1 single 3d scan,
infinite possibilities

kitCAD3d offers modular (a-la-carte) options for 3d scanning to suit different needs and budgets.

at its most fundamental, you may choose to simply have the 3d scan result. this would be a mesh format, likely .stl.

should you wish to add texture, there are 2 options - namely colour texture and photogrammetry. it’s evident that both colour texture & photogrammetry can really liven up a 3d scan model. what’s far less obvious is that colour texture can serve a very important function. in fact, colour texture is incredibly useful for capturing precise locations of very fine details whose geometry cannot be captured by the 3d. this really helps for time- & cost-efficient mesh reconstruction and reverse engineering.

when maintaining geometry (as opposed to geometry modification) is required, mesh reconstruction could be a valuable add-on especially when components have certain hard-to capture details. kitCAD3d is able to reconstruct the mesh without having to reverse engineer the entire object. this is advantageous as reverse engineering generally takes a much longer time and thus costs more.

reverse engineering would be the alternative to mesh reconstruction. reverse engineering can offer the best of both worlds - precision 3d scanning combined with manual precision inspection. the process of reverse engineering involves the reconstruction of every single surface of the component.

to satisfy exacting engineering requirements, especially for mating components, tight tolerances may be needed in order to ensure a fully functional assembly of the implicated components. this is where deviation analysis is carried out in tandem to ensure that the specified tolerance is met.

geometry modification can be achieved directly from 3d scan mesh, or from cad modification which means that reverse engineering has been done. adding a handle to enable better grip for a bottle cap would be a common example of geometry modification.

as in mesh reconstruction, mesh modification is generally faster and costs less than reverse engineering. alternatively, cad modification would see a reverse engineered cad model through dimensional adjustments and/or addition of geometric features. where precision matters, cad modification would ultimately be much more precise than mesh reconstruction.