solution.

              Polyworks Software>

            • Close
          • Geomagic Software
            • Geomagic Software

              Geomagic software offers products for 3D digital realities.

              Geomagic Software>

            • Close
          • SpaceClaim Software
            • SpaceClaim Software

              SpaceClaim empowers engineers to be more creative and deliver products to market faster.

              SpaceClaim Software >

            • Close
          • Volume Graphics Software
            • Volume Graphics Software

              Volume Graphics offers a range of products for the visualization and analysis of CT data and has become a virtual standard for industrial voxel data analysis.

              VG Software >

            • Close
          • ExactFlat Software
            • ExactFlat Software

              ExactFlat enables manufacturers to design, flatten, conduct pattern engineering, nest, cost and create manufacturing and business documentation all on one platform.

              ExactFlat>

            • Close
        • Close
    • Close
  • Services
      • 3D Scanning
          • Parts & Objects
            • 3D Scanning - Parts & Objects

              3D scanning converts physical objects into precise digital models, enabling you to quickly and accurately capture your object’s shape and geometries.

              3D Scanning>

            • Close
          • Buildings & Structures (BIM)
            • 3D Scanning - Buildings & Structures

              Terrestrial 3D scanning is a ground-based technique for collecting high-density spatial imaging with millions of coordinates quickly and accurately.

              Buildings & Structures (BIM)>

            • Close
          • Aircraft, Vehicles & Large Objects
            • Aircraft, Vehicles & Other Large Objects

              Terrestrial & Mobile 3D scanning are techniques for collecting high-density spatial imaging with millions of coordinates quickly and accurately for your aircraft, vehicles and vessels.

              Large Object 3D Scanning>

            • Close
          • ITAR – Weapons
            • ITAR - Weapons

              Laser Design is committed to investing in secure resources that ensure that all of our ITAR data is stored in a manner that meets or exceeds the ITAR requirements. With Laser Design you know your ITAR project is not only compliant but being fulfilled by a company that is registered.

              ITAR - Weapons>

            • Close
          • Industrial CT Scanning
            • Industrial CT Scanning

              Metrology grade Computed Tomography (CT) inspection allows a complete 3D capture of complex internal geometry of parts without needing visual access – the process is nondestructive.

              CT Scanning>

            • Close
          • Reverse Engineering
            • Reverse Engineering

              Reverse engineering using 3D scan data is the most efficient way to generate a CAD model from a physical object that has any kind of complex or freeform shape.

              Reverse Engineering>

            • Close
          • Inspection & Metrology
            • Inspection & Metrology

              Helping to solve your most demanding dimensional inspection issues, digitizing, calibration, certification and all other facets of manufacturing that have to do with 3D metrology.

              Inspection & Metrology>

            • Close
        • Close
      • Point Cloud Modeling
        • Point Cloud Modeling

          If you have a scanner but would like help taking your point clouds to CAD format then let the 3D experts help! Everything from small plastic parts, blades to entire ships and buildings.

          Point Cloud Modeling>

        • Close
      • Scanner Rentals
        • Scanner Rentals

          Laser Design’s knowledgeable rental staff has actual project experience with the 3D equipment we provide.

          Scanner Rentals>

        • Close
      • 3D Photorealistic Rendering
        • 3D Photorealistic Rendering

          Moving from 2D to 3D improves how your ideas and concepts are shown and communicated. When you’re able to show your designs in 3D verses a static 2D drawing the experience is more realistic.

          3D Photorealistic Rendering>

        • Close
    • Close
  • Solutions
      • Industries
          • Aerospace
          • Anthropology
          • Architecture, Engineering, Construction
          • Automotive
          • Bridge
          • Consumer Electronics
          • Defense
          • Education
          • Entertainment
          • Forensics
          • Foundry
          • Heavy Machinery
          • Heritage
          • Hydro Power
          • Law Enforcement
          • Legal
          • Machine Shop
          • Marine
          • Medical
          • Mining
          • Oil & Gas
          • Online Retail
          • Orthotics and Prosthetics
          • Petrochemical
          • Plastics
          • Power Generation
          • Tunnels
          • Wind Power
        • Close
      • Applications
          • 2D to 3D CAD Conversion
          • Accident Reconstruction
          • Alignment
          • As-Built Documentation
          • Asset and Facility Management
          • Body Scanning Application
          • CAD-Based Inspection
          • Class A Surfacing
          • CGI and Visual Effects
          • Contract Inspection
          • Computer Aided Verification
          • Crime Scene Analysis
          • Dimensional Analysis
          • Electronic Site Survey
          • Emergency Response Scanning
          • FEA – Finite Element Analysis
          • First Article Inspection
          • Form Analysis
          • Gear Inspection
          • Incoming Inspection
          • In-Process Inspection
          • Large Part Inspection
          • Litigation Support
          • Machine Calibration
          • Non-Contact Inspection
          • Photorealistic Modeling
          • Product Design
          • Reverse Engineering
          • Robot Calibration
          • Scene Documentation
          • Tool Building and Setup
          • Virtual Simulation
        • Close
    • Close
  • About Us
    • About Laser Design
    • Why Choose Laser Design?
    • Customer Testimonials
    • 3D Technologies Used
    • Careers
    • Partner Programs
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Contact Us
    • Locations
    • Close
  • Locations
    • United States Locations
    • Close
  • Learning Portal
    • Sample Files
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • News
    • Videos
    • What is 3D Scanning?
    • 3D Technology Glossary
    • ROI of 3D Scanning
    • Close
  • Contact Us

How to Fix Movement on a Child 3D Scan

December 15, 2020 by Andrew Larson

Movement in Body Scanning

If you’ve ever attended an Artec demonstration with Laser Design, or read our previous blog on correcting for movement, you’ve probably heard the phrase: “Fix it in post”. In the 3D scanning world, this means small mistakes can be made during scanning, but they will be fixed during post-processing. For example, a heavy-duty Artec carrying case with a hinged handle will contain two rigid subcomponents: the case, and the handle, and when flipping the case upside-down, the rigid handle might change position. Artec Studio fixes it in post by separating the handle from the case, registering their positions independent of each other, re-aligning back to a corrected position, and the result is a corrected, unified model.

But what if the part being scanned isn’t rigid? A plant blowing in the breeze, a soft clay sculpture slowly deforming under its own weight, or a living, breathing human being? Without identifying rigid subcomponents, Artec Studio cannot correctly separate them, and it cannot accurately realign their positions. In short: “failure”.

Not all is lost. This blog will cover techniques and workflows for how to identify and fix motion for a 5-year-old child during scanning.

For this example, we scanned a very energetic 5-year-old, Ana. Ana’s face, hands, and head needed to be scanned using the Artec Eva. Being a tough negotiator when entranced by something as cool looking as a 3D scanner, Ana could not be compelled to stay perfectly still. This being the case with so many human body 3D scans, we anticipate movement will occur during scanning and have solutions ready to solve for these situations.

Here is a short list of pitfalls, best-practices, and important considerations when scanning a human being, specifically a child:

Pitfalls:

  1. Scanning on a cushioned or bouncy surface like carpet or a couch will cause extra movement, and the floor cannot be reliably used for alignment
  2. Scanning on a single-color surface will result in scan data registration being overly reliant on the shape of the body itself, which is constantly moving, and be unable to leverage texture (color) for alignment
  3. Try this: take a deep breath in, hold for a second, and then breathe out. Did your shoulders rise when you inhaled and drop when you exhaled? If so, this common behavior by most people (to expand their chest when taking a deep breath) causes a change in relationship between the head and shoulders and chest – critical areas for any sort of face or bust scan! Avoid asking someone to take a deep breath before 3D scanning; instead try to breath normally but lightly. Or, ask to puff out their stomach when breathing in, so their chest stays still.

Best Practices:

  1. Stand or sit on a solid surface
  2. Take a few practice scans first
  3. Don’t be afraid to try again later when the child is more cooperative
  4. Take multiple scans as backups
  5. Either scan on a patterned surface (like a wood grain pattern) or place a grid of stickers/strips of masking tape, or simply draw a pattern on the floor with a marker or chalk.
  6. Set up a display monitor in front of the child with the software display mirrored on it. This will keep the child’s eyes and attention in a single forward position as much as possible
  7. Recruit a helper or assistant to manage the child’s wants and needs in between scanning (promises of ice cream may not always work) to maximize success and minimize time
  8. When scanning feet, stand in a stable position, feet shoulder-length apart, and keep an eye out for the toes changing position as weight is distributed during scanning
  9. When scanning finger’s consider wedging small cotton balls or clay in between the knuckles to allow some spacing/separation that remains constant during scanning
Raw Scan Data of Foot

Raw 3D scan data of foot on tabletop surface with wood grain texture

Important Considerations:

  1. Try this: pretend to curl a set of invisible dumbbells. Notice how your biceps and forearms dramatically change shape, but your wrists and hands stay mostly rigid? When trying to scan a specific area, try to anticipate what part of the body is most likely to remain still, and what part of the body is most likely to flex and change shape.
  2. Speed is vital to success. The longer the scan, the more chances that subtle movement turns into obvious movement, meaning at a certain point, an extra 5 seconds of scanning might mean require an extra 5 minutes of data processing. Sometimes less is more.
  3. Practice “Sunrise to Sunset” scans where your scanner path makes a complete 180 degree arc, to ensure the fastest and most efficient scan path that captures the most detail (such as in between the toes). Combine one sunrise/sunset scan with one 360 scan to capture the most area in the fastest time
  4. Consider the “peek-a-boo” effect where the bottom 3D camera on the scanner is blocked by some obstacle while the top projector flash is unobstructed – the result is a failure to capture data. Turning the scanner 90 degrees in your hand can sometimes resolve obstructions like this.

Sunrise to Sunset and Peek-A-Boo Effect Diagram

With the pitfalls, best-practices, and important considerations in mind, it’s time to scan.

After scanning is complete and when starting data processing, right-click and “duplicate” the scan layers that experienced movement into multiple different copies. Each copy can be renamed something appropriate such as “index finger”, “middle finger”, etc. This is where you should use the eraser tool to select only the area you want and erase the rest. This leaves a single layer dedicated to a single feature that will be corrected for movement. For complex movement where a finger moves and causes the musculature to slightly change, further subdivisions can be made, such as “index-left” and “index-right”. Subdivide the scans using the duplicate layer technique as many times as necessary.

List of all Hand Scans

On each new layer of scan data, global registration should be done on very high settings (key frame ratio = 0.6 or greater) to ensure the tightest possible fit. If things do not work, consider including a few extra centimeters of extra space around the fingers in each duplicated layer to include more unique color data to use for registration. After each feature is individually registered, use the Align tool to re-align each layer back to the main one. If this is done correctly, you will see a high degree of color-blending in the area where one scan meets another. Any need for further subdividing the scan can be revealed when zooming in on the new layers of data, and any that sticks out above the rest may have movement that still needs to be corrected.

Two toes and Fingers Movement

(Left) Fixing two toes that move; (Right) Fixing all fingers and thumb that move

Once alignment is complete, the project can proceed either normally, where Global Registration can be run on everything in their new, realigned positions, or sometimes Global Registration after the new alignment can be skipped entirely, it depends on the complexity of the movement. Afterwards, the fusion (smooth or sharp) should have zero to no movement-related defects.

Hand Data Fusion Comparison

When scanning a living person like this, you generally cannot count on rigid segments moving like links in a chain where the overall shape is made of rigid subcomponents. Instead, special consideration is needed for the setup and processing, including more subdivisions of the scans than would normally be needed. With most things, practice makes perfect, and when practicing on a living body, you know there will always be subtle movement, so this is a key skill to learn early.

Sketchfab Samples


View the full Laser Design Sketchfab page >
If you have the Sketchfab App, you can view our models in AR or VR on your mobile device.
Note: not all models are AR/VR ready.

View our Sample Files Library for more 3D files and examples.

Happy scanning!

Filed Under: Blog

About Laser Design

Laser Design, a CyberOptics Corporation Brand, has been a leading supplier of 3D scanning systems and services since 1987. Laser Design helps customers successfully solve their most complex 3D inspection, analysis, and reverse engineering challenges quickly, giving them a competitive advantage.

Whether the 3D solution needed is a new 3D scanner or a service project performed in our lab or at your site – Laser Design’s expert metrologists and experienced engineers have you covered – on your schedule, within your budget and with ultra accuracy & results our customers have come to expect.

  • Learning Portal
    • Sample Files
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • News
    • Videos
    • What is 3D Scanning?
    • 3D Technology Glossary
    • ROI of 3D Scanning
ldi-exp_246-254

What Customers are Saying…

 "Every aspect of the job went well. We are very happy with the final 3d models we received." -K.B @ Airbus Helicopter

Question about 3D Scanning?

Ask a 3D Expert>>

Sign-up for our eNews:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Videos
  • eNews
Sign-up For Our Newsletter
PRODUCTS
  • 3D Scanners
    • Portable 3D Scanners
    • Desktop 3D Scanner
    • CT (X-ray) Scanners
    • Metrology Grade Scanners
    • Body Scanners
    • 3D Scanners for CMMs
  • Software & Accessories
    • 3D Anti-Glare Spray
    • Artec Studio
    • InnovMetric-Polyworks Software
    • Geomagic Software
    • Space Claim Software
    • Volume Graphics Software
    • ExactFlat Software
SERVICES
  • 3D Scanning
    • Parts & Objects
    • Buildings & Structures (BIM)
    • Aircraft, Vehicles & Large Objects
    • ITAR – Weapons
    • Industrial CT Scanning
    • Reverse Engineering
    • Inspection & Metrology
  • Point Cloud Modeling
  • 3D Photorealistic Rendering
  • View all services »

Solutions
Industries
Applications

About Us

Learning Portal

Contact Us
Laser Design
5900 Golden Hills Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55416

All Locations

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | 952-884-9648

© 2023 CyberOptics Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie SettingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT