structure_3d_scanner:cleanup_for_3d_printing

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Cleanup for 3d printing

The 3d objects from the structure 3D scanner need a bit of work before they are printable.

The structure scanner delivers the 3D object in several parts. Let's bring these chunks together to a single object


Each 3D scan comes with 3 files:

  1. Model.jpg is the texture file
  2. Model.mtl is the material library
  3. Model.obj is the 3D object


Open Blender and delete the default cube. load the scan file: File > Import > Wavefront (obj). Choose the .obj file


Objects from the structure scanner come in overlapping parts. This might cause problems for 3D printing. To check if your object has these overlapping parts, go to edit mode, hover your cursor over the model and press l to select all vertices that are linked to the one underneath your cursor. As you will see, only a limited region will be selected. In this picture I selected a few different regions to demonstrate.

To fix this:

  • select all
  • go to mesh > cleanup > merge by distance. The amount of vertices that have been removed appear on the bottom of the screen.

There might still be some unintended clumps from the 3d scan floating around. Let's delete them.

alt + a: deselect all vertices.

Hover over a part of the mesh you want to keep. Press l to select the linked vertices. This should select all the information you want to keep.


ctrl + i: inverse the selection.

x: delete the selected vertices.

  • structure_3d_scanner/cleanup_for_3d_printing.1578491453.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2020/01/08 05:50
  • by formlab