"New" 3D Scanner from NEXTENGINE

[Kiwi]

This may be of interest:

http://www.nextengine.com/

[erase42]

thats pretty incredible for the price. i think its magic, or at least all done by elves.

[unterhaus]

I've seen this before here. It's quite cheap. 5 years ago, I bought 2 Minolta scanners for work. We had budgeted $60000, and got 2 for $20k each. It seems that rate of decrease in price has continued.

[Ed_R]

Not a big enough scan area for my needs!

[JavaDog]

Saw that on one of the tech blogs a while back, but they didn't have all the specs posted yet. Looks to be pretty killer for the price. Also, the max scan size of 13.5" x 10.1" (wide) isn't that bad. The Dimensional Accuracy ±0.005” in Macro Mode and ±0.015” in Wide Mode, is better than I would have thought too.

So, who is going to buy the first one and tell the rest of us how it works?

[Ed_R]

I'd like a 24X16 inch scan area at least.

[JavaDog]

Originally Posted by Ed_R I'd like a 24X16 inch scan area at least.

Who knows, maybe if this little guy sells well they will come out with a $5,000 one with double the scan size?

[Kiwi]

The scan size of 13.5" x 10.1" is per frame but this can repeated and then joined up.

[Ed_R]

I'd think that would work great if I could join frames consistently and accurately.

[GAWnCA]

Originally Posted by Kiwi The scan size of 13.5" x 10.1" is per frame but this can repeated and then joined up.

Kiwi,

That's the way I am reading it as well. As long as it can be scanned in multiple sections and then joined, I don't see where it would be so limited.

[GAWnCA]

Originally Posted by Ed_R Not a big enough scan area for my needs!

Ed, According to their website, with their software there is no limit to size. "Object Size: No present limit. Objects larger than Field can be composite-captured with supplied software."

[senor J.]

I think that price is a little deceptive. If it came with its own software to tweek/repair holes and convert to nurbs it would be a true break through. BUt it doesnt instead you have to purchase the office premium 2007 of Solid Works to have that capability. That is gonna put you right up there with the roland 250 series laser digitizer that ships with its own pixform software for repairing of holes and surface clean up and conversion to a nurbs surface. Which is actually just a dumbed down version of Rapid Form. without those tools the laser isnt goint to do you much good. So the $2500 price tag suddenly goes to $10,000 or more when you have to purchase Solidworks office. Plus you actually get less resolution and scanning dimensions with the NExtEngine than the roland. So is it really a break through $$$ wise and performance wise? Probably not. If it had its own software for conversions/manipulations and clean up and a comparable scanning area to the roland for $5000 to $7000 it would be a real break through deal. One thing that will be real interesting is to see how well the composite capture works. With the bare bones software included I cant imagine a model with out some real troubling parting lines