3D Scanning Makes Reality TV Debut!

Ok, so 3D scanning wasn’t exactly on MTV, but Laser Design did help Rob Dyrdek, pro skateboarder and MTV reality TV star, make an exact replica of his signature line of shoes into a unique solid gold necklace.

If you’re not a fan of reality TV, Rob is best known for his roles on the reality shows Rob and Big, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, & Ridiculousness. Dyrdek was working with Deviant Design, a custom jewelry design company in Los Angeles with high-profile customers, and wanted to make exact replicas to 1/10 scale of all of his shoes, and string them together into a unique solid gold necklace.

Mark Barata president of Deviant Design tried having an artist create tiny versions of each shoe, but the creations were not of sufficient detail, complexity, and accuracy. After talking to Laser Design, Barata sent one shoe to be laser scanned to see if the results lived up to his exacting standards, and they did.

Skateboarder Dyrdek only had one archive pair of each of his special shoes from the past collections,
so he had to be sure that the scanning process would not ruin the shoes in any way. Since the
non-contact laser scanning system projects a line of laser light onto surfaces while cameras continuously triangulate the changing distance and profile of the laser line as it sweeps along, the problem of marring the surface or depressing the soft parts of the shoe was eliminated. The system measured fine details and captured complex freeform geometry so that the shoes could be exactly replicated. Laser scanners quickly measure articles, picking up tens of thousands of points per second.

The results were absolutely perfect, down to the laces, the thread on the shoes, and the pattern of the soles. Laser Design eventually scanned all 14 shoe styles. Some areas of the shoes were more difficult to scan than others, for example, the laces and inside the shoe. However, the experienced Laser Design engineers were able to develop an excellent process to minimize the errors incurred by geometry that is not captured completely around, such as the laces and the back straps. In the end the entire area is represented on the STL models made for Barata who found absolutely no flaws in them.

NecklaceSmall wax figurine rapid prototypes were created for every shoe, from which a mold was made. From the tiny, precise, meticulous molds, solid gold shoes were cast, links were added to the toes and heels, and the 1½-inch shoe “charms” were assembled into a necklace. Each shoe design posed slightly different challenges in capturing the details, but Laser Design laser scanning was the perfect solution. The data was very accurate and allowed Deviant Design to create molds that were exact reproductions of the shoes themselves, which is what Rob Dyrdek wanted. Barata was absolutely thrilled with the results, and commented, “The professional laser scanning at Laser Design exceeded my expectations and provided the precise results we were not able to get with traditional ‘artistic’ means.”

With high-accuracy, high-speed 3D digital data from laser scanning, any part can be reproduced and sized, no matter how complex. For product designers who deal with small parts, intricate designs, and scaling objects down or up, 3D laser scanning is an ideal measurement method to preserve the detail and accuracy of the items.