Creaform’s New Scanning Solution Specifically for 3D Printing

Creaform — a long time developer and manufacturer of portable 3D scanning technology — has turned its attention squarely on to the potential of 3D printing. There’s no arguing that 3D scanning and 3D printing have a serious relationship when it comes to 3D content creation, but often the steps to unify the two can be long and laborious with a raft of software and skill needed to make scan data printable. This is the problem for which Creaform is presenting a solution with its new Go!SCAN 3D scanners and VXmodel software. The premise is that this combination of hardware and software will provide a fully integrated and professional-grade solution for capturing physical objects, digitizing them and then sending the data to any 3D printer or CAD software.

With an unsurprising emphasis on portability, Creaform is also claiming this technology is easy-to-use but entirely reliable for producing 3D content-to-print from existing objects. Capturing the data is achieved with the Go!SCAN 3D white-light 3D scanners and the VXmodel software module with a range of improved functionality that allows users to clean up meshes, make them watertight, and quickly generate print-ready files, without unnecessary post-treatment steps.

Creaform highlights some of the key advantages as:

• High speed 3D scanning with “typical objects scanned in 5 minutes or less.”
• Accuracy of up to 0.1 mm (0.004 in.) and resolution of up to 0.2 mm (0.008 in.).
• Full-colour 3D models, whereby users can simultaneously capture high-quality geometry and colours.
• All the functionalities needed to prepare scan models for 3D printing: alignment, geometrical entities and cross-sections, mesh improvement and mesh editing.
• Independent solutions: Works perfectly with any 3D printer.
• Complete and integrated support: Rely on Creaform’s seasoned 3D scanning expertise and worldwide support.

According to Francois Leclerc, Creaform’s Product Manager: “Creaform’s unique Go!SCAN 3D and VXmodel module are the perfect complement for engineering and CAD professionals that use a 3D printer. The duo’s seamless and quick integration with any 3D printing or CAD process means that users no longer need to rely on third-party post-treatment software. This enables them to get the job done faster.”

Creaform is a unit of AMETEK Ultra Precision Technologies, a division of AMETEK Inc., a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices, with annual sales of $3.6 billion.