Matter and Form 3D Scanner

Matter and Form Website Link The software is available from the website, but you'll need to register your e-mail with them.

Maximum object size and weight

• Height: 25 cm (9.8 in)
• Diameter: 18 cm (7.0 in)
• Weight: 3.0kg (6.6 lbs)

Scan accuracy

• Capture details as small as 0.43mm
• Capture size within ±0.25mm

USB 2.0 high speed interface

Recommended:

• Windows 7+ (64 bit)
• Mac OS 10.9+
• CPU: i5
• RAM: 4GB

File export support

• STL
• OBJ
• PLY
• XYZ

• User Manual PDF
• Do's and Dont's PDF
• Basics Scanning Video
• Advanced Scanning Video

Calibrating only needs to be done when the scans are looks bad or when the scanner is moved and the camera/lasers might have been jostled.

With each scan the camera exposure is adjusted for the lighting, so just changing the lighting does not require re-calibration. I've tried several lighting setups and found that the scanner worked well in all of them as long as the shadows were not harsh. I tried it in my basement directly under one of the 4 recessed lights and it worked pretty good. Even, diffuse light created by the overhead lighting we have in the space will work very well.

Not much more I can add to their instructions, it's pretty straight forward. Put the item on the scanner, open the software, click New Scan, select Single Coloured (it still does a color scan), and then wait. Scans are slow (10-15 min per rotation * the number of elevation steps). You can clean up the finished scan to remove random points and the scanner bed, then save it.

• Most things work as a single color scan. The multi color is really for scanning an object that has large distinct area of contrasting colors. I would scan a zebra on single color, but a Oreo cookie with one waffer missing, I would use the multi-color.
• It can only scan what the camera can see, if the top or bottom of your object is concaved or hollow you may have scan the item in multiple orientations (standing up and laying down). You can combine scans to create a complete scan.
• When combining scan, I did not have much success with the normal process. I also found that if I didn't like the result, I could cancel and re-combine the files and sometimes get a different result.
• The scanned image looks worst than the resulting STL file will be. The point cloud might appear to have holes and be incomplete, but converting to an STL makes a solid object.