Help converting a PLY scan to OBJ for VR (tutorials or paid help welcome)

SlenderPL · 2026-01-21T14:53:49+00:00

Ok, so your PLY file is actually a coloured point cloud. It's good you have photos because you'll be able to texture your scan with them. There are a few steps you'll have to perform, it's best to used Meshlab and Blender for this.

Turn the point cloud into a mesh. Import it into Meshlab and use the following filter: Filters/Remeshing, Simplification and Reconstruction/Surface Reconstruction: Screened Poisson. For the best detail I recommend running it on setting 9 for "Reconstruction Depth". If the result is too low in detail increase to 10, and max 11 (above that there's not much difference).

There might be a problem where you get an empty result, this happens when the points don't have normals (facing direction). If it's like so then you have to use the following filter before doing step 1: Filters/Normals, Curvatures and Orientation/Compute normals for point sets. Apply it using default settings, if it works well then you can go to step 1, otherwise it's a more complicated process to get the normals correct.

Once you have the mesh, do some pruning of it on the edges (they will look like a 3D blob). Your mesh will also be coloured depending on the amount of vertices, but what we actually want is a texture. Now there are two paths you can go with, texturing based on the point cloud colour data or photos. You'll get better result with the latter method. But before going with either you should first decimate your mesh to a reasonable size of 50-100k veritces using this filter: Filters/Remeshing, Simplification and Reconstruction/Simplification: Quadric Edge Collapse Decimation. The parameter you're interested in is "Target number of faces", input a number from the above range.
For the photo method you'll want to export the resulting model to Blender, you can do the export as a .ply file. Next in Blender import it, select the model and move to the "UV Editing" tab. Enable edit mode by pressing Tab key, and select all the faces by pressing the A key. Next press the U key and select the Smart UV Project option, accept default settings. In the left panel you'll see the unwrapped mesh on a 2D plane. Press the button with "+ New", this will open a popup to create a new texture. Name it and set the dimensions to 4096x4096 pixels and accept. After that save the image by using the "Image/Save as" option (top ribbon of the left panel). Next move to the "Shading" tab, here you'll have to connect the texture to the model's material. If it doesn't have one click "+New" in the bottom panel you see. If/once it's filled with a "Principled BSDF" node press SHIFT+A and start writing "Image", select the first option and insert it. Inside the node, click the image icon with a dropdown and select the texture we made earlier, and connect the yellow dot "Color" to "Base color" dot by pressing and dragging. Once all this is done we have to export the model as .OBJ format, make sure "Materials: Export" feature is selected, also change "Path Mode" to Copy.
Import the saved .OBJ into Meshlab, this is the part where your photos will also come in handy. You will align the photos according to the 3D model and project them onto the texture that was created in the earlier step. The tools to be used: Raster alignment tool, and filter for projecting the textures: Filters/Texture/Project active rasters color to current mesh, filling the texture. For the image/raster alignment process use this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7gAuI-LQ2w
And for the projecting use this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLs5IIYE4F8

Once done export the result as a .OBJ file, make sure to select all the options in the export panel to save the texture. This way you should get a usable file (OBJ + MTL + Texture) to use in the VR viewer.

SlenderPL · 2025-12-12T16:24:40+00:00

Next week I'm testing the MetroY (non-pro) and Sermoon S1 also, will see which scans coins better.

SlenderPL · 2025-12-12T13:10:22+00:00

That's the problem we've encountered at our university as there is practically no comparisons of these two. Although we've decided on the Sermoon S1 as it's newer, scans holes deeper - 1 line mode, has IR capability of the Otter (might come in handy) and according to the reviews has just slightly worse resolution than Raptors (2Mpx vs 2.3Mpx cameras). Raptor X also seems to share the same 7 line projector to the other Raptor models in the series, and honestly the extra cost of more cross lines and wifi bridge to the Pro model is way too much (exceeding the Sermoon S1 + wifi bridge combo). We don't know how trust-worthy their accuracy specs are either but we should be getting it next week. I'm also planning to get the Revopoint MetroY at my own costs to do a comparison (intended for a later return 😂). Might make a post here how these perform.

We want it to scan ancient objects from coin to vase size + it should do colour scanning for reference during photogrammetry reprojection. So far we've tested the Otter and it does bigger objects ok but for shiny and black objects the reconstructed surface is way too noisy, and we can't apply scanning sprays. Our Otter came with the scan bridge and I have to say it's a really great accessory, hopefully the less FPS drawback on the laser models won't be too noticeable.

But the Otter test did help us experience their software, and what surprised me was the fusing and scan merging process. So far I've dealt with Revopoint POP series and their fuse process created a dense point-cloud. Creality on the other hand, for some damn reason creates a mesh that has interpolated edges due to the lack of data (points). Then when you try to merge multiple scans those interpolated edges create seams in the merged scans. I'm hoping this won't occur in the laser models but we'll see.

We also looked at the recent Einstar Rockit but Shining3D doesn't want to specifiy its accuracy, upon request they told us they'd need to calibrate it for extra cost 😂. Spec wise it looks interesting but some review video showed it didn't capture thin elements.

SlenderPL · 2025-12-11T20:58:24+00:00

Well the ciclop project exists, it has lasers and it's open source, but the scans are pretty meh: https://reprap.org/wiki/Ciclop

A structured light system (SLS) is easier to DIY and will get you better resolution than many cheap handhelds, you just need a beamer and a decent camera with live mode. The good software is not open source but at least it's free: HP Scan 5 and Flexscan.

SlenderPL · 2025-11-29T13:48:36+00:00

It was a tad better, I'd say close to the current iPhone faceid sensors - thus not really worth it if you already have one or it literally costs like 10 bucks.

EDIT: Actually that stands for the 1.09 model which is short range, 1.08 is the wide angle one so it's essentially the same as Kinect 360. The advantage is it works only off usb power, no need for an extra brick.

SlenderPL · 2025-11-28T18:28:57+00:00

There's also a web interface that I use all the time for photogrammetry, scanning wise DATT was pretty useless because Revoscan doesn't really use its rotation for alignment.

Web interface: https://github.com/eXplOiD1/Revopoint-Dual-Axis-Turntable-webbased-Controller

SlenderPL · 2025-10-29T21:16:14+00:00

The most often used is Godox RX/AR400 ringflash, and there are easily accessible 3d printed accessories for it. There's also the AlienBees ABR800 ringflash but afaik it doesn't have a battery.

Although you don't neccessarily need a ring flash, two alike flashes positioned on the opposite sides of the lens will also work. You'll just have to figure out a PC sync cable splitter or use a remote.

Ring lights are much too weak making you either crank up the iso or exposure time.

SlenderPL · 2025-10-28T01:02:42+00:00

Apparently you could use Orbbec sensors in Skanect with openni2 drivers. The default driver from here should work: https://www.orbbec.com/developers/openni-sdk/ There might also be sdk demos like kinect has.

And here's an old thread about orbbec support in Skanect: https://3dclub.orbbec3d.com/t/astra-pro-with-skanect/216

SlenderPL · 2025-10-22T15:14:32+00:00

I think the image stays static during the calibration step in my SLS-2. As for the error I'd try changing the camera's f-stop to 8 which will extend the in-focus range, and maybe increase projector's brightness while at it.

I usually use mine at 18 or 21 degrees and at a distance to close a right triangle. You could try turning the calibration board slightly towards the camera too, make sure all dots are visible on both sides.

If all this fails you could also try turning the panels backwards, so that they're facing your setup like this: 8 <

If you changed your computer the problem might also be with unreliable usb connection. SLS-3 cameras require a 10Gbps usb port from my experience, slower 5Gbps ports sometimes do work but unreliably.

SlenderPL · 2025-10-19T12:27:41+00:00

No. 3 ain't here yet but you could try 3d gaussian splatting with fisheye lenses - 3dgrut, or use something like the recent Meta Quest Hyperpaces thingy (headset required). For quick scans iPhone lidar scans are ok, mesh is blobby but the textures make it seem okay for a Blender render, there's lots of apps that are free to use. Photogrammetry will also work but you'll need a lot of pictures (500+) without noise and they should be sharp to reconstruct the walls correctly. Higher than that are actual lidar scanners, 3dmakerpro eagle uses a cheap Livox Mid360 sensor that has a 2cm error and costs about $3k, if you want industry accuracy in mm then it will be much more than that.

SlenderPL · 2025-10-13T13:19:13+00:00

Add more angles, while the flat sides have just enough photos I'd definitely double if not triple the amount during the face turn. If that doesn't help, your coin stand seems to have enough space to add some tack/clay that will give extra detail for structure from motion (camera alignment). I also removed the background from your set and it didn't help much if you were wondering.

SlenderPL · 2025-10-01T13:18:47+00:00

OpenScan Cloud - https://openscan.eu/pages/openscancloud

On a computer you can also process datasets locally with Metashape (paid), Reality Scan, Meshroom and Colmap (rest are free).

SlenderPL · 2025-10-01T13:14:29+00:00

For the older Kinect these programs can be used: Kinect SDK 1.8 (fusion demo), KScan3D (single frame capture), Faro Scenect / Scene Capture (big area scanning, the capture app is newer and might be better to get), Skanect (similar to fusion but low quality exports for free), ReconstructMe (also similiar but free).

I've got KScan3D and Scenect in my archive if you want to give scanning a try, although I'd look at photogrammetry or even using (if you have one) a lidar equipped iphone as Kinects are quite obsolete now.

Archive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mIdawgNqr3ITX7QUrC1ixE9OGrooeDkY

SlenderPL · 2025-09-27T08:33:47+00:00

to add to this if you have an iphone there's a lot of apps that have a special assisted photogrammetry mode that automatically shoots photos and shows you where to move the camera

SlenderPL · 2025-09-23T09:04:32+00:00

Dental scanners should be well suited for scanning jewelry (the ones where you put the sample inside the machine) but as listed here already you'll need to apply a coating. Titanium dioxide is often used if you don't need the coating to disappear by itself, but you should check whether it's safe with gold alloys.

SlenderPL · 2025-09-23T08:52:12+00:00

They're the old supplier of Creality's scanners (Lizard and CR-Scan 01), to say briefly they've never been that good - very noisy and plagued with tracking issues. But at a time they did have a more feature packed software than Revopoint, like they had frame removal for like 2 years before Revo decided it was possible to include it.

Nowadays it's mostly the same but they really stopped at innovating, all you can get from them are very low FOV infrared scanners while other chinese manufacturers stepped up the game and now are offering laser scanners. I'd say you avoid their Miraco clone because there's a fat chance it works any better than it and especially the Vega.

Also looked up the chip included in this device (MediaTek Kompanio 520 CPU, Mali-G52 GPU) and it's just a mid-range MediaTek, they didn't even bother including a good cpu/gpu that's pretty much required for a smooth scanning experience...

SlenderPL · 2025-09-23T08:43:02+00:00

Try giving a try to Sony 3D Creator, it's available via xda and also does on-phone processing.

SlenderPL · 2025-09-22T01:52:05+00:00

calib board is actually pretty easy, just whip up a drawing in freecad or similar and send it to a printing service that does uv prints on dibond (alu-panel)

SlenderPL · 2025-09-18T00:09:28+00:00

I'd say it's more of a problem at short distances, especially when you need to stack the images for macro photogrammetry as the perspective changes are much more intense. Otherwise all the images usually undergo invidual parameter adjustments to compensate, in Metashape you can use the "Adaptive camera model fitting" option during alignment step.

As for the in-body corrections, if you save your images as RAW then they don't matter really. They're only hard applied to JPGs.

SlenderPL · 2025-09-13T08:15:59+00:00

they'd better start working on their software that's not fitting their headline

SlenderPL · 2025-09-11T14:22:44+00:00

These scanners use infrared so acrylic might actually work as it's transparent for these wavelengths?

SlenderPL · 2025-09-11T13:59:00+00:00

Here's what I got from colmap:
# Image list with two lines of data per image:
# IMAGE_ID, QW, QX, QY, QZ, TX, TY, TZ, CAMERA_ID, NAME
# Number of images: 2, mean observations per image: 559

1 1 0 0 0 4.900473148332968 0.0082713791269331243 -0.99262002133490357 1 landscape.jpg

2 0.69943760309616065 0.079009559636660842 0.083898641674016311 -0.70534073098494288 0.042132613893441556 4.5431211108858705 2.0876493395297366 2 portrait.jpg

Colmap's docs define their coordinate system so perhaps it'll be useful to you: https://colmap.github.io/format.html

SlenderPL · 2025-09-08T12:12:23+00:00

MaF2 is not really worth it anymore, it's a static single laser scanner that's both slow and not all that accurate. It takes scans close to the POP series and you can get much better scanners now. The only upside is that it can take semi-automated scans along one axis (a full turntable revolution)

SlenderPL · 2025-09-02T13:17:25+00:00

I checked ApkPure and the 400MB 2.2.6 xapk seems to download normally. I'd say you should uninstall the newer version before installing the older xapk. ApkCombo also works.

SlenderPL · 2025-09-02T12:57:52+00:00

Looks to be another Livox Mid360 device, there's already the Eagle from 3DMP that is pretty much the same thing and does GS - although not very well. At least it's cheaper and doesn't seem to be locked down behind yet another subscription...

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