Yes, along with capturing geometric shapes, a 3D scanner can scan textures, thus making it versatile for industries. Scanning of textures-meaning colors and surface details-is becoming increasingly important for applications like gaming, film production, cultural heritage, and product design. For example, within the video game industry, 3D scanning is used to capture the texture of real-life objects-be that skin, fabric, or terrain-and implement them into virtual models. This increases realism and detail significantly, such as in the game Star Wars Battlefront, which harnessed 3D scanning for accurate environmental and character replication.
For instance, by technical specifications, the newest generations of 3D scanners with texture scanning are capable of capturing highly accurate surface data at resolutions as small as 0.1 millimeters. Many scanners, such as the 3D scanner by Revopoint, make use of structured light or laser scanning technology combined with cameras for geometry and texture capture. The camera takes several photos of it and then combines those images with the 3D model to create a texture map representative of the object’s appearance in the real world, including colors, patterns, and surface finishes.
In industries like architecture, texture scanning is a valuable part of recording historical sites. For instance, the Getty Conservation Institute has used 3D scanning to conserve the fine textures of sculptures that date back centuries and thus created detailed digital recordings of objects that would have been too difficult to replicate. As it was reported in 2022, this enabled them to reduce the digitizing time by 50%, allowing the capturing of textures in detail essential for restoration projects.
This technique becomes less and less complicated with the development of the technology. For example, in the film industry, it can take from some minutes up to a couple of hours depending on the complexity of the object. Also, with the improvement in scanning resolution, the resolution of the captured texture data also rises; this allows studios to obtain digitally very realistic versions of the real-world objects. In fact, in one recent project, the visual effects company Weta Digital used 3D scanning to capture texture details on actors’ faces and reduce texturing by hand by about 40% in this movie.
Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” The fact that 3d scanner are able to scan not only form but texture as well has really given most industries new ways to look at digital modeling-not only for new creative opportunities but also operational efficiencies. With the technology of 3D scanning ever-evolving, there’s even further detailed texturing, making digital art all the way through scientific research all the better.