The most frequent question we have received is how to scan a human body by EinScan handheld 3D scanners. What we can do with the data from scanning the human body? Actually, Shining 3D has been dedicated to taking advantage of the 3D printing technology to help people for many years. We have applied human body scanning technology to numerous fields as following:

• Research
  Shape analysis
  Size survey
• Medical Treatment
  Manufacturing of orthotics
  Treatment of plagiocephaly
  Wound healing monitoring
• Design and customization
  Creating personalized figurine and mementos
  Creating avatars and custom fitting of equipment

Since the numerous applications of scanning a human body, we would like to share some tips about how to scan a human body. It is quite difficult to scan the human body, which requires rich experience with EinScan and mesh edition software. You may face various problems during the scan, such as too large scanned objects, loosing track and body movements. Thus we recommend to separate the scan into three to four parts and do the combination later with a third party software. Now let us find out what to do before scanning a human body.

Preparation before 3D scanning
Dress
Due to the reflection of light, it is almost impossible to scan the hair. So for better data result, let the model wear a cap and dress clean and tight clothes. Make sure that no light reflections from glasses will disturb the process.

Wear a cap

Take off the glasses

Do not wear transparent or loose clothes

Do not wear black or dark clothes

Pose
The scan will take several minutes, so avoid any instable poses. It is recommended for the model to keep a relaxing pose and put arms close to the body, avoid leaving vacant space difficult to scan. EinScan uses white light, it’s not dangerous but we still recommend to keep the model’s eyes closed.

Space
The length of the cable will limit your movements. So before starting the scan, you need to walk around the model and make sure you have enough place to move during scanning. You will need some free space, about 1m radius around the model.

Detail Selection
By reducing the level of detail, the performance and speed of the scanner will be improved. So choose the level of detail according to your application. Select the highest detail only if it is necessary.

Scanning Process
Distance and Scanning Speed
Hold the scanner parallel to the surface you want to scan. The recommended distance between the scanner and the surface is 40cm for Pro and 50cm for Pro+. Check the proper distance with light on the scanner or the color range on the screen (red means too close, blue means too far, green means suitable).

Press play to start the scan. Keep an eye on the scan distance during scanning and move at a constant speed. Press + or – to adjust the brightness during the scan if it is necessary. Bright colors need low exposure, while dark colors need high exposure. If you scan too fast, too close or too far, you may lose the track. When it happens, you shall go back to a place you previously scanned with rich features and wait a few seconds until the software has recovered the position.

Scanning Path
Choose the fastest path to finish the scan. First, start from one side of the face, go around the model, and then scan the top of the head. Be careful not to create misalignment during scanning the top of the head.

Change the angle to go on scanning the neck and the shoulder. Remain the scanner parallel and at a proper distance. When the first part is completed, press pause and the project will be automatically saved.

Scan head and shoulders

Second, create a new project and you can select different level of detail for different parts of body. Continue to scan with the same process and the model should keep the same pose all the time during scanning. Remember to scan overlapping features for aligning the different parts successfully later-on.

If there is space left between legs when you switch from one leg to the other. You may complete one leg scanning, then go back to the crotch and scan the other one. Or you can create one project per leg.

Finally, you have captured all the data. Open the previous project and check if you missed any parts. The model shall not move until you make sure everything have been captured. If some parts have been missed out, you need to press play to continue scanning, scanning again from a place rich in features until the software recovers the track.

Edition
After finishing the scan, use tools to remove unwanted areas. Click validate to optimize the mesh and remove the noise. After then, you can save your file as a point cloud. Or click mesh to create a shell then save as STL, PLY or OBJ. Do same operations to other projects

Use a mesh edition software to align all the scan data. Regenerate a final mesh by combing all the different parts you have scanned. On this example we are using Geomagic.

Different body parts